I'm assuming that you are thinking of flying into Malaga and heading of inland to explore Andalucia? Or are you planning to stay on the coast?

If the former then I can assure you that places like Seville and Granada will still be open and that it will still be warm. It would be advisable to pack a light weight jumper for the evenings as it can get cooler after the sun has gone down but during the day you can generally expect it to be shirtsleeve weather. I found it perfectly comfortable to walking around in sleeveless dresses during the day in Grenada in mid-October and in my experience late September/ early October was definitely warmer than April in Seville.

SM

The first week of october is a good time to visit fuengirola, ive always found the weather good and theres the feria thats worth visiting, large fairground the locals in traditional dress, a bull run through the streets, etc. Hiring a car you can visit some real traditional spanish villages out in the countryside like Istan, Casares one of spains most photographed villages, Benahavis, Ojen, as well as Ronda, Granada, Sevilla, and Cordoba. Nerja and the nearby village of Frigliana also worth a visit, as well as Marbella old town, Puerto Banus, and nearby Mijas.

SM - absolutely no plans whatsoever. I usually go to Turkey or the Greek Islands but as I shall be on my own this time around thought I would try somewhere different. Definitely not a sunbathe all day type though!!

Colin - unfortunately, due to family ties, the first week in october is definitely out. Looking at second or third week.

Dave

Second or third week should still be good and you will still be able to take your pick of umpteen places to visit, have a great time.

Hi Dave,

I'm biased but if you have a week and you are not a beachy person, then I don't think that you could do better than basing your trip around the three key cities of Seville, Grenada and Cordoba. Depending on where you live it is possible to fly direct to either Seville or Grenada with Ryanair and you probably wouldn't need to even hire a car. If you only have a week then my preference would be to fly to one or other of them and spend 3/4 days in each - Cordoba is easily doable by express train from Seville and you could just about 'do' the key sights there in a single day. Jerez and Cadiz are also easily accessible from Seville by train for a day if you want a seaside day as well. So in a week long stay you could book into a hotel in Granada for 3 nights giving you 2 full days in the city which would be long enough to do the key sights there, then transfer to Seville for 4 nights which would give you 2 full days there as well as a day in Cordoba (my preference over Cadiz or Jerez).

If you could stretch it to 10 days and neither Stansted or Liverpool are convenient departure airports and you still want to hire a car, then my preference would be to fly into Malaga on a morning flight and then do 3 nights each in Seville, Cordoba, Grenada and back to Malaga ready for an early evening flight.

SM

He'd have a long drive to Grenada.
A divorced male friend of mine who is a taxi driver by trade and obviously he likes driving, he did this a couple of years ago and clocked quite a few miles on the hire car.
When he started feeling tired, he just got off the motorways and stopped in some quaint little villages, where the goats wandered into his bedroom.
He didn't really have a plan, he headed for the next city and got diverted into some real Spanish villages, and it's a good job that he had taken some Spanish lessons, otherwise he would have been stuck.

If you want to see the real Spain, try and keep away from the coast where the mass tourism has embedded itself.
The beauty of Andalucia is that all the major cities are not a million miles apart, and from Malaga airport the places to consider are Malaga City, (which is overlooked by most tourists landing at Malaga airport) Antequera, Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla, Jerez and Cadiz.
If time allows, from Cadiz come back to Malaga via the coastal motorway and see places like Marbella, Estapona, Fuengirola, Torremolinos........ and then 15 minutes drive from Torremolinos back to Malaga Airport.

Sanji

He'd have a long drive to Grenada.

Ah well! Spelling was never my strong point but think what a bargain he'd be getting if he really could get a £40 return with Ryanair from Stanstead or Liverpool

There's the coast and there's the coast! I live in a coastal area east of Malaga and it is so far removed from most people' perceptions of the costa del Sol as it could possibly be!

The area is predominantly Spanish and while there are some high rise buildings and few Brit bars, it isn't widely known as a tourist resort. At least not amongst the British. The Spanish are well aware of it's charm and it can get quite busy at weekends and fiesta times, but even then there are always places to park, plenty of space on the beaches and a low density of traffic. You can also drive along the coast and see the sea!

I took some photos of a local beach on Friday and you would be amazed at how lovely it was and how few people were on it. Will try to post them.

The coast is much maligned and often for good reason, but there are still some fantastic places around!

I would consider visiting Nerja because now (October) is the best time to visit. Almost everything is cheap. Anyway my comment is quite late so I hope you have found what you are looking for.

Thanks all for the advice.

Yes I have now sorted something. We (correct I'm not going on my own ) have booked up for La Barracuda at Torremolinos. Travelling from Birmingham on the 1st November for 7 days.

Mijas and Gibraltar have been recommended as day trips and we might take a trip across to Morocco.

Any other suggestions, restaurants etc will be gratefully received.

Dave