9-night romantic getaway to Andalusia. Suggestions needed!
 

Hello everyone! We are planning a much desired getaway to Andalusia on May 21-31. After much discussion and difficult choices (Italy, Corsica/Sardinia, Portugal), we decided to venture into Andalusia. At this point, we are thinking of staying in Seville for the main part, with day trips to Cordoba, Cadiz, and staying three or so days in Granada. That way, I think, we would truly enjoy the place without hopping between different cities although we are really tempted to see Barcelona and Madrid...We are on a budget and are looking for reasonably priced hotels, as well as tips on getting the best our of such a trip. Also, we were looking into flying directly into Seville to avoid transfer to train station in Madrid. Your feedback and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Be sure to visit the Alhambra at night in addition to seeing the gardens during the day.

ditto what zeppole says. it's really lovely at night.

seeing it in the daytime is also very worthwhile.

booking in advance for both would be a good idea.

for more general advice, have a look at the information provided by another fodorite at www.maribelsguides.com.

regards, ann

If you are renting aa car you might want to drive to 1 or 2 white towns in Andalusia. We spent 10 days in Andalusia last April and drove to several of the small white towns. The scenery on those drives was wonderful. The one we most liked was Zahara, whick has a wonderful restaurant and a B&B type hotel. We liked Seville more than Granada, maybe because it wasn't as closed in, easier to navigate even on foot.

http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/desti...pain/arcos.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/21/tr...andalusia.html

IMHO three days is too much for Granada. From Seville make a daytrip to Jerez and visit a Sherry 'bodega'.
http://www.bodegastiopepe.com/tourvirtual.php

I think how much time you spend in Granada is all about your idea of romance and your travel style. Two nights means no rushing doing a night tour and seeing the entire Alhambra complex and gardens during the daylight. Three nights gives you a chance to see something of Granada itself, and include a side jaunt like hero travels proposed.

But if you feel like you'll just get restless, then you can be in an out of Granada in 24 hours, but you'll be on the go all the time in a place that, because if its steep hills, is not easy walking.

Hola

"We are on a budget and are looking for reasonably priced hotels..." I think it would be better to state your budget in euro. The Hotel Amadeus - http://www.sevilla5.com/hotels/amadeus.html - gets a good rap on the forums. It's in the picturesque barrio Santa Cruz. In that barrio we had a good, inexpensive meal in a small, pretty plaza at Restaurante La Cueva - http://www.restaurantelacueva.net. In Cordoba you may want to check out the Bodega Campos - http://www.bodegascampos.com. I didn't eat there and was only there for the day so can't say if they do a lunch menu. I checked out the premises and found it had a wonderful ambience about it. Here's hoping you find romance :S-

I absolutely adored Granada and regretted not staying longer than two nights. There is so much more to see than the Alhambra!

I did not get much out of Cádiz but that might have been unpreparedness on my part. Córdoba is amazing and so is Toledo.

If you have a car don't miss Ronda. We thought we would just drive by this town and wound up spending two nights there.

Thank you for your suggestions!!! We will not rent a car, because based on what I have read it would make things complicated in Granada and Seville. So we will rely on trains and buses. We will look into visiting Ronda on a day trip. But after reading through your posts and suggested links - which were absolutely great!!! - we are very much convinced about staying in Grenada for three days...There is so much to see and we want to see Alhambra during the day and night...
We already booked our hotels last night. In Seville we got a great deal for 5 nights at a hotel called "Coral De San Jose" and in Granada we decided to splurge for Casa Morisca with a view of Alhambra. We are very happy and looking forward to a magnificent trip! Thank you all very much!!!

Dear fellow fodorers, I am back with another question! We will check out from our hotel in Granada on May 30 but our flight back to Washington will not be leaving until the 31st. (We did not purchase our ticket yet) So would have one extra day to spare...If we choose to fly roundtip to Seville then we could visit another town on the way back to Seville, stay in a hotel closer to the airport and leave early in the morning of the 31st. If we choose to fly into Madrid (depending on the air fare) then we probably should go back to Madrid, spend the evening there and fly out in the morning...What would be better? Should we spend that extra day in Andalusia before leaving or should we use it to see some of Madrid night life? Would appreciate your feedback and thoughts on this!

I think that every new place (especially big cities) takes a little while to figure out the practicalities like how to get from A to B, tickets, etc., so I'd be incline to go back to Seville if you can. You might want to consider changing your itinerary to have two nights in Seville before you leave, going to Granada a day earlier. I dislike one night stops. But that's personal preference. If it's of interest, it is possible to fly from Granada or Seville to Madrid or Barcelona using Vueling, Spain's budget carrier. I also preferred the train between Seville and Granada to the bus - thought the scenery was better but I might have been influenced by the weather. For what it's worth, we found we enjoyed tapas more than a proper sit down meal. The food was more interesting (and you can eat earlier if that's important to you).