My husband and I would like to spend May 2019 in Andalucia. We would like to rent an apartment for three to four weeks in a centrally located town and take day trips out from there. We’re also interested in hiking and biking in the area. Not planning to rent a car. Could you please recommend a town to stay in? Also would appreciate specific rental recommendations. Thanks!
Posted by
Barcelona + Sweden
4180 posts
For me, the best connected city, transportation-wise, in Andalucía is Sevilla.
Sevilla is connected to Cordoba and Madrid to the north via the AVE high speed train. It's also connected to Jerez and Cádiz to the south via regional trains. One can take the ALSA buses to Granada in the east, or southern Portugal to the west. Sevilla also has a large-ish airport that has good connections to cities in the northern regions too.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15788 posts
To put it into perspective, Sevilla to :
Cordoba: fast train .75 hour; "slow" train 1.25 hours
Jerez: 1 hour by train
Cadiz: 1-1.25 hours by train
Ronda: 2 hours by bus (but I quick google search didn't turn up any concrete info)
Malaga: 2 hrs by fast train, or 3.25-3.50 hrs by slow train
Arcos is another possible day trip - train to Jerez, then about 45 min bus ride, add in transfer/wait time.
I can't think of anywhere that would offer that many day trips.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15788 posts
Feria in Sevilla is from May 4 to 11. Expect very high prices for that week.
Posted by
Treasure Island, Florida, USA
267 posts
We stayed in Sevilla, Ronda, and Granada. Since everyone is recommending you choose Sevilla, I will share my beautiful Air bnb find:
(sometimes the link does not take you to a specific apt, if that is the case, search for the name :Centro Penthouse with Terrace)
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/8740226?guests=1&adults=1
Posted by
California 🦋
5294 posts
Keith,
Sevilla is a beautiful city with various day trip possibilities, however, I would not want to day trip to Granada from there.
The journey from Sevilla to Granada is about 3 hours.
If you do end up staying in Sevilla, you may consider staying in Granada for 2-3 nights.
Make sure you book your Alhambra Tickets up to 3 months in advance.
Many travelers also visit Córdoba as a day trip, however, I think this beautiful city deserves at least 2-3 days.
My preference would be to spend a few nights in each of the cities I’d plan to visit, rather than doing multiple trips from one city.
Multiple day trips can become exhausting, IMO.
Have a wonderful trip!
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
4656 posts
With a month's rental, you may be able to absorb the extra nights' costs for a couple of nights in Granada from Seville. I can understand wanting to stay put for a while, but doing day trips only means you will always be in that town with all the rest of the tourists. May has also been hot, hot the last 2 years.
However, as others have mentioned, Seville ticks a lot of boxes.
Might I suggest 4 weeks in Seville, and then a week with a couple of shorter stops? - one of the white villages that allow for hiking in the area (like Antequerra), then on to Granada for 3 nights then train to whereever you need to catch your flight home.(or see whether your airline code shares with Alitalia. I was able to book through to Granada for a nominal price this way).