Hello,

I am trying to come up with an itinerary for 6 nights in Andalucia & Santiago. We don't have much time at all, but I have been there many times before and and am showing my sister who has never been there. I wanted to show her:

Seville,
Granada
Ubeda
Cordoba
Santiago

The problem is obviously Santiago is far. But I have never been to the Coruna region and wanted to see one town during this trip that I have never been to. We will be staying at paradors almost entirely. It's very hard to figure out the distances & buses etc. I thought we could start out in Seville, spend a full day and night, then the next day late afternoon sightsee Cordoba to sleep in Ubeda. Then the following day, head to Granada to sleep there, and see alhambra the next day. From there, I thought we could take a plane to Santiago? I thought maybe we should take a plane instead to Leon to try their parador everyone's been raving about and then move on to Santiago to try their parador. But is this at all possible with public transportation?

Thank you so much for your help. I've been spending all nights in front of computer and still can't figure this out at all...

Nice trip, going by public transportation between Leon and Santiago, I see no problem at all.BTW Both in the Camino de Santiago ...check with RENFE or by bus.
InSantiago the train station is 10' walk from the center, and the bus station is way out on San Cayetano, their phone number is 34- 981 58 77 00 a good way to find about is to call them and ask for the name of the bus company that links Santiago to Leon and then visit their web.

Flying from Granada to Santiago requires a stop in either Madrid or Barcelona. This makes it an all day affair. In the limited time that you have, I don't think it's worth the attempt.

Instead, after Granada, why not go into the Alpujarras. Gorgeous scenery, and a taste of the truly non-touristy traditional Spain.

Sukistar,

As you pointed out the problem is Santiago, I don't want to talk you out of your itineary but, if as you say, you ahve been many times to Andalucia, why not you and your sister try Northen Spain instead?
If your sister has never been to Spain you could spend a couple of days in Madrid and then fly to Santiago. From Santiago you can do easily day trips to Coruña and Pontevedra.
Another option would be take the train/bus from Madrid to Leon , spend one night/day in Leon and then take the train to Santiago.
I have been to Andalucia, and although I like it I am very biased in favor of Northern Spain.

with madrid /santiago round trip flights as low as 40 euros, i would consider the logical suggestion of at least some time in madrid between the granada flight to see something before heading north.

Yes, it is a bit of impossible itinerary. My sister (we are both in our 30s and am meeting up from different countries for a trip together) really really wants to see Andalucia (don't blame her, it's my favorite place in Europe), and I was just there yet again not long ago, and I've wanted to see Santiago but always gave it up because it's always out of the way when heading south...and am rather fixated on Santiago and Leon paradors, from the photos... so I am trying to make it work, if not I guess I would have to give it up. A couple of questions:

1) Where did you see 40 euro roundtrip between Santiago & Madrid? Iberia comes out as 140 euro at least

2) How do I find out the bus connection between each cities? For example, I cannot find out if there's any bus between Cordoba & Ubeda and how long that is, or Cordoba & Jaen., also when they run. The distance between towns is hard to find out, and I guess in such a tight schedule that's important to figure out first.

3) I am confused which order they should be. I will most likely fly into Madrid. Then from there, do I take Ave down south. Now, here's where it's confusing. Should it be Seville -- Cordoba - Ubeda - Granada (and maybe a flight or Ave & flight to Santiago, or maybe not) Between each towns will be either a bus or train. Is there a site or something where they list the bus companies between each towns?

Thanks so much. It's now become a sort of headache planning...

i didn´t know your dates but punched in some.

www.rumbo.es www.lastminute.com will also give you low cost airlines. ( luggage limitations on some)

fly into madrid. (don´t know whre you are coming from but sometimes it is NOT much more expensive to fly into another city, and then leave from sevilla).

go directly to santiago next day.
then fly back to madrid and continue on to sevilla by air.. leaving enough time between flights.( might leave from another terminal)

do andalucia and try to fly out of sevilla.

www.mappy.com will show distances.

www.granadainfo.com might answer other questions. i did a google search and have come up with so many options i can´t post them. try it.

"bus granada ubeda".. you might find the answers. haven´t tried that one yet.

i know the feeling. you can become overdosed with all the info out there and then the doubt, wanting to make this a really nice trip.. on a budget.

it will all work out.
after the travelling.. now you need to see accomodations!

try www.gtahotels.com or www.talonotel.com for good deals.

the paradors have some deals, too, for the young and the seniors. you may qualify.

if you decide not to spend the money on some of those top paradors, just go there for a meal and enjoy the surroundings. that´s as good as it gets if you don´t sleep there. even for a coffee. i love them.

www.andalucia.com gives gobs of good info on buses , etc.
nice parador there, too.

For flights from Mad- santiago check Spanair. I punched a bunch of dates and kept getting r/t 58 euros and one ways 35 euros ( that is with all taxes and fees included)

Thank you so much!

the flight sites are helping greatly. I am right now checking them to make them sense.

Feb 26 arrival: I will be flying from NYC to Barcelona (cheaper).
From there I will take the rumbe. site flight to Santiago (50 euro). My sister will be coming from Korea to Madrid and then take a flight to Santiago from there for 20 euro.

Feb 26/27 Then we will spend two nights in Santiago (Leon parador looks spectacular, but I can't find any flight between Santiago and Leon to make this happen, and bus is like 6 hours).

Feb 28 Then as you suggested, a flight from Santiago to Granada (about 60 euro each) We will spend a night at the parador there (they had a room!)

March 1: a bus to Ubeda (3 hours, too long, but I guess no other option), sleep at the parador ther.

March 2: a bus to Jaen (parador).

March 3: a bus to cordoba/seville to sleep the night in Seville.

march 4: leave out of Seville: the cheap Spanair flight to Barcelona, then we fly out of there.

The only problem with this is not getting to Leon parador, and spending so little time in Seville. But I think it could work? Does this look reasonable? Thank you so much, I could not have even come up with this, it's taken me like solid 48 hours, and your suggestion has provided a much needed shortcut...

I question the desire to stay in Jaén at the expense of Sevilla. Sure the Jaén parador is nice, and there are some things to see in town, but I'd much rather spend the time in Sevilla.

If Jaén is a must for you, remember there is a daily morning train to Córdoba leaving 8:05. Travel time is about 1.5 hours.

Yes, I wonder the same thing, in fact... My sister LOVED an Italian film that features that particular parador from the 70s. I've stayed there before, a gorgeous place but yes, it's not Seville. I am thinking of perhaps stopping by there for lunch to show it to her and then moving onto Cordoba-Seville instead. This is a lot of moving about, but oh well, it's more like a sampling. Are there frequent bus/train to Cordoba from Jaen?

Thanks!!

Hi Sukistar,

Good for you. Seems very hectic but 2 days in Santiago is better that 0 days in Santiago. It is my favorite place in Spain. I'm sure you'll love it.

You can find Bus times from Jaen to Cordoba at:

http://www.jaenonline.com/azul/transportes/cordoba.htm

i think www.lastminute.com ( punch in spain for origin country at bottom with spanish flag or you may not get correct drop down tabs) only charges 8 euros per fee for making reservation whereas rumbo.es is now charging 12! check it out.

and on lastminute, if you reserve hotel with them, flight+hotel, they charge nothing to make the reservations.

i would also skip jaen if it means i can´t see the alhambra. you MUST see that.

also, it is in a spectacular setting up on that hill.., but seeing you are staying at fabulous paradors already, give yourself a little more time in sevilla, and have a drink or coffee on your way.

jaen village is not really an exceptional place to roam around at the expense of roaming the streets of sevilla or the mosque at cordoba.

sounds like a great trip.

You've been there. don't worry about it. Whatever fits will work. As in most countries, the bad places are verrrry good. enjoy and don't sweat it!

Thanks! I think drop Ubeda after all, I think it's too hectic, although I haven't been there and was curious about it and replace it with Jaen since my sister is so curious and it's closer to both Granada and Cordoba. And yes, save more time for Seville. This might work after all. So thank you for your suggestions!

not sure if i would drop jaen, or ubeda. ubeda town has more building facades to marvel at.

it is a world heritage site. i think you will be happy to have gone there.

Hi Suki,

I would book directly using the different airlines website, instead of using rumbo.es or lastminute.es.

So, for the BCN-SCQ flight on the 26th of February, go to www.vueling.es (the same for your sister).

For the SCQ-Granada flight, go to www.spanair.com . Remember that it is not a direct flight. edreams.es is showing a 60 euro flight with Iberia, leaving Santiago at 6:20 in the morning, you could buy it in iberia.com

For the Sevilla-BCN leg, I would check vueling.es and clickair.es. The only available Spanair flight are a little late, and I believe you mention flying out that day.

Good luck, Cova