I am going to Spain in Feb does it matter if i do Seville - Ronda - Granada or vice versa with a rented car. or can i get there by train or local buses

Hi, duchess -
You can visit those cities with public transportation. As for order, check your schedule against the days when things that you want to see are closed. Hope that helps!

If you do a search on the Net , it's better if you spell the name correctly : Andalucia. You will get more answers !

As kja said, you can do it with public transport, I don't know how pleasant would be visit Ronda in winter, though. I wouldn't do it on a car, for sure. You just have to check the schedules of buses and trains and plan on these.

Ronda in winter is very quiet and the tourist sites are largely closed. The chief problem in winter is the cloud cover. It descends to the mountains nearly every afternoon and the visibility falls to less than a car length. (If we had a large car, we would not have been able to see to the hood ornament.)

Remember, Granada is at the foot of the Sierra and is a major base for skiing. It can be very cold and damp, possibly even with snow at the level of the Alhambra, any time there is a north wind. The Alhambra is entirely open and unheated. Dress as you would in Albuquerque NM in the winter.

Duchess,

You asked me back in October to let you know about the Hotel Alfonso & Hotel Majestic when we returned. I am sorry I am so late in responding to you. A number of personal commitments delayed me in doing a trip plan, which I am about to embark on now. However, I wanted to get to you first since you are traveling next month.

Hotel Alfonso in Sevilla: Excellent. We had a Grand Deluxe King that we were able to reserve with senior discount but had to pre-pay to get the best rate. The location is perfect being near everything we wanted to visit, the staff was very helpful and pleasant and the room was fabulous. We were there for four nights. The first night we had a room that overlooked the atrium but we switched the next night to an external room with a balcony which looked towards the fountain (although trees blocked a good view of the fountain) and had an angled view of the top of the cathedral. Both rooms were luxuriously decorated and large. You may recall that we had to cancel our trip due to my mother’s illness and then rescheduled it. While my pre-paid reservation did not allow us to get refund for cancellation, the hotel did issue us a credit that was applied when we rescheduled. I would definitely stay there again on our next trip.

Hotel Majestic in Barcelona: Good-Excellent. We had what they called a Privileged Double and stayed for four nights. The location is also excellent right on Passeig de Gracia although Barcelona attractions are so spread out that the best location depends on what you want to see. It is a block away from the Gaudi buildings Pedrera and Casa Batllo (which we could see from our room). We were able to press hard for a room with a view and we had just what we wanted. I don’t remember which floor but we were on the next to the top floor and looked out over the front door of the hotel down the street. We loved it. It had a double window that opened to a mini-balcony (not really for standing on) so you could clearly see, hear and smell the air of the city. The room was a bit on the small side considering the rates with the King bed pretty much filling the room. It was nicely appointed. I am told that with the privileged double you either get a view or a larger room although we did not see any other rooms. The hotel also has a rooftop terrace that offers a great view of the city. The only negative was that the staff, and particularly the concierge, were a bit stiff. They were efficient but cold. You often felt like you were bothering them. We would return to the hotel for the reasons described above but I would likely try another highly rated hotel on my next trip.

In general, I found what has been recommended many times in this forum and on Trip Advisor that you need to press for a great room and view wherever you are. We did that at the Westin Palace in Madrid as well as the two hotels above with great results.

Regarding Andalusia: We took the high speed train from Madrid to Cordoba then drove to Granada (for two nights), then Ronda (for one night) and finally to Sevilla. We stopped at a number of villages along the route. We very much enjoyed driving in Andalusia in October. And, Ronda was spectacular, not to be missed. We stayed at the Parador and had another great room. It was a corner room with two balconies, one overlooking the gorge away from the city and one overlooking the gorge towards the city.

I hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did.