We are travelling in mid-late October. We really haven't firmed up our dates as we are trying to finalize an itinerary between Spain and Portugal. Is it essential to buy train/bus tickets well in advance or will we be able to 'wing it' as we go? We are interested in Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, Granada and somewhere on the coast...Malaga or small village? As far as the Alhambra...there appears to be tons of tour companies that include your tickets. What is the best way to see the Alhambra - with a tour? A weather question: normally is southern Spain still quite warm in October? Thanks for your help.
Posted by
California 🦋
5202 posts
Lulu,
One of the main reasons to book your train tickets in advance is to take advantage of the savings of discounted tickets.
You can check Renfe.com in order to get an idea of the savings (by comparing tomorrow’s date with a date in October) , and you’ll also note that some of the trains may already be sold out.
We toured the Alhambra on our own and booked our tickets a couple of months in advance (may book up to 3 months in advance)
If you prefer to book a tour of the Alhambra that’s also possible, but I don’t know if they get booked in advance as well.
We visited Andalucia in October ( 2015) and the weather was still rather warm. I wore skirts all the time since the weather was in the 80’s. We did experience a light thunderstorm while in Córdoba one day. Your best bet is to check the local weather prior to your trip.
Have a wonderful trip!
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
For most routes, you can "wing it." However, the prices for fast trains will be much higher at the last minute, and on the busy routes like Madrid to Seville, some trains can sell out. For buses, you can usually buy a day or two in advance without difficulty.
For the Alhambra, you can go on your own; admission includes an audioguide, and you can go at your own pace. However, you do need to buy tickets ASAP, as it apparently now sells out every day. Looking at the official ticket link Priscilla gave https://tickets.alhambra-patronato.es/en/, it shows "last tickets" for every day in October, and some dates in September are already sold out.
Yes, southern Spain should be warm in October. Remember that Granada, up in mountains, will be cooler than Seville, which bakes for much of the year. Rather than relying on others' impressions, take a look at actual weather. Use Wunderground and play around with various past dates, and do check each town separately. For instance, here's Seville on October 15, 2017, and I see the mid-afternoon high was 95 (you have to click and drag the graphs to get the whole day): https://www.wunderground.com/history/daily/es/sevilla/LEZL/date/2017-10-15
Posted by
10 posts
We are going to Spain in September and everything that I read suggested that you buy the tickets for Alhambra in advance. We were initially planning on going to Granada on September 14th and there wasn't any tickets available for that date. We were able to get tickets for September 13th at 45 euros each. There was only one tour left in English at 9:00 a.m. in the morning. We used alhambradegranada.org. |f you are staying right in Granada, there is also the option of being picked up at your hotel and I believe the cost for that was 69 euros.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area
5697 posts
When my daughter and I went to Spain in October about 10 years ago we could not get Alhambra tickets on the day we wanted (several months in advance)-- so I got tickets on the day we could get in and rescheduled around that. Worth the effort!
Also, note that October 12 is a major holiday (Spain Day) -- thought we were going to have to sleep on park benches in Seville.