My husband & I are traveling to Spain for the first time in Sept. and will have 9 days (not including our 2 travel days) to explore. We plan to fly into Madrid stay there Tuesday through Saturday with day trips to Segovia and Toledo. On Saturday we will take the train to Seville and stay through Wednesday night, with a flight home on Thursday. I would love to add a one or two night trip in Andalucia during our time in Seville but am not sure where to go? Marbella? Ronda? Cordova? We are in our young 30's and enjoy exploring new cities by foot and enjoying life as the locals do. We do plan on checking out a lot of the recommended sites, buildings and museums in the cities. We are foodies so we love to seek out the best local food. Any ideas of what we should do? We want it to be a relaxing time so we would like to keep a home base in two or three cities during our short stint there so we can really soak each place in. Any guidance/recs is appreciated! Thank you.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Cordoba will trump either Marbella or Rhonda in a heartbeat. With a car, you can scoop of Avila on the Segovia day, easily. Maybe not by public transportation.
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
I agree with Cordoba. It looks like you'll have 3 days in Sevilla; that alone can be filled there. But Cordoba is an easy stop to or from Madrid.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6790 posts
Leah, a couple recommendations... 1. Add in a half-day stopover in Cordoba on the way between Madrid and Sevilla. As long as you catch one of the early fast trains, it's easy to hop out in Cordoba and see the top sights in half a day, then get back on a later train and continue on to Madrid or Sevilla, arriving with plenty of time to check in to your room and have dinner. Tip: When we were there a few years ago, there were no luggage lockers in the train station, but the bus station right across the street did have a limited number of lockers. Have your act together, be one of the first off the train, go quickly to the bus station, snag a locker (have coins ready). Dump your bags, grab a bus to the old center, enjoy La Mezquita for a few hours (tip: late afternoons, the crowds thin out, and it's filled with golden light that makes spectacular photos). 2. Don't do Toledo as a day trip - that's what everyone does, and that means the streets are an impassible crush of sweaty bodies from 10 am - 4 pm. After 4 pm and before 10 am, it's empty, magical, and delightful. Arrive mid-day from Madrid, watch the day-tripping hoards ride their buses away, and enjoy the town after it empties out., Spend the night, enjoy the quiet in the morning, then get outta town as the mobs roll back in around 10. Agree with Ed, if you have a car, you can do Avila on the way to Segovia. Consider renting a car for that day, pick up in Madrid, drive to Avila, stop for a couple hours, then continue to Segovia and drop the car there. Segovia is nicer at night, too, but is not as overwhelmed with crowds as Toledo, so if you have to pick one as your overnight spot, pick Toledo. Marbella seems to be a favorite of cruise ship folks, take that as your tastes dictate. Ronda is OK but is distant from your other places and I'd skip it. Have fun.
Posted by
OP
Carlsbad, CA
2 posts
Thank you all for the replies! This helps a lot and we will definitely stopover in Cordova before Seville!