My husband and I are staying in Marbella in September and want to take a day trip to the Alhambra, but didn't know whether to book through a tour company, or try to maneuver on our own (we have rail passes). Thanks for your comments and suggestions. Cnb
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
Since Marbella is not served by train, you'd probably take a bus the whole way, instead of switching to train at Malaga. See www.alsa.es or www.daibus.es. The train service is also partly by bus on this route due to track construction.
The most important part is making the timed Alhambra visit reservation. If they appear to be sold out online, then a tour may get you over that hurdle, as well as the tour bus might drive the route directly, without additional stops that take time.
Posted by
TN, USA
2158 posts
I'd suggest reaching out to Emily at South Ole Spain Tours. You can check them out on Trip Advisor (they get only fabulous reviews). Her company offers group day tours, individual tours, and can also do more extensive vacation planning.
We used South Ole Spain Tours for a day of our independent travel to Spain, and we were incredibly thrilled.
http://www.southolespaintours.com/
Emily is from America; she fell in love with Spain; she now lives there and runs South Ole Spain Tours. She is extremely responsive and she works to insure her customers are very pleased.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thanks so much for the information and suggestions-I will certainly reach out to Emily. Sounds like trying to maneuver through road construction routes/bus/train may be a bit too confusing!
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Since it's several hours each way by bus between Marbella and Granada, and since you will need to coordinate your Alhambra reservation with your time in Granada, this is one situation where I'd definitely use a guided excursion. If you don't want to do that (or find it too pricey), definitely spend a night in Granada; this will make the logistics of doing it on your own much easier.