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Andalucia trip-timing and location order

Planning on a trip to Andalucia October, 2019, first time in Spain. We'll be using frequent flyer miles, so that's why I'm doing my research this early, as we'll probably want to book our flights later this fall and need to have a good idea on an outline before then. A little about us: like castles/palaces, history, views, food/wine, walking and enjoying the atmosphere, not into art (although do enjoy 'in situ').

The basic outline I've come up with is 4 nights Sevilla (day trip to Cordoba to see the Mezquita), 3 nights Ronda (maybe a day trip to other town), 3 nights Granada (Alhambra, walk around/stay Albayzin), 2 nights Nerja (we love water although not lying on the beach, and if it's too cold to swim, at least dip our toes in-visit Frigiliana and Nerja Caves).

So my 2 main questions:
1. I've reviewed weather history on underground.com the past few years. I know no one can predict, but looking for it not to be overwhelmingly hot, so thinking arrive mid-October, leave the end. Any anecdotal experiences about that time of year? (I.e. will there be flowers blooming, even if just in gardens/flower pots, not overly hot?)
2. My initial plan was to fly into Sevilla, leave from Malaga. Looking at current frequent flyer options, it might be better to reverse the order. I'd thought it would be nice to end at the beach, and worry a bit about instead ending in Sevilla. (Not really big city people.) Reading about Sevilla though, I'm thinking this might not be a bad option as I don't think we'll be very rushed as I don't have a ton of 'sites' on my list, rather just a few things to see so might not be a bad place to end if the flights make it a better option to do this. Any thoughts on either Sevilla-Nerja, or Nerja-Sevilla appreciated.

Thanks so much - this forum was huge in helping me plan our Italy trip last year (first time doing this on our own), and so we're doing it again - for our 30th anniversary year!
Debbie

Posted by
7810 posts

Hi Debbie, congratulations on your upcoming 30th anniversary!

We went to Spain last year for the first time and had a fantastic time. First comment, I see you're using FF miles. We used Delta miles to fly into Madrid and out of Malaga...until they dropped that option from Malaga, and we had to RT from Madrid after we'd purchased our flight. So, just keep an eye on your reservation throughout the year. ; )

Here's a local event that you should try to attend which could affect which route your trip begins & ends. We were in Nerja for 4 nights and enjoyed the opening events Saturday evening & some activities during the day on Sunday. We also went Sunday afternoon back to Burriana Beach so don't feel that the fair will take all of your time. Nerja Feria : Festivities in honor of Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Michael the Archangel, the patron saints of Nerja. During these days there are processions, a festival of flamenco singing, folklore performances, carriages, typical verbenas and more. Probably the weekend dates for the kick-off in 2019 would be Oct. 12-13. Site with some info: http://www.explorenerja.com/fiestas/feria_de_nerja.htm

"The basic outline I've come up with is 4 nights Sevilla (day trip to Cordoba to see the Mezquita), 3 nights Ronda (maybe a day trip to other town), 3 nights Granada (Alhambra, walk around/stay Albayzin), 2 nights Nerja (we love water although not lying on the beach, and if it's too cold to swim, at least dip our toes in-visit Frigiliana and Nerja Caves). " I would subtract one of the Ronda days and stay your last night at Malaga. We were pleasantly surprised with Malaga and enjoyed staying in the center of town one night.

Frigiliana is so charming, and there's a quick bus from Nerja to take you there. We arrived early in the morning and stayed until probably 3pm, having lunch at Ei Casino (odd name!), a tiny restaurant near the top portion of the old town with fantastic views over the town & surround view.

At Ronda, have a tapa experience at Gastrobar Deja vu. It will look like I'm sending you to a dumpy place, but the staff are friendly and the food is fantastic and ridiculously cheap! We still talk about that place!

Our trip was Sept. 19 - Oct. 11 and the weather was wonderful the entire trip. We had extremely light sprinkles for an hour in Sevilla; otherwise, sunshine the entire time. I wore a cotton travel dress much more than expected because the weather was nicely warm. There were plenty of flowers blooming during that time.

Posted by
220 posts

acraven, good point I forgot to mention. I'm thinking about no car while in Sevilla/public transport, then a car for the other locations to get there and also for potential day trips.

Jean, thanks for the recommendations! We will be using AA miles, but will certainly keep an eye on the flights once booked. The photos I've seen of Frigiliana just look so beautiful.

Posted by
11294 posts

If you can get Iberia flights with your AA miles, you can connect through Madrid to fly anywhere in Spain (that has award tickets available, of course). If you're restricted to AA metal, then you have to fly in and out of Madrid. I don't know about other partners and what flights they have to Spain.

If you do have to start in Malaga, I see that with high speed trains, Malaga to Seville is under two hours, and you change in ... Cordoba, so you could stop over there for a night on the way. So, you could make Malaga flights work too.

If you do have to fly in and/or out of Madrid, you don't need to spend time there. You would just have to budget for a train from Madrid to Cordoba on arrival, so last minute prices. You wouldn't want to book this in advance, since you can never predict how long it will take you get to the train station (and Madrid airport is HUGE). At the end of your trip, you could spend your last night in an airport hotel.

Posted by
220 posts

Hi Harold, my miles take me through Madrid with Iberian, so that would be fine. Just looking at flight options currently, it might make more sense to start in Malaga and end/fly out of Sevilla, so wondered if it would be too frantic to end in Sevilla (we are not city people), but from what I'm reading and seeing, Sevilla looks like there are a couple sites I'd want to see, and mainly just 'savor' the city, walking around and enjoying.