spain-seville and granada

I was there a month ago and did Madrid-Seville-Cordoba-Granada-Madrid from Saturday to Friday. Took the AVE from Madrid Atocha to Seville (2.5 hours). Took the MD train R/T as a day-trip from Seville to Cordoba. Took the MD train from Seville to Granada. Took the Altaria train from Granada to Madrid (4.5 hours). There are also cheaper buses for all of these. I liked Seville more than Granada, so I almost wish I'd gone to Granada first. The advantage for me of Seville first was the AVE from Madrid to Seville comes hourly (and I caught the 11 am train even though my flight landed around 9 am!), and I got a nice afternoon in Seville on my first day in Spain, rather than 4.5-5 hours on the train and arriving in Granada later in the afternoon. I used Rick's recommendations for lodging in both Seville and Granada. Budget hotels in Spain seemed very reasonably priced.

Re: which order is better - if you are going to Granada in order to visit the Alhambra it is easy to get tickets ahead of time, online. This might determine which city you go to. When we were there last March I initially thought we'd drive from Madrid to Granada and then to Sevilla. When I checked for a morning ticket to the Alhambra I was only able to get it for later in the week. So I changed the trip to put Sevilla first. We did drive between cities and to and from Madrid. No problems except for trying to get to our hotel in Sevilla. We ended up parking in a lot on the edge of the city and taking a cab to our hotel. That was fine as we intended to just park it for the 3 nights we were there.

Between Seville and Granada you can go by train or bus. (If you don't wish to rent a car). There are fast AVE trains between madrid and Seville, and not-so-fast Altera trains between Granada and madrid. We are doing that triangle (Madrid-Sevilla-Granada-cordoba-Madrid). I bought all our train tickets online from Renfe, and got nice discounts for the advance purchase. Lodging recommendations might be esier if you say what your budget and preferences are.

I definitely would not drive if you are only going to those three cities. Train is best for Madrid to/from Sevilla and Grenada. There are far more bus options between Grenada and Sevilla and its cheap so consider that instead of the train. The order you go is of no real preference.

Sevilla - check the Patio De Santa Cruz hostal...did not stay there, but saw it on my last visit and will definitely stay there on my next...conveninet (in the old jewish quarter) and recently updted. Also, the Really Discover Sevilla Tours smaller groups than the others, and well done.