desirees

Hello,

4 of us ( 2 adults 2 teens) - Madrid to Madrid April 8-16. I have an itinerary worked out and wanted to get your thoughts on it. We will rent a car from Seville and drop it off in Madrid since we like going at our own pace. Also, love culture and history so that is what we are focusing on. Had to take out Barcelone since it was cramming too much in 8 days.

Madrid - get in 8th around 8:30am. Take train to Seville.
Seville - 3 nights. We do Seville; and a day tour to Cordoba.
Rent car in Seville - and on 3rd day - leave for Ronda, but we go through Cadiz ( is it drivable or doable?)
Ronda - 1 night
Drive to Granada from Ronda via Malaga.
2 nights in Granada - we do the Alhambra
We then drive back to Madrid and fly back to the US on the 16th.

We are used to driving long distances, but want to ensure we are not rushing...

Thanks,

D

neckervd

May be it would be easier to fly from Madrid to Sevilla or Granada instead of going by bus/metro to Atocha railway station in order to board a Sevilla bound train.

Count at least 2 full (not jet lagged) days for a somewhat decent visit of Sevilla and half a day each (without transfer time) for Cordoba and Cadiz. The city of Ronda can be visited in 2-3 hrs, but you will have to add about half a day if you include the famous cave of Pileta.
Half a day for Malaga and a full day for Granada is the absolute minimum. Book the visit of the Alhambra ahead.

Don't waste your time by driving back to Madrid. Board a plane or a high speed train.

Bedar

Everything is doable, but I think you'll be wasting time driving to Ronda via Cadiz and to Granada via Malaga.

kja

It depends on what you want to see and experience. Your itinerary would be too rushed for my tastes, but YMMV. For comparison: I wanted 3 full days in Sevilla (and thought that a bare minimum), 2 full days in Cordoba, a day in Ronda, 2.5 to 3 days in Granada, and 4 full days in Madrid -- plus time for Toledo, Segovia, etc.
That said, I'm sure you'll see some wonderful things no matter what you choose.

dreamon

Is these where you'll be sleeping?
Seville (nights of 8/9/10)
Ronda (11)
Granada (12/13)
Madrid (14/15)
fly home (16)

Are there flights from the south to USA? e.g. Malaga? For the sake of one day in Madrid, if there are alternative flights to/from the south, I'd do that.

cdnyul

I would forget the train and pick up the car right after landing.

You could have lunch in Toledo, and then continue on toward Cordoba.

Spend the night in the Cordoba area, and then continue on to Malaga or Seville.

Ronda area has some excellent rock climbing trails, which the teens might enjoy.

I would pass on Granada.


Mark

desirees

Thank you for all your replies. Here are my answers -

* Flights already booked - so we do not have an option but to come back to Madrid to fly back.
* Yes, the dates by dreamon are correct.. I looked at flights from Madrid to Seville - but the timings are not good. Train seems to be the best option as far as timings go. I dont really want us to drive in a foreign country after a night on the plane and sleep deprived.
* I will look into flights back to Madrid.
* Should I skip Cadiz - the distance to Cadiz from Seville, and then Ronda do not seem a lot, thats why I thought we could squeeze it in

neckervd

"I looked at flights - but the timings are not good. Train seems to be the best option

Departures from Madrid Barajas airport
to Sevilla: 8.45, 12.00, 15.45, 17.50
to Granada: 11.40, 16.15, 21.55
to Malaga: 7.10, 8.45, 14.30, 17.50, 21.30
to Jerez: 8.50, 12.00, 15.45, 21.30

Train journey Madrid - Sevilla 2 1/2 hrs
bus journey Barajas - Atocha 3/4 to 1 hr
reasonable transfer time at Atocha 1/4 hr

As Sevilla bound trains leave at the full hr, you should leave the airport at 7.34, 8.31, 9.42 etc. and would arrive at Sevilla at 11.35, 12.30, 13.30 etc.

Christina

well, since you have bought your tickets already, can't do anything, but a flight into Seville would have made sense (I did that a couple years ago, options were more limited than in prior years for some reason, but I got a flight from the US to AMS, as I recall, and then connected to a flight to SVQ, on KLM).

So otherwise, I think your itinerary is basically okay except for some of your driving routes.

Seville to Ronda via Cadiz does not make sense if you look at a map, at least in terms of a logical route. Of course it is drivable to do that, there are roads. But there is no major route between Cadiz and Ronda. Driving from Seville to Ronda will take about 2 hrs. Driving from Seville to Cadiz takes about the same time, close to 2 hrs. However, there is no major highway between Cadiz and Ronda, so that drive will take another 2 hrs. That may be fine with you, but the driving will take up at least 4 hrs instead of 2 or less. But since you are only in Ronda overnight anyway, why not just go there directly and see the town that day before leaving the next day. Otherwise, when are you going to see Ronda?

Same thing for driving through Malaga to get to Granada. It isn't logical, of course, nor the quickest route. Ronda to Malaga isn't a very direct route, either. Again, you'll be doubling your driving time from about 2 hrs to 4 hrs or so, so you don't really have much time to see Malaga that way, as that is just the driving, not the time to try to figure out where to park a car and how to sightsee from that location, etc.

So all those choices are really up to you, I personally wouldn't do these drive-bys of other cities for a couple hours. If it wehre just some smaller village where it would be easier to navigate the city and there were no parking problems or traffic problems, sure, but not these 2.

neckervd

If you do as Christina suggests, you don't need a car. There are direct buses from Sevilla to Ronda and direct trains from Ronda to Granada.

thursdaysd

"I would pass on Granada."

I wouldn't. I regard the Alhambra as the single best sight in Spain. Make sure you tour it in the evening as well as the daytime.

Driving in Europe and driving in the US are two very different things.

kja

You are wise to avoid trying to drive with jet lag.

Like thursdaysd, I am glad I saw the Alhambra during both the day and the evening.

buzzcolin

We were in that area of Spain last year and train travel is very easy and affordable. I would spend 3 nights in Seville, train or bus to Ronda for one night. There is a daily morning train (around 9.00 am) from Ronda to Cordaba and I would spend 2 nights there (love that place). Then take the train from Cordoba to Madrid and spend the rest of your time there. You will be far less stressed than driving and having to find your way around. There is so much to see in all those cities (especially Seville and Madrid) so don't bother with anything else on this trip. Don't forget to do the FREE walks in Seville and also see Madrid on a Segway. Amazing!

neckervd

There is of course no railway line between Sevilla and Cordoba.
Trains from Ronda to Cordoba (2 hrs) at 10.09 and 16.31
Trains from Ronda to Granada (3 hrs) at 7.53, 13.36 and 17.13
The train ride from Sevilla to Cordoba lasts 45 min; trains about every 30 min

kimhe

<There is of course no railway line between Sevilla and Cordoba.>

Yes, it is, the high speed AVE train goes between Sevilla and Córdoba all the time (37 departures on weekdays), takes some 42-45 mins. renfe.com

Egbert

I would not rent a car from Madrid to Seville. It is one of the most boring drives I've ever done. I also wouldn't drive from Granada to Madrid. You're trying to cram way too much by throwing Cadiz and Malaga in the mix. I would however spend a night in Malaga after Granada so you can take the high speed train back to Madrid, which is a fantastic city itself.