Hi All,

I want your help in planning a trip to Andalusia in the 2nd week of February for our 10th Wedding anniversary but there are a couple of special conditions . My wife will be 5 months pregnant and we will be taking our 4 year old with us. We live in Boston, USA and are looking to fly direct to Lisbon first (TAP Portugal) as it is 6 hour flight. Overall the focus of this trip would be to take in the sights, stay in a decent hotel, eat good food, see some shows, etc. Nothing strenuous as it wont be possible to do.

My high level plan looks like this
Feb 9th - Flight For Lisbon
Feb 10th - Take some rest Spend the day in Lisbon
Feb 11th - Take a Flight to Andalusia (Seville, Cordoba or Granada)
Feb 17th - Get Back to Lisbon
Feb 18th - Flight back to Boston

I need your help in figuring out what to do, where to go, where to stay etc in those 6 days while we are in Andalusia . Again,Ideally our day would involve exploring sights, light walking, eating at fun places, catching a show in the night, etc. We are open to keeping a big city as the base and then exploring other towns as day trips OR visiting one city for 3 days and another one for 3 days if that is recommended.

So Am I crazy to think of this kind of plan ? We want to do this trip because this would be our last big trip for the next few years. Looking for your great recommendations

Thanks again.

I don't understand why you are flying to Lisbon, as you don't seem to be spending more than half a day there. An open-jaw flight would be much more sensible for this trip, and not involving Lisbon.

"Catching a show in the night" could be problematic given you'll have a 4-year-old along and Spaniards don't start shows normally until well after a U.S. kid's bedtime.

What to do, where to go, is up to you. Get out the guidebooks and trawl the internet and figure out what appeals to you. No one here can tell you what to do or see.

Have you made your airline reservations yet? I assume you want to fly TAP because of their low airfares. We flew with them last September and are using them again this April. Staying overnight in Lisbon doesn’t make sense to me. I recommend flying TAP from Boston to Seville, which means you will have to change plans in Lisbon. And get a connecting flight o Seville. This will give you an extra night in Spain, and wil be easier, IMO, than taking a cab to downtown Lisbon, checking into a hotel, and then getting back to the airport the next day, going through security, etc. at the airport again.

If you do this, I calculate you will have 8 nights in Andalusia. A possible itinerary could be 4 nights in Seville, 2 nights in Granada, and 2 nights in Córdoba. However, as St. Cirq says, what you want to do and see is up to you. These 3 cities are the major attractions in Andalusia. Granada has the Alhambra, Córdoba has the Mezquita, and Seville has the stunning Alcazar and Cathedral. You should get some guidebooks. Travel between these cities is typically by train and/or bus. Train tickets are inexpensive if you purchase them as soon as they go on sale. However, you might be too late for the real discounted tickets. You need to research train and bus schedules.

Yes to open jaw flights -into Lisbon and home from Seville. Actually flying into Madrid ain't a bad idea - only two hours by high-speed AVE train to Seville, a great base. Spend a day in Madrid going and coming perhaps if return flight to Madrid is cheapest and best. Karen Woo has IMO the perfect trip for a short Andalusia trip. Take trains between the all - booking trains way early can result in sweet discounted train fares over walk-up fares- Renfe book your own tickets online - www.seat61.com is the bible on booking your own tickets online. Other sites I like for rail info - www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

Really consider flying into or out of Madrid - in many ways as nice a city as Lisbon - if time do a day trip to fantastic nearby Toledo from Madrid. Everyone raves about Toledo.

Are you sure that you can see and experience what you want with this plan? IMO, six nights is very little for Andalusia as a whole, though it could work for, say Sevilla and Cordoba. You could probably fit Granada in if you put all of your time in Andalusia. BUT it really depends on what you want to see and experience.

Here's what I recommend: Get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting lost/oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. As you plan, note that many things in Spain are closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too; and many things in Spain will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break.

Hae you already book your flights? If not, please consider flying “open jaw”—into one city and out of another, which is often called “multi-city”on flight search engines. It will save you the cost in time and money of flying back to yoru destination. And that doesn't necessarily mean to fly into Madrid -- if you book through to a destination you actually plan to visit, even if you have to stop en route, the airline is responsible for getting you onward if something goes wrong. If you book separately, it's all on you.

If you don’t already have one, I strongly recommend that you get a good guidebook or two – the cost will be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip, you will have a wealth of information at your fingertips, and you will have answers to questions that you don’t even know to ask.

Hope that helps!

The OP, "So Am I crazy to think of this kind of plan?"
In a word, Yes!
While mid-pregnancy, your wife may be feeling her best, but she will still be five months pregnant and you will have a four year old with you. Give up those two, tiring, one-night stays in Lisbon. They waste time and money. You will have the cost of airfare from and return to Lisbon. You will waste a good part of a travel day getting to Andalusia and returning to Lisbon. I am as frugal as anyone, but don't put your family through that. It is quite nuts. You get so little for all the wasted time and money spent.
Find the best (not just cost, but also convenient) flights you can get to Seville or Malaga (or Madrid). You don't have much time, that is your number one priority. As soon as that is done, plot your itinerary and book hotels.

Thank you all for your insightful replies. The reason for flying into Lisbon is exactly as Karenwoo stated. Its because TAP Portugal flies direct from Boston to Lisbon in 6 hours and my thought was that by taking a day or two in Lisbon, it will hopefully be easier on my wife.But I also get the point about doing security and everything twice and it might be more taxing. So based on your responses, I was looking at Open Jaw flights and found one with the following schedule

Fri, Feb 9
6:40 PM – 6:00 AM+1 Boston (BOS) – Lisbon (LIS) Tap Air Portugal 218 · Airbus A330 6h 20m
Layover in Lisbon LIS = 2h 05m
8:05 AM+1 – 10:35 AM+1 Lisbon (LIS) – Málaga (AGP) Tap Air Portugal 1134 · Operated by White Airways 1h 30m

Return: Sat, Feb 17

3:05 PM – 3:15 PM Seville (SVQ) – Lisbon (LIS) Tap Air Portugal 1105 ·Operated by White Airways 1h 10m
Layover in Lisbon LIS Overnight = 19h 40m
10:55 AM+1 – 1:30 PM+1 Lisbon (LIS) – Boston (BOS) Tap Air Portugal 217 · Airbus A330

Seems like this could be a good option to me. While coming back to Boston because the layover is < 24 Hrs in Lisbon, we will not have to get the checked in bag again as per TAP Portugal's website. So we could just go and stay at the airport hotel for the next day's flight. There are no direct flights into Madrid from Boston until March (which would have worked out better but that's not an option for us). Also the overnight stay in Lisbon is better than other flights that either have multiple stops or take more time IMHO.

This will give us about 7 nights in Andalusia and I am thinking of staying 4 nights in Seville & 3 nights in Malaga and doing day trips with that as the base.

Any inputs or suggestions on the above itinerary and plan?

I will definetly purchase a guidebook and book the hotels to get more guidance on things to do.

I wonder if schedules change periodically? When we flew from Seville to Boston on TAP on October 3, we flew from Seville on a 7AM flight, had about a 2-hour layover in Lisbon, and then flew from Lisbon to Boston, all on the same day. These flights are better than what you originally were thinking of because you have 7 nights in Andalusia, instead of 6, and at least you don’t have to schlep back and forth from the airport to the city.

We really enjoyed Malaga and spent 2 nights there. You can go to Granada for a day trip to see the Alhambra. The bus ride is 1.5 hours. A modern and very comfortable bus. or you could rent a car if you wish. You can click on my name to read my trip report if that will help. And definitely buy a guidebook or two.

You will love Andalusia!

I meant to say that your new flights are better than what you were originally thinking of.

Jerez de la Frontera is a short day trip from Seville -if interested in Sherry House tours or taking in practice sessions of Andalusian horses in local training arena Jerez could be great - as a city not much but two stellar attractions.

Thanks Karen and Palen, will keep that in mind. So here is the latest status form my side. I got the tickets booked as I had listed above ( 9th to the 17th)

I will be reaching Malaga around 11 am on Saturday Feb 10th and plan to check out on Feb 13th for Seville. I have looked at this forum and other resources for things to do in Malaga and these are the things that look interesting to me.

Day 1: 10th Feb: Saturday: Given that we would be arriving in Malaga after a transcontinental flight and may need to rest up for a few hours before we venture outside, I was thinking of taking it easy and strolling through Mercado Central de Atarazanas and/or Plaza de la Constitucion- La Calle Larios and having dinner over there. Would that be a good idea?

Day 2: 11th Feb Sunday: See most of the sights in Malaga like (Roman Theatre, Alcazaba, Castillo de Gibralfaro & Parque de Malaga ). Was initially thinking of doing a hop on hop off bus tour so that we can cover most of the sights without worrying about transportation but have seen some nasty reviews on tripadvisor on the way its run and reliability. Does anyone here have any experience? If not hop on hop off, are taxis easily available to move from one attraction to the other?

Also, I saw that its the last day of Carnival in Malaga and there might be some special festivities going on that day. Does anyone know what's the most fun part and where does it happen? Its always fun to partake in a carnival so hoping to catch a little bit of it.

Day 3: 12th Feb Monday: I was thinking of doing a day trip to Granada for Alhambra and city tour. I am aware that the direct tickets are already sold out online but I do see that there are a few tours & granada card available if I were to pay a little bit extra.Is it worth going to Granada for a day or would you suggest doing something else (or a different day trip may be). I am planning to check out Cordoba for Mezquita and also Alcazar while in Sevilla. Does it make sense to do all 3 in one trip or would it be more of the same after a while?

Also, I was looking to stay in Novotel for a few reasons. One it has a small kitchenette which may be useful with a kid, it is reasonable (450 for 3 nights) and other it looks like it is close to most of the things. DO you have a good recommendation of any other hotel that would be a lot of fun to stay in or in center of everything?

Thanks for all your inputs and I sincerely appreciate your help in planning this trip.

IMO, the Alhambra and Mezquita are among the world's gems, and they are nothing like each other. The Alcazar of Sevilla bears some similarities to the Alhambra, but I found the differences fascinating. YMMV.

Ok and good to know that they are each unqiue. Any inputs with the other pats of the itinerary?

Nothing beyond what I already wrote upthread. You have VERY little time for a part of the world that offers a tremendous amount to see and experience; only you can decide how to prioritize your time. You'll see some wonderful things no matter what you choose.

I agree with Kja that the Alhambra and Mezquita are very different from each other. The Alcazar in Seville and the Alhambra in Granada have some similarities but also have some beautiful and interesting differences. We visited all 3 of these amazing places during the same trip, and we were not bored at all. All 3 are amazing!

We spent about ¾ of a day visiting the Alcazaba and Castillor de Gibrafaro in Malaga. The walk up to the top of the Alcazaba is beautiful. It is filled with ruins, gardens, greenery, small patios and fountains. It is an uphill walk. We walked slow because I have some mobility issues due to arthritis. The views of the Mediterranean are beautiful. We walked to the top of the Castillo, which was more strenuous. You can try it and turn around if it’s too much with a child. Or, you can take a taxi to the top of the Castillo. The remains are interesting with more gorgeous views of the sea. And there is a restaurant at the top where we stopped for lunch. We took a taxi back to our hotel because the walk down would have been too much for me. So I assume you can take a taxi to the top of the Castillo. I think there is a walkway from the Alcazaba to the Castillo, but it was closed off when we were there. So we took an elevator to get down to street level from the top of the Alcazaba. And then followed signs to the Castillo.

Your plans for February 10 sound good. We did more or less what you are thinking of doing, after arriving by bus from Granada. We also visited the Cathedral that day, too.

We did not use the hop on hop off bus. And taxis are plentiful and reasonable.

If you can, when you return, let us know how your trip went.

Madrid is only 2 hours from Seville and could be a place to fly out of for direct flights to States.

Yes, Madrid can be a good location for flights. BUT if you can book through from a city other than Madrid to the city you want to reach, you might have more options (even if with a stop) than if you try to book through Madrid. For example, when I visited Andalusia, I found a much better flight from Sevilla to the eastern U.S. through London than anything I could have arranged for going from Sevilla through Madrid to the eastern U.S. Also, if you book through from one point to another, with a stop in between, and something delays that initial flight (something other than you), then it’s up to the airline to get you to your destination, not up to you. So frankly, I wouldn’t pay any attention to Madrid’s airport unless that is clearly the one you need or want.

Yes and though Seville but 2 hours from Madrid you then have to get to the Madrid airport - a hassle - kja makes a lot of sense in above post.

Yes he does. We are not going to be in Madrid during this trip. Our flight comes in to Malaga and we will leave via Seville.

Also, Karen, thanks again for the insight. We plan to take taxi as walking may not work out. Do we need to take the taxi first to Alcazaba and then again hire another taxi to the top of Castillo?

If you mean me, I'm glad you thought my comments made sense -- but I'm a woman.