I will have a short visit to southern spain starting in Malaga the end of March with my girlfriend and 18 yr old daughter. We would like to know of good cities to visit and stay between Malaga and the tip of Spain. We also may take the 1 day trip to Morocco even though we have read it is not the best way to visit Morocco but because of limited time, is the best we can do.

Ideas on agenda/places to stay/etc would be helpful.

I am also wondering about renting a car and driving from Malaga area to Valencia where my other daughter is in school for spring semester. Thoughts? advice??

Not sure what you mean by the tip os Spain. If you're asking about Gibraltar - it's not part of Spain - and IMHO not worth the time to visit.

In Andalusia the best places to visit are Seville, Cordoba and Granada, which exemplify the unique Moorish heritage of that part of Spain (which might be much more informative and interesting than fighting off hoards of beggars in Morocco. If you want to stay right on the coast you should have a look at Cadiz - but IMHO it's not nearly as fascinating as the 3 cities named above.

If you only have 4 days to visit all of Southern Spain except Malaga I would stay in Sevilla and do a daytrip to Cordoba. Hopefully during your stay in Malaga you'll have time to do a daytrip to Granada.

I agree that visiting Gibralter or Morocco isn't worth giving up these cities with your limited time.

Four days is not much time for Southern Spain. I would visit Seville and Granada, or Seville and Cordoba, and that is it. I would definitely not take any time from Spain to go to Gibraltar or Morocco.

You managed to read up on Morocco, which is surely going to be Tangier (and unrepresentative) for your day trip, why not 'southern spain'?

Malaga city to Valencia by car will be 6 hours plus - your choice.

Thanks for all feedback to date. I have done more research and eliminated Morocco as it is not worth it when there is so much of Spain to see in short timeframe. We are staying in Malaga for 2 days and taking short day trips and then will spend the night in either Cordoba or Grenada prior to driving back to Valencia. Any comments related to the driving and scenery between the above 2 cities and Valencia?? Still working on itineraty and looking at all options. Researching and deciding on Cordoba and Grenada and driving options.

Thanks for your insights.

Granada is a short day trip from Malaga and you can see the city and Alhambra in this way. This then frees you up to visit Cordoba on the way to Valencia (although it is further via Cordoba to Valencia).

I know that the temptation is always to try and do more than the time really allows on a short visit, but you'll get more quality out of the experience by doing less. You do see more that way.

Following from the last reply, surely it would be a sensible option to do a day trip to Cordoba and then stop in Granada on way to Valencia, as it would make most geographical sense.
That said I think that Cordoba and Granada are quite similar, and would be more worthwhile to check out somewhere else. I think Ronda is truly unique spot as well and small enough that you can do it justice in a day (unlike the bigger cities).

Cathy said it best. Sevilla and Granada, w/ a daytrip to Cordoba.

What happened to the 4 days you had for Southern Spain after Malaga? It seems to have dwindled to 1....