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Lisbon and Andalucia -- 10 Day Suggestions

Posted by on

Hi!

My fiance and I are planning a 10 day trip to Lisbon and Andalucia for the last ten days in November. Wanted to get feedback and advice on the following proposed itinerary! Any suggestions or feedback is very much welcome in addition to some questions below?

Wednesday AM: Land in Lisbon
Thursday: Lisbon
Friday: Lisbon (or possible day trip to Sintra, Evora, or Porto). I've been to Lisbon before, while my fiance has not, so seeing Evora or Porto would be new for both of us.
Saturday: Fly to Seville early AM, Rent Car and drive to Ronda (other stops?)
Sunday: Drive to Granada (possible hike?)
Monday: Granada and tour of Alhambra
Tuesday: Granada
Wednesday: Drive to Seville. Drop off car. (Possible stop in Cordoba?)
Thursday: Seville (day trip to Jerez and Cadiz with guided tour?)
Friday: Seville
Saturday: Seville AM, Fly home PM

Couple of questions:

(1) How reasonable is getting a car to drive around Andalucia? It seems that to see the hill towns and visit Ronda and do a possible hike that a car is the best bet. There also seems to be some beautiful scenery around Ronda and between Granada and Cordoba. But I worry about parking in Granada and whether we would even use the car for the two days in Granada.

(2) Our preference is to stay three nights in Granada to have a slower pace, but perhaps we should only spend two nights there and add an extra night in Ronda (to accommodate a longer hike?), or a night in Cordoba, or just get back to Seville one day sooner and do a day trip to Cordoba from Seville either that Wednesday or Friday?

(3) Are there any recommendations as to neighborhoods to stay in both Seville and Granada, and specific hotels in Ronda?

(4) How easy is it to get from the airport to Seville city centre? I assume we'd be dropping off our rental car at the airport and then going into Seville, so not certain if a taxi or public transit is the best option.

Posted by
6889 posts

Hi,
All in all, your plan looks good. I will suggest a few tweaks to your itinerary:
- don't day trip to Porto, it's 6 hours of travelling round trip.
- maybe start with your stay in Seville as you land there on Saturday, so that you can enjoy an extra afternoon in Seville (vs spending a rushed morning there on departure day)
- do spend a night in Córdoba.

Andalucía part could then become:
Sat: Seville
Sun: Seville
Mon: Seville OR drive to Ronda via Jerez
Tue: drive to Ronda via some white towns (e.g Arcos or Zahara) OR explore Ronda and surroundings
Wed: drive to Granada (early, to spend PM there)
Thu: Granada
Fri: drive to Córdoba, night in Cordoba
Sat: drive to Seville airport for PM flight (it is close)

Regarding your Q1: driving is fairly easy and reasonable between the towns and cities, but difficult within: basically park the car in Granada / Córdoba and leave it there for the duration of your stays.

Posted by
4370 posts

Are the flights booked?
I would have saved Lisbon for ten days in Andalucia.
I have visited Andalucia twice without a car but hope to return one day with one to explore small villages and do more hiking, but I don't see a lot of room or need in your plans for a car.

You can just set off on foot and walk around Ronda a bit, but a nice hike doable with transit is detailed here:
http://www.andalucia.com/ronda/hendersons-railway.htm

We took a taxi from Sevilla to the airport.

Posted by
2 posts

Hi!
To visit Cordoba you can check this website (https://sientecordoba.com/en/), it contains all the information about transport, museums, monuments, events or where to eat, as well as completely free audio guides that will be very useful during your visit to the city.

I hope this helps you. Regards!

Posted by
15582 posts

Evora and Sintra are both possible day trips from Lisbon by train. Porto is too far. Look at what each city has to offer and decide which one more interests you.

You could return the car when you get to Granada (at the train station), then take the train or bus to Cordoba in the morning, spend the day and train to Sevilla in the evening. If you keep the car while in Granada return it in Sevilla at the train station, not the airport.

There are pretty hill towns on the way to Ronda and the driving is scenic (if it's a sunny day). One place to consider hiking is El Torcal, which has interesting rock formations and fossils. It's between Ronda and Granada. I would spend 2 nights in Granada and add a night to Sevilla - or stay overnight in Cordoba on the way back to Sevilla. Cordoba is quieter and more romantic in the evening.

Posted by
1189 posts

Hi from Wisconsin,

Balso has a good tweak on your itinery. Porto, a city too far. Lisbon is such a great city, don't cheat your partner out of it. On the other hand, Evora is really nice too. If you go there make sure you get to the highly rated, one seating per night, restaurant. It is a bar that seats 9, 10 will fit. I would get to it 20 or 30 minutes before it opens. It fills immediately. Search for it. A husband wife team opetate it.

But couldn't you take trains everywhere you are going (or buses), and rent a car for a day or two arounf Ronda?

Andalusia is a bit like Iowa. You can drive one end of Iowa to the other and see corn fields. It loses its appeal after about 30 miles. Andalusia has 60 million olive trees. After a half an hour of driving you are wishing for a corn field.

Now, Ronda and NW of it, the hills are nice. Worth having a car.

And to park a car in Seville, Granada, Ronda, or Cordoba cost me more per night than the daily car rental fee. Just a budgeting heads up.

Wayne iNWI

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