Spain in October

Sevillia...Really Discover Seville is a great, small, tour company, I used them and was very pleased. The group was much smaller than others I saw, could actually hear the guide, and it was excellent. Also, they can direct you to an excellent flamenco show...be sure to get there early and sit on the front row!!!

Think I might do Granada on another trip. That is what I am planning to do this fall even!!!

Fly from barc to seville, check.
Spend three nights seville, check.
Do cordoba as a day trip via train from seville.
Take bus from seville to granada.
Spend two nights in granada.
Then fly back to barc.
Granada is far superior to cordoba.

Go with the itinerary suggested by Marbleskies. There is not much more in Cordoba other than the Mezquita. The Alhambra in Granada is spectacular, and Granada is a much more interesting city.

Check to see whether you can get tickets to Alhambra on the dates you would be in Granada. If not, save Granada for another trip.

Cordoba is an easy day trip from Seville, it's only about a 45-minute train ride. While there's much more to Crodoba that the Mezquita, it is definitely the Wow of the city, and likely the top Wow in Andalucia after the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a not-to-be-missed sight. Try to squeeze it. There's still plenty of time, so you should be able to get tickets. I recommend going both for the evening tour of the Nasrid Palaces and spending a day there.

you can't buy Alhambra tickets via the website beyond Sep 30 as of today....so I guess I will check later in the week

some other questions
Seville - 3 nights Oct 2-3-4
- should I pre-book a small group tour? (saw some for 2 hours for 20 e per person)
- any other recommendations for food or flamenco, or anything to prebook?
- we will take a day trip to Cordoba maybe on Oct 4 - no need to prebook trains I assume? should we pre-buy our tickets to the Mesquita or anything else?

Granada - 2 nights Oct 5 - 6
- we will try to pre-purchase Alhambra tix for night and day tours (per advise)
- best way to get from Seville to Granada? should we prepurchase our bus or train tix?

thanks

I suggest you plan to visit the Nasrid Palaces the evening you arrive, then go back the next day to see them in daylight and the rest of the Alhambra. When you buy tickets to the Alhambra, you choose a specific time to enter the Nasrid Palaces. You should plan to join the line at least 15 minutes prior to entry. If you have bulky bags with you, check them before you line up, or you'll be sent back to the check room. I don't know when they stop admitting people, possibly as soon as the last in line are in. Once it's closed they will not admit you and you're just out of luck. However, once you are in the Palaces, you are free to stay as long as you like. For your daytime visit, if you choose a morning ticket with a Nasrid entrance time of early afternoon (like 1.00) you will have the entire day there if you choose. I've heard that a time as early as 11.30 will do, but I can't vouch for that. My entry was either 12.30 or 1.00 and no problem. You can enter the grounds as early as you like and enter the other ticketed sites at any time before or after the Nasrid Palaces visit. When you enter, pick up a free map. Also ask what's open. There are a couple of buildings that are open only a few days a year, and you may be lucky.

Alhambra is not open in the evening starting oct 1....so we have to go during the day

Decided to get a car the morning we are leaving seville and drive to Cordoba for the day and then onto Granada for 2 nights dropping the car in Granada and flying back to Barcelona in the evening.
in seville we are staying at the Apartamentos Conde de Torrejón for 3 nights
any tips for side trips on the way to cordoba or granada?
muchas gracias

You don't need to pre-purchase bus or train tickets from Seville to Granada. Buses run more frequently and don't take any longer; see www.alsa.es for schedules.

According to the book, Vueling uses Barcelona Terminal 1, from where the Aerobus A1 runs to Placa d'Espana, about 6 blocks from your hotel (frequent departures, €10.30 roundtrip per person). Terminal 2 (mostly used by smaller airlines) has train service to Barcelona Sants station (see also p. 175 in Rick's Spain book).