Andre

Just got back from a GREAT trip to Andaluc&iacute;a on Saturday and would like to thank all those who helped me plan our itinerary - Maribel's comments were especially helpful.<BR><BR>Here's my trip report - I'll gladly answer any questions.<BR><BR>Some background: this was our 2nd trip to Andaluc&iacute;a (the previous one had been solely devoted to Sevilla and Cordoba) and we wanted to combine touring with R&R. I live in Switzerland and am used to driving on mountain roads. I also speak passable Spanish.<BR><BR>For trip planning I used this site of course, but also my usual "Michelin trio" (sorry Fodors): red guide (Spain/Portugal), green guide (Andaluc&iacute;a) and map (nr. 446). They served their purpose very well, although the green guide seemed a bit out of date - still the star ratings for the sites are a great help when planning your route. In addition, I searched for destination information on Google, which gave me some interesting links to follow.<BR><BR>TRIP OVERVIEW:<BR><BR>Day 1: Arrival at Malaga airport, rental car pickup, drive to GRANADA, visit cathedral and Capilla Real.<BR><BR>Day 2: More GRANADA: visit Alhambra, Monasterio de San Jer&oacute;nimo, university quarter and sunset at Mirador de San Nicolas (looong day!)<BR><BR>Day 3: Drive to BAEZA & visit the historic quarter, then onwards to &Uacute;BEDA & explore that town.<BR><BR>Day 4: Drive to JAEN & visit the Cathedral & Moorish baths, onwards to PRIEGO DE CORDOBA (visit the Barrio de la Villa) and OSUNA (visit the old town center)<BR><BR>Day 5: Visit the Colegiata & Monasterio de la Encarnaci&oacute;n In OSUNA, then drive to MARCHENA (visit the San Juan Bautista church), then onwards to ZAHARA DE LA SIERRA and RONDA (visit the bullring)<BR><BR>Day 6: Explore RONDA (Palacio de Mondragon museum and Santa Maria la Mayor church). Drive onward to MARBELLA and PUERTO BANUS (shopping). In the evening, drive to NERJA.<BR><BR>Days 7 through 10: R&R in NERJA<BR><BR>Day 11: Drive to Malaga airport, rental car return and departure (bummer!).<BR>

Andre

DETAILED ITINERARY<BR><BR>Day 1:<BR><BR>Arrived at an almost deserted Malaga airport (this was 9/11) on a Spanair (charter) flight from Zurich - great crew, terrible food (what do you expect on a charter though). I had booked my car at Hertz and it was rather disquieting to find the counter shuttered (so were all the others except Avis which was mobbed) and a rotary(!) phone in front of it with several different handwritten numbers scrawled on it! On the 3rd or 4th try, someone answered and told me to stay put - 10 minutes later, the shutter pulls up and a smiling guy hands me the keys to a DIESEL Peugeot 406 (a double upgrade from what I had requested). It turned out that as our flight originated outside the EU, we had used a separate exit where the rental car counters aren't manned continuously like in the main arrivals hall.<BR><BR>Uneventful, easy drive to Granada, where we checked in to the Alhambra Palace hotel. GREAT location and lobby! Our rooms (2 singles) were small but in good repair (love the Moorish tiling in the bathrooms) and very clean. We walked down to the cathedral and Capilla Real, which were both superb. Highlights in the Capilla were the 2 double graves as well as the amazing funerary robes (so modern!) and religious paintings in the adjacent museum. The cathedral is quite breathtaking with a real mix of Spanish and Italian influences and a great little museum with beautiful robes and other liturgical paraphernalia. The shopping streets around the cathedral seemed quite nice, but we were kinda tired and headed back to the hotel for some rest and sunset drinks on the hotel terrace.<BR>Had a SUPERB dinner at LA RUTA DEL VELETA, a 15-min. drive up the road to the Sierra Nevada in Cenes de la Vega. Can't say enough good things about the food and the service (no comment on the d&eacute;cor though…). This was definitely the best meal of our trip!

Andre

Day 2:<BR><BR>Had reserved the first time slot (8:30 - 9:00) at the Alhambra on the internet (www.alhambratickets.es). You CANNOT pick up these prebooked tickets beforehand, only on the day for which they are valid! On the recommendation of the hotel concierge, we set off just before 8 and took a cab up the hill (this was our idea - and a very good one!) to the ticket counters at the main entrance. There is a separate queue for people with prebooked tickets - it's on the left-hand side when you're facing the counters (you can ask the security guard where to stand if you arrive before the shutters go up - they open at 8:00 if I remember correctly). All went smoothly, and we were among the first to enter the Nasrid Palace.<BR><BR>I could write pages and pages about what we saw at the Alhambra: we left after 16:00! EVERYTHING is worthwhile (including both museums in Charles V's Palace). We had a (terrible) late breakfast in the pretty courtyard of the America hotel and a wonderful late lunch on the Parador's terrace.<BR><BR>After a short nap, we set off again into town to explore the area behind the cathedral: the beautiful San Jer&oacute;nimo convent (great cloister and richly frescoed church) as well as the jumble of streets around the university - a "Rive Gauche" atmosphere which we really enjoyed - the law school, surrounded by beautiful gardens is especially noteworthy as well as the eerie frescoed courtyard of the old San Juan de D&iacute;os monastery (now a division of the city hospital specializing in AIDS and other STDs!!). With the sunset fast approaching, we hailed a cab and zoomed up to the Mirador de San Nicolas where we drank in the stunning view of the Alhambra. Tried to get in to the Parador again at dinner but all the terrace tables were full (they don't take reservations and hotel guests have priority seating), so we sat outside at one of the casual restaurants on the Alhambra hill for an uneventful meal. This was an exhilarating but also VERY long day.<BR><BR>I should also mention the excellent network of minibuses, which link the Alhambra, Albaycin and town center very frequently.

Andre

Day 3:<BR>Left Granada after a late breakfast and headed for Baeza. There's a public garage right near the Palacio de Jabalquinto (signage could be better though). This town was a bit of a disappointment, although still worthwhile as a stopover. The Palacio de Jabalquinto (a renaissance palace) is currently undergoing major restoration, so you can't really get a good view of its famous facade. The cathedral is interesting (although it doesn't come close to Granada's) and there are some pretty streets surrounding it which you can wander around in. All in all, the town should look a lot better in 2-3 years, as there is construction/restoration work going on all over the place. We then walked over to the pretty town hall and started looking for lunch - the Michelin (green) guide recommended a place called Vandelvira just down the block in the old San Francisco convent. While I think the owners (and the name) had changed, the setting was quite fun as described (especially the cloister you cross to get to the upstairs dining room) and the food was excellent. The atmosphere wasn't the most pleasant as we were the only guests (their main business is clearly at dinner and catering large banquets set in the cloister) and the waitress was quite nervous (maybe she was new at the job). We would probably been better off at one of the tapas places facing the town hall - a heavy lunch is not a good idea when you're busy exploring…<BR><BR>After lunch, we took the short ride to &Uacute;beda and checked into the Parador. Signage was OK until you get nearby, but if you've seen a photo of the square (check the Parador web site), you'll know what to look for… Be aware that you can pull in to the square right in front of the Parador for loading/unloading - we only found out about this later . The Parador is in a beautiful 16th century palace on the Plaza V&aacute;squez de Molina, a superb ensemble of Spanish renaissance architecture. Our rooms were nicely decorated, but dark - try to get an exterior view. We set of to explore the square and the rest of town. The Capilla del Salvador, located right next to the Parador has a fabulous facade, while the interior was less interesting IMO. The Santa Mar&iacute;a de los Alcazares church also has a great fa&ccedil;ade, but was unfortunately closed for renovation. We walked around the historic area some more, but it felt quite spooky - only very old people in the almost deserted streets. So we headed for the main drag, looked around at the shops and did some people watching - fun. Had dinner at the Parador, where we were scolded for arriving 15 min. later than our reservation! Oh well, food was quite nice, especially the roast goat was superb. D&eacute;cor was astonishingly hohum though.

Andre

Day 4:<BR>After a delicious breakfast at the Parador, we headed out to Ja&eacute;n. Finding a parking space was a bit of an ordeal as the main garage on Plaza de la Constituci&oacute;n was full. We found another one on the Plaza de los Jardinillos, but it required a 90° turn to reach the ramp - that was fun! Just got into the cathedral before it closed for lunch - especially admired the beautiful choir stalls. The fa&ccedil;ade is also very impressive - the main figures seem so modern as they combine masonry and metalwork. We then walked onwards to the Moorish baths, which though small are beautifully restored. There was also a great photography exhibition on the ground floor of the building - shots of Morocco by a Belgian photographer. We then headed back to the car, stopping for snacks on the way.<BR><BR>Pretty drive onwards to Priego de Cordoba, a small town set in the hills in the middle of nowhere. It has a famous baroque chapel (El Sagrario) which unfortunately turned out to be closed. However, we also really enjoyed strolling around the beautifully restored Barrio de la Villa - sort of a pueblo blanco (white village) atmosphere with whitewashed houses and lots of flowers everywhere.<BR><BR>Drove onwards to Osuna and checked in to our hotel, the Palacio Marques de la Gomera. What a find! It's set in an amazing 18th century gem of a baroque palace and the rooms are new and very nicely furnished. Actually all of Osuna is a find. This was definitely our favourite town on the trip (not counting Granada of course). It was ruled by the Dukes of Osuna, who were great patrons of the arts. The old town is an amazing succession of regal renaissance buildings and is still very much alive and quite prosperous. We walked around, gawking and taking pictures till I ran out of film - it was Saturday evening and none of the open stores sold film - argh! The upside is that it felt like we were the only tourists in town - incredible. Had dinner outside at the hotel and watched the town's high society on their big night out - the BEST people-watching, we were really in Andaluc&iacute;a!<BR>

Andre

Day 5:<BR>The next day after breakfast (very small breakfast room - you may have to sit at one of the large communal tables) we headed uphill to the compound dominating the town. It comprises the Colegiata church, the Monasterio de la Incarnaci&oacute;n convent and the university. At about 10:30 AM the entire area was deserted. We went to the front of the church to admire the portal - there were a few hobos sitting on the steps (not aggressive or anything). We head into the church, where the cashier/tour guide basically orders us to buy tickets for both the convent and the church (in that order) and gives me an envelope to deliver to Sister Mercedes at the convent! So off we go on our newfound mission and knock at the convent. The door opens up with a nun wearing her full regalia and a huge smile. I give her the envelope and she proceeds to give us a tour of the convent (great baroque church and beautiful tilework in the courtyard among other things). We buy a bunch of delicious home-baked cookies at the end of the tour. We leave in a shower of blessings (which is funny since we're Jewish!) and head back to the church, where the mistress of the house is now willing to give us a tour along with 3 or 4 other tourists who've shown up in the meantime. WOW! They have 5 amazing Ribera paintings (unfortunately the largest one is being restored) and there are 2 underground levels: first, the private "minicathedral" of the dukes of Osuna, then their pantheon (graves). Both are amazing (I know I keep using that word, but it really fits the bill). Thankfully, the beautiful university is currently closed for restoration - we had so much more to see that day! <BR><BR>We then drove down to Marchena. This is a scruffy town, but the San Juan Bautista church is truly a must-see. Its baroque altar (done by two brothers, a sculptor and a painter) is an absolute masterpiece - especially the paintings. The choir stalls are also superb and you can actually walk around and sit in them! The Mudejar (Moorish style) ceiling is also great. On top of this, they also have a roomful of paintings by Zurbar&aacute;n. An amazing place! BTW, both Osuna and Marchena can be reached by train from Sevilla, though I haven't checked how frequent the service is. Also, the church opening hours are kinda erratic - I would recommend calling them at 95 484 32 57 the day before you intend to visit.<BR><BR>From Marchena, there is a very direct-LOOKING route to the white village of Zahara de la Sierra. As we discovered though, the portion south of Mor&oacute;n de la Frontera is beautiful but very narrow and curvy with some major drops. Not a big issue for me, but people unfamiliar with mountain driving and/or with a fear of heights should avoid this route. Zahara de la Sierra is magnificently set, but there really isn't much to see once you're up there - besides the view of the surrounding countryside of course. We wanted to continue on the mountain road to Grazalema, but clouds rolled in and it started to drizzle, so we took the main road to Ronda.<BR><BR>We checked in at the Hotel San Gabriel (couldn't get a room at the Parador) - a great deal, very well run by friendly people, but couldn't really warm to the cluttered d&eacute;cor - reminded me a bit of a US B&B (but bear in mind that we had stayed in amazing settings for the previous nights). Went for a stroll across the bridge and visited the Plaza de Toros (bullring), which was great. However, after several days of being some of the only tourists in the places we were visiting, the cosmopolitan crush on this cloudy day in Ronda felt almost overwhelming (I was finally able to purchase some film again though!). We had dinner at the Parador (Tragabuches is closed for dinner on Sundays ) - the food was just OK and the huge dining room wasn't very pleasant.<BR>

Andre

Day 6<BR>We woke up to rain on our final touring day. After visiting the Palacio de Mondragon museum and Santa Maria la Mayor church (both worthwhile), we decided to call it quits and drive down to the coast. Unfortunately, the weather was horrible (alternating fog and pouring rain), so we couldn't enjoy the views along the way. We headed into Marbella and explored the old town and waterfront - we were underwhelmed (I'm sure the cloudy weather didn't help), then headed to the HUGE Corte Ingles mall at Puerto Ban&uacute;s. This area certainly has great shopping. In the evening, we headed back out to Nerja. Traffic around Marbella and Malaga was terrible and once the road opened up it started to POUR again and lightning was striking everywhere - horrible. We were glad to reach the Parador, though pretty apprehensive about the weather for the coming days. While the hotel is an ugly 70s pile, it has an unbelievable setting with a large garden & pool overlooking the sea & mountains and an elevator down to beautiful Burriana beach (pebbles). The rooms are large, comfortable and either new or recently redecorated (quite stylishly too) - there's a newly built wing with very nice rooms (they're a bit smaller though) - downsides are: no room safes or turndown service - things you would expect in a 4 star hotel (the &Uacute;beda Parador had both room safes and turndown for instance). We had dinner at the hotel dining room - the inside seating is pretty dreary (the terrace is great though) and the food is just OK (there's a large buffet for those so inclined).<BR><BR>Days 7 through 10<BR>We woke up to cloudy skies (at least it had stopped raining…) and had another great Parador breakfast (even better than in &Uacute;beda, except for the terrible coffee), enjoying the incredible view from the terrace. Slowly but surely, blue patches appeared in the sky and by noon the sun was shining!! We picked up the Herald Tribune at the lobby gift shop and couldn't help but notice the huge headline: "MORE FLOODING IN EUROPE". When we looked more closely at the front page, we saw that the front-page photo was of a totally submerged cab in Seville! Only then did we realize how close to major trouble we had been the day before…

Andre

Days 7 through 10 (continued):<BR><BR>Anyway, after a few hours of lounging in the hotel garden, we headed into Nerja to explore the town. Unfortunately, the seafront path from the Burriana beach to the center of town has been washed away, so our walk wasn't very scenic. While the Balc&oacute;n de Europa is a beautiful viewpoint, the town itself gets real old real fast- it's FULL of loud & badly dressed British and Dutch package tourists and shops selling horrible souvenirs - hardly a Spanish person in sight (most of the Spanish tourists we came across were staying at the Parador). My recommendation: stay at the Parador and don't leave the grounds - while the crowd there isn't exactly the youngest or the most inspiring, it's still far more civilized than in town. We didn't find a truly pleasant solution for dinner either at the Parador or in town though. Still, for the price (less than 100 Euros a night), it's hard to beat the rooms and the superb setting. Our days in Nerja were basically spent in the garden, in the (unheated) pool and at the beach - perfect after all that touring! Oh yes, the Parador did serve delicious fried boquerones (anchovies) - great for nibbling at lunch on the terrace or in the garden!<BR><BR>Day 11<BR>Check-in closed at 11:30 for out flight home, so we headed out to the airport shortly after 9 - made it in just under an hour (this was Sat. so there was no traffic). There are several gas stations on the airport access road - my total gasoline bill for the whole trip came to less than 70 EUR for 1300km (and A/C going much of the time)! I will always request a diesel engine in the future - the savings are just enormous. Rental car return is well marked but was VERY busy when we got there - the parking area is much too small for the masses of people. The Hertz people didn't have those handheld computer thingies but I had my receipt after 5-min. wait at the booth. It's quite a trek to the departure hall - you have to first walk past the bus lot to the main arrivals hall, then take an elevator up to departures. There was a HUGE line waiting for it, but I had the great idea (such modesty, I know ) of crossing the street to the car park and taking the elevators there!<BR>If you need to have your VAT forms stamped by customs, the counter is just before security on the left-hand side. You want to get this done before checking in if your purchases are in your checked luggage (you need to show them to get the stamp). Lines at security were huge but moved quite fast - I must say the check was the most professional one I've witnessed in years ("thanks" to ETA I imagine…). There's a large shopping area on an upper level past security (prices weren't that great though). Flight back to Zurich was fine.<BR><BR>That's it for now… I'll post a list of links that I found helpful when planning this trip as soon as I can find the time.

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Andre

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planner

Great report...thanks!

prwood

Thanks for the report!<BR><BR>I am still trying to plan my trip to Andalucia, but have received very few suggestions from people in this forum.<BR><BR>If you would like to offer commentary, please visit my thread:<BR><BR>http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=2&tid=26366927&numresponses=0&s tart=0<BR><BR>Thanks!

Maribel

Hi Andre,<BR>I want to thank you for your very detailed report. Your feedback is very helpful for everyone's Andalucia planning, and I appreciate your candor about your likes/dislikes. I meant to vote on your Marbella vs. Nerja quandry, but you'd already left!<BR>I'm going to add a night at the Palacio del Marques de Gomera in Osuna for my month in the spring in Andalucia-had wondered about it, and now I know, thanks to your recommendation.

Dave

Enjoyed reading your report. It was a pleasure to read since it was posted all together.

Andre

Thanks for the kudos! I'll try to post that list of links this weekend.<BR><BR>Maribel, I really envy you for being able to take a month's vacation at a time! I'm sure you will enjoy Osuna. If you can, visit iglesia San Juan Bautista in nearby Marchena as well - it's really worthwhile.<BR><BR>prwood, I'm off to answer your post right now...<BR><BR>Andre

Maribel

Andre,<BR>Before I forget....did you happen to see any lodging in Priego that took your eye? They're a really lovely apt. there that a Fodor friend has recommended, but I just wonder if you remember anything else that stood out. I'm on a yr.-long sabbatical, thus all the free time.<BR><BR>Thanks.

Andre

Hi Maribel,<BR><BR>Nope, can't recall seeing ANY lodging in Priego (but really only explored the historic district). There seems to be some kind of hotel nearby called the "Villa Turistica de Priego" if I recall correctly though. <BR><BR>Just picked up my photos today and the exterior shots of the beautiful little Sagrario reminded me that I had missed the interior... Hope you get a chance to see it!<BR><BR>Have a great time,<BR>Andre

Maribel

Oops, I meant "there is..."<BR>I think, then, that I'll go for the house: It's called "La Posada Real". I've seen the Villa Turistica. Shall certainly visit Marchena while I'm there. Thanks again.

Frank

Hi Maribel<BR><BR>no trip to Andalucia is complete without stopping in a small little town called Casares. from Ronda take the A369 south to Gaucin, from there take the A377. it's a spectacular drive through the mountains. in a clear day you would be able to see the rock of Gibraltar and the coast of africa, when you get closer to the shore.Casares is on the A377, would be directly west of Estepona. look it up on the map.<BR>if you're driving around there, should not be missed.<BR>have a good trip<BR>Andre; very good trip report<BR>Frank

Maribel

Hi Frank!<BR>Great idea, great drive! Casares is a favorite of mine too.