Spain- Seven day long journey

Old Feb 10th, 2013, 02:52 AM
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Spain- Seven day long journey

Hello everyone,
Hope everybody is doing good.
Would be really glad if I could get some ideas regarding our visit and stays in Spain.
Husband and I are travelling to Spain with our three kids on May. The kids are under 6years old. We booked our flight to Madrid. We decided to stay in Madrid for two days as it is being the capital city.
We have decided we'd head to Andalusia after staying two days in Madrid ( Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla and maybe if there's time then to Malaga)
I would like to know two things first.
1) budget/ cheap hotels to book online. ( web site address to book in advance)
2) is staying for a day in each city ( Cordoba , Granada) enough?

The main reason to visit Spain is to indulge in and to see the historical places, and buildings of the Moors. Learn about the history of the Moors. Explore in and around Alhambra Palace, Mezquita. Alcazaba etc.

Gladly would appreciate any tips, infos, recommendations.
Thank You all in advance.
krishnochura5 is offline  
Old Feb 10th, 2013, 04:18 AM
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we always book hotels via www.booking.com and have had no problems so far.
If you give detailed info regarding your trip,we can help you more.
i.e.How long are you planning to stay in total?Have you booked your flights?Where do you fly back home?
senozkadir is offline  
Old Feb 10th, 2013, 04:25 AM
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God bless you, YOU must really want to see Spain. When I had 2 children under 6, we went to the beach! But my advice for you would be find a place in Sevilla, maybe with a pool? and just stay there. You can see the Cathedral, moorish quarter, Alcazar and then take a short train ride to Cordoba for a day trip to the Mezquita and some lovely gardens. IMO, and others will not agree, the Alcazar in Sevilla is very similar to the Alhambra, so you don't need to pack up and move (yikes, packing up all that stuff for 3 kids is not a vacation to me!). Then MAYBE Malaga.

Don't mean to be one of the negative nellies here in Fodorland but with 3 young children I think you need to keep moving around to a minimum if YOU want to have any enjoyment! But maybe I am just a LAZY MOM!
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Old Feb 10th, 2013, 06:15 AM
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In Madrid you should see the city walls of Moorish Mayrit in Cuesta de la Vega just below the Almudena Cathedral.
http://www.gomadrid.com/sights/city-walls.html

Very close to the nice Vistillas park with great views. Watch the sunset over the Guadarrama mountains from the terrace at El Ventorrillo. Great pollo al ajillo (Garlic chicken). Map, video and some pictures: http://11870.com/pro/restaurante-ventorrillo

In Andalucía you could perhaps narrow it down to Córdoba and Granada which are the absolute Moorish highlights.

Córdoba, once the most advanced city in the Western world, is 1h 40 mins from Madrid with the high speed AVE train, city center to city center. Here you'll find the wonderful Mezquita. http://www.andalucia.com/cities/cordoba/mosque.htm

Just outside Córdoba you must see the ruins of the Moorish palace town Madinat al-Zahra. Build to picture paradise on earth in the 10th century and destroyed in a civil war only a few decades later: http://www.andalucia.com/magazine/en...d4/madinat.htm

The Alhambra in Granada is of course a must. 2h 20 mins from Córdoba with train: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/gran...hamhistory.htm

Sevilla is also wonderful, but you are short on time and must prioritize. The story of the Alcázar in Sevilla is also very different from the story of the Alhambra despite architectural similarities. Most of the Alcázar was constructed in Arab style by Christian rulers in the 14th Century (Sevilla fell to the Christians in 1248, but there was apparantly no question about architectural ideals), and the Real Alcázar thus stands as one of the best examples of mudejar architecture in all of Spain.
http://www.patronato-alcazarsevilla.es/

Parhaps fly out of Málaga (huge international airport). Only 1.30 mins from Granada by bus, and you'll get the chance to see the wonderful Alcazaba fortress right in the city center. Mainly built between the 8th and 11th centuries: http://www.google.no/search?q=Alcaza...w=1379&bih=802

This BBC documentary is a great intro to Moorish Spain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0IaCK-7z5o
kimhe is offline  
Old Feb 10th, 2013, 06:51 AM
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Covering four cities in 5 days would be rather difficult especially with small children
How do you plan to move around? Rent a car? if not,
I would head to beaches in lovely Malaga and possibly make one day trip ( to Granada?)
danon is online now  
Old Feb 10th, 2013, 07:52 AM
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I have to agree with danon, this trip will be hard on the children regardless of how you plan it. I would go with 3 nights in Madrid, then take the train south to enjoy the coast of Andalucia for a few days and fly home from Malaga.
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Old Feb 10th, 2013, 09:22 AM
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I agree with the others in that trying to visit five cities in 7 days with three children under 6 years old is way too ambitious.

If your interest is in the Moorish history and Andalucia I'd skip Madrid and head straight to Sevilla staying 5 nights. From Sevilla you can do a daytrip to Cordoba and many other possibilities. Then head to Granada for 2 nights. From Granada return to Madrid for your flight home. if you have an early morning flight you may need to cut a night from Sevilla to spend the final night in Madrid. Unfortunately this is all you really have time to do IMHO. Madrid and more in depth Andalucia will need to wait for another trip.
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Old Feb 10th, 2013, 10:24 AM
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Agree that so much travel with 3 small kids - and all the stuff you have to haul around for them - never mind keeping track of 3 kids on public transit - is going to be close to impossible.

If you really want to see the Moorish part of Spain, then pick one city there and get a good hotel with strong AC and a pool (it will be VERY hot) and do day trips to see the key sights. I would do by car - IMHO much easier with 3 kids then herding them around on a train.
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Old Mar 5th, 2013, 05:36 AM
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Thank you so much for the lovely feedback. All the information's will definitely come in handy.
I cant express how to thank you lovely ladies and gents. You guys have explained some things that has made me change my mind about few things. I'm ever so grateful to you all.
(I couldnt reply back to all the replies asap cos I had my theory and practical driving test. Passed my theory and failed in practical. Still upset Booking another one for next month. )

We have booked our flight before opening an account on Fodor. Fare was increasing day by day hence the early booking. We booked our flight to Madrid. Also flying back home from Madrid too.

I wanted to go to Sevilla months ago and then head to Cordoba & Granada. That was the plan. But husband disagreed. He wanted to go to Madrid because he believes Madrid being the capital city, it must have many things to offer, there must be so many things to see and go. Seeing how much he wanted to go to Madrid, we looked up on Ryanair and luckily found the cheapest ticket for May. We've done our maths, calculations before, that's why we'd booked straightway without hesitation.

Before receiving replies, I have been researching a bit. I now have a bit of clear understanding about what to do and what not to do, where to go and what not to miss whilst we are in Spain. Still, I am little bit confused about certain things & asking experienced people around, those who've been to Spain.

Ticked out Malaga from the list. So its only Madrid & Andalusia.

Still few things needs considering. What I would love to know is:
: Is one day trip to each city enough? OR stay for two days in total? Esp in Granada & Cordoba.

Important key points I found out from the above replies
* A day trip to Granada is enough according to ( Danon)

* Book for hotel through booking.com ( Thank You, Senozkadir) we havent booked into a hotel yet. Will do it as soon as possible. Will they allow us all in one room with two double bed? Cant seem to find any suitable hotel room for five ppl in one room.

*Suec1- Cathedral, Moorish quarter, Alcazar to see in sevilla. You also suggested short train ride to Cordoba for a day trip to the Mezquita from Sevilla.

*Kimhe: Thank you so much for all these links. I have bookmarked them all. I might need you for further infos. LOL.

*CathyM: Your advice sounded much better. Is one day trip to Cordoba enough? Is there anything else to see in Codoba apart from Mezquita? Any other must-see/visit Cathedrals, Mosques, Synagongues or Temples?

*nytraveler: sadly I failed in my driving. We might have to travel by train or coach. I know that it will be really hard with kids. They might struggle. Seriously worried about this too.

* Robert2533: We are planning to stay two days in Madrid. I dont want to miss anything in Madrid . I've gotta plan ahead if I want to get enough of Madrid.

Robert2533, nytraveler, CathyM, danon, Kimhe, Suec1, Senozkadir1
Thanks you again, guys. Your replies helped me to make some changes in my decision. I'll reconsider our stay in Madrid and Andalusia. In my next post I will let you guys know when we are flying out. So many difficult dicisions to make

Would appreciate further advices, infos, suggestions, tips.
krishnochura5 is offline  
Old Mar 5th, 2013, 06:36 AM
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GrandA may be hard to do in one day because of time needed to get there from Seville
Visiting Alhambra involves a good deal of walking around...may be hard on the kids.
we stayed two full days.
Cordoba is 45min by train from Seville... easier one day trip.
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Old Mar 5th, 2013, 06:45 AM
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Train or bus from Seville to Granada takes 3 hours!
if Granada is a priority, you could take a train from Madrid
to Granada ( 4.5 hours) stay over night, see Alhambra the next day
...book ahead of time...
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Old Mar 5th, 2013, 06:57 AM
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Cordoba can be seen in an easy daytrip (45 minutes by bus) from Sevilla. The big sights in cordoba are the Mezquita, Alcazar and the Juderia Many, probably most, people visit cordoba as a daytrip versus overnight because they just don't have time for an overnight - which is your case. I honestly think you're going to have to skip Granada if your husband wants to see Madrid. Even if you were traveling solo Madrid,,cordoba, Sevilla and Granada would be a very fast paced trip. I wouldn't even attempt this with 3 children if you want this to be a nice vacation
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Old Mar 12th, 2013, 12:59 PM
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Thank you guys. From your advices, finding it easy to make plans.

Here I am. This is how I've planned my trip.

Wed 22nd May 2013- Arrive @ Madrid at night
Thurs 23rd May 2013- Madrid. Go out, sight seeing, explore,
Fri 24th May 2013- Head to Sevilla in the morn by Tube.
Sat 25th May 2013- Day trip to Cordoba ( Instead of coming back to Sevilla, head to Granada from Cordoba at night?)
Sun 26th May 2013- OR Off to Granada in the Morn
Mon 27th May 2013- Granada
Tue 28th May 2013- Madrid
Wed 29th May 2013- Flight in the afternoon

Is it possible to make a day trip to toledo?
krishnochura5 is offline  
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