Let's talk about Spain!

On your second question....Sevilla is the place to spend the extra nights. Cordoba can be done as a stopover on the way from Madrid to Sevilla.

We prefered Cordoba over Sevilla, but we are in the minority. Grenada is a must for 2 nights.

We didn't visit Cordoba, so I can't speak to that. Two nights in Granada was enough for us, but we wouldn't have wanted to stay fewer than two nights. That gave us a day/night for the city itself, and a full day for the Alhambra. We stayed in Sevilla for two nights and could've added a third or fourth. Our hotels didn't match your description. Enjoy

While I can't say it's my "favorite" in Seville, as that would imply that I've stayed in multiple places and determined this was the best, on our trip to Spain last year we stayed at the YH Giralda and I really enjoyed the room and location of the hotel in the Santa Cruz neighborhood. We got a great rate of $77 on Expedia.com (at the time worked out to be €57). This did not include breakfast (not even sure the hotel offers it?) but there were a few cafes super close on Calle Mateos Gago.

In Granada we stayed at the Hotel Anacapri and likewise enjoyed our stay.

All in all, I'd enthusiastically recommend either place.

In Sevilla, we stayed at the Hostal Cordoba in the Santa Cruz neighborhood. It has a charming central court and is run by two sisters who couldn't have been nicer. Very convenient location.

Thanks!

It seems opinions I've collected (both here and from friends) on Sevilla versus Cordoba run about 50-50. Maybe I'll let finding a special hotel in one or the other make the decision for me.

Or can someone descripbe why one is more favored than the other?

We went to Cordoba on our way from Sevilla to Madrid and we chose to spend the night instead of racing to get a luggage locker at the bus station. We stayed at Hospederia de El Churrasco which was fantastic! We took a taxi from the train station and glad we did because it would have been hard to find on our own. Lovely service and beautiful room. All kinds of charm plus a wonderful resturant down the street that's tied to the hotel. Easy walk to the mesquita plus we enjoyed just walking around. I also second the Hotel Anacapri in Granada.

It's really not a matter of one over the other. You can spend the night in Cordoba, then another night in Sevilla if you want. But that will keep you packing and unpacking the first couple of days of your trip. Since you say you can only stay in two of those places, it makes more sense to do Cordoba on the way to Sevilla....since you can't do the reverse.

As to a Madrid hotel, the Mediodia is across street from Atocha train station, next door to Reina Sofia Museum, 4 blocks from Prado and less from a park called El Retiro.

If you can, go to Segovia.

Thanks---that hotel location looks perfect for our needs---we'd enjoy a walk in the park and might even get there in time for a short visit to the Prado.

Hi Lola,

It's been a few years since I've been to Seville but we were in Cordoba in May. I really enjoyed our visit--especially visiting the Mezquita before it opened officially at 10:00 a.m. (Rick's tip.) I liked the restaurants in Cordoba--we had a memorable meal of tapas at Bodegas Campos. The creamy gazpacho was the best! Our hotel (Hotel Gonzalez) worked out well for us but it's a budget option in a great location--it might not work for everyone. It's a tough choice between Seville and Cordoba.

I enjoyed both Sevilla and Cordoba. If pressed, I'd choose to spend my nights in Sevilla just because there is so much more to do and the nightlife there is great. But Cordoba is a more quiet, relaxing city. As you've noted, Granada requires 2 nights. The Anacapri is perfect there. You might also try Trip Advisor for recommendations on hotels.