violet1183

My husband and I will be traveling to Spain for 12 nights in late August- early September. Current itinerary is:
- Day 1, 2: Arrive Barcelona 7:45am, stay two days/nights - note we are flying on miles so need to fly in here, and were here a few years ago (LOVED it) and really wanted to fit this in, even for a couple of days.
- Day 3, 4: Early flight out of Barcelona (6:45am) to Granada (arrive 8am), two full days/nights. Have tickets to the Alhambra day 4 at 8:30am.
- Days 5, 6, 7, 8 - Train and stay in Seville.
- Days 9, 10, 11, 12 - Fly to Bilbao, stay 4 nights in San Sebastian and flight home from Bilbao. We will be renting a car here.

My question is regarding Ronda. I was planning on renting a car from Seville for one day because I would really like to see Ronda, but I have been reading a lot about how nice it is at night. Does it make more sense to leave Granada on day 4 after the Alhambra (early afternoon) and drive to Ronda, spend the evening, night, and next afternoon there before driving to Seville? Basically I'd be staying one night in Granada and one night in Ronda. Generally not a big fan of one night stays, esp. since we are only staying two nights in Barcelona, but from what I am reading, a day and a half seems to be enough to see Granada. Or does it make more sense just to rent a car one of the four days we are in Seville and go for the day?

Thanks for your help!

TonyBishop

"I would really like to see Ronda, but I have been reading a lot about how nice it is at night."
I too would like to add my voice to all those who say how lovely Ronda is after the day trippers have left.

"Does it make more sense to leave Granada on day 4 after the Alhambra (early afternoon) and drive to Ronda"
The drive from Granada to Ronda is mostly fairly boring and tedious. It is also too long a journey to do without making a rest stop. On the other hand, the train journey is really very attractive and there are three direct trains every day to choose from.

From Ronda > Sevilla, just take a bus: there are several direct buses every day that take 2 hours. That is from the centre of Ronda into the centre of Seville. The drive to and into Seville is guaranteed to be stressful.

TonyBishop

I would also like to add that I think you are trying to cover far too much ground with just 12 nights to play with. Something has to give and that something would be a region for me.

Aduchamp1

Unless you are seeing the Basque countryside a car is not needed from Blibao to Donostia. It is just a little more than an hour by bus.

violet1183

Thanks - the plan was for 6 days in Andalucia and 4 in the San Sebastian area. The Barcelona part was just kind of an add on because we are flying in there, plus many of the regional flights seem to be comparable in both time and price of the trains. But I agree with you that something has to give - unfortunately the more research I do the more I am wanting to add on And as for San Sebastian, since we have four days I wanted to explore a day or two (Hondarribba, St Jean de Luz, etc)- I know there are buses but since I'm a slave to train schedules every day as a commuter, I kind of wanted the option to come and go as I please, and the price seems reasonable (around 100 USD for 4 nights), and there is free parking within walking distance of where we are staying.

TonyBishop

Alas, there are two immutable truths when it comes to travel.

1. Each journey you make takes up most of a day from hotel door to hotel door unless you manage to get a very early morning train/bus/flight. Add to that, when you arrive at your destination, it is usually time to find somewhere to eat.

Now count up the journeys you intend to make and subtract that number from 12.

2. Two nights anywhere means one FULL day there.
Three nights = two FULL days, and so on.

kimhe

You may be in Granada to attend the final night of the outdoor flamenco performance by the Ballett Flamenco de Andalucía in the Generalife gardens up at Alhambra on the 31st of August. 'Llanto por Ignacio Sánchez Mejías' (A cry for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías' - based on the elegy of Granada's and Spain's greatest poet in the 20th century Federico García Lorca (1898-1936) - is a major production. It runs every night up at Alhambra from July 18 to August 31.
https://www.flamenco-world.com/tienda/categoria/cd/5/

Could easily be a quite spectacular night, great artists and the surroundings are of course simply unbeatable.
http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/ind...5d637b1e38d/0/

violet1183

Kimhe, that sounds wonderful. We are going to be there August 28 and 29. I have been playing around online but am having a hard time finding where to purchase tickets - any ideas? Thanks.

Bedar

This seems to be a first time trip to Andalucia for you, and you have left out Cordoba which is a major site. Ronda, while pleasant, is a secondary one. You could stop in Cordoba on the way to Seville or take a day trip on the train from there.

slimm

I second Bedar's comment on Cordoba. The Alhambra was fine, but the mosque in Cordoba was fascinating. The Mrs. and I found it more beautiful that the Alhambra--I know that's rare. The bridge @ Ronda is also a nice site, but did not take us long to see and get going to our next site. Are you seeing Gibraltar or Malaga? If your bent on driving, we found ALL the roads to be second to none (Jan 2011), but watch out for speed cameras!

kimhe

Sorry, I seem to have directed you to the wrong flamenco-world site. Here is all the info about the performance: http://www.flamenco-world.com/notici...a05072012.html

Tickets are now on sale through El Corte Inglés: http://www.elcorteingles.es/entradas...culo=200900519

The tickets are 20€ and the performance starts at 10pm. Perfect for an early dinner by Spanish standards before going up to Alhambra. Only one type of tickets (patio de butacas/orchestra) in the more than 1500 seats outdoor theater (33 rows). I would recommend row 5-6 or so and as central as possible.

kja

> Have tickets to the Alhambra day 4 at 8:30am.

I would encourage you to consider getting tickets for the Nasrid Palace during the evening as well - magical! Even better if you've seen it first during the day.

> My question is regarding Ronda.

It's worth seeing at night. But I agree with others that Cordoba is even more worthy of a visit. Try to see both if you can. You might be able to cut a day from Sevilla....

kimhe

.... and some tapas before the performance would perhaps be a better idea than a full meal, you will be sorry alone in the dining room at 8pm (if the restaurant is open so early, that is). Tapas on the contrary, they even come free with every drink of whatever... http://matadornetwork.com/nights/granadas-tapa-ten/
http://www.visit-granada.com/granada-tapas.html

kimhe

One more thing regarding the Ballett Flamenco de Andalucía performance up at the Generalife theater. You'll see three of the absolute greatest flamenco dancers among many other fine artists. Dancing legend Antonio Caneles will be there as will young and fast rising star Patricia Guerrero from Granada. I would nevertheless hold my breath for plain fantastic Pastora Galván. She was voted best bailaora (female flamenco dancer) by Spanish critics last year. She can be spectacular, and she has recieved raving reviews for this performance. Here on Andalusian TV: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2SBUcrJgeQ

violet1183

Thank you so much - definitely going to skip the night in Ronda and will make sure we see Cordoba. Not going to have time for Malaga - I was supposed to go back in around 2002 or 2003 right around when the airport was bombed and. It was a spring break trip in college and would you believe we went to Cancun instead? Thanks for the ticket info as well, we will definitely book!