We are planning to travel to Andalucia the day after Easter coming from the US. Current plan is to land Granada Apr 7, stay 3 nights, then move to Cordoba or Ronda for 2 nights, then onto Seville for 4 nights, fly home from Seville. We are interested in site seeing, history and local food/culture but also like outdoor activities such as hiking. My question is if we are interested in seeing both Cordoba and Ronda/white towns, should we spend our 2 nights in Cordoba (would travel by train) or Ronda (probably rent a car) and then day trip to see the other from Seville? My initial plan was stay in Cordoba and then join a tour to see Ronda but I’m probably lured in by the ease of the train from seville to cordoba.
Posted by
6702 posts
Cordoba from Sevilla is a much easier day trip. Plus if you day tripped to Ronda you would not necessarily have time to do any hiking, so you really just have to decide which is more important. I like spending the night in both Ronda and Cordoba, so can’t help ya there!
We did a couple nice hikes out of Ronda but not really anything time rite home about so maybe next time, you could plan a more extensive trip with a car for hiking and just enjoy the cities this time.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
9261 posts
You can reach Ronda by train or bus from Granada, though to see other white towns, you probably want a car somewhere along the line.
If in Seville 4 nights, you could day trip to Cordoba to see the main sights, it is a wonderful town to stay a few days to relax, but Ronda and the white towns are better for an overnight, and less optimal for a day trip. You might look into the cost to rent a car in Granada and return in Seville.
Just a side note: Trains are kind of messed up all over Andalusia due to the train wreck a couple weeks ago. Hopefully all will be back to normal by the time you travel, but keep tabs on the situation. It also affects buses, since the alternate to trains are buses.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
9025 posts
We enjoyed both towns-did 3 nights in Cordoba and 2 in Ronda
We liked Cordoba a lot so if I had to choose one that would be my choice
I doubt I would day trip to Ronda from Seville
4 nights in Seville was just about right-lots to see there
Posted by
43 posts
Our last trip to Spain was about 8 or 9 years ago. We stopped in Cordoba and stored our luggage as we explored the city for about 4 hours or so. I do not remember if Cordoba was closer to Madrid or Seville, but you can probably day trip to Cordoba. I do want to mention a day trip we did from Seville. We took a train to Jerez and attended the equestrian show and had a sherry tour and tasting at Sandman. We are not horse aficionados but the show was one of the highlights of our entire trip to Spain. This day in Jerez was a wonderful day.
We picked up a car when we left Sevilla and stayed in Ronda as our home base. We hiked around Ronda and also visited and hiked in both Zahara and Grazalema. I know that there are also some interesting places to hike near Granada but we did not visit those.