Help with an upcoming trip to Spain please.
Nov 25th, 2011, 09:02 AM
#1
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Help with an upcoming trip to Spain please.
Hi All,
I'm in the middle of planning a trip to Spain. We've been to Barcelona before but, that's it so we have a lot of areas that we'd like to cover. We have about 2 weeks for the trip. I have some specific questions that I'm hope people can help me with. I haven't had too much luck finding this information online. It's still up in the air whether we'll have a car for the trip or, maybe we'll just rent one as needed.
1. While in the south we're planning to visit Alhambra. We do plan to take a tour and I think most of the tours I looked at would take less than half a day. We really enjoy hiking so wondered if there are any trails right there where we could walk/hike without a tour?
2. We're considering hotels in Estepona. Does anyone know if there's public transportation by bus or train between Estepona and Ronda? We'd like to spend a day in Ronda and we're not sure if a car would be the best option in terms of transportation. Also, it looks like we could potentially be in Estepona during the town festival. Is that a good or a bad idea? Just not sure how crazy that might be. Hopefully it's a fun thing!
3. Last question---we do plan to rent a car and drive to Gibralter for the day. Is parking a problem in early June?
I'm in the middle of planning a trip to Spain. We've been to Barcelona before but, that's it so we have a lot of areas that we'd like to cover. We have about 2 weeks for the trip. I have some specific questions that I'm hope people can help me with. I haven't had too much luck finding this information online. It's still up in the air whether we'll have a car for the trip or, maybe we'll just rent one as needed.
1. While in the south we're planning to visit Alhambra. We do plan to take a tour and I think most of the tours I looked at would take less than half a day. We really enjoy hiking so wondered if there are any trails right there where we could walk/hike without a tour?
2. We're considering hotels in Estepona. Does anyone know if there's public transportation by bus or train between Estepona and Ronda? We'd like to spend a day in Ronda and we're not sure if a car would be the best option in terms of transportation. Also, it looks like we could potentially be in Estepona during the town festival. Is that a good or a bad idea? Just not sure how crazy that might be. Hopefully it's a fun thing!
3. Last question---we do plan to rent a car and drive to Gibralter for the day. Is parking a problem in early June?
Nov 25th, 2011, 10:03 AM
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Can't help with the rest of your questions, but I would reco you not waste time in Gibraltar. You have limited time in Spain and there are so many places that are more interesting and worthwhile (I assume you are doing several days in Seville, and visiting Cordoba as well as Granada - you might also consider Jerez and Ubeda as well). Gibraltar is a big rock with a lot of nasty monkeys and a far distant view of Africa. IMHO not worth the time it will take to get in and out - never mind park there.
Nov 25th, 2011, 02:15 PM
#4
I'll third the suggestion to drop Gib.
As for walking, to the south-west of Granada is the sierra nevada - what look like lots of lovely little villages and walking between them. Here's a link to the cicerone press guide to walking the area:
http://c0398222.cdn.cloudfiles.racks...6_Contents.pdf
you could spend 2-3 nights in Granada [don't forget to book your alhambra tickets] then take off into the mountains, though this might be dependent on the time of year you are intending to travel.
and don't overlook Malaga - a really nice place to spend a few days near the sea.
As for walking, to the south-west of Granada is the sierra nevada - what look like lots of lovely little villages and walking between them. Here's a link to the cicerone press guide to walking the area:
http://c0398222.cdn.cloudfiles.racks...6_Contents.pdf
you could spend 2-3 nights in Granada [don't forget to book your alhambra tickets] then take off into the mountains, though this might be dependent on the time of year you are intending to travel.
and don't overlook Malaga - a really nice place to spend a few days near the sea.
Nov 26th, 2011, 03:54 AM
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Slightly different opinion about Gibraltar. I do agree that places like Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Ronda are more 'worthwhile' in most people's opinion. And I would not take a day to do Gibraltar if it meant skipping one of those. But if you have two full weeks and are planning on staying just in Andalucia (i.e.the two weeks does not include going to Madrid or elsewhere on this trip) then I think one day for Gibraltar could be fun. The town itself was quite boring, though a bit of novelty seeing red phone booths and all in Spain. But the view is gorgeous, the caves were quite interesting, and if you happen to like monkeys (which I do) then they were great fun to watch for a while. I took the train so don't know about parking but think it would be better to park in LaLinea (the town at the border) and walk in. Driving in and out seemed to have long lines. Here are my photos: http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/spai...onda_gibraltar Gibraltar is at the end of that gallery.
You mention 'tour' of the Alhambra. You have to take a tour of the palace, the rest of it you wander around by yourself. The palace tour was less than a hour I think but you could certainly spend half a day wandering the grounds. The tour of the palace is included in your admission ticket. I don't see why you would need another tour on top of that.
There are quite a lot of areas of Granada to explore. We spent three days and didn't see it all. By 'trails' it sounds like you want to hike in wooded areas outside of the city. Don't know the answer to that by I wonder why someone would want to do that when you could walk for miles throughout the very diverse neighborhoods, up and down many hills, etc. without leaving the city of Granada. Here's my gallery with photos of Granada (also includes Seville and Cordoba which you don't mention but I hope you plan to include them). http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/sevilla_cordoba_granada
You mention 'tour' of the Alhambra. You have to take a tour of the palace, the rest of it you wander around by yourself. The palace tour was less than a hour I think but you could certainly spend half a day wandering the grounds. The tour of the palace is included in your admission ticket. I don't see why you would need another tour on top of that.
There are quite a lot of areas of Granada to explore. We spent three days and didn't see it all. By 'trails' it sounds like you want to hike in wooded areas outside of the city. Don't know the answer to that by I wonder why someone would want to do that when you could walk for miles throughout the very diverse neighborhoods, up and down many hills, etc. without leaving the city of Granada. Here's my gallery with photos of Granada (also includes Seville and Cordoba which you don't mention but I hope you plan to include them). http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/sevilla_cordoba_granada
Nov 26th, 2011, 06:23 PM
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> While in the south we're planning to visit Alhambra. We do plan to take a tour ....
If you want to join a tour, go for it! But FYI, I thought the audio tour was quite good and was glad to be able to visit the Alhambra at my own pace.
> While in the south we're planning to visit Alhambra ... I think [it] ... would take less than half a day.
Yes, it takes less than 1/2 day, but some of found it worthwhile to visit twice, once during the day (when everything that is open to tourists is open) and again during the evening, when only the Nasrid Palace is open, but to very few people and when the sights and sounds and scents can be incredibly evocative.
> We really enjoy hiking so wondered if there are any trails right there where we could walk/hike without a tour?
Do you mean right there, by the Alhambra? There are certainly interesting sections of Granada through which you could walk without a tour - just get a good map and guidebook. If you mean that you want to do some serious hiking, I'm not sure, but I think you would need to plan some extra time in the area. I thoroughly enjoyed hiking in the Alpujarras (specifically, the Poqueira Gorge), but that's several hours by bus from Granada.
Hope that helps!
If you want to join a tour, go for it! But FYI, I thought the audio tour was quite good and was glad to be able to visit the Alhambra at my own pace.
> While in the south we're planning to visit Alhambra ... I think [it] ... would take less than half a day.
Yes, it takes less than 1/2 day, but some of found it worthwhile to visit twice, once during the day (when everything that is open to tourists is open) and again during the evening, when only the Nasrid Palace is open, but to very few people and when the sights and sounds and scents can be incredibly evocative.
> We really enjoy hiking so wondered if there are any trails right there where we could walk/hike without a tour?
Do you mean right there, by the Alhambra? There are certainly interesting sections of Granada through which you could walk without a tour - just get a good map and guidebook. If you mean that you want to do some serious hiking, I'm not sure, but I think you would need to plan some extra time in the area. I thoroughly enjoyed hiking in the Alpujarras (specifically, the Poqueira Gorge), but that's several hours by bus from Granada.
Hope that helps!
Nov 27th, 2011, 04:41 AM
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You could probably go up to the ski area and walk plenty of trials up there. There is also probably a walking/hiking club in the area of expats. Googling may bring that up for you and you could join a friendly excursion or outing.
Nov 27th, 2011, 09:35 PM
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Usually I vote against rental cars when people just want to see the 5 big cities in Spain in 4 days.
But in your case I'd say that a car should be the perfect companian to explore the hinterland and the dozens of small towns and villages and the scenery.
Especially since you like to hike, you need a car to get to the dozens of trailhead parking lots , mostly far away from any public transport.
To find areas you may like explore on foot you can start here:
http://www.rutasdelsur.es/
Or look for more/other options by googling "senderismo andalucia"
As others have said, the Alhambra is a complex of park/gardens and buildings - not an area to "hike" but rather stroll around.
But in your case I'd say that a car should be the perfect companian to explore the hinterland and the dozens of small towns and villages and the scenery.
Especially since you like to hike, you need a car to get to the dozens of trailhead parking lots , mostly far away from any public transport.
To find areas you may like explore on foot you can start here:
http://www.rutasdelsur.es/
Or look for more/other options by googling "senderismo andalucia"
As others have said, the Alhambra is a complex of park/gardens and buildings - not an area to "hike" but rather stroll around.
