We are traveling to Spain next fall with another couple. It will be their first trip to the country, but we have visited a number of times. Our itinerary has us staying in Seville for several days and we are looking for a well-reviewed day tour to the Alhambra for our friends to join.
Has anyone done a guided daytrip to Granada from Seville? Would you recommend it or is it better for our friends to do their visit to the Alhambra from Seville independently?
Thanks!
Julie, are you aware that Granada is 3 hours by car or 4 hours by train (each way) from Seville? Even a good review doesn't make up for a full day of travel for a few hours in the Alhambra and its gardens. (I'm not opposed to guided tours; We enjoyed some local days out from Madrid, for example.)
Yes, I am familiar with the geography. I'm trying to help my friends weigh their options given our itinerary. If this will be their only trip to Spain, they may be willing to spend that time in the bus looking at Andalusian scenery in order to visit the Alhambra. If there are no practical options, they may be happy to "settle" for the Alcazar of Seville and its gardens.
I would do Granada and the Alhambra independent of Sevilla.
Thanks for your prompt reply. Are your friends willing to keep the hotel in Seville for a night while they stay overnight in Granada? I mean, it's a very attractive destination, beyond just the Alhambra. They say Bill Clinton still talks about his Junior Year (or whatever it was) there. I'd want to eat dinner in a "Carmen" restaurant overlooking the Alhambra.
You did not give your full itinerary. Are you staying anyplace closer to Granada, like Madrid? Do you have a night in Jerez? I would certainly give that up for a night in Granada. I don't mean to say what are the best cities in Spain, but I think it may be convenient to take a train between Madrid and Granada. (It is hard to recommend that two people we don't know, or even know their travel history, should make this trip independently. Not that it's a "hard" trip, it isn't.) We did this by rental car, and thought the Canola and Sunflower fields were pretty darn scenic. But the car let us stop and sleep in Ronda, the second place in Spain that people ask you about, after the Alhambra! And there are no sunflowers in the fall.
I like keeping the same hotel and making daytrips, ideally up to an hour each way. But I see Granada as too far from Seville.
We loved the Royal Alcazar in Sevilla. Also loved Alhambra. But, I wouldn’t sacrifice a day in Sevilla for basically a day on a bus just to see Alhambra.
