Itinerary and Accommodation help Andalusia

Under your circumstances, I would have (and did) chosen places that you can't get to easily with train (plenty of great options!), but of course if those are the places you want to visit, then all you need to do is choose accommodations with parking. I would look on Booking.com with that and any other parameters and see what comes up.
You are likely going to need a place close to Madrid to break up the drive (and to pause after an overnight flight before taking a long drive). We chose Alcala de Henares, which was lovely. I would strongly advise against setting off on a long drive around Madrid on no sleep--driving into the city perfectly awake was not easy. If you must, Toledo is only an hour drive.

The last time we were in Sevilla we stayed at Hotel Amadeus. It is near the cathedral area and we thoroughly enjoyed it. There is a parking garage “Interparking Cano y Cueto” about a five minutes walk from the hotel. That being said, driving in that part of Sevilla is a pain. The streets are very narrow. Hotel Amadeus is on a side street (pedestrian only) off a narrow street where it’s difficult to pull over to unload your luggage.

In Ronda we stayed at Hotel Soho Boutique Palacio San Gabriel. It didn’t have its own parking, but there was a lot just down the street that was easy to get to. The Parador in Ronda, right at the new bridge, has its own parking garage. If you were there on your anniversary, it would be a nice place to stay.

Driving in the other places you want to visit isn’t much different from Sevilla. Consider staying a little further away from the historic centers and look for hotels that have a newer (1985 or newer) parking garage. Parking garages built prior to about 1985 weren’t built for larger cars and could be hard to get in and out of. Prior to entering an older parking garage, check it out to ensure your car will fit. We had a nerve wracking experience years ago in Ourense where there was literally two inches between the folded car mirrors and garage wall. Fortunately that car had a sun roof we could have used to get out in the event of an emergency.

When you decide on hotels, research nearby parking and enter everything into a GPS or save them to a navigation app so you can go straight to them. It may also help to use street view for a virtual drive by so you know what everything looks like prior to arrival. Paradors generally have onsite parking; sometimes paid, sometimes free.

If you decide to visit lesser visited and smaller cities, I could give you plenty of suggestions.

Are you sure you want the hassle of a car for your entire trip? Or could you rent for a shorter time period when you really need a car? I feel like a car in Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba would just be an expensive hindrance. When you want to travel the coast or to Ronda, then a car is useful. When we did this area, we picked up a car at the end of our stay in Sevilla and returned it upon arrival in Granada

Day tripping more than an hour for us isn’t really doable though. There really aren't many places you can day trip to by car in an hour. Sevilla to Cordoba is about 1-1/2 hours. If you base in Jerez you could day trip to Cadiz and Arcos in less than an hour. Use google maps to estimate driving times and take into account that Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada are big cities with rush hour traffic.

I am a little puzzled by your choice of a car. Surely you will be more at risk in crowded tourists sights and restaurants than on a train. I believe the current rule is that masks are only required on public transportation.

Hi again. Thanks for your thoughts and ideas. To those who have asked/commented about the car situation I can assure you that we not be renting a car unless we felt we had to because of my medical situation . I have not ridden on public transportation or eaten indoors with anyone except immediately family in my own country since COVID and we wanted to be able to control our environment as much as possible. Please respect our decision and know it is not one taken lightly. Thanks.

Joan, thanks for the explanation.My intent was to be helpful, many folks don't realize that the public transportation handles that area very well. I understand your reasoning. I have taken two international trips (plus a few to Hawaii) since the outbreak of COVID and it is a different world. On our trips we thought a lot about what museums/churches etc we wanted to visit in terms of crowds and we did eat outside even in 50-55 degree weather in Poland.

Your day allocation for the cities seems reasonable to me. I might take a day from Granada or Cordoba and add it to Sevilla. IMO, 3 days is more than plenty for Granada. I just love Cordoba, you could do it in 3, but there would be enough to do for 4.

It sounds to me that you'd be best off staying just outside of the cities and day tripping in to each city. The countryside in Spain is lovely. i can't recommend any accommodations, I always like to stay city center and we tend toward moderately priced accommodations.

It seems the pueblos blancos between Sevilla and Granada would work for your criteria. There is Arcos and Ronda which are very popular, but also Zahara, Grazelema and Setenil are very attractive. We stayed in a lovely B and B in Grazelema. It was a gorgeous setting and very quiet. Because you have a car, this is a great vacation to visit this area that is really best done by car. In the pueblos blancos, we stayed at La Mejorana. There was parking right next to the inn. I'd recommend a car on the small side.

Just to clarify, I have complete respect for your reasoning (I provided info about covid safety environment in Spain in your other thread), but what some of us are hinting at is that we would have made different choices with a car (and it is helpful for anyone reading this thread to know public transport is the only place a mask is required). Jules mentioned some of the lovely towns that would be pleasant with a car, and Jaime is a wealth of information about the less popular but just as impressive towns in Spain that would make excellent use of a car.

We've stayed in a few great places in Spain. We travel with our kids and usually stay in apartments with 2 or 3 bedrooms, so some of these might be more space than you need, but here are our favorites:

Granada:

https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/atico-plaza-nueva-granada.html?aid=304142 We stayed in the 3-BR apartment with the terrace, which was absolutely amazing. Drop-dead gorgeous views of the Alhambra, very comfortable apartment in a central location by the Plaza Nueva. But the terrace was what made it special.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/29879241?sourceimpressionid=p31661528109Mz6rz95YVF407zqL This listing is for 4 2-BR apartments that can be reserved separately. We loved staying here last December. It is in an area with few tourists, plenty of close-by bars, restaurants, a bakery, fruit stand, etc., but only a few blocks to the Bib Rambla, Plaza Nueva, and other "destinations." The Alhambra is easily walkable if you don't mind the uphill. The apartment building is very nicely updated and the apartments super comfortable.

Cadiz:

https://www.booking.com/hotel/es/el-armador-casa-palacio.html?aid=304142 This place was awesome, maybe our favorite stay anywhere. We had the 2-BR penthouse apartment with the terrace, which is absolutely lovely. The location is on a pedestrian-only street with plenty of restaurants, shops. You can walk everywhere in Cadiz, but this apartment is fairly central in the old quarter, so everything is close by.

These places are all located in the middle of the city and we did not have a car, but I'm sure if you contacted the apartment hosts they could suggest parking.

Have a great trip!

Thanks! I very much appreciate the informative responses. I’m taking a second look at what “outside of city “ places we can choose that will keep us near the cities on our itinerary. We have in past driven on small narrow Europe roads and definitely know it can be quite challenging ). We will rent a small car and always only travel w small luggage. In any case where we do stay in a city we are checking carefully re parking nearby. Thanks again.

We have been to Sevilla twice and stayed at the following which were both excellent experiences: Alfonso XIII and Gran Melia Colon. Both are upscale historic hotels.

I too meant only to be helpful.

There's much to see outdoors in Cadiz, most of Arcos but in the larger cities, many of the streets in the historic center are narrow and are often crowded. A lot of the Alhambra is outdoors, but the best parts are inside the buildings with lots of other people.

Is it still worth going to the Alhambra if we don’t go indoors? We would mask outdoors if it’s crowded, but we might not go inside to the palaces if it is so cramped and crowded. And I’m assuming, masks are only optional…,

The most fascinating part of the Alhambra is the Nasrid Palace. The exterior of most of it is rather plain. While still worth visiting it and the Generalife, you’d miss a lot.

With all respect, I think you need to plan a different vacation to meet your COVID restrictions. Don't get my wrong, I get it, and I've made similar choices in terms of avoiding crowded places over the last few years. The Alhambra is AMAZING and crowded. Although there are a lot of lovely outdoor places, the inside of the palace is jaw dropping.

We will be going to France/Spain soon and it strikes me that my trip is so much more safe in terms of COVID. We will be in Bordeaux, Dordogne, Basque Spain and France and La Rioja. We will be outdoors most of the time. Inside will be in smaller wineries for wine tasting. I'm staying in places that have less than 5 rooms, for the most part. We are going to a few museums but I don't anticipate any place being as crowded as Andalusia. Its not that I planned my trip to be especially COVID safe, its just that nature of our particular trip.

If it were me, I'd want to wait to go when I could experience all of what is amazing in Andalusia.

I hear you but the trip you are taking is quite similar to the one we had planned and just canceled : Dordogne, Bordeaux and Rioja.
Anyway we are happy with our decision to go to Andalusia and the way we do it will be safe. We have just finished booking and are staying at 5 lovely accommodations. 4 Airbnb and one 4 room inn, and will do the activities we feel comfortable with. Part of the purpose of our trip is to check out areas we would want to winter in long term. So if we like this little bite size taste of Spain on this trip we will definitely go back and experience more of the country. I know we’re no spring chickens, but we hopefully will have some wonderful winters now that we are retired, to spend in some special spots. Thanks for your input. I do appreciate the time that people put in for strangers, just wanting to offer some coaching.

Joan, to clarify, my point wasn't so much to coax you into my itinerary but to illustrate that certain itineraries result in less exposure to others. We loved our trip to Andalusia. I hope you have a great time.

Hi Jules. I understand about the itinerary. We are going to do the Northern Spain and Dordogne at some point. I have lung damage and we spoke to my doctor and looked at the weather for the time we wanted to travel and figured the weather would be better the further south we went. We will avoid large crowds, never eat indoors and skip activities that will be crazy busy. Sometimes we mask outdoors in our own city anyway. I know what you mean about the Dordogne…it’s no doubt quieter, but thanks explaining and your good wishes . And we’ll have fun I’m sure.

In case it's helpful, these are some attractive smaller towns accessible via day trip from other cities you plan to visit. I'm not sure they're within a 1-hour drive; I was using trains and buses.

From Seville: Carmona
From Cadiz: Vejer de la Frontera
From Granada: Priego de Cordoba
From Madrid: Acala de Henares (previously mentioned)

Note that Granada is rather hilly.

This was my experience, visiting the Alhambra in February about 8 years ago. I used the main entrance and picked up a map and audio guide in the enclosed entrance hall. If you don't need those, you can go in the Gate of Justice which is near the Nasrid palaces and there should be no line or crowding.

I stood in line for about half an hour until my timed entrance to the Nasrid palaces, in a large open space. Your husband could stand in line while you find a more isolated spot until your entrance time. 50 people entered at once, then a few stragglers (they admit 50 every half hour). There is a one-way route through the palaces. I went in with the crush, but I backtracked a room or two for better photos and they were mostly empty, until the next 50 visitors arrived. So maybe if you hang back and go in some 10-15 minutes after your timed entry (there's a 30 minute "grace" period), you might miss most of the crowds. After the first set of rooms you get to the court of the lions which is a very large open space surrounded by palace rooms. The route then takes you through more rooms - and that's where things aren't so simple, since some people just pass through the courtyard while others linger. Then you get to the exit and you're outdoors again.

The toilets at the Nasrid end of the campus are in a building that also has the checked bags (no large bags or backpacks allowed in the palaces) and vending machines that you go through and up a flight of stairs. There are usually a lot of people in those areas. I believe there are toilets in the main entrance building - again probably with a goodly number of people there most of the time.

A few years ago, you could visit the grounds and even some of the buildings without tickets. You only needed the tickets for 3 building complexes. I don't know if that is still the case. If not, and you decide not to enter the Nasrid palaces, then buy the cheapest tickets available. The official website has lots of info on what to see.

Chani, thank you sooo much. Your response was extremely helpful. I appreciate the informative and creative idea to deal w the crowds and my husband has said he would drive further than an hour for day trips (after I showed him some responses). He said he just didn’t want to it every day.

We visited Spain most recently in December/January of 2021/22, and visiting the Alhambra is still exactly as Chani described. If it were me and I wanted to isolate more, I would do as she suggests and wait 15/20 minutes after my "official" entry time and then go in. The rush will be over, people will have moved through the bottleneck. I totally understand your health concerns, but it would be a shame to miss the Nasrid palaces when you are at the Alhambra.

I hope you have a lovely trip!

A few recommendations based on your having a car. I always travel with a car and ignore those who question my decision to do so.

Parador in Ronda. Great location, comfortable and has its own garage. I’ve stayed there twice and would return.

Hotel Becquer in Sevilla. Located midway between the Cathedral and La Triana. Has it’s own garage and you can get there on main roads I have stayed here 3 times.

Granada If your budget allows, the Parador. Located inside the Alhambra grounds. If that’s too pricey, Hotel America is also inside the Alhambra and both have valet parking. Parador is outside my budget, but I would go back to Hotel America (stayed once).