Suggestions on trip to Andulucia in May

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The Romeria del Rocio will be in early June. Do your dates stretch into June?

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/europe/spain-pilgrimage-virgin-mary-seville-romeria-del-rocio-b2766537.html

Madrid to Cordoba would be a lot faster by train (can be under 2 hours) than by car (at least 4 hr. 26 min. per ViaMichelin.com).

Driving and parking in central Granada is challenging. Check your hotel's website or email for directions.

Two nights will give you only one full day in Seville; you'll be arriving late after seeing Donana National Park. Seville is the largest city in Andalucia and has a lot of somewhat scattered sights. I usually recommend at least 4 nights there. In your situation, fewer than 3 nights is going to rather severely limit what you can do. I'd drop Ronda or cut it to one night in order to have more time in Seville.

Alternatively, I wonder whether you could see both Laguna Fuente de Piedra and Antequera in transit from Granada to Ronda, saving a night. (I don't know where the prehistoric caves are.) ViaMichelin.com estimates the basic driving time for Granada-Antequera-Ronda at under 4 hours; it would be a bit faster to hit Laguna Fuente de Piedra after Antequera.

I assume you plan to return to Madrid the night before you fly home if home is in North America.

Rick lists his top sightseeing suggestions for many cities on this website. Go to this webpage: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain, select one of your destination cities and click on "At a Glance". It should be noted that those are just what Rick considers the top stops; there are many more things to see in each of the major cities. Among the sights popular on this forum not on Rick's posted list (they may well be in the guidebook) are San Juan de Dios in Granada and the Metropol Parasol in Seville.

Thank you so much for sending the article with the pictures. I knew about the pilgrimage but without the images, it seemed like it might be more complicated than it was worth. We will be there the week before the event.

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that Andalucia was getting quite warm in early May 2019. Be sure to check hotel reviews for comments about the quality of the air conditioning. Weather in spring varies quite a bit from year to year, but I'd schedule the trip in early May if that is possible. Here's a graph showing May 2025 temperatures in Seville: https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/spain/sevilla/historic?month=5&year=2025.

You can use the pull down box at the right, just above the graph, to change the month/year displayed. With the Search box at the upper right, you can find statistics for other cities. Of the cities you plan to visit, Seville and Cordoba will probably be the hottest; I don't know anything about the nature areas.

I took a look again and I'm confused, as different sites are giving different dates for the Romeria de Rocio...some say end of May and some, early June. You might investiage and see if there are preparations to be watched somewhere along the route(s)..

https://www.andaluciamia.com/es/romeria-del-rocio-fechas-historia/

This is probably not of interest here, but there is now a good hotel in El Rocio, part of the Kaizen group, which owns the 'Don Ramon in Sevilla, and the Palacio Maria Luisa in Jerez. Both of those hotels are wonderfull, small properties.

The full name of the park is Reserva Natural de la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra and it is about a 30 minutes drive outside of Antequera. Laguna Fuentes is in a completely different part of Spain.

The N-432 is probably the most direct route between Córdoba and Granada, but I know of no castles along it. West of Córdoba is Castillo Almodovar del Rio Castillo de Almodóvar. Between Granada and Antequera are Castillo fortaleza de Archidona and Castillo de Iznájar. I recently read about El Torcal de Antequera Paraje Natural Torcal de Antequera. It’s not very far south of Antequera and has interesting rock formations.

Somewhat near Granada is Castillo de La Calahorra, but it’s really out of the way for the rest of you itinerary. South of Granada is Castillo de Lanjarón, but it’s more a ruin and is also out of the way for where you’re going.

About the same time as your trip, we too will be in that generally vicinity and visiting some of the same places, but our trip will be 25 days long and in a smaller geographic area. In Ronda, Córdoba, and Antequera we have reservations at the Paradors. I’m not sure if they are within your budget, but consider checking them out. We too will be in Córdoba for three nights during the patio festival.

As for driving tips, the historic center of Córdoba is a pedestrian only zone unless your hotel is in it. Part of Ronda is now a restricted driving zone. I haven’t driven in Sevilla or Granada since 2011 and 2014 respectively, and they were a pain. Once outside of the cities driving is a breeze.

I assume the cave you’re referring to is Cueva de la Pileta. It’s about 30 minutes southwest of Ronda. Ensure you check its hours and be aware there is a short walk between the parking area and the cave entrance. Also, the walk to, and in, the cave isn’t always level.

If you have any specific questions you can send a private message.

EDITED: I did some checking and along the N-432 route to Granada are the following castles: Castillo Ducal de Espejo, Castillo de Castro del Río, Castillo de Baena, Castillo de Luque, Castillo de Alcaudete, Fortaleza de la Mota, and Castillo de Moclín. I haven’t been to any of them and each looks different from the others. You’d need to look at each and decide which to visit. Keep in mind that many castles in Spain are privately owned and not open to the public except during certain celebrations. Depending on their uniqueness, some may only be worth a quick drive by for a couple photos.

I’m not sure what you consider affordable, but we recently stayed at Hotel Anacapri in Granada and Posada de Vallina in Cordoba. We were happy with both and considered their prices reasonable. Both are in the RS guide. They were quiet and had elevators.

Not going to Seville, I don't understand that!

Very clearly stated are two nights in Sevilla.

Sorry, great Seville is wonderful.

I would take the train from Cordoba to Granada. Parking and driving in Granada will be very stressful.

I think you will be very frustrated with only one full day in Seville. Seville is an amazing city with so many interesting historical and cultural sights. It's a beautiful city for wandering and getting lost. Take a carriage ride. See a flamenco show. Seville is to be savored. I would eliminate Ronda and spend more time in Seville, which is a much more important city than Ronda. OR spend 1 night in Ronda, instead of 2, and add that night to Seville for a total of 3 nights. Although I think 4 nights is the barest minimum for Seville.

Can you buy open-jaw or multi-city tickets? Fly into Madrid and home from Seville. This way you don't have to backtrack to Madrid so you have an extra night to add somewhere.

I certainly agree with skipping Ronda and adding more nights in Sevilla.

After hearing you ideas about Ronda and Seville, I am thinking we might spend two days at our location in Antequerra and do a stop in Ronda on our way to Cadiz. That might make it possible to see the Romero, if it is happening that weekend. I'll have to check out the distances. But it sounds like there is more to enjoy in Seville than we read in some guides. And GEO, your response is perfect--because that seems to be the sentiment on the internet.