Travel Guru's,
Please don't judge... circumstances have prevented me from trip planning and now I'm under the gun. I need some expert advice. Flying into Madrid in a month. Will stay 2 nights, then want to see/stay in Sevilla, Toledo, Granada, Cordoba, Ronda, Arcos. I need to know where to train to, and at what point, if any I should rent a car, and suggested # of nights in these places, vs. doing day trips and having a place to call home for a few days. We have from 10-12 days to spend here.
THEN... we want to train through southern France and spend from 2-4 days doing so, ( so I need to know the logistics of where to train from in Spain to.....) eventually ending up in Cinque Terre, Italy.
Don't know where to spend the night(s) in France or even the train to do this trip on... (French?, Spanish?,Italian?) Help... and again... please don't judge... I just need help. Just my husband and I, we're retired but do travel a lot and have driven a lot in Europe... We love small towns for the less chaotic scenes, but know that some good stuff is in the larger cities. Thanks SO much for specific help! I trust Rick Steves fans!
Posted by
Washington DC
27142 posts
Train from the nearest Spanish point you mentioned (Toledo) to the Cinque Terre will take between 25 and 30 hours. Even if you stretch the trip over 4 days and pick overnight stops that are on the direct rail route, you'll average over 6 hours a day on the train. Then you have to add the time you'll spend checking into and out of hotels. There will be precious little time to see anything in the cities you stay in. Is here a reason why you don't want to fly?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
These trains are operated by the each country's own national railway, with very little overlap at the borders. Trains in Italy are the cheapest, as well as your routes there should be shorter.
Every place on your Spanish list is served by train, except for Arcos, which has a couple of buses per day to/from Ronda and Sevilla. Weekend schedules are different and Sundays are not a good day for buses.
Trains also cover lots of stops along the route through southern France. The most common connection points between Barcelona and Nice are at Montpellier, Valence, and Marseille, but stopping anywhere else along the train line does not necessarily add travel time. Maps in Rick's guidebooks show train lines, as well as you can find rail-only maps in a Google image search.
Looking Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the Deutsche Bahn train schedule link and tips for using it. This is one-stop shopping for timetables but not for pricing, which will depend on how early you book reserved train tickets.
To compare flights from Spain to Nice or Pisa, for instance, see www.skyscanner.com. For any distance that you'd consider flying, a budget airline can be cheaper than a train ticket. You can fly nonstop from Seville to Pisa, Rome, or Milan, among others Italian cities. Schedules may not be the same every day of the week.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
It's a long journey by train from Andalusia to Cinque Terre - at least 32 hours and 6 trains.
Look at flights available from Granada, and consider the possibility of a few days on Mallorca.
- Fly in to Madrid (4N)
- Madrid
- Day to Toledo
- More Madrid (or day to Segovia)
- Early train to Seville (3N)
- Seville
- Day to Cordoba (Mezquita)
- Pick up car. Drive via Arcos to Ronda (2N)
- Ronda
- Drive to Granada (2N) - return car
- Granada (Alhambra)
- Fly to Palma de Mallorca (3N)
- Palma de Mallorca
- Palma de Mallorca
- Fly to Genoa/Florence/Pisa for CT