Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada

We were in all 3 places the fall of 2015. Our favorite among them was Seville. We also found the Alcazar there(go early or late in the day...get tickets on line) just as interesting as the famous Alhambra in Granada. We stayed a total of three nights in Seville but could have spent more. Cordoba was a nice stop for one night and we felt that was sufficient. We had spent two nights in Nerja ( well worth it!) on the southern coast of Spain and made the trip from there to Granada just for the day. We had secured tickets well before hand for the Alhambra. Are you driving? Any time to take in the hill towns? Rhonda was wonderful and the drive in those mountains is beautiful. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have. Fran

Ken,

How much time in each place? That's a very personal decision. How much time do you have?

Just to give you an idea... My mom & I visited all the cities on you list (Fall 2015), and decided to spend 5 nights in Córdoba, 4 nights in Granada, 5 nights in Sevilla, 5 nights in Toledo and one night in Madrid. Mind you, we'd visited Madrid & Barcelona on a previous trip.
To be honest with you, I could have spent a few more days in Sevilla and Córdoba.

I prefer to stay overnight in most of the places I've visited (on most of my trips) because one gets to experience the evenings & early mornings without the crowds.

If you tell us how many days you'll have for your trip, we can give an idea as to how to allocate your time.
Happy travels!

Three nights, two full days for Seville at a minimum. Ideally, the same for Granada--but you could get away with two nights, one full day. That said, I think Granada outside the Alhambra is underrated. It's a nice town to visit even without the Alhambra. You could get away with one night in Cordoba.

Sevilla - You can see the main sights in 2 days, maybe even 1.5 days, but there are other lovely sights to see and neighborhoods to explore. And it has the best tapas in Spain (and therefore in the world).

Cordoba - My favorite city in Spain. Compared to Sevilla, it's low-key, lovely quiet atmosphere in the evenings, and like Sevilla, some interesting secondary sights if you spend more time there. If you're short on time, visit as a day trip.

Granada - you need at least one night to have enough time to enjoy the Alhambra. I spent 4 nights, arriving in the evening and leaving in the morning, so I had 3 days. It was the only place in Andalucia that I felt I could have spent one less night. I did the night visit to the Nasrid Palaces on my second night, then spent most of the next day at the Alhambra and recommend doing both, in that order. The other things I enjoyed: exploring the Albaicin, walking through the Moroccan market next to the cathedral.

As the others have mentioned, it would be good to know what is the block of time that you have to work with. I've been to all the above cities, and this would be my suggestion:
Sevilla - 3 full days/4 nights
Granada - 2 full days/3 nights
Cordoba - 1 day/ 1 night
Sevilla was my favorite city, and I don't think it's difficult to justify spending even more time than the three full days I allotted above.
I usually count my travel days as days that I use to settle into an area and become familiar with my surroundings, so I don't plan much on those days. But, I guess, if you are the ambitious type, you could squeeze some sightseeing into your travel days.

For Granada - 2 is minimum, 3 is better.
Consider Sevilla and Córdoba together. Four nights is probably a preferred minimum, doing Córdoba as a day trip from Sevilla. If you have 5 nights, then split them - 3 in Sevilla and 2 in Córdoba.

Last October, on my second trip to Cordoba and Seville, I spent 4 nights in Seville and 3 in Cordoba. I thought this was about the right amount of time, even though I could have found more places to explore and more things to do in both of the cities. I spent 3 nights in Granada a couple of years back and I was fully occupied visiting sites the whole time. I am sort of different from many folks on this forum in that I like the city of Granada for other reasons and sites besides the Alhambra.

How much time in each place? That's a very personal decision.

Agree totally with the above. As you can see from previous answers, everyone has their own opinion. We spent 2 nights in Granada, 5 in Seville and did Cordoba as a day pass through on the train. We felt Cordoba was fine as a day pass through for us, but many people love it there. When in Seville, we took a day tour of some of the local White Hills Towns and did some other nearby tours as well. To date, Seville is my favorite Spanish City (although Segovia is a close second, for very different reasons.)

I would stay overnight in all 3 if possible. 4 Sevilla, 3 Granada, 1 Cordoba. Cordoba can be done as day trip from Sevilla, or in transit (that is, early train from Sevilla, stay all day, leave on a later evening bus to Granada), but I think an overnight is ideal. You could, of course, enjoy longer in each city. Granada was my favorite, with Sevilla a very close second. I wasn't as enamored with Cordoba, but the Mesquita is amazing and I still enjoyed the rest of the town. Opinions vary on which city is "best" but all 3 are well worth your time.

thank you to everyone for your replies.

Do you have any hotels you could recommend?

Thanks
Ken

Hotel Amadeus in Sevilla.

Hotel Amadeus or Hotel Fernando III in Sevilla-- didn't eat breakfast at hotel since there are multiple cafes near by.

Hotel Anacapri in Granada.

Hesperia Córdoba Hotel in Córdoba, join their rewards program to receive 5% discount on all your NH bookings-- serves a delicious hearty breakfast (extra charge)

Hotel Santa Isabel in Toledo

I stayed at the NH Cordoba Califa while in Cordoba and found it to be highly satisfactory. It is a modern, clean, and comfortable hotel with a great breakfast buffet - they have made to order omelets available.

Depends on the time of year you're going and how you're getting from place to place. For Granada you should have 2 full days (1 for the Alhambra and 1 for the rest of the city) so you're not rushed. So depending on what time you arrive and what time the sun sets, that could be either 2 or 3 nights. Cordoba; 1 full day, so 2 nights. Of the places you listed, Sevilla is the largest and has the most to see. no matter what you choose to do, don't spend so much time rushing around that you can't kick back and really enjoy the places you visit.

thanks to all for your input. Very helpful

Ken