JToronto

Hi all, I am planning a 16 day trip to Andalucia with my husband in Oct 2014. We will rent a villa with another couple somewhere between Cordoba and Granada for 1 week, and plan to day trip to those 2 cities. For our second week, the 2 of us plan to do a self-guided walking or biking tour (which we have loved in Italy & France; we enjoy both hiking and biking). We have found 2 very appealing options, either a 7 day hiking tour in the Alpujarras (Sierra Nevadas nat'l park, south of Granada), very hilly hiking in an area said to be very traditional. The second option is a cycling tour between Cordoba and Sevilla, with stays in paradors in Carmona and Palma del Rio, and biking in Las Navas de la Concepcion nature park. While these both sound like great options, we've never been to Spain and are wondering which of the two tours is likely to give us more variety of experience, compared to time spent in Granada/Cordoba and in between? One consideration is that the level of accomodation on the bike tour seems a lot higher, whereas we expect the hotels will be quite small and simple on the hikes - this is OK, but is one possible downside. We do enjoy an excellent dinner at the end of our active days, and we enjoy hotels with character and charm (don't need pool/doorman/room service etc).

Bedar

While both would be interesting, I think you should do the bike tour and wind up in Seville. Leave a couple of days at the end of biking to see that city. You did say you've not been to Spain before, no ?

Robert2533

Have you checked out Spain Adventures (www.spainadventures.com). They offer a nice Cordoba to Granada bike tour in October which you might find interesting. You can always head for Sevilla after Granada.

kja

I spent a day hiking in Las Alpujarras and loved it, but can't otherwise comment on your options.

Spaniola

It really depends whether you prefer the countryside which is stunning around the Alpujarras or would like to experience more Spanish towns, Carmona is a lovely one.

An ideal option could be shorter tours.

Rachel
Andalucia Eexplorer

sparkchaser

OP, you have the right idea -- Cordoba and Granada are both amazing cities.

For your second week, I can highly recommend the Torrox area. Lots of hiking, beautiful views, plenty of small villages, and wonderful people.

bilboburgler

I'd do the bike trip but it is the law in Spain to wear a helmet unless you are in towns or it is too hot/hilly so if you don't want to wear one don't go.