We, a family of three, are in Spain for ten days in July. Is it practical to fly into Madrid and rent a car / drive to Malaga and back for the return flight? Better fares and flights from Chicago to Madrid and we planned on renting a car in Malaga since the hotel we are staying at recommends a car based on its location: the Marriott Playa Andalucia in Estepona. We planned on spending our first two nights in Madrid. Any suggestions or ideas would be helpful

1. You do not need/WANT a car in Madrid at ALL.
2) If you are going to take in some of the sites along the way and take advantage of the car.. a car may be very convenient.

3) you could also drive down, or train back or vice-versa. Drop off fees within Spain many times are not bad at all when they exist.

You have a high speed train to Malaga which may be a fun way to get there or back or both, otherwise, you do not need a car til Estepona.

Depending on what time your flight leaves you will need to spend the last night in Madrid also. Keep that in mind.

Of course it is cheaper to fly only into Madrid, but I would seriously look into an open jaw on your fight plan to compare if you leave from Málaga. Then calculate the three train tickets, taxi and extra night hotel in Madrid and compare real numbers. You may be surprised.

A few years ago, we flew into Madrid from Newark and, instead of catching a flight from Madrid to Malaga, we decided to drive from Madrid to the house we were renting near Granada (we would've had to wait about 7 hours in Madrid to catch a flight directly to Granada). It was a very long and pretty boring ride. Billions of olive trees on both sides of the road, most of the way. The highway was fine, no problems there. But it was nearly impossible to find someplace to eat, with every restaurant we could find closed during the middle of the day. Just something to consider...

For everyone's information.. spanish restaurants are open from 1.30-3.30 in general, but now roadside cafés are open from very early til very late. I do not foresee any "no place to eat" problems on a Spanish road trip. Many gas stations now are also cafés.

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Recommend the high speed AVE train between central Madrid and Málaga city (2h 30 min): http://www.renfe.es/horarios/english/index.html

The drive is really a bore, but I've never had a problem finding where to eat, and really good places, BTW.
Anyway, there's no option from Malaga to Estepona but the bus. If you take the AVE train Mad. to Malaga (about 100eur the return ticket per person, I believe), you'll need the car there OR take the Bus, as the Bus station is relly next door to the Train Station. If it's worth the money, do as you plan; but check flying into Malaga and renting the car there to Estepona.

I flew Spanair roundtrip between Madrid and Malaga.

Thanks to all. From the responses we may go to back to our original plan of flying into Madrid, staying a few nights, flying to Malaga and getting the car there for the week. The must see's for us are the Alahambra (sp), Prada in Madrid, day trip to Seville. I am checking to see if there are any national parks in the area as the wife and 14 year old daughter are outdoor types.

You can horseback ride down the gorge in Ronda... I did a 3-hour sunrise ride. Fantastic!

Consider the AVE train instead of plane Madrid to Malaga. It saves a lot of time.

joannyc.. that ride sounds wonderful!

remember luggage allowances change on european domestic flights.

When it comes to national parks, you should consider the spectacular El Torcal Park Nature Reserve - the "enchanted mountain range" - a little north of Málaga city.
http://www.andalucia.com/antequera/torcal/home.htm