3-Week Spring Trip to Andalusia

The only places I found that were good bases for day-tripping were Jerez and Ronda. From Jerez I took day trips to Cadiz (by train) and Arcos (by bus), and felt that was enough time in both. I also enjoyed just spending time in Jerez. There is the Equestrian Riding School (great show), several bodegas for sherry tours, and flamenco. Jerez is the sherry and flamenco capital of Spain (the world?).

Then I rented a car and used Ronda as a base to explore the pueblos blancos (white villages). Scenic mountain driving, charming tiny towns and Ronda has a lot to see and do. From Ronda, I went to Antequera (one night) and dropped the car in Granada.

I didn't get down to the coast, so I can't speak to that.

I flew in and out of Madrid. I arrived early in the day and went straight to Cordoba from the airport. I spent a couple of days in Madrid at the end of my trip before flying home and I enjoyed it. The train route from Madrid to Seville goes through Cordoba, so it makes sense to stay there for a couple of nights before moving on to Seville. I found it very easy and enjoyable to travel by train and took taxis from the train station to my hotels. The rides were short and not expensive.

3 nights in Granada is enough to see the Alhambra. I recommend doing the evening visit to the Nasrid Palaces as well as spending a day there. I spent 3 full days (4 nights) there and would have been happy with one less. I was in Cordoba for a day and a half, and would have happily spent another one or two there. I thought it had the best atmosphere/ambiance, especially in the evenings and there's quite a bit to see besides the Mezquita. I took the inexpensive guided tour to Medinat al Zahara (highly recommended). There is a horse show and flamenco performances in the evenings too.

See what it would cost to fly into Seville and out of Granada. Since you don't want to see Madrid on this trip, it's easier and more efficient to go right where you want to be. It may not cost any more than a round trip flight to Madrid, and you'll save time and money you would otherwise spend on trains.

Be sure to use the "multi city" option on websites; don't look at two one-ways, as that's much more expensive.

I would recommend picking up a more thorough guidebook for Spain or Andalucía. The RS guide focuses on just the major destinations you mention. For that amount of time and wanting to do daytrips, you can dig a little deeper into places nearby that could be reached by bus (most likely) or train. I do recommend staying in Cordoba for at least a couple of nights; I find it one of the more charming cities and worth exploring beyond just the Mezquita. Granada is not one of my favorite cities and I would go crazy spending 4-6 days there; but you might enjoy it more or find some places nearby to explore as daytrips. The Roman ruins of Italica are nearby to Sevilla.

Thanks for these suggestions! Harold, I will definitely look into the multi-city option. I assumed that would be more expensive but maybe not, or maybe it is worth some extra expense. Chani and Douglas, you are changing my views about the amount of time we might like in Cordoba compared to Granada. That is very useful! And I'll look into the other suggestions in more depth.

Sue Ann,
Granada and its Alhambra and cathedral is a must stop and a top priority when in Andalucía. Personally, I think I would stay fewer days in Granada and then be able to dedicate more time elsewhere. As suggested I might add time to Córdoba. If you are at all interested in historical ruins visit Madinat Al-Zahra (Medina Azahara) right outside of Córdoba. You might like to fit in a visit to Jerez between Sevilla and Ronda. From there you could do a daytrip to Cádiz.

A week in Nerja would be too long for me. It is close to Málaga and there is much to do there: ruins, museums, beach/port, scenic views from the top of the hill. In the hills above Nerja there are some lovely small pueblos blancos.

According to your proposed itenerary you start in Sevilla, Ronda, Granada, Nerja, Granada and then on to Madrid to fly home. Why do you need to doubleback to Granada? Could you change the order and start Granada to Nerja/Málaga to Ronda to Jerez to Sevilla to Córdoba to Madrid or start in Córdoba and finish in Granada and then return to Madrid? I would tweak the itenerary. No matter what order you go, this sounds like a wonderful opportunity to explore Andalucía.

I have to agree with the poster who said that you're allotting too much time to Granada. Cordoba, on the other hand, is certainly worth at least 2 or 3 days. Do you know, for example, that there is a huge archaeological site, Medinat al-Zahara, a short distance out of town? It was the 10th c. capiital of Al-Andalus. When we were there, 10 or more years ago, it was being excavated and partial restoration had been accomplished. I'm sure more has been done since. The area around Ronda is full of caves, some of which can be visited, and one of which has 25,000 year old paintings. Cadogan has a guide completely devoted to Andalucia. If you get it, you'll find lots of places, to visit, like these, that don't make it into other guidebooks. Having a car makes getting around a lot easier, though I'd wait until leaving Seville to get one. We found driving in Spain to be very easy.

My impression is that most people who spend a week at Malaga or other Costa del Sol town do so because they have a time-share condo or similar deal that only rent by the week, not because it's any richer in things to see. Rick is not much of a beach-sitter, so you'll find him moving on every couple of days. I would try to find a middle ground. Day-tripping does mean fewer hotel moves, but also more time on the road, backtracking. Day-tripping also (naturally) limits the range of what you can see in a day. If a further town looks more worthwhile, then I've always been happy to pick up and move on in order to get there.

Vueling is a decent cheap airline in Spain. Rather than train from Madrid south, then back to Madrid, book connecting flights to get you to Seville and back from Granada.

I don't mind the fast train to Seville with a stop in Cordoba along the way, but I'd probably schedule that on the way back to Madrid when you aren't jet lagged. Otherwise, connect at the airport - it will save time and money.

Everything Chani said pretty much sums up my take too. I did a trip report here called Spain: affordable lodging, clean toilets (bad name I know, but it's a comparison to Italy). You may get something from it. I wrote down a lot of notes about menu items, drinks, language, etc.

Yes, look for Brad's trip report. It has useful information and is just fun to read. Since a couple posters mentioned Madinat Al-Zahra in Cordoba . . . 2 years ago I visited. The TI runs tours that are pretty cheap. You have the choice of on your own (just bus and entrance included) or with a tour guide. The additional amount for a guided tour was not very much. On my tour, the bus was about half-full and I was the only one who had bought the guided tour. The guide was excellent, young, good-looking, beautiful English, both very personable and very enthusiastic about the site and Spanish history. After taking me to see some very interesting finds in the museum's back rooms, 3 Spanish tourists joined us, who spoke some English. This worked really well. The guide would explain to them in Spanish at every stop, while I took photos, then to me in English while they took photos. I caught enough of his Spanish spiels to know that he was telling me everything he was telling them.

Since you are in your 60's you will be eligible for senior discounts sometimes. Always ask. Your age makes you eligible for a "gold card" (tarjeta dorada) for train discounts. You can buy one each for about €6, but only in person in Spain. This gives you a 25% or 40% discount (depending on the day of the week and the train route) on full-price train tickets. This is good if you don't want to lock into specific times way in advance. You can get up to 70% discounts by buying tickets 2-3 months ahead, but these are non-refundable and changes are expensive. I would book tickets to/from Granada in advance and get the bigger discount - there are few trains a day, so you might as well lock in.

We had a time-share trade for a week over 10 years ago, outside of Malaga like Laura describes above. We drove to Ronda, Nerja, and other locations but it did make for a lot of driving, and returning late each evening, after a dinner on Spanish Time. We saved some $$$ but won't be doing that ever again (our timeshare got sold a while back, for one thing).

We were there in June, but never bothered with the beach, and I can't vouch for how pleasant the water might be for swimming. The time-share complex we stayed at appeared to be almost exclusively British folks who partied at the on-site disco until late at night, then sat around the swimming pool all day as soon as it opened in the morning -- they didn't go to the beach either, for what that's worth. However long you stay there, Granada should not be missed.

We did 2.5 weeks in mostly Andalusia a year ago -- we were there in late April and early May and it was cold the whole time. I had sent my warm clothes home from France and would have frozen but for the fact that I left my silk longies in the luggage and so could wear silks under my linen slacks. We didn't have a single day that was warm enough to think about swimming.

We spent a week in Seville (flew there from Paris), 2 nights in Ronda, 2 in Granada and then a week in Madrid before flying home from there.

We thought the week was too long for Seville -- if I had it to do over I would have made that 4 or 5 nights (and we are like you, we like to base in a place and not rush from one spot to another. Two nights was perfect for Ronda. We had a hotel (Miquel) that overlooked the gorge and our room had a little balcony with two chair over the gorge. It was blustery and so being able to appreciate the view while not walking in the rain was nice. You can see our Ronda visit and a couple of other Spain stops here: http://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/spain/

We loved Ronda and that would be a spot where we might have lingered another day or two and done some driving to other white towns. We did our entire trip without a car and you wouldn't want one in places like Madrid or Seville. We did Cordoba as a day trip from Seville; I might spend a couple of nights here on another visit; the Mezquita is the most wonderful thing we saw on the whole trip although the key sights in Seville like the Alcazar and the Cathedral and Piazza Espana were all well worth the time.

We only had one full day in Granada as we arrived late and left early. We stayed in the Albaicin which I highly recommend if you will be there several days. We had a terrace with a view of the Alhambra and it was magnicent (even though the bed in our apartment was about 45 inches wide -- I book for view, my husband would like me to book for comfortable bed -- it was lucky we had a great apartment with a queen bed in Madrid) We definitely needed another day or two in Granada. Be sure you have arranged your Alhambra tickets well in advance; they are not always available last minute. It is a full day. We booked during the mid day period which allowed access to ticketed areas both morning and afternoon; if you have a morning or afternoon ticket, you are restricted to before or after 2 pm.

Madrid was about museums for us and next time we go to Spain we will spend a few days there to give us a couple of more days at the Prado. We missed Escorial, Toleda etc on this trip -- Madrid was the end of a two month trip and we were tired. Our next trip to Europe we will fly into Madrid, do these nearby towns for a few days, see the Prado again and then fly on to Paris and home from there.

Open jaw tickets are not more expensive than round trip tickets athough the number of flights available is usually less. On this trip, we flew into Paris, used Vueling to Seville and flew home from Madrid for the average of a round trip to Paris and a round trip to Madrid. The year before, we flew into Rome and Easyjet to Paris and Thalys to Amsterdam and home from Amsterdam. We have flown open jaw for 30 years now almost every year and it is not more expensive than round trip tickets and then you don't have the expense, the hassle and the time suck of having to return to home base to fly back. If you do find you need to fly round trip to Madrid, I would suggest heading immediately to Seville and then finishing the trip in Madrid for a couple of days, especially if you are interested in the Prado or the other great museums there.

We loved Anadalucia and it was easy to do without a car although I am sure a road trip would also be marvelous. We are at the stage of life where a lot of driving is a strain. There is no alternative in Tuscany or the Dordogne, but we found it easy to do by bus and train in this part of the world.

Consider this itinerary for balance...

Connecting flight on arrival to Malaga for 1 nt
Bus to Nerja for 4 nts
Bus to Granada for 3 nts
Train to Ronda for 2 nts
Train to Sevilla for 3 nts
Train to Jerez for 3 nts (day trips to Cadiz and Arcos - this was a great suggestion)
Train to Cordoba for 2 nts
Train to Madrid for 3 nts

Buen viaje !!

Thank you to all of you who posted advice. Based on these responses (and some from a TA query), we've adapted our plans. Most people preferred Córdoba to Grenada and suggested more time in the first, less in the second (just being sure to have enough time for the Alhambra, Cathedral, and a couple of other suggestions). Two people really loved Grenada and advised the reverse. While many people suggested additional destinations, we think we'll keep this to four stays (plus a night on each end in Madrid) with day trips. We did look into open-jawed plane fares, but we were able to get RT fares for 60,000 miles and $250 each (for all the fees and taxes), in and out of Madrid, so we took that deal.

Thank you to Janet (janettravels44) for the great descriptions and photos!

And, Brad, we'd love to read your Trip Report but cannot find it on RS. Maybe it's my technical inexperience, but I couldn't find a way to search for it and, under your listing (clicking on your name), it seems to only give Forum Q&A topics, although maybe I didn't scroll far enough. Can you give me a link to your report?

Here is what we're thinking now. We'd love suggestions for hotels.

Arrive Madrid. Overnight unless there's a train after 10 pm to Córdoba. (Based on TA
Expert BennyMalaga's advice to allow 4.5 hours from scheduled arrival if booking in advance to allow for arrival delays, customs & immigration, getting to the train station, etc.) We have one hotel recommendation: Hotel Clement Barajas at the airport.

Córdoba for 4-5 nights. Night and morning visits to the Mezquita. Guided tour in Medinat al Zahara, Roman bridge and waterwheel, synagogue with museum, evening time in Old Town, Flamenco, Royal Horse Stables show.

Granada for 4 nights. Alhambra, both evening and day visits, Cathedral, Convents of San Jeronimo & La Cartuja (recommended by friend), Alcaicería section, Royal Chapel, dinner in Carmen overlooking Alhambra, private tapas tour (recommendations?), Jardines de Zoraya dinner & flamenco dancing.

Ronda for 4 nights. Bull ring tour, gorge walk in RS, visit other pueblos blancos, caves especially Cueva de la Pileta near Montejaque (and recommended restaurant Restaurante de la Casita). We have 3 recommended hotels: Hotel Don Miquel (which appears not to have vacancies around the time we would be there), Hotel Enfrente Arte (fantastic reviews, very creative and eclectic, but lacks the gorge view), and Hotel Reina Victoria (good but not great reviews, but has the gorge view). Comments?

Seville for 4-5 nights. Alcazar, Cathedral, Plaza de España, walking tour (RS guide Concepción recommended, but I'm not sure how to find her!), flamenco at Los GalIos, stroll the banks of the Guadalquivir, Giraldo Reales Alcánzares, Casa de Pilatos. Day trips to Italica Roman ruins and Coto de Doñana. We have recommendations for Hotel Becquer and Hotel America. Comments or other suggestions?

Madrid for overnight before flight.

We would love additional hotel ideas as well as what you recommend (or don't recommend) for what to see/do. We will also check AirBnB. We've done that once before and were very pleased.

Planning the trip is half the fun for me, so organized trip tours don't have much appeal for me! Thanks to fellow travelers who make this even more fun!!

Wow, you have really slowed things down.
You may even be left scratching your head for things to do.
I would take a night each off Cordoba, Granada, Ronda and look at an added option for 3 nts - perhaps Jerez or Madrid??