2 week itinerary: Seville, Granada and Malaga with an 18 month old
 

Hi

We are planning a 2 week trip in mid-March and would like to get some ideas whether our itinerary is suitable, particularly in terms of keeping our 18 month old daughter happy. We would like to explore the major sights and to try the local food but we also don't want to cram too much in and tire her out.

So the plan right now is:

Day 1: Fly from London to Seville. Our flight gets in at 20.45 to so I guess we will be at our apartment by 21.30? I have found availability at the Apartamentos Murillo in the Barrio de Santa Cruz - is this area easy to get to and from with a stroller e.g. many cobbled streets?

Day 2-5: Day trips to the Alcazar and gardens, the cathedral and Giralda Tower (it looks like we can walk up this with the stroller?), Plaza de España and Isla Magica for our daughter. Does this sound like she would enjoy it? Any other places worth seeing with her?

Day 6: Train to Granada (about 3 hours from the AVE site). I have found a nice place at the Aixa apartments on Carrera del Darros opposite the Alhambra. Again is access to this easy with a stroller and is it a safe area?

Day 7-10: Day visits to the Alhambra, walking around the Albaicin, is the Cathedral worth seeing or should we just see the one in Seville? On day 10 we would rent a car and drive to one of the villages in the Sierra Nevada for a day hike (I have a rucksack that our daughter can sit in) - any recommendations on easy but scenic hikes?

Day 11: Drive down to Malaga. Have not looked for apartments here yet so again recommendations welcome.

Day 12-13: Take it easy with the only arranged activities being the Picasso museum and the beach (Baños de Carmen?).

Day 14: Fly back to London

I hope that the above is not too tiring yet allows us to still see quite a lot of the key sights. Also the end of our trip may be getting into Easter week (our dates are not fixed yet) so anything we should try to fit in? I read about Semana Santa in Seville but wasn't sure if its still worth seeing with our daughter.

Finally as we will only be driving maybe for 3 days, I wasn't planning on bringing our car seat, I assume the car rental companies are fairly reliable for providing these?

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

In Malaga, do you want to stay in the city itself? We have an 18 month old and have just booked a week at this place which is apparently very toddler friendly: http://www.padre-aviles.com/
It's a few km outside Malaga.

Regarding the car seat, as long as you book one in advance you should be ok.

Itinerary looks good - you might want to book your Alhambra tickets in advance. Unless you are a Picasso buff, I would skip Malaga - kind of industrial.

If you are interested in hiking around the areas near Malaga, you might want to contact Kritz Al-Taib. In 2004, I stayed at her B&B place when she was just getting her business off the ground - it was magical. www.orangegroveruralretreats.com. Unlike some of the foreigners who have settled around there, she has taken time to learn about Spanish culture and cooking. She knows the mountains like the back of her hand too. Nice experience.

I think you may be wise to skip Semana Santa in Sevilla. Last year, we hit Sevilla in the week leading up to Semana Santa and it was getting pretty crazy. Plus a lot of rates shoot up for that week.

Barrio Santa Cruz is adorable. Streets are narrow, windy and busy but I can't remember for a fact if they were cobbled (I should ask my shoes). It's a great place to stay - very atmospheric. Parts of it *might* be a little loud. It's also quite touristy so choose your restaurants wisely.

Not much to take issue with.

Your itinerary is fine. The Seville location is good and no stroller problem. Everything you listed in Seville is an easy walk from your apartment.

In Granada, Carrera del Darros is flat since it is close to the water and there are lots of places along that street. The area along Carrera del Darros is fine for a stroller but if you want to walk through the Albaicin (and you SHOULD!), then you will need a fron sack or back sack to carry your 18 month old. The Albaicin is VERY hilly and has a lot of STEPS.

The Granada Cathedral is worth seeing as is the adjacent Royal Chapel (Capilla Real). If you have time, I would also take 10 minute bus ride up to the Carthusian Monastery.

There are endless choices in nearby villages to visit - we visited Pampaneira, Bubion, and Capileira. Each within 2km of each other and progressivley higher in elevation. Go EARLY in the day to avoid getting stuck behind tour busses (who painstakingly navigate the mountains at a very slow pace). You will also avoid the same crowds from the tour busses themselves.

As for car seats - just CALL the rental companies. It varies from one company to the next.

Disagree with the last poster about Malaga. I love it. The city itself is blissfully free of tourists and is a really genuinely Spanish town. The old part of town is very nice but the best part of it is just wandering round and nipping to a nearby beach when you fancy it. Nice itinerary - Seville is a beautiful city - one of the greatest in the world in my opinion. Enjoy.

Sounds like a good plan!

Spain/Andalucía is generally extremely child-friendly, and even though there might be a cobbled street here and there, I think you will find it a joy to travel around with your daughter. Excellent locations in both Sevilla and Granada. This Arab bath is close to your apt. in Sevilla: http://www.airedesevilla.com/

Málaga is a great city, but if you want to stay in a smaller coastal town, Nerja (with the spectacular caves) some 35 miles east of Málaga is a good choice for both adults and children: Great beaches, lots of good restaurants and great tapas bars.

Nerja for kids: http://www.nerjatoday.com/nerja/nerja-for-kids/

Nerja Caves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caves_of_Nerja

Nerja tapas bars(free tapas with every glass of wine/beer/water): http://www.nerjatoday.com/nerjatapasguide/

About Málaga city ("Authentic charm of an overlooked treasure"): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ci...-treasure.html

The padre-aviles apt. is, as we say here, in the middle of tthe country, far away from the city. The Olias road is little frequented and very winding.

Josele, that's exactly why we chose it!
Might not appeal to all tastes, but we liked the fact that it purports to be very child friendly, so thought it might be worth mentioning to the OP.

Great itinerary. I too like the old part of Malaga around calle Larios, Alcazaba, Picasso museum etc. A classy little city with a lot of history and character. Picasso museum is interesting, I liked the one in Barcelona better. Carrera del Darro is a hill leading up the side of the river but easy for strollers. Ahhhh... Sevilla.....

If you get to Sevilla and find your 18-mo. old is happy on trains, I recommend a day trip to Corodoba.

I wouldn't take a baby into a Picasso museum.

Dinner in Spain is served very late, so you need a strategy with a child that little.

hi bardo,

your can catch a bus from fight outside the alhmabra right up to the top of the albercin and walk down, which should be a help. there are lovely views all the way down with different vistas of the alhambra and the city.

everyone in Spain takes their kids out at what we would think of as daft times so don't necessarily worry aobut being out late. alternatively, choose a hotel with a restaurant so you can leave your little one in bed while you eat. I don't know these apartments but we stayed at the hotel guadalupe just opposite the alhambra and it was fine - no safety issues at all.

You might want to feed 'the little one' before 10pm.

Thanks for some great advice. I like the recommendations in malaga and the walks around Albaicin. Unfortunately it looks like we now only have 10 days and will have to go early March. Should I still go for this itinerary but drop the Malaga trip? Also will the weather still be warm then? Thanks again.

In the beginning of March you can expect day temperatures a cut above 20°C/70F in Málaga and Sevilla going down to about 10°C/50F at night. A bit cooler in Granada, especially night-temaperatures; not uncommonly around 0°C/32F in early March.

forget isla magica in sevilla - i doubt it's open in march and if it is a) it will only be at w/ends and b) it won't be worth it as it's a water-based theme park, albeit a very pleasant one, without the heavy pressure of disney-type parks. in summer it's great but in march you'd be better off going to some of the city's parks and wandering around. in the maria luisa you can picnic, walk around the pza de espana, hire bi/tricycles/pony trap rides for babies; also try the park at the bottom end of los remedios/triana, across the river (may be called parque del principe). it was closed a couple of weeks agpo because of storm damage to trees but they must be rushing to open it - the locals love it. it's really lovely and well off the beaten track.
sevilla is a top city for walking and with pushchairs too. agree re malaga...maybe my favourite spanish city; it has everything going for it

Thanks lots of useful ideas to keep our little one occupied and am really looking forward to the trip now.

An update on my itinerary. We now have 11 days so we stay 5 days in Seville, at the Murillo Apartamentos, then going to Granada for 4 days. We'll still hire a car for the last day and go to the Alpujarras, but am considering where to go for the last 2 days. We still fly back from Malaga so could still go there but we could also choose to extend our stay in the Alpujarras and do a few easy walks. I did look into padre-aviles but they have a 3 day minimum stay so an alternative would be somewhere else which is family friendly but very relaxing.

One final question - any recommended stops or detours on the drive from Granada to Malaga?

Nerja is family friendly, relaxing in March, close to the Alpujarras and on the way to Málaga. 45 mins by car to the airport.
http://www.andalucia.com/nerja/home.htm

You might want to consider Apartamentos Toboso. Ideal location: http://www.tobosoaparthotel.com/einicio.htm

Hi - just a few days to go and getting very excited! However I've been looking at the weather forecasts for about 2 weeks now and every day is showing as rain in Andalucia!! I know that forecasts can be widely out (I've looked at BBC and iPhone) but has it really been so bad over the last few weeks in these cities? Is it a case of constant rain or some rain followed by dry (and dare I hope, some sunny) conditions? If the former we'd better change our packing strategy.

Has been really bad weather in Andalucía for a long time, serious flooding in some areas and the wettest winter for decades. Hopefully it will change soon, but even during the past month it has been a daily average of about five hours sun in both Sevilla and Málaga.

This is the site of the national meteorological agency. Click on the map to get seven-days forecasts:
http://www.aemet.es/en/eltiempo/prediccion/localidades

it has been wet beyond belief here - reservoirs have gone from low to overflowing this winter. where exactly will you be and when ?