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January travel Itinerary in Andalusia help !

We are traveling to Andalucia in January 2020. We are flying into Malaga from the UK, and staying for 2 days. We will only be using public transport during our trip to Spain.

Then to Ronda 2 days

On to Jerez to see the horses, a day trip to Cadiz, a day trip to Gibraltar, a day trip to Arcos de la Fontaria, a day exploring and perhaps a "sherry tour" (5 days)

From there to Seville Perhaps just 2 days here ( do we need another?)

Should we go to Cordoba for two nights/1 day , is it worth the time and cost?

Granada/Alhambra 3 days

Return to Malaga. From Malaga we plan on taking the train/bus on day trips to Fuengirola, Benidorm and Torremolinos and will spend another couple of days exploring and resting before traveling back to Canada . Are there other smaller places that are interesting perhaps, on the train line on this coast ?

Should we stay somewhere other than Malaga ?
We have been to Malaga once before just for the day.

We have two other questions. Should we do the day trip to Gibraltar from Malaga or Jerez ?

Is there anywhere else that we should add to this itinerary? We do plan on making a couple of other trips to the north and the east in the future.

Thank you

Posted by
6783 posts

Hi,
Not sure what you mean by "days" - easier to count nights when planning routes.
Anyway: you need a third day in Seville, you can take it away from Gibraltar (awkward to get to and a jolly old tourist trap).
As for Córdoba : yes totally worth the time and cost, stop there between Sevilla and Granada.
Finally, regarding your last days in Malaga: a day trip to Torremolinos is interesting in a way, but only as a tour of the excesses of mass tourism. The coast east of Málaga (Nerja comes to mind) is less ravaged. And Benidorm: confusion with some other place maybe? Benidorm is in the Valencia region.

EDIT saw this was in January. The coast will be super quiet, places like Torremolinos and Fuengirola will be devoid of holidaymakers. Not beach weather either. So at that time of the year, I might want to spend more time in Seville than in Málaga, to rest and explore at a relaxed pace.

Posted by
26840 posts

Seville definitely needs more time (4 nights would be good), and I agree that the beach resorts may not be a good idea at that time of year, though I have studiously avoided them, not being a beach-goer and having no desire to visit British pubs and German sausage joints while in Spain. Folks here say that some of the towns are much nicer than others.

All of your times are probably overestimated by about half a day, since you haven't accounted for the time it takes to pack up, check out of your hotel, get to your new base and get settled.

Posted by
16893 posts

There is some direct bus service from Malaga to La Linea de la Concepcion (for Gibraltar, aka Est. La Linea on www.avanzabus.com), 2-3 hours each way. I don't believe you'll find a direct bus to/from Jerez but will probably change at Cadiz and/or Algeciras, taking more time. Also see www.alsa.es and broader search engines like www.busbud.com.

Posted by
16 posts

I have now settled on our itinerary but found we have two extra days!
We arrive on 03 January Malaga and will spend two nights there.
travel to Ronda for two nights
travel to Jerez for six nights. We will do day trips to Cadiz, Gibraltar (maybe) and Arcos de la Fontaria. The horses on a Thursday and investigate the Bodegas.
travel to Seville for three nights
travel to Cordoba for two nights
travel to Granada for three nights
travel to malaga for seven nights and then home
I can easily add another night in Seville as suggested, but where would you put the other night? or maybe find another place/gem! to stay for two nights !
Thank you

Posted by
26840 posts

Definitely at least one more night in Seville. Overall, I like the pace a lot, but I'm puzzled by why so much time in Malaga and so little, comparatively, in Seville, Granada and Cordoba.

Posted by
3874 posts

I agree with Acraven, I can't imagine why one would spend 9 nights in Malaga in January, at the dead of winter. It will be nowhere near beach weather and it won't even be warm. The locals will most certainly out of town, skiing in the nearby Sierra Nevada mountain range. Maybe you could take their cue and join them for a few days :)

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/spain/articles/a-guide-to-skiing-in-the-sierra-nevada/

Posted by
4526 posts

If interested in ancient Roman ruins both Seville and Cordoba have some on the outskirts of town, which would take up the better part of a day each. I would also give Granada an extra night if you can take it from Malaga.

Posted by
6113 posts

I was in Jerez in April. Cadiz is an easy day trip from there. We drove to El Puerto de Santa Maria and took the ferry into Cadiz which was easier than trying to park in Cadiz itself.

We went to the horse school on a non performance day, which was much better, as you can have a behind the scenes tour and see the horses at close quarters, plus they were practicing in the performance ring and we could take photos, which you can’t during the actual performances. Gibraltar is a hideous place and IMO there are many better places to visit, although Torremolinos wouldn’t be one of them!

Seville can easily fill three full days.