That's nice to know, thanks, cjar.

i agree that a good hotel can really enhance a stay, and a bad one make it quite miserable. shame we don't all agree on which is which!

<We love food tours or tapas hopping>

Then a personal favourite for a three tapas bars tour in the local atmosphere San Lorenzo/San Vicente area would be these three tapas places that are all fabulous but in different ways.

La Pajarita is a hidden gem: https://www.tripadvisor.es/Restauran...Andalucia.html

100 meters away you find Bodega Dos de Mayo mentioned above, on the corner of a tiny and very nice plaza. http://comerdetapasensevilla.es/cate...l-dos-de-mayo/

And 100 meters from there you find Eslava, one of the most popular places in town in recent years. http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/2008/02/eslava/

Annhig- I have booked a refundable room at Guadalupe, choosing to leave a more extravagant hotel for Seville. I agree the close proximity to the Alhambra is a plus when we have such limited time. Hopefully we can also visit the cathedral and the moorish area. We'll see.

Kimhe - appreciate the tapas recs. They look great.

oh dear, cjar - the responsibility!

Seriously, we thought that it was a very good hotel for its price, and getting into the town was easy. Better still, other people to whom we have recommended it have agreed.

Regarding tapas, we found a little street down in the town [one street back from the square] that had a "meson de jamon" and a pulperia, both very good. Perhaps kimhe will know which street I'm talking about.

March 14 or 15- early train to Granada. I believe I need to wait until 2 months out to book this and then I'll have the dubious pleasure of trying to use Renfe. Woo hoo.>

www.seat61.com (maybe suggested above) is a good way to find a way around the morass that www.renfe.com can be for first-time users -for general info like difference 1st and 2nd class, etc (1st class is also discounted and at times may not be much more than 2nd class and significantly nicer -2nd class is nice enough for many but if you can go first class for not much more go for it) also check www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

buses also run regularly Seville - Granada at a flat rate cheap price I believe and need not be booked months in advance or at all.

I also suggest a day trip to nearby Cordoba from Seville or a stop overnight Granada-Seville.

I enjoyed Jerez de la Frontera -a short train ride from Seville for its neat Sherry tours (Jerez is home of Sherry -the latter a British corruption of the town's name) and its practice sessions of its famed Andalucia Horse School:

https://www.realescuela.org/en/

Annhig- You make me smile. We should all have such dilemmas as whether or not we will have time to see every wonderful thing we want to on vacation. My daughter would say" first world problems, mom" and shame me just a little. I am sure the hotel will be wonderful and I very much appreciate your suggestion. Any tips on a specific room to request? I think I booked a special double. Not sure what that means precisely.

PalenQ- Yes, I will definitely visit www.seat61.com. I have used it in the past for other trips and always gotten good information and tips. Thank you for the other websites as well.

We are considering a daytrip to Córdoba. Can we play it by ear do you think or does that train need to be booked in advance? Maybe we'll rent a car, but as mentioned we'll need an international driver's license. It just feels like we're already spreading our time a bit thin.

Trains between Sevilla and Cordoba are frequent, as in every ½ hour or so. I can’t imagine that you would need to book in advance, and for what you are planning, a car would likely be an encumbrance.

I would also encourage you to continue to try to book the Parador in Grenada if you want a very special experience (and it is easy to do the night tour from there). I booked it almost last minute because of a cancellation, after having been told many times it needed to be booked months in advance.

We bought our train tickets to Cordoba the day of without difficulty. I see no reason you couldn't just play it by ear.

I used Loco2 recently to purchase train tickets in Spain, and it was very easy. No problems at all. I think the prices are the same as Renfe, or they might be slightly higher if they charge a booking fee. I honestly don't remember. But they were still reasonable.

Any tips on a specific room to request? I think I booked a special double. Not sure what that means precisely.>>

mmm - looking at the website I think that we were in a triple, not by choice but because that's what we were given. Perhaps that's why its size struck me as being so generous! But the special doubles look very nice and would be what I would choose I think.

I'm pleased to have made you smile; I hope that the hotel does the same! I remember that we came back after the night visit to the Alhambra we decided to have dinner in the hotel as it was already after 9pm and very late for us though normal for Spaniards to be starting to eat. Nothing daunted we decided to have cola de buey [oxtail] to see how it differed from how we cook it at home, which really was not very much, but when we said as much to the waiter, I fear that he did not believe that Brits eat oxtail, and certainly not cooked more or less as in Spain. Which made us smile.

Sometimes people miss posts that were essentially simultaneous with others, so to repeat: Trains between Sevilla and Cordoba are frequent, as in every ½ hour or so. I can’t imagine that you would need to book in advance, and for what you are planning, a car would likely be an encumbrance.

Frencharmoire- love that moniker . It reminds me of Beauty and the Beast because I just took my daughter to see a production of it. The Parador looks very special, but I think we'll save the splurge hotel for Seville. Nice to know miracles do happen if we change our minds though.

kja/ indyhiker- I love the idea that we can be spontaneous although that's not my strength. My husband is quite spontaneous. That's how we've made it through all of these years, I think. Plus something tells me we'll regret not seeing the mezquita.

KarenWoo- You had no trouble with credit cards going through? That seems to be the biggest complaint.

OMG yes, by ALL means, find time for Cordoba’s Mezquita! I was just responding to your question about whether it would be necessary to book your train in advance.

I should add that I was glad to have 2 full days in Cordoba. I know you don’t have time for that, but one advantage of playing it by ear even a bit would be the chance to stay there a bit longer once you have a sense of how your time is playing out and what calls to you….

No, i did not have any problems with my credit card going through with Loco2. I did have problems with the Ticketmaster website while trying to purchase Alhambra tickets, so I had to call Spain and purchase the tickets over the phone.

I loved the Mezquita; totally worth the trip. Like kja, we stayed two nights in Cordoba. Even if you plan to go to Cordoba, you can still buy your tickets the day of. There's no real advantage to buying them in advance. The route isn't as deeply discounted as some.

If you decide to go to Cordoba, consider just spending the night. It's sort of on the way between Seville and Granada, so it doesn't necessarily make sense to do a day trip from Seville only to then travel from Seville to Granada. But this sssumes that you can make quick work of changing hotels (if you pack light for example). Cordoba is lovely at night and we had our favorite meal there at Regadera.

I'd add that we took the bus from Cordoba to Granada. Very comfortable and very inexpensive.

Thank you so much everyone. I am very much looking forward to our trip and the advice received here always adds to the experience immeasuraably.

one tip - if you do book in Spain tickets online, you need the credit card that you used to buy them to collect them. this applies all over Spain, I believe.

Is this just for the Alhambra or train tickets etc?