Andalucia by Train

Do you plan any side-trips from Madrid (there are a lot of really good possibilities)?

Are you sure you want to go just to Tangier? It's a hassle to get to and is nowhere near the best of Morocco.

You're not covering that many miles, so I don't believe a rail pass will pay. The Tarjeta Dorada (senior discount card) will be helpful, though. I've linked to an earlier thread about it. There's also information on the Renfe website.

If you are prepared to lock down your itinerary well in advance, you can do even better on the longer trips involving fast trains by buying the tickets early on. The cheapest tickets will be non-refundable and non-changeable, so wait until you're absolutely sure of your timing.

Thanks acraven. Hadn't thought about Madrid side trips. Any suggestions? If not Tangiers then where else in Morocco?
Bill & Lynne

I think Fes and Marrakech are the most interesting cities, at least for first-time visitors. But you'd probably want to fly in, and you might have to go through Casablanca (a modern city, not terribly interesting). Fes and Marrakech aren't on the coast so aren't easily reached from Spain. Frankly, I'd make Morocco a separate trip. It takes time to move around there.

On the other hand, if you haven't bought your plane tickets yet, you could consider flying into Casablanca to see a bit of Morocco, then taking a flight to Spain and returning home from there. The multi-city (open-jaw) flight would make a quick trip to Morocco a little more practical.

My favorite side-trips from Madrid are Toledo, Segovia and Cuenca. All can be done as day-trips, but all would benefit from more time than that if you can spare it, especially Toledo because of the sheer number of sights there. I spent multiple nights in each of those cities last year and was glad I had. In my view, Toledo is absolutely one of the top destinations in Spain.

Toledo and Segovia can be visited sort of on the spur of the moment because last-minute rail fares are pretty reasonable, but Cuenca is only practical via the AVE trains. Via the AVE it's less than an hour; on the cheaper trains it takes so long that it's not really a day-trip destination. So you'd probably want to buy your Cuenca tickets shortly after they go on sale to make the trip affordable.

There's also Avila, which to my mind is only worth a couple of hours or so (and no, I wouldn't want to take that time away from Segovia).

Two more-minor side-trips from Madrid (accessible by bus or local train) are Alcala de Henares, a handsome university town, and Chinchon, a much smaller town which feels sort of forgotten if it's not a weekend (when it gets local visitors). In October you might be the only Americans in either place.

I haven't been to Andalucía recently, but with Morocco out of the mix I think your schedule would be great. There's time to see things without rushing. Arcos is quite small and doesn't need a full day. Roughly a full day would be good for Ronda. The other places definitely need multiple nights.

The ferries to Tangier's in-city port now depart from Tarifa in Spain (connections covered in Rick's Spain book). Ferries from Algeciras go to the new Tangier Med Port, which is miles outside the city. So assuming that you prefer to take a bus in Spain than a bus in Morocco, depart from Tarifa.

There are also budget flight options to Morocco's main cities, primarily to or from Barcelona and Madrid, but a few to Sevilla. At www.skyscanner.com, you can find budget flights and can search by city or by country.

Minor comment: I don't think you can get to Nerja by train (bus or car, yes). Also, to get to Granada it would involve a transfer in Antequera and bus in/out of Granada (construction on train line here).

Last October I spent 3+ weeks travelling in Andalucia by train, at age 75. It was a great trip! I flew into Madrid, took the train to Cordoba for 3 nights, went on to Sevilla for 5 nights, 3 nights in Cadiz, 3 nights in Jerez de la Frontera, 3 nights Malaga, 3 nights in Ronda, then spent a couple of nights in Madrid before flying home from there. The only change I would make would be to reduce Ronda by one day.I didn't find enough there to fully occupy myself for 3 days ...

Nicole is correct that you are likely to need a combination of bus and train to get to/from Granada, but it's not as complicated as it sounds. You buy a train ticket, say, from Cordoba to Granada. You get on the train in Cordoba and get off in Antequera - that's as far as the train goes. The train company has a bus waiting to drive passengers to the Granada train station. In the other direction, the bus leaves from the Granada station and arrives at Antequera about 15 minutes before your train leaves for whatever destination you are going to. There are also bus lines that connect various cities including Granada. Those buses arrive and leave from the Granada bus station, somewhat farther from the historic center (the train station is walking distance).

I decided not to "waste" the time getting to Tangier. There are no convenient or fast connections between towns people want to see in Andalucia and towns with ferry service to Tangier. What convinced me was research that indicated Tangier is the equivalent of a Mexican border town - if you want to see Mexico, don't go to Tijuana, if you want to see Morocco, don't go to Tangier.

I don't think it's very easy to travel from Ronda to Arcos, except by car. It's a really good idea to drive from Granada to Sevilla or Cordoba or Jerez, using 2-4 days to see the hill towns. The driving is not difficult. If you don't want to drive, then it could be easier to visit Arcos as a day trip from Sevilla - train to Jerez, then bus to Arcos. Or spend a couple nights in Jerez and day trip to Cadiz by train and Arcos by bus.

How much time to spend anywhere depends on what your interests are. For instance, the main draw in Madrid is the Prado, along with its sisters, the Thyssen and the Reina Sofia. If you enjoy spending hours looking a paintings, you'll want 2 full days to see this trio properly. Then there's the palace and its museums and the Naval Museum. You can visit Toledo as a day trip; that's what many people do, which is the main reason it's better to stay a night or two and enjoy Toledo in the early hours and the evenings when there are many fewer tourists.

My husband and I did 3 weeks in Spain in April 2015. Itinerary was this:
Flew into Malaga (3) This was during Semana Santa. Day trips to Nerja and Torremolinos by public transit bus. Nerja was great, Torremolinos not so much.
Bus to Granada (2), with Alhambra visit. Picked up car on way out of town.
Drive to Ronda (2) day trips driving to Zahara, Grazalema.
Drive to Sevilla (3) with stop in Arcos de la Frontera for lunch. Dropped off car at train station upon arrival to Seville
Train to Jerez (2) with a day trip to Sanlucar de Barrameda
Train to Cadiz (2)
Train to Cordoba (2)
Train to Toledo via Madrid (2)
Train to Madrid (3) with a day trip to Segovia.

Most train tickets I purchased in advance as point to point, and I booked all accomodation in advance due to it being Santa Semana. Driving was easy, roads were well signed and in great condition. The only changes I would make if doing the trip again would be to skip Jerez entirely and add 1 day to Granada and 1 day to Sevilla. We also weren't big fans of Toledo, and one day would have been enough there, even as a day trip. I would add that extra day (or 2) to Madrid, with possible day trip to Salamanca or El Escorial. We decided to skip any foray to Morocco as we decided we just didn't have enough time. We loved Cordoba and Cadiz and were glad we planned 2 nights in each. Happy planning!

Thanks all. Lots to think about and plan.

Bill & Lynne

With a full 3 weeks you have plenty of time for this relaxed leisurely paced trip through Andalusia.

Arrive Madrid
Train to Cordoba (2 nights)
Train to Algeciras/Tarifa (2 nights)
-day trip to Tangier
Train to Ronda (2 nights)
Bus to Nerja (2 nights)
Bus to Granada (3 nights)
Train to Seville (3 nights)
Train to Jerez (3 nights)
-possible day trips to Arcos de la Frontera & Cadiz
Train to Madrid (4 nights)
-possible day trips to Toledo & Segovia