1 week without car in Andalusia

Posted by themaripoppins on 09/11/19 10:05 AM

Hi everyone!

Need help to finish to decide my 1 week itinerary.
I'm traveling alone and without a car.

21st September (morning): arrive in Granada.
Spend 2 nights in Granada.
23rd (morning): go to Malaga: sightseeing in Malaga
24th a day trip to Nerja, Mijas or Torremolinos?? Sleep in Malaga.
25th day trip to Caminito del Rey (I have the ticket already for 16:15). Sleep in Malaga
26th day trip to Ronda or sleep there 1 night?
27th if not in Ronda go from Malaga to Cordoba or from Ronda to Cordoba?
28th flight back at 19:25 from Granada.

I'm not sure if it's really worth sleep at Ronda, even more without a car.
Also, not sure if I should sleep over in Cordoba.
What would be the best places to visit close to Malaga: Nerja, Mijas or Torremolinos?? Or somewhere else?
Would Ronda and Cordoba be a better option than Seville to fit on a tight schedule or would you say don't skip Seville at all?

Thanks in advance!!!!

Posted by mom2eandb

boston, bangkok and everywhere in between.

09/11/19 10:45 AM

92 posts

for us, cordoba was much more interesting and lovely than malaga, so you might consider less time in malaga and more in cordoba, tho without a car i know malaga is very convenient.

Posted by NickB

Maryland

09/11/19 10:59 AM

854 posts

If I have your plans right:
21st Arrive in Granada – Get oriented.
Night of 21st in Granada.
22nd Alhambra and Cathedral and Sightsee.
Night of 22nd in Granada.
23nd Travel to Malaga, Sightsee.
Night of 23rd in Malaga.
24th Day Trip - Nerja, Mijas or Torremolinos??
Night of 24th in Malaga.
25th Day trip to Caminito del Rey.
Night of 25th in Malaga.
26th Travel to Ronda?, sightsee in the town, walk the gorge, Bull Ring.
Night of 26th in Ronda.
27th Travel to Cordoba, Sightsee.
Night of 27th in Cordoba.
28th Train back to Granada for a flight home.

You have a lot planned for your week. I loved Ronda and even without a car it is a lovely little Hill town which would provide a different flavor than Cordoba, Granada or Malaga which are your other overnights. Access will be by bus from Antequerra, which is certainly doable, but takes time. And getting back to Cordoba also will add travel time.

http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

Malaga to Cordoba direct only takes 1 hour.

Cordoba to Sevilla is also only about an hour direct train. Sevilla to Granada seems to be about 3 hours.

This is a quick trip with lots of moving around. That seems to be what you want. To get the most sightseeing out of your week you might consider:

Skip Ronda.
26th Travel to Cordoba, sightsee.
Night of 26th in Cordoba.
27th Travel to Sevilla, sightsee.
Night of 27th in Sevilla.
28th Train back to Granada for a flight home

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

09/11/19 08:58 PM

27057 posts

Do you have a ticket for the Alhambra? If not, you should get in touch with your hotel in hopes it has one squirreled away. Otherwise, you will be scrambling for a spot on a tour.

For me there's way too much moving around in your original plan, plus you're skipping one of the major highlights of Spain (Seville) while spending a lot of time traveling back and forth to far less interesting places (Malaga, the beach towns, Ronda). Since you're flying in and out of Granada, you don't have to go to Malaga at all except (I assume) to connect to transportation to the Caminito del Rey. There's a reason why just about everyone concedes that the top three stops in Andalucía are Seville, Granada and Cordoba. It's not that the other places aren't nice, but they would certainly not be my priorities.

Have you checked rail and bus schedules to see how much time you'll be sitting, looking out bus and train windows?