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2 week southern Spain itinerary

Posted by (San Diego) on

Hello Spain experts!
I could use some itinerary help from those in the know. Experienced European traveler, first time to Spain with my husband (except for a brief couple of days in Barcelona 30 years ago). Hoping it won't be incredibly hot the first two weeks of October. (Nearly died last June in the Paris heatwave.) Is A/C a must at this time of year?

When we travel, we like to anchor our trip with a major city or two and then explore small villages. Bonus points for anywhere that helps us connect w/locals and skip tourist hoardes. Here's what I'm thinking right now:
10/4 Arrive BCN 6 pm. Sleep BCN
10/5 Explore BCN. Sleep BCN
10/6 Day trip to Montserrat. Sleep BCN
10/7 Train to Seville. Arrive early afternoon. Sleep Seville
10/8 Explore Seville. Sleep Seville
10/9 Day trip to Cordoba. Sleep Seville
10/10 Pick up car. Drive Arcos de la Frontera (Sleep here?)--Husband's grandparents hailed from here. (Wonder how we could find some relatives.)
10/11 Drive Gibraltar. Explore Gibraltar (Sleep here?)
10/12 Drive Ronda. Sleep Ronda
10/13 Nerja. Sleep Nerja.
10/14 Granada. Sleep Granada
10/15 ?? Then fly/train back to BCN.
10/16 One more day in Barcelona or Cadaques (but hoping to be rid of the car by now). Sleep Barcelona
10/17 Fly home to LAX 4 pm

Some questions: A way to condense one night stands for sleeping? Recommendations for 10/15? As I said, we love immersive travel. I'd love any recs for experiences you loved along those lines. Or, some friends want to meet in Valencia for a day but is that realistic without too much driving or train? What should I cut from the itinerary to add Valencia?

Thanks so much!

Chris

Posted by
7175 posts

October
4. Arrive BCN 6 pm. Stay Airport Hotel (1N)
5. Pick up car. Drive to Valencia (1N)
6. Drive to Granada (2N)
7. Visit Alhambra
8. Drive to Nerja (1N)
9. Drive to Ronda (1N)
10. Drive to Arcos de la Frontera (1N)
11. Drive to Sevilla (3N) Return car.
12. Sevilla
13. Day by train to Cordoba
14. Fly to Barcelona (3N)
15. Barcelona
16. Barcelona
17. Fly home to LAX 4 pm

Posted by
187 posts

Thanks David! Hmmm..I hadn't considered Valencia at the beginning. Skip Gibraltar huh?

Posted by
6532 posts

When I wanted to find somebody I knew, but didn’t have their address, I contacted the tourism office with the information I had. They contacted the person and asked If it was ok to give me the address. In that case I had a lot of information (name, husband’s name, business location, names of family members, etc.)

Another way would be to contact the municipality / city hall itself, since it maintains all municipal records. The more information you have the better your chances of getting results. Remember that anything that occurred prior to computers will all be handwritten in books and probably not digitized, especially in a small town, so it might take a while to get any information. If you have any of their names and they are not really common, you may be able to find them on Facebook, through either personal or municipality pages.

www.arcosdelafrobtera.es
Facebook page - Ayuntamiento de Arcos de la Frontera. From it you can send an email.

Posted by
166 posts

Hello! We visited many of the same cities during our trip this past September. We had a blast and can't wait to return to Spain! We traveled the last two weeks of September, and Granada and Cordoba were still super warm, so I would imagine October will be a bit better. As far as itinerary, that is an awful lot of one-night stays in a row and I fear you would not have time to really enjoy the cities. I suggest dropping Nerja if you only have one night. We spent two nights in Nerja and while we enjoyed it, in hindsight I would have rather spent those nights in other towns, like Ronda. We only had one night in Ronda and really wanted two. So, my suggestion for your consideration is to spend more nights in Ronda - do day trips to Arcos (we stopped through for lunch on our way to Seville) and other white towns but have Ronda be the base. I hope that helps a bit and you have great fun planning! -M

Posted by
15582 posts

we like to anchor our trip with a major city or two and then explore small villages Well, you've got mostly large to middle-sized cities with historic centers - Sevilla, Cordoba, Ronda, Granada (maybe Nerja - haven't been there). After Sevilla, I'd recommend spending 3N-4N based in Ronda or 1-nighters (not so bad with a car). Spend the first day in Arcos, then explore the white hill towns (pueblos blancos), allowing a full day for Ronda itself. You need 2N in Granada so you have a full day to visit the Alhambra. IMO it's not worth the very long drive to Valencia for a few hours there (and you won't want the car in Granada). Fly back to BCN and enjoy the city - there's plenty to see and do, including day trips to Girona and Tarragona. There are also villages that can be visited on a day trip - others here have taken small-group guided tours and enjoyed it.

Posted by
187 posts

Thanks everyone!
Jamie—Those are great suggestions. Sadly, we have no names! I just learned that the family hails from an even smaller village nearby so perhaps we'll pop into a bar and try our luck :)

MorganMurphy—You reminded me that originally I'd planned to spend two nights in Ronda and then worried it would be too much driving for day trips. I'm going to do it based on your suggestion. I think I'm going to skip Valencia and keep a night in Nerja though. It was my mom's favorite place...something about paella on the beach!

Chani—I know, I know! Bigger cities on this trip. I guess what I meant is I like a mix of both and only one metropolis. I've heard great things about Cordoba though. Good point about Granada and Barcelona. I will rework the itinerary a bit! The one reservation I've already made is for BCN at the beginning of the trip. Can I fly Granada to BCN?

Posted by
27104 posts

There are flights from Granada to Barcelona, I believe including some non-stops. However, my quick check on skyscanner indicated that Oct. 15 would be a costly day to make that flight. Saturday isn't much better. Fares are lower on the 16th, but be careful: Some of those flights involve connections. I used skyscanner.com. All the flights are operated by Vueling, but they are also listed as Iberia and/or British Airways codeshares.

Posted by
187 posts

Thanks acraven. It looks like we could get a $66 flight from Malaga on Ryanair. So maybe keep the car and make the 90 minute drive there from Granada that morning...

Posted by
7175 posts

If you were dead set keen on eliminating single night stays.

October
4. Arrive BCN 6 pm. Pick up car. Stay In Sitges (1N)
5. Drive to Valencia (2N)
6. Valencia
7. Drive to Granada (2N)
8. Visit Alhambra
9. Drive to Ronda (2N)
10. Excursion to Grazalema & Zahara
11. Drive via Arcos de la Frontera to Sevilla (3N) Return car.
12. Sevilla
13. Day by train to Cordoba
14. Fly to Barcelona (3N)
15. Barcelona
16. Barcelona
17. Fly home to LAX 4 pm

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