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South of Spain in late September - cities/areas?

South of Spain in late September - cities/areas?

Old Dec 27th, 2014, 06:15 PM
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South of Spain in late September - cities/areas?

My husband and I are going to be traveling to Spain in late Sept '15. We are going to do about 4 days in Barcelona, and then would like to travel to the south of Spain for 4-5 days. Any tips on cities/areas to stay in? Stay in one area for those 4-5 days and explore? Is it feasible to go back to Barcelona to fly back to the States? I was also interested in going to Morocco for a day, but I don't know if that is even feasible or if we're trying to cram too much in. Thanks in advance for any information!!
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Old Dec 27th, 2014, 07:21 PM
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Personally, I think the south of Spain -- Andalusia -- really merits at least 10 days. YMMV. I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from the train/bus station or whatever, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.

As for guidebooks, I strongly recommend the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet as your primary resource. I would also recommend that you consult Fodor's, Frommer's, or the Michelin Green Guides to help prioritize and the National Geographic Traveler, Insight Guides, or Eyewitness for inspiration.

And as a rule, it is better to look for open-jaw flights (flying into one city and out of another) so you don't have to backtrack.
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Old Dec 27th, 2014, 09:23 PM
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I visited Madrid and Barcelona and loved both cities. Spain is just amazing. I have some tips and pics from Spain on my blog.Wayfaring Blissfully http://waybliss.blogspot.com/
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 02:48 AM
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You say that you only have 4/5 days in Southern Spain after Barcelona, so you won't have time for Morocco. With such a short time I'd look for one base and then day trip to Granada, Cordoba. Malaga would be a suitable base.
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 04:03 AM
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I wouldn't miss Granada. Easily the best city in Spain, in my opinion. Compact, walkable and full of culture. You have the Alhambra, the Albaicin neighbourhood, the tapas culture (they still have free tapas there), the Sacromonte area going up into the mountains...it's a very relaxing city. I don't think a day trip is enough and would recommend 2-3 days as an absolute minimum. It takes the best part of a day just to see the Alhambra and surrounding area properly. If I had to pick a second city in Andalusia, I'd choose Seville. If you try to do a city per day, you risk ending up getting a very superficial impression of each place and not remembering much. I did Cordoba as a day trip years ago and didn't really like it - I suspect because I didn't give it time. I wish I hadn't bothered at all.

I wouldn't use Malaga as a base either - it's not a particularly nice city (in my opinion) and doing day trips from there will waste time each day. If I recall correctly, it takes up to 2 hours each way between Granada and Malaga, so that's 4 hours out of your day without even counting the time to get to/from the bus station, buy tickets, etc. Cordoba and Seville are even further away. I don't know how you're planning to travel in Spain so that makes it difficult to give advice about which order to do things.

I wouldn't even think about going to Morocco for a day - it takes FOREVER on the boat with all the lines, immigration controls, etc. and it isn't worth flying for that little time either. I'd stick with a maximum of two cities and go to one, then the other, then back up to Barcelona (or to wherever you're flying home from).
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 04:19 AM
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I don't agree that you shouldn't go anywhere unless you have 10 days, I don't agree at all. 4-5 days is fine. I wouldn't bother if I only had one, sure. And Malaga isn't a bad city, it's a convenient base for Granada and there are a lot of flights from Malaga compared to even Seville, for example. It's quite a nice city, actually, with a beautiful location next to the sea. It's not convenient to fly to the US, but if you were flying somewhere else in Europe, it is.

I wasn't that crazy about Granada myself, I wouldn't base myself there just due to the Alhambra or anything like that. I just went for the day and it was fine, I would have no desire to spend more time there myself, nor to spend more than one day viewing the Alhambra. Other cities are just as nice (in fact, I liked Seville and Cordoba a lot more).

If I were you, I'd perhaps base in Seville and you can do a day trip to Cordoba from there, I did that also. I don't agree at all that Cordoba isn't worth going to if you can't stay there. With 4-5 days, that would be a nice trip. As for going back to Barcelona to go home, why would you do that? That doesn't make sense from southern Spain. Going to Madrid to go home does, but not Barcelona. You won't find a flight home from Seville anyway, but if you fly Iberia or something where they are a partner, you might find one that goes from Seville to Madrid and then changes planes.

I couldn't find a flight myself from the US to Seville very easily last Fall, there aren't as many as there used to be. I did finally find a decent one on KLM that goes through Amsterdam. There used to be some through London on BA, but not any more. GOing through Amsterdam is a little out of the way, but you could compare flights, it would be more convenient than having to take the train back to Madrid to get a flight. Conversely, there are a lot of flights from Malaga to other European cities.
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 04:43 AM
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Christina, maybe the fact that you went just for the day is the reason you didn't like it much. I don't think you can get a proper feel for ANYWHERE in a day. For me, the beauty and charm in Granada is in the relaxing terrace cafes, wandering around the Sacromonte, stopping for a beer or gazpacho every now and then, sitting on the mirador opposite the Alhambra. Zipping around ticking 'sights' off a list is not my idea of a good time. I did that a bit in Japan (although I still spent 3-4 days in each place) and it ended up being one of my least enjoyable, most stressful holidays. I appreciate that it's different for me because I live in Europe, so can return to Spain relatively cheaply and easily, but I don't think 4-5 days is enough to see more than a couple of cities.

There's nothing 'wrong' with Malaga - it's fine and convenient to fly into from Europe, but it wouldn't be top of my list if I had 4-5 days in Andalusia. Given its position on the coast, using it as a base for day trips seems crazy to me unless those day trips are to other towns on the Costa del Sol (Marbella, Nerja, Estepona...). You're talking a 4+ hour round trip to Granada, 6 hour round trip to Seville and Cordoba. Spending 6 hours a day on the bus going back and forth makes no sense to me at all. Even if you did want to squeeze in a city a day, surely it makes more sense to keep going in a loop rather than doubling back on yourself constantly?

If it were me and I wanted to see as much as possible without running around like a headless chicken, I'd probably fly into Malaga, spend the rest of the day and a night there, leave for Granada the next morning, spend 2 nights there, on to Seville for a couple of days and either fly out from there or get a train to Madrid airport. Cordoba could be substituted for either Granada or Seville, but I wouldn't do more than that, and even that would be a stretch for me. Just my personal opinion.
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 05:05 AM
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Another vote for at least one night and better two for Granada. The best way to see the Alhambra (aside from the gardens) is in the evening. I consider the Alhambra the single best sight in southern Spain, so I certainly would want Granada on this itinerary. I'd probably add Seville, although if I were going to fly out of Madrid I'd seriously consider Toledo instead.
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 12:37 PM
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I guess I didn't think about flying out of Madrid, but that makes more sense (and cost-wise, isn't really any more expensive). I will check out the other options as well.

Is there a city/area with a beach worth spending a day/night at? We figure that Barcelona will be more of a hectic/sightseeing 4 days, so we are hoping to have a more low-key ending to our trip, where we can explore just one city/area, do what the locals do, enjoy food, wine, etc. I even thought about spending less time in Barcelona if need be, as we only have between 8-10 days to be in Spain.
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 12:39 PM
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I also don't really know how we plan on traveling around Spain it's my husband's first trip to Europe, and I have only been to the UK and Italy, so first time in Spain. We have a travel agent that will be helping us with all of those arrangements, but is there anything we shouldn't miss (i.e. a bus ride from point A to point B, a train from Barcelona to Andalusia, etc)? I guess we will nix Morocco at this point and try to visit that on a future trip
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 12:44 PM
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Have you considered any of the other parts of Catalunya, like the Costa Brava?
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 02:09 PM
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We hadn't... any recommendations there? Costa Brava v. Andalusia?
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 02:17 PM
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Although it looks like, weather-wise, Andalusia would be a little nicer for beach weather in late September
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Old Dec 28th, 2014, 03:57 PM
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Been on day trips to all the mentioned cities in Andalusia. Enjoyed all, but I suggest you consider a day less in Barcelona, and add a day in Madrid or Malaga. Train from Malaga to Madrid is only 2.5 hours. However, I don't think a day or two in Madrid is worthwhile. Fly into Barcelona and out of Malaga. Other than Seville, most other mentioned cities are a doable day trip from Malaga, if day trips are what you want. You can do fine without a car.
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Old Jan 9th, 2015, 05:48 PM
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Any opinions on possibly skipping time in Barcelona or Madrid and instead spending 5-6 days in Malaga and the surrounding areas and then 2-3 days in Morocco? We really just want to immerse ourselves in the daily culture, enjoy food, wine, etc
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Old Jan 9th, 2015, 06:04 PM
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With so little time, I think skipping Barcelona and Madrid on this trip makes sense. Actually, you might even want to skip Morocco to fit in some time for other parts of magnificent Andalusia...
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Old Jan 10th, 2015, 12:33 AM
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Three thousand year old and genuine Malaga by the Med as a base in late September would be just excellent.
"Picasso's city of hidden tresaures": http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...-breaks-travel
"Secret Spanish pleasures": http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalis...pleasures.html
"The emerging fine food scene": http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...taurants-tapas
General info: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/malaga/home.htm

Malaga is 50 minutes with the high speed AVE train to Cordoba with the Mezquita etc, once the most advanced city in Europe. http://www.theguardian.com/spanish-t...-changed-world

And 90 mins by bus to Granada with the Alhambra. http://www.andalucia.com/cities/gran...hamhistory.htm

And you are also a very short bus ride from Antequera, the so called "heart of Andalucia, the first of the Granada emirate towns to fall to the Christians in 1410. http://www.andaluciacoastandcountry....era-spain.html
A tapas tour of Antequera: http://www.andaluciacoastandcountry.com/tapaspain.html
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Old Jan 10th, 2015, 10:50 AM
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OK, you seem intent on visiting Morocco so why not skip Spain altogether and spend your 10 days there? There's plenty to see and do, and you can get a direct flight out of NY to Casablanca. Go for it!
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Old Jan 10th, 2015, 12:13 PM
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I don't think I'm necessarily intent on visiting Morocco... I just think it would be an experience worth having if we could do it. Ideally, I just want to enjoy our trip and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do that. Flying from either Chicago or Detroit (equidistant). I've been to the UK and Italy, took French in HS, but have zero experience with Spain as a whole... just trying to get some insight on what is feasible and places that fit what we'd like to get out of our trip.
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Old Jan 10th, 2015, 12:21 PM
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kja and kimhe, thank you for your insight
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