spain itinerary - barcelona, andulucia and madrid
 

have really appreciated the replys to my questions and now think i have a final plan! fly into BARCELONA(done deal). stay 4 days. we do this to not feel rushed and recover from long flight).
fly to MALAGA (cheap flight vueling airlines). spend 3 days on the coast heading east, NERJ,HERRADURA, etc.
head to LAS ALPUJARRAS staying at hostales. we want to do a bit of hiking and kick back visiting the small towns of the area. we plan on 3 days in the area.
drive to GRANADA. like others, our itinerary revolves around our stay at the parador at the alhambra. two days in GRANADA. take one day to drive to hill towns stopping at MONTEFRIO, LOJOS, etc. and staying in RONDA. 3 days for RONDA area then 3 days in SEVILLE. train to CORDOBA for one night then train to MADRID where our last three nights are spent before flying home. possible day trip to toleda. total trip is 24 days not counting flying.
our hotel is reserved in barcelona (astoria) and madrid (villa real) and seville (amadeus) and granada (guadalupe and parador). in between we are staying at reasonably priced hostales. on our first trip to a country we like to cover a lot of ground and then dream of where we would like to go back and spend more time. due to the weather we decided to concentrate on the south of spain.
any suggestions for places to stay on the coast, las alpujarras or white hill town areas. have read posts and have some ideas but would appreciate further suggestions. we will be renting a car in malaga and returning it in seville going public transport from then on. especially intersted in experiences in las alpajurras as this seems to be little visited and yet sounds as if it is a lovely area. thank you for any tips you may have.

i think you have more than enough days in the white willages,sevilla area.. if you like.. keep the car and see a bit of extremadura.. merida, caceres/trujillo.. then up to the great castle parador at oropesa before hitting madrid.

this way you could also stop at toledo if you wanted...

just a thought.

sounds like a great trip.

Though i liked Ronda I wouldnt advise spending 3 days there. I stayed at the Parador there, though there are many other good places to stay. I would have loved to stay in Grazalema (about halfway from Ronda to the white villages) for at least a night, the scenery was magnificent.

Regarding the white villages, I stayed in Arcos de la Frontera (at the Parador) and absolutely loved it there. A nice small town. Several friends recommended Vejer de la Frontera (an even smaller town) But Jerez and Arcos would my picks for the white villages

Sounds like you've done your homework, Cindyjo.

For your Malaga to Las Alpujarras stretch, you are best to pick a spot - Nerja possibly? and use it as a base for the coast.

We drove through the edge of Las Alpujarras as we went north from Salobrena to Granada. Rugged & beautiful. I put it on my list for future travel.

Ian

yes, cindy, it sounds like a great trip and you're certainly doing your research.

for other places to stay, you might check out parador.es and see if you could get a 5 or even week pass--very reasonable rates if done this way and also, i think the paradors are a great way to go...or else check out petrabax.com for other good rates

in Nerja I suggest you go to the caves--they're awesome, and also to the nearby white village Frigiliana

I strongly recommend you have at least one evening meal at the parador at the Alhambra, especially if the weather is good and you can eat out on the terrace.

I think you will find this to be a memorable experience.