Advice on my south of Spain itinerary

Hi, I’ve been to all of the locations you’re considering except Gibraltar.

First, I’m glad you’re staying an extra day in Sevilla, and even that will seem short, It’s one of my favorite Spanish cities. I also like Cadiz (will be at both of those again in a few months, plus Cordoba & Madrid).

Tarifa was boring, in my opinion. We were ready to leave. We didn’t go to Gibraltar, but we could see its clear outline from Estepona.

An option for the route between Cadiz, Gibraltar and Malaga is their bus system. We rode it from Malaga to Estepona to Tarifa to Cadiz. Alsa is one of the companies. I can’t remember the other one right now, Since there’s no trains along that route, the buses are popular, and they are inexpensive.

While you’re in Cadiz, my favorite gelato (heladeria) shop in Spain is there - Verde Pistacchio.
At Malaga, the Picasso museum is wonderful! Be sure to buy your tickets way ahead of time.

Tarifa is a small town and, frankly, on a multi stop trip you won't be missing much if you pass by.
To visit Gibraltar en route by bus you will stop in La Linea, then travel across the border on foot.
The best way to see the sights, including the macaques on the Rock, is by taxi tour, available from the Gib side of the border. About two hours. Historically interesting, but possibly more so to us Brits.
Frankly, I'd spend the day in Cadiz and then go straight to Malaga, which has much to see.

Tarifa has no wow sites and with the little time you have could easily be skipped. If you want to visit Gibraltar it should be visited en route to Malaga so there is no backtracking. It may take longer to visit than you think.

Thank you.

I’m fine with skipping Tarifa, it wasn’t on my radar except when I’ve read that it’s where ocean and sea meets (maybe its a romantic in me that got interested)
Gibraltar I thought - it’s a cool place to see once in a lifetime. And since I’m not planning to return- it might be my only chance (although there are a lot of places on earth that I could visit only once :-)

Would you do a day trip to Cadiz from Seville and then train to Malaga or would you spend 1 night in Cadiz and then bus or hired driver? I’m not sure about bus because would have a carryon luggage with me, and not looking forward to switching buses with it, especially if there are long walks. (But without luggage I love buses)

Whichever has the best transportation connections (Sevilla-Málaga or Cádiz-Málaga) is what I’d do. I can’t help with that since I always have a rental car. For me, Cádiz is a day trip, but others have spent a number of days there, thoroughly loved it, and could have spent more time there.

If parking on the Spain side of the border with Gibraltar there is a decent walk. Last time I visited Gibraltar we drove across the border and parked near the cable car, but that was decades ago, so I have no idea what it’s like now.

Consider turning cordoba into a day trip between Granada and Seville, that way you get one extra night in Seville

Thanks all!

I just read that during my time in Spain, there will be Las Fellas festival in Valencia.
Even though my trip is planned for Madrid & Andalucía, would you recommend skipping Gibraltar and Cadiz for Fellas festival in Valencia?
I could still take a train from Seville to Malaga, do caminito del ray, then fly from Malaga to Valencia to see the festival and back to Madrid by train to fly home
I usually don’t like gridlock crowds and prefer seeing sites but I also like once in a lifetime things (that’s why I thought I should visit Gibraltar)

What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance

Only you can decide, but you need to weigh the time required to get there, then on to Madrid, with the amount of time you’d be in Valencia. Another consideration is lodging and its cost. It will be elevated and many hotels will already be fully booked.

With only seven nights, you really don’t have the time to crisscross the country. You barely have time to adequately see the places on your list.

That would be in my second week.
Yeah crisscrossing worries me

Every train ride and every flight, however short, is nearly half a day gone. Need to take that into consideration

Hi there..just starting to plan a winter trip to the Andulusia area of Spain (Feb/March). Have not decided whether to look at an organized tour or plan and orchestrate ourselves. Have you used your current tour company before and if so is it one you would recommend?
Thanks,
Kim

I love festivals when I am traveling and have shifted days to be able to attend them. My advice would be to look at several YouTube videos of the festival to make sure it’s something that is worth this change in the itinerary. But generally, the chance to attend a festival vs. going to Cadiz & Gibraltar would be an easy decision for me. : )

kimberleydahm
I haven’t used this company so can’t recommend yet. What we are doing is: most important sites is with small group tour company so that we are saving time with transfers (I prefer not to drive on vacation), have a built in small group of people to socialize with when my friend and I get tired of each other company :-), have logistics taken care of…. And part of the trip we are doing on our own: where we are based in one place for 3-4 nights and doing day trips and relaxing
I could have done everything without tour company but would need to extend the trip by a day or two longer because of logistics: taking trains, etc id probably spend the same amount of money anyways because I’d book better accommodations :-)