I love this site! Thanks to all the posters, who are so generous with their time, I have come up with the following itinerary for 13 nights in Andalucia. I would love comments or suggestions, as I have not finalized hotels and am wavering on one or two things. I know there are similar itineraries out there, which I have been keeping up on. Here is what I have in mind:

Flying direct from JFK to Malaga (one flight only exists on a charter).

Hoping to take a train to Granada, have not checked into logistics yet.

Granda - 3 nights at the Hotel Morisco. The Parador is only available one night, and we don't want to move once settle in.

Ubeda - 1 night at the Parador

Cordoba - 2 nights. Have not booked hotel yet, is 2 nights too much and can anyone recommend a good hotel? Would love a pool for this one, but not necessary.

Seville - 4 nights at Casa Numero 7.

Cadiz - 2 nights. Again, have not booked hotel. Any recommendations? Or should we stay in Sanlucar de Barrameda instead?

Ronda - 1 night at the Parador, am still waiting to hear if they have a room available.

We are not sure at which points to rent/ditch a car.

Any feedback would be much appreciated. We are going in September and my husband and I are in our late 30s.

Thanks.

I personally think 3 night in Granada is way too many. Are you interested in doing any active outdoors things? We enjoyed Grazalema and its hiking opportunities. We also hiked in the Alpujarras.

We like some outdoor activity, but probably won't be packing hiking boots, etc. for this trip. I thought 3 nights in Granada because we'll be arriving the first afternoon, Friday and we could see the Alhambra at night. Then we could spend the next day seeing the city and shopping, and then have Sunday to see the Alhambra properly.

A good place to hire a car is from www.carjet.com, all the rates are fully inclusive with no excess and they do not charge extra for one-way car hire. Also you can pick it up on site at Malaga airport rather than having to take a bus off-airport. I would hire a car the whole way through to make life easier, although if you chose to, the places to ditch it would be Granada and Seville.

Hello Chrisssy,
We spent 4 night Seville, 2 night Cordoba, 2 nights Granada and back 1 night Seville.

For me Cordoba could have been done in 1 night. We arrived Cordoba at 2:30, took the Carriage ride and went to the Le Mezquite. We could have left to Granada then. There isn't much to do.
We did not see Alcazar, but after Seville Alcazar we thought to skip it.

We stayed at 4 star NH Amistad. It has a pool and it came highly recommended. I thought it was very cold, stark and very cold service. I wish we stayed at the 'Memodies' hotel. It is near the Le Mosquite and feels like a hotel in Spain rather than in Holland.

We arrived Granada in the afternoon, and we loved Al-Hamabara palace hotel. We went to the Al-Hamabra night tour that night and the early 8:30 for the palace. It took us 6 hours in the palace. we were too tired to visit Granada. I wish we had a 3rd day in Granada.
In Seville we spent 4 night at Casas de la Juderia and room #231 is great.

Cordoba - NH Amistad room #333.
Granada - Al-Hambra Palace Hotel. best room is #407 great terrance view attached to the room.
Seville - Alfonso XIII - room 205 very big and spacy.

We are in our 40's and our son is 9.
We booked all our trains and buses ahead of time.

Hope this helps.
Please ask me if I can be of further help.
Sue

ttt

I would cut back a night from Cordoba or Granada, and spend at least two nights in the Ronda area.There is so much to see and do, especially if you are the outdoorsy type. We stayed at a great country b&b hotel just outside Ronda called the Arriadh. Beautiful views, very clean and relaxing.

Hi chrisssy,

I also would cut it to 2 nights in Granada and 1 in Cordoba, and either add a night in Ronda or pick another of the white towns. That area is so beautiful. The interesting parts of Cordoba and Granada really aren't very big - beautiful, yes! - but not big. They don't take all that long to see, IMO.

Also, in Ronda, if the Parador doesn't have a room, the Hotel San Gabriel is wonderful. It is about 2 blocks from the Parador in the Old Town, and I loved it.

The car will be great to have as you go from place to place. You don't need one in Granada or Sevilla. Pick it up on the way out of Granada, and then since Sevilla is in the middle of your trip, I guess you'll probably hang on to it.

Have a great time!

Karen

Thanks zootsi and kaudrey... I think I might run into a problem adding to Ronda, because I am not too flexible with the Seville part of the itinerary. The hotel is hard to get into, and we're seeing Carmen in Sevilla on the night of the 11th... I hear the opera will go on into the wee hours, and if we moved our Seville itinerary one day forward, we would be leaving the next day after when I'm sure we'll need to sleep in! I will still see if it's possible to change the hotel reservation, but if I can't... is there anything else we can do on the way? Carmona?

I don't think 3 is too many nights in Granada. My favorite of all.

I haven't been to Cadiz, I think I'd stay there rather than Sanlucar. Sanlucar has great food on the river but nothing particularly unique beyond that. HOWEVER: Bonanza, just about 5 miles upriver from Sanlucar, has a daily event that is among my top three favorites in all of Europe. Daily, between 3-5 pm the fishing boats return and unload, and auction their catch. It is the most raucous, character-filled, boat bumping, money moving, show I have sen anywhere. 20-25 boats, all in excess of 30 feet long, trying to secure a place on a pier that is maybe 300 feet long. They come in, tie up, unload and then move out so the next boat can get in. The catch is laid out in wooden flats, taken inside a large warehouse adjacent to the pier and auctioned off much like tobacco is auctioned here in the US. You can get in the middle of it on the pier, join the crowd of restaurants and markets bidding, and enjoy it. VERY worth the short drive from Cadiz.

Oh, how exciting to be seeing Carmen in Seville! You'll have to tell us all about it. If you can fit it in, I'd also recommend the flamenco show at Los Gallos.

I liked Cordoba and don't think 2 nights is too much. We stayed at the Conquistador Hotel--I think it has a pool (can't remember now, but it was Nov. and chilly), but I know it has a beautiful garden. Also, is right across from the Mezquita. Went to an excellent restaurant near the hotel--El Caballo Rojo.

Chrisssy -

check out my web page on our trip to Andalucia. Maybe it can help you....

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/57...andalucia.html

weber6560, the fish auction sounds like fun, we will definitely "catch it" when we're in Cadiz!

artlover, i will certainly post my trip report and tell you how the opera went.. i'm very excited to see the acts at the actual places where they are supposed to take place. I am looking into the Conquistador and will probably stay Cordoba the two days to save us having to move every day for three days straight..

sssteve - this webpage you created is superb! so many useful links, will keep me busy for hours. and it's nice to hear about your personal experience in the region.

I appreciate all the feedback and would love to continue to hear more ideas and recommendations. Thanks!

Hotel recommendation for Cadiz: We have twice stayed at the Parador Hotel Atlantico and enjoyed it. However, I have noticed that it does get mixed reviews from other people. It is a "modern" structure located on the tip of the Cadiz peninsular. There are two wings to the hotel; both times we have stayed in the north wing (a 3-4 story structure) and had very good rooms with excellent ocean views. I believe that the south wing (a 5-7 story structure) has significantly different and probably smaller rooms with limited views. The first time we were assigned the north wing by chance; the second time, we knew to ask for it when checking in. I think there may be a somewhat higher price, but well worth it. The hotel is located roughly at the mid-point of the road that goes around the city and is within easy walking distance of the old city. I hope you enjoy Cadiz. My impression is that many tourist bypass it for better known locals; but it is well worth a visit. I, personally, would cut short the stays in Granada and Seville by one night each and might try spend some time in Gibraltar, another place that gets really mixed comments; however, my wife and I found it quite interesting.

Since I cannot change the Seville part of my trip, should I switch the whole thing around and start out in Ronda/Cadiz/white villages for the first six days and then try to fit Granada/Cordoba/Ubeda in the final three days after Seville? I think I just need to manage the three days after Granada. But one night each in Ubeda/Cordoba/Carmona might be too much moving around. Any suggestions? Maybe stay in Ubeda 2 nights and Carmona for 1 night, stopping to see Cordoba on the way? Thanks.

Hi Chrissy.agreeing with some,,,disagreeing with others.
if keeping the order as originally stated..
-you could stop in Ronda first (1 night only) the parador is very nice, super location. From Ronda you can catch the train to Granada.
- Granada would be wonderful to stay in the Parador or the Alhamnbra Palace. I recommend the Melia Granada, right by the Plaza Nueva..very reasonable hotel in gteat location. would certainly stay in Granada for 3 nights.

Cordoba- many dont really like it and recommend only a daytrip. I love Cordoba. Dont know about pools, but second the recommendation for the Conquistador. NH Amistad is also centrally located. Bear in mind the downtown of Cordoba is very small and you will get lost easily due to the streets.

Cadiz..never stayed in Cadiz but heard great things about it. I did stay in Arcos de la Frontera, which is on the white villages route, and a small but lovely place to stay for one night or two if you are going to see the surrounding areas (Cadiz, jerez). View from the Parador is exquisite. Route of the white villages basically goes from Arcos to Ronda. Grazalama is about in the middle, the location there is awesome.
hope this helps