Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Destinations > Europe
Reload this Page >

Help Planning Seot 2017 Trip to Andalusia

Help Planning Seot 2017 Trip to Andalusia

Old Sep 26th, 2016, 11:20 AM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Help Planning Seot 2017 Trip to Andalusia

Hello there

Bikerscott and I are planning a two week trip to Andalusia in Sept 2017 and could use your help!

As many people know, our trips focus on food, wine, and photography. We also love history and can't wait to dip our toes into southern Spain.

We are coming from London, planning to fly into Malaga and out of Granada (hopefully into London City Airport!)

This is what we have so far:

5 nights just outside of Ronda - rent a car, relax, and toddle around the white villages.

5 nights in Seville

3 nights in Córdoba

3 nights in Granada

Most people might think 5 nights too long in the White villages, but we really want to chill out and love smaller towns and villages...is this too long?

We will of course get tickets to Alhambra, Mesquite etc.

Thoughts or suggestions?

Thank you!
jamikins is online now  
Old Sep 26th, 2016, 12:18 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 78,320
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Malaga gets glowing reviews these days - not far from Granada, which to me was about a 2-day stop at most - large smoggy noisy city outside the confines of the Alhambra area.

Consider a day trip to Jerez-de-la-Frontera to see the famous Sherry Houses ('sherry' being a British corruption of Jereza after Brits monopolized the market to satisfy little ole ladies thirst for it)and to attend practice sessions of the famous Andalusian Horse School in prepping for their world-famous show tours.

An easy drive from Seville.
PalenQ is offline  
Old Sep 26th, 2016, 05:01 PM
  #3  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,089
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I'm sure that you will love Andalusia!

Five nights in the withe villages would be 3 or 4 too many for me, but then I'm not seeking the kinds of experiences you are, and I think it could be quite nice, given your interests. You might consider spending a few of those nights in Los Alpujarras instead, perhaps in the Poqueira Gorge.

I love that you are giving Cordoba and Granada 3 nights each.

If / when I return to the area, I look forward to spending some time in Malaga.

Hope that helps!
kja is offline  
Old Sep 27th, 2016, 12:06 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,934
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Perhaps also take a look at Antequera, the so called heart or crossroads of Andalucía.

Almost right in the middle of the Malaga, Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada rectangle. Ancient dolmens/burial chambers, Roman baths, a Moorish fortress, Gothic churches, Renaissance fountains and baroque bell towers. Antequera was the first of the Granada emirate towns to fall to the Christians in 1410. http://andaluciacoastandcountry.com/antequera-spain/

"Five reasons to visit enchanting Antequera", http://wild-about-travel.com/2011/07...ing-antequera/

The peaceful Escribano square in Antequera - in front of the Renaissance Santa Maria la Mayor Church, looking up on the Moorish Alcazaba/fortress, down on the newly excavated Roman baths and out on the Peña de los enamorados/Lover's rock - is one of my absolute favourite spots in all of Spain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi-vtfunQnM
kimhe is offline  
Old Sep 27th, 2016, 12:14 AM
  #5  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Fabulous info!!! Thanks so much!!!
jamikins is online now  
Old Sep 27th, 2016, 06:45 AM
  #6  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Are you planning to go by car or public transportation? Quite important to help you.

You don´t need the car in big cities but you will need it in Ronda and small villages.
alvamo is offline  
Old Sep 27th, 2016, 07:11 AM
  #7  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Good question alvamo - we will have a car for our days in Ronda but will likely drop it in Seville and take public transport for the remainder of the trip.

Thanks!
jamikins is online now  
Old Sep 27th, 2016, 02:17 PM
  #8  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
As it seems you don´t like to rush and prefer to relax I suggested to stay in Malaga for a night and rent a car the next morning to Ronda area.

As you love wine go to Vinoteca Los Patios De Beatas
https://www.tripadvisor.es/Restauran...view_421792227
I wouldn´t miss Alcazaba, Gibralfaro and the Cathedral in Malaga.

To stay I recommend you:
http://www.hotelteatroromano.com/
or the Gran Hotel Miramar which is going to reopen by january 17:
http://www.granhotelmiramarmalaga.co...-hotel-malaga/

Then I would rent a car the next morning and go to Ronda for 5 nights:

Relax in the dreamed city and this perfect hotel:
http://www.hotelmolinodelarco.com/en/

From Ronda in a car you can go to all the nice villages around like: Setenil de las Bodegas, Olvera, Alcalá del Valle, Grazalema, Cortés de la Frontera, Casares, Genalguacil, Alpandeire, Cartajima...enjoy it!!!

I would give 3 nights to Seville, Cordoba and Granada and as kimhe suggested you, go to Antequera.

The Alpujarras might be interesting as well to chill out in smaller towns and villages like Pampaneira, Capileira or Bubión.
alvamo is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 12:15 AM
  #9  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We definitely don't like to rush! I don't know why, but Malaga doesn't really interest us. And we can easily get there for a weekend from London City Airport so we thought we would leave it out and see how feel about a weekend there later.

I definitely want 5 nights in Seville.

Sounds like we have a decent starting plan?
jamikins is online now  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 01:20 AM
  #10  
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,934
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You have a great starting plan!

But definitely consider a Málaga week-end in the future. 3000 year old Málaga is "Spain's new creative heart", and Andalucía's "city of culture with its so-called 'mile of art' being compared to Madrid, and its dynamism and fine dining to Barcelona". http://www.cntraveller.com/recommend...u-centre-guide
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/andalucia/malaga

Fabulous food scene, world class museums, great concerts, theaters, and nightlife and full of sights right in the heart of town, the Roman theater, the Moorish Alcazaba Palace, the huge cathedral, the Picasso birth house etc. etc.: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...pt-secret.html

Málaga is on New York Times' "Places to go" list for 2016 together with Barcelona and San Sebastián, "Beauty, but now a cultural capital, too": http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...isit.html?_r=2

Can't wait to come back here again tomorrow for the about 15th time since 2002 ;-)
kimhe is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 05:15 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
jamikins your plan sounds perfect!!


Please kimhe stop talking about Malaga, I wouldn´t like to see it as touristy as Seville.
alvamo is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 07:00 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,038
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Alvamo - Malaga is a "new" place for Kimhe, hence his enthusiasm ! If you want to stop what's going on in Malaga, you should address your concerns to the City Council. They spent €13m to bring in those museums in order to lure in yet more of those awful cruise ships and boost tourism to the area. I preferred it when it was a sleepy provincial capital, fun but not booming. Oh well.
Bedar is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 11:02 AM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I think €13m is too much. Anyway I like the museums, it´s good to have more culture in the city.

By the way most of the cruisers go to Alhambra or Giralda don´t stay in Malaga and in the last years less tourists are coming in those cruise ships. If the goverment finally dredge the river Guadalquivir the cruise ships will stop on the dock of the Seville´s river.

What I don´t won´t is Malaga like Sevilla, I mean, the hype of Sevilla brought 440.000 overnight stays just in August, more than many villages in Costa del Sol, queues at all hours to enter the Cathedral or Alcazar, and them the Santa Cruz area full of tourist traps with poor flamenco shows...
alvamo is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 02:49 PM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,038
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well, Seville sounds unbearable nowadays. I'm glad I lived in Spain for 20 yrs (Malaga for 6 of them) and have seen most everything. Those who are visiting just now will enjoy themselves in spite of the crowds. The Seville problem is a world-wide problem, just too many people floating around.
Bedar is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 03:57 PM
  #15  
kja
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23,089
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Yes, jamikins -- very good starting plan!
kja is offline  
Old Sep 28th, 2016, 08:42 PM
  #16  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks everyone!
jamikins is online now  
Old Sep 29th, 2016, 03:37 AM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,919
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Great plan!

We loved Seville -- stayed 7 nights and will return. Food is fabulous.

We stayed in this apartment which is on the edge of the Santa Cruz area but very quiet

http://www.veoapartment.com/apartmen...ta-cruz-c.html

Rental company was excellent.

On FB search for Seville tapas. Lots of great food suggestions.
Elizabeth_S is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 03:46 AM
  #18  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 10,321
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ok our trip is starting to come together. We have the following booked:

Saturday - fly to Malaga, pick up car and drive to our hotel outside Ronda
http://www.la-perlablanca.com/?lang=en

5 nights, 4 days exploring the White Villages and relaxing

Wednesday - drive to Seville, drop car (at the airport?) and take a taxi to our hotel
https://www.h10hotels.com/en/seville...m_campaign=HCO

5 nights, 4 days in Seville eating wonderful food and we also want to see flamenco

Monday - Take the train to Córdoba and check into our hotel
http://www.patiodelposadero.com/?lang=en

3 nights, 2 days in Córdoba

Thursday - take the bus (train?) to Granada and check into our hotel
https://room-matehotels.com/en/leo/

3 nights, 2 days in Granada, obviously want to see Alhambra day and potentially night

Sunday - fly home to London

Phew - any thoughts on our plans or hotels?

We love food, wine, photography and history.

Some questions

1. Any resstaurant recommendations for any of our locations? Tapas, fancy, and anything in between!

2. Any recommendation for a lovely lunch en route from Malaga to Ronda?

3. How far in advance can we book our Alhambra tickets and what is the best site to use?

4. Any recommendations for flamenco? We are looking at this tour that seems to offer an interesting option http://azahar-sevilla.com/tapas-tours/flamenco-tapas/

5. Any other tips?

And don't worry, Malaga is now on our list for a long weekend in 2018!

Thanks so much for all your thoughts!
jamikins is online now  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 05:23 AM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 69
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
bookmarking this
cchamp is offline  
Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 08:38 AM
  #20  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 747
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hi Jamikins,

Here are a few suggestions about two things in your itinerary, Cordoba and the eternally vexing question of tickets for the Alhambra (there are many many forum posts which you should read about how to navigate the confusing Alhambra rules for entry times, mandatory exit times, etc).

Cordoba first:

I notice that you are staying in the area east of the Mezquita. We stayed not far from your hotel when we visited two Octobers ago. Given your interest in settling into a place, going slow, enjoying the smaller nooks and crannies of a town in addition to the blockbuster sights such as the Mezquita, I think you will enjoy this area.

The city is refurbishing this eastern neighborhood. There are markers for a new Route of the Monuments. Some other interesting places in this area:

--Convento de Santa Cruz, on the Calle Agustin Moreno. Still active, run by the nuns of Saint Clare, the spiritual companion of St. Francis of Assisi. Pretty cobbled courtyard.

--Plaza del Potro ( = the Colt): a small and historically important courtyard, located as you walk farther west (Calle Agustin Moreno changes its name several times as it proceeds westward toward the Mezquita). Cervantes mentions this plaza at one point in Don Quixote.

--cafe + restaurant cluster at Calle Enrique Romero Torres: From the Plaza del Potro, a short, broad street, Calle Enrique Romero Torres, goes down to the Guadalquivir river (Agustin Moreno parallels the river). Several good cafes and restaurants are on this street. Late one afternoon we had very good tapas at Fusion here, and then we came back to this street one evening for dinner at La Siesta, excellent.

--Plaza de la Corredera: this is north of the Plaza del Potro. It's a very big, elegant, beautiful 17th century plaza. Suggest you go there after 11:00 pm when it is jammed with happy Cordobans, kids, moms, dads, grandparents, everybody, drinking, snacking, laughing. We went on a Friday evening. Perhaps people go to sleep earlier on a Tuesday or Wednesday? Or...probably not. A great local scene.

--La Tinaja restaurant: on the Paseo de la Ribera bordering the river. Close to your hotel. Very very excellent dinner of many tapas, including fried bacalao cubes, small potatoes hollowed out and stuffed with goat cheese, jamon iberico and fried eggplant drizzled with honey (these last two are simple, classic items, served in practically every restaurant).

--the Alcazar: this will pale in comparison with the Alhambra or Seville's Alcazar, but my advice is: don't make the comparison! If you are a history buff, it's a fascinating place. It no longer has the extravagant decoration of those other two so it may appear rather bare. But take along some good printed info, maybe some pages from the Rough Guide to Andalucia, which we found very helpful. There is very little historical signage in the Alcazar, and practically zero signage about the carefully concealed stairs around just about every corner on which you could well break your neck. One step at a time.

Now, about those Alhambra tickets: if you really want to go slowly through this astonishing complex, think about buying morning tickets plus afternoon tickets. That way you will not have to worry about getting kicked out or not being able to go from one zone to another, etc etc. Plus you can stop, sit in the gardens, drink your bottle of water, walk some more, duck into the Hotel America courtyard cafe for a late lunch, and then keep on moving. (This old hotel is inside the ticketed area; you do not have to exit and then return.) The tickets don't cost that much.

I need to go back!!
EYWandBTV is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -