Hello, There is so much information about this area,it's overwhelming. If anyone who knows this area would offer an opinion on my itinerary, I'd be most grateful. Will be traveling in October. We enjoy historical sites and museums and small quiet hotels that allow us to walk to bars and restaurants. I know we'll run into crowds, but is it likely that each town on my list will be mobbed at that time of year? Many thanks in advance for your time.
After Barcelona and Madrid, my husband and I will:
From Madrid, we will take the train to Seville and stay 3 nights, then
rent a car and drive to
Cordoba for one night, then
drive to
Ronda and stay for 2 nights
Take day trips from Ronda, then
Drive to
Cadiz, stay for 1 night, then
Return car to Seville, stay one night
Flight to states

It really depends on what YOU want to see and experience, but FWIW, here are my observations:

• 3 nights in Sevilla realy gives you only 2 days, which I wouldn't have found sufficient.
• 2 nights for Ronda is a LOT. If you are willing to consider 1 nights stays (as it seems from what you wrote), it's a good option for a single night; you could add that night to Sevilla or Cordoba.
• Consider waiting to rent a car until you leave Cordoba. In fact, with this itinerary, it isn't clear that you would benefit from having a car at all.
• If you need to be in Sevilla for your flight home, consider ways to put all your time in Sevilla at the end of your trip so you can eliminate one change of hotels.
• Shall we assume that you are skipping Granada intentionally? It seems a rather glaring gap in your plan.

Hope that helps!

I try to avoid one night stops wherever possible so I'd try to eliminate them where possible but I know that others are fine with them. Maybe you could visit Cordoba from Seville for the day, leaving early in the morning and returning late at night? I agree with kja that you don't need a car but it might be helpful if you want to get off the beaten path. I too would group all my time in Seville to one visit.

We were in Andalusia in December and based on advice from this forum, we had only one night in Ronda (24hrs all up). It goes to prove that everyone likes different things because it was the place, above all others, where we both wished we'd had longer.

We both loved Cadiz, although we didn't stay there as we were in Jerez and visited from there for the day. Seville and Cordoba were great and we could easily have spent longer in both. I don't think you have time for Granada unless you extend your holiday - and something always has to give.

If you were to re-jig your plan, perhaps you could do Cordoba - Ronda - Cadiz - Seville? All can be done by train/bus if desired.

We toured Andalusia by car in March-April 2010 over Easter. One of THE BEST vacations ever. We stayed in Ronda (1 night), Jerez (1 night) Seville (3 nights), Granada (2 nights) and Malaga (2 nights, 1 beginning, 1 end).

Ronda is amazing - could’ve easily spent another night there. We saw Córdoba as a day trip from Seville, seeing only the cathedral-mosque, which is truly spectacular. The advantage of touring by car was seeing several incredibly lovely small towns and interesting places in between major stops - Gibraltar, the White Pueblos, Grazalema, Zahara de la Sierra (!!), Alhama de Granada, etc.

As a guide, we consulted “Back Roads Spain” (DK Eyewitness Travel) - worth every cent!