We are traveling to Andalusia in March. Lodging is already booked so there can't be a change in the itinerary which goes as follows:
4 nights in Seville - staying in Barrio Santa Cruz
1 night in Ronda
3 nights in Granada - staying in the Albaicin

Here are the questions:

1. Do we visit Cordoba as a day trip from Seville?
2. Do we need tickets to the Alcazar?
3. Do people recommend taking a guided tour of Seville?
4. Is there a bus or train route that will take us to Jerez and then onto Ronda?
5. I've already bought tickets to the Alhambra. Do we pick these tickets up at the Alhambra or elsewhere?

1.Yes - I would definately visit Cordoba as a daytrip from Sevilla.

2. Do you mean the Alcazara in Sevilla or Cordoba? I think you're OK just walking up.

3. Some people enjoy guided tours, others don't. It's up to you.

4. You can take a bus directly from Sevilla to Ronda. It takes about 2 hours.
If you are interested in visiting Jerez along the way you'd have to take the bus or train from Sevilla to Jerez and then a bus from Jerez to Ronda. There's approx 4 buses a day and it takes 2.5 hours. You'd just want to make sure the train or bus station in Jerez has luggage storage.

Another one: where should we go to see flamenco in Seville and Granada?

I'll let kimhe answer that one - she's an expert!

'where should we go to see flamenco in Seville and Granada?' -

Seville.

We just recently spent 2 weeks in Spain (Barcelona 1 week, Seville 6 nights and Granada 2 nights). A day trip to Cordoba was an absolute highlight. Definately visit Cordoba as a day trip from Seville!! It is very easy to do by train!

Sevilla is flamenco, and you can experience real deal flamenco at Casa de la Memória in the Santa Cruz district. Popular with tourists, but some of the finest flamenco artists perform here on a regular basis. Would at least give you a glimpse of how wonderful the art form can be: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...Andalusia.html

For some serious flamenco/sevillanas atmosphere into the night, I can recommend El Rejoneo in riverfront Calle Betis, 33. Often Samara Amador, the singer daughter of living legend flamenco dancer Manuela Carrasco, gets into action here. No need to come before midnight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPZT3ADgWsw

Riverfront Calle Betis is also an excellent place to start the evening. Lots of tapas bars, terraces by the river etc: http://www.sevilla5.com/activities/goingout/betis.html

Or you can go to extremely popular Casa Anselma in Calle Pagés del Corro, 49. Also in the vibrant Triana district, a cradle of flamenco culture. A bit more touristy but great fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw1atBQq_u0
http://www.sevilla5.com/activities/f...o/anselma.html

The greatest flamenco artists perform in Sevilla theaters all the time. Here you will meet a predominantly local and knowledgeable crowd. Highly recommended. The program is updated here all the time: http://www.deflamenco.com/agenda/events.jsp?barrio=5

Granada is also great for flamenco. My recommendation would be to go for the Thursday night performance at Peña Flamenca La Platería, the oldest exisiting flamenco club in Spain. In the Albaycín district close to the center and Plaza Nueva. This would be the real deal, and you could be up for an excperience to remember for very long. Sometimes they also have performances on Saturday nights. The performances starts at 10.30pm and the entrance is only some 10-12€ with one drink included. Also a restaurant, make reservations ahead. http://www.laplateria.org.es/

One of the greatest up and coming flamenco dancers in the world today, Patricia Guerrero, literally grew up here, and the greatest local flamenco artists perform here on a regular basis. This clip gives you an idea of the place and the atmosphere. Here, the extremely popular singer Diana Navarro from Málaga performs. She is not a traditional flamenco singer, but she has a beautiful voice and are fully capable of creating magic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgPrfjinEgQ

kimhe: thank you for the great suggestions.

Bookmarking this page! Thank you

Does anyone have a guide that they recommend for Seville?

Not a guide but a great website:

exploreseville.com

Flamenco:

If you are not familiar with this performance art, visit Flamenco Dance Museum in Seville before watching a show. Along with the history, you will learn about different types of dances and their key points. As different dancers take stage, you will then able to identify the type of dances.

bookmarking, thanks kimhe - will be there in June and celebrating my son's birthday on the last night so appreciate these suggestions

Kimhe - I just looked and Peña Flamenca La Platería is only a few blocks from where we'll be staying in Granada. Perfect! Does the Thursday evening show happen every Thursday?

Flamenco Thursdays (Jueves flamencos) every Thursday at La Platería. If you want to book ahead, you can contact them at [email protected]

Last week Fuensanta la Moneta danced there. She was voted best flamenco dancer by Spanish critics in 2009.

Another vote for La Casa de la Memoria in Seville. My husband and I spent 4 nights in Seville as part of a 2 week trip to Spain last spring and after attending a performance there walked right up to the ticket window and bought tickets for the following night too (sadly our last!) We decided if we were ever lucky enough to return we'd go every night (we liked that performances were early- ie 7:30 or 9- as we're not late night people, which is tough in Spain!) Prices are very reasonable- be sure and go very early to get in the first row of seats (there are only about 3 rows of seats in a horseshoe shape). It is not a nightclub atmosphere, which may be less authentic but we loved it.
We rarely take tours but did take a walking tour of Seville with an associate of Concepcion, (Alfonso) who is recommended in the Rick Steves book (she had just had a baby, and he was handling all the tours). He was excellent, so much so that we signed up for a tour of the Alcazar with him for later that day, which was also excellent.
As for the Alhambra we prebooked and then just picked up the tickets on site at their very well organized entrance. We bought tickets once there for a return visit at night, which was magical (but I'd do a daytime visit first to get oriented).
Lastly, I recommend just a day trip to Cordoba, for the Mezquita. We got off the train from Madrid to Seville and stashed our luggage in the nearby bus station lockers, then taxiied to the Mezquita, which is spectacular. We walked around Cordoba ourselves afterwards and back to the train station, spending about 5 hours all told, which was plenty.

Thanks for your suggestions, el13207.

I think we're planning on skipping Cordoba right now. Of course, that might change once we get to Seville but there is enough that we want to see in Seville that I think we'll be pretty occupied.