danielef

I plan to spend a couple of nights in Sevilla and possibly one in Granada. I'm trying to figure out how I can put Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada in our itinerary. I first thought of leaving Madrid early in the morning, spend a few hours in Cordoba and moving to Granada, so that we could see Alhambra at night, spend the night and take the tour in the morning. In the afternoon, I'd go to Seville and spend a couple of nights there. The problem is getting from Cordoba to Granada, because there is no direct trains connecting those two cities. I've already checked with Renfe what kind of stops we'd have to make, but I'm concerned with possible delays and missing the next train.

Has anyone done this before? Is it best to take a bus? What about staying only in Sevilla and take a day trip (with some travel agency) to Granada? I'm afraid I'd miss seeing the Alhambra at night...

I'm looking forward to getting some input from you!

julies

We were coming in from the US directly to Madrid. We had a morning arrival and since we were jet-lagged didn't want to just make a quick stop at Cordoba. We took the train there and spent the night. We liked the city and were glad we'd not just planned to stop and see the mesquita and then move on the same day. The next morning we took the train to Seville and spent either 3 or 4 nights there (I can't remember). It was the right amount of time. After that we rented a car so I can't help you out much on how to get to Granada. However, I have to say that we did both the day and night tours of the Alhambra. I have to say that we had heard the big build up to how marvelous the Alhambra was at night. We weren't that excited about the night tour. I think you will be fine with just the day tour. Also, we felt that Granada itself was only worth the very long day we spent there (we arrived in late morning and stayed until the night tour ended).

AlexA

The problem with Granada as a day trip is that it's 6 hours round trip (by bus or train)! I only went to the Alhambra during the day, and it was truly lovely. If you don't do both, you can't know what you're missing, right?

Cordoba is not bad as a daytrip from Seville or as a stop (overnight or not) on the way. The AVE train only takes 45 minutes, and even the cheap slow train is less than 1 1/2 hours

The traingle of the 3 cities was a problem I had to deal with as I was originally going to do just those 3 places, but have to get to.from Madrif for flight home. I never found a good way that didn't involve changing trains or busses so I "solved" the problem by flying Granada to Barcleona and leaving from there. Depending on where you need to end up (Madrid) you might look into Iberia or Spanair websites for somoe realy cheap flight options

Wildfire

if you plan to do it on the train (from Madrid) you would go to Cordoba first, then to Seville. Granada is a bout a 3 hour ride from Seville. However, Alex has noted thats a very long day trip, and realistically, Granada is a gorgeous city. Though i wanted to love Seville I was much more taken by the people of Cordoba and the magnificence of the Alhambra.

nytraveler

What is your entire itinerary? Are there any lose spots in it? You mention coming from Madrid - how much time are yu spending there? (IMHO Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada are all much more time-worthy than Madrid - one of the few places that I don;t care if I ever get back to.)

martytravels

Bus travel in Spain is cheap and convenient, and the buses are quite nice (it's not like our impression of bus travel here in the U.S.). I'm sure there are plenty of buses between Granada and Cordoba, and I know there's an hourly sked between Granada and Seville.
Cordoba was neat, but I think a day trip is more than sufficient. To truly explore and savor Granada takes at least a couple of days, and you could easily spend a very happy week in Seville.

suenew

We just came last Wednesday from a great trip to Andulica.
We spent 4 nights in Seville. Took the Ave train to Cordoba for 2 night. Took the bus from Cordoba to Granada. we stayed in Granada for 2 nights. Then the train from Granada to Seville.
We did the night tour and the day tour at Al-Hambra palace.
I got the train and the bus tickets all booked ahead of time in the us thru the internet.
I got the Al-Hambra tickets for 10:30 pm and 8:30 am also ahead of time.
I would not spend more than 1 night at Crodoba, if any. The Mezquite is the main attraction and 2-3 hours is plenty. The train between Crodoba and Seville is very nice, only 40 minutes.
They have lockers in Crodoba to put your stuff while you are in the city.
Seville is just wonderful everything city.
Granada, we spent all our time at the palace. I am glad we did pm and am tours.
The Pm tour was about 2 hours and we spend 6 hours am tour. lots of walking in 2 days.
The bus between Crodoba and Granada very clean and very comfortable. It took 3 hours.
The train between Garanda and Seville is a bit off compared to the bus and the train we used before. Still it took 3 hours.
Hope this helps.
Have fun.
Sue

weber6560

I could not agree more with Suenew! The Cordoba-Granada bus is is an easy trip on nice equipment. The Mezquita is super but the rest of Cordoba is very similar to what you will have seen in Granada and Sevilla. Consider combining the bus, the AVE, and storage lockers as a way to see the Mezquita and still gain an extra day. BTW: I am a fan of staying downtown in Granada rather than up on the hill near the
Alhambra.

Grayden

The bus line from Cordoba to Granada is run by Continental-Auto (http://www.continental-auto.es/continental/index.php)

Bookings and timetable info for Andalucia can be found at http://www.continental-auto.es/continental/compra.php

The bus station in Cordoba is just next to the train station (to the left as you come out I think).

I think AlexA has a good idea (which I also have in my itinery) - get the AVE to Seville, make Cordoba a day trip from Seville, make you way from Seville to Granada. And then fly out of Granada.

Whether you go Seville-Cordoba-Granada or Cordoba-Seville-Granada, the idea of flying out of Granada is great, as you save the 3 hour trip back to Seville/Cordoba, then the trip back to Madrid. If you book early enough, you can get flights from Granada - Madrid or Granada - Barcelona for 45 EUROS - surely cheaper than the AVE back to Madrid.

Grayden

To weber6560:
Why do you prefer downtown Granada to the hill? I haven't been yet, and am booked downtown - thought I would be away from it too much. Is your preference based on other attraction downtown, or the general vibe closer to the Alhambra?
Thanks

martytravels

Agreed on staying downtown. You'll be in the center of the restaurants, shopping, nightlife and festive-ness of Granada. The Albaicin is easily accessed from Plaza Nueva, and the Alhambra minibus runs every five miliseconds from Plaza Nueva to the Alhambra.

danielef

Guys,

I appreciate your answers so much!!! Thank you very much for the websites (I was having a hard time finding timetables for buses) and all the tips.

Actually, I'll fly from Brazil to Madrid (abour 10-11h flight), stay probably for 3 nights, so that I'll have 2 days in Madrid and 1 day for Toledo. Then I plan to go to Cordoba and the rest, as I explained before, and from Seville I'll fly to Barcelona. I've already tried all flights from Granada to Barcelona on Iberia's website on the 3 possible days I could fly, but fares are really expensive. That's why I plan to go to Seville and fly from there, where I could find better rates. I'm travelling with 2 kids, so I also have to keep in mind not to have too many stops to make.

I haven't purchased my ticket from Brazil to Spain yet. I plan to do it next week with the help of a travel agent, because I'm having a hard time finding a good deal in September. After that is done, I can purchase the promotional airline itineraries in Spain (Seville-Barcelona-Madrid). I hope they'll still be available!

Once again, thank you very much! This forum is great!

Daniele

tcl

Here's what I did for my trip to Spain:

Fly into Madrid & spent 3 days there
Flew from Madrid to Granada on Iberia (32 euro round trip - cheap!)
Spent two days in Granada & visited the Alhambra during the day. I don't think I missed much by not going at night.
Then I took the TRD train from Granada to Sevilla. Spent 4 days in Sevilla touring all the sights.
From Sevilla to Cordoba I took the AVE.
Finally from Cordoba, I took the AVE again to get back to Madrid.

sbcgmu

Daniele:

Ironically this is the extact iternary we are doing in September (with the addition of Barcelona)

We are starting off in Seville (staying at the Las Casas de La Juderia) for 3 days and then taking the train to Cordoba. We stay in Cordoba (at the NH hotel there) for 2 days. Then we plan on going to Granada from Cordoba - how you might ask?
There is a very quick train (AVE) between Cordoba and Seville that is 45 minutes long. Then there is a train from Seville to Granada - overall the trip from Cordoba to Granada (by way of Seville) only takes a 2-3 hours.

We then stay in Granada for 2 days (at the Parador). Then we take the overnight train (Trenhotel) from Granada to Barcelona where we stay for 2 days and then we take the plan home to the States.

So in answer to your question, you should be able to do all 3 of these cities with no problem - the train can get you between Seville and Cordoba by 45 minutes and Seville and Granada are about 1-2 hours away from each other via train.

Hope this helps!

Anne Sinha