Andalusia Itinerary Help
 

Hi there, I am hoping for some help planning my time in Andalusia in late December with my husband, and our three kids, a 16-year-old daughter who is studying in Spain this school year, my 14 year old daughter and 11 year-old son. After three nights, including Christmas, in Barcelona, we are flying from Barcelona to Tangier (was much more affordable and quicker than getting five uf us to the south by train and my daughters really wanted to see a bit of Morocco).
So right now we are thinking:
Tangier: two nights (return to Spain by ferry, renting a car in Algeciras)
Ronda: two nights
Granada: 2 nights (including New Years Eve)
Sevilla: 1 night (we need to end in a major airport city, either Sevilla or Malaga would work).

Should I sacrifice either a night in Tangier or Ronda to build more time in Sevilla? I have been reading so many blogs and everyone always says they needed at least two nights in the places mentioned above. But I imagine they also are writing about visits in warmer weather, so any advice for our time of year would be appreciated. Feel free to reorganize the itinerary, because no on seems to start in Tarifa. Our kids will like castles, palaces, vistas, a moderate amount of museum time and generally lively places.

Two nights in Ronda would be one too many for me.
Two nights in Granada would be one too few for me.
One night in Sevilla would be two or three too few for me.
No time in Cordoba?!? The Mezquita is easily one of the world's gems, IMO.
And as you say, that's based on visiting during days with LONG hours.

I would add that 3 days in Barcelona is not much, IMO.

I think you would do well to consult some good guidebooks, 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. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. And as you do so, 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.

Good luck!

3000 year old Málaga is a fabulous city and something very special at Christmas times. People travel from far to experience Christmas in Málaga:
http://www.spainforpleasure.com/2014...ime-in-malaga/
http://www.guidetomalaga.com/5-reaso...mas-in-malaga/

Málaga is now on the New York Times "where to go list" for 2016 together with San Sebastián and Barcelona. Good judgement, three fabulous and very different cities. "Beauty, but now a cultural capital, too": http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...-to-visit.html

"the province's city of culture with its so-called 'mile of art' being compared to Madrid, and its dynamism and fine dining to Barcelona".
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/spain/andalucia/malaga

Yes, you should cut time in Ronda. It can be seen in half a day.

Ronda is lovely, but I agree, 1 night is enough. I would keep the 1 night in Cordoba, primarily because you don't have that many days, and add extra days to Seville. There is so much to do in Seville, more than Cordoba. I'm not familiar with Tangier, so can't say one way or another.

@ MFNYC: The OP is not planning any time in Cordoba!

I mostly agree with what more people said:
Ronda, half a day.
Tanger 1 day
increase Seville and if you can include Cordoba in the trip, that would be nice.

Also, as I said in another thread, if you plan to visit the Alhambra in Granada (a must), you should by the tickets in advance. Unfortunately they are already sold out from december 27 to january 3.

The only option is to arrive very early in the morning to the tickets office in the same Alhambra (before 8 AM) and try to buy some of the tickets they sell for the same day. The sell them really fast, so don't pretend to arrive at 9 and find them.

Okay,
Thanks so much for this input. So our itinerary would either look like:

Tangier - 1
Ronda - 1
Grenada - 2
Cordoba - 1
Seville - 2

or Tangier - 2
Ronda - 1
Grenada - 2
Seville - 2

I am not a big fan of one night stays in places, because I think you don't remember much and spend too much time on check in and out and hotel/food finding logistics, so right now I am leaning toward skipping Cordoba even though I would love to see it. It the difference between a total of 6 versus 8 hours of driving....(without factoring parking, getting lost, side stops...)

Thoughts still appreciated. Also curious why Mundofer suggests only a night in Tangier...

I think the first of these two plans makes MUCH more sense. If you don't like one-night stays, note that Cordoba is less than an hour from Sevilla by high-speed train. There is NO reason for you to drive, and many, many good reasons to use public transportation. You can visit Ronda and Granada by public transportation, too. To get a preliminary sense of your options, consult rome2rio.com -- just realize that the information there is not perfect.

You need to add Cordoba - being in the area and not visiting it would be a crime. I would cut back Ronda to 1 night - or just a day trip - in order to fit in Cordoba, which is fantastic!

If you cut anything, I'd cut Ronda since it's a second tier attraction. I'd do -
Tangier - 2
Granada - 2
Cordoba - 1
Seville - 2

Of course, all these places deserve more time, but that's something you don't have.

I don't know Tangier, but I know Seville, Granada and Cordoba. That's why I recommend to add some time to those cities and remove then from Ronda and/or Tangier.
Some colleagues that know Ronda told me that is nice but only half a day.

I personally favour Cordoba over Sevilla because the Mezquita (cathedral, with a former mosque inside) is absolutely unique and I consider the Old Town as more authentic, but it might be a good idea to spend a couple of hours in Cordoba when driving from Granada to Sevilla. BTW, Cordoba is a 45-minute train ride away from Sevilla.

In any case, make the trip to Tanger. You will be in another world - and in some respect, in the original world, wheras Andalusia was just a colony.

Personally
Tangier for 2
Granada for 2 (at least)
Seville for 3 (at least)

Mostly because of time wasted on transport, getting lost, stopping for food, and other necessaries. Enjoy.