Hi, I am planning our 2 weeks summer trip and got completely torn trying to decide about Andalucía part of the trip. Could you please help advise which option seems better.
Option 1:
Day 1 (Friday) coming to Granada from Marbella about 11am. Have lunch; visit Alhambra with 2 pm tickets (3-5 hours). Spend the evening exploring. Night in Granada.
Day 2 (Sat) driving to Cordoba. Spend the day in Cordoba. In the evening drive to Seville. Night in Seville.
Day 3 and 4 – Seville (3 nights)
My main concern in option 1 if I have enough time in Granada.
Option 2
Day 1 (Friday) coming to Granada from Marbella (maybe be stopping on the way at Malaga) Explore the city for the rest of the day.
Day 2 (Sat): morning visit to Alhambra. In the afternoon (around 2 pm) drive to Cordoba. Stay overnight in Cordoba
Day 3: In the morning drive to Seville.
Day 4: Seville (2 nights)
I don’t want to spend too much than necessary in one place but don’t want to rush too much. If you think that I am missing something, I have 1 day extra that I can spend in this area. Thank you so much for any advise and sorry for such a long post!
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Having done all the same cities on a much faster paced trip a last year, I like option #2 better. You would probably be happy to have the extra time in Granada because the Alhambra by itself has a lot to see, and that plan also allows time to see the Albaycin area, too. It's about three hours from Granada to Cordoba, so you might get there late enough to not see much that day, but you can see the Mezquita before heading out to Seville. Cordoba is about an hour from Seville, so you have some time to spare that morning.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Hi Nancy, thank you for the reply. When you say about the fast pace, how many hours do you think I need to visit Granada besides the Alhambra? What do you say about coming to Granada at 11 am, doing afternoon 2-7pm visit of Alhambra, and then spending the evening and morning in Granada, but leaving to Cordoba around noon. It would give us more time for Cordoba and we might skip overnight there (all these check in and out of hotels eat up a lot of time)...Reading the others people posts I guess you can enjoy Cordoba in 4-5 hours? Thank you!
Posted by
FL USA
1560 posts
Have done this trip via car. Believe option 2 works best. We enjoy Malaga, but suggest you skip in favor of more time in Granada. Plan carefully where you drive in Granada and would not attempt driving in old town (virtually guaranteed an expensive ticket by doing so). Recommend you return car upon entering Seville as no need for car in old town and parking is expensive. BTW: do you have an IDP? One is required for Spain, obtainable for $20 at any AAA.