Driving in Spain
 

Hello,
We are considering driving from Sevilla to Granada in May. Is it safe? Is it difficult to follow the signs?
Any suggestions on places to stop?

cindy

the are possible two routes -

the first is the coast road and is much further but has lots to see and many points of interest. You would drive to Cadiz from Sevile folow the coast down the Costa De La Luz to Gibralter then along the Costa Del Sol to Nerja where you head north to Granada.

plus points : Jerez, Arcods.Cadiz, Barbate, Zahara, Tarifa, Vejer, Jimena, Rhonda, Malaga, Nerja and the road from Nerja to Granada are all well worth visits. Basically you will get a tour of every decent sight in the south of Spain!

down side : in comfort the journey takes 3 days although we have done it one very long day. Also the Costa Del Sol road is full of loons in Ferraris and is statistically one of the most dangerous roads in Europe.

The other route goes inland via Osuna then by a very good and fairly quite motorway with good stops at the El Torcal natural park and Antequera.

The upside is it will take less than 3 hours - the down side - the countryside is pretty drab and you miss out on the rest of the sights above.

We drove this in 2006. We went via the inland route and stopped in Carmona for a few hours and lunch. It's an easy drive. Roads in Andalucia are well marked and well maintained. I highly suggest driving. No problems. Locals were courteous.

the coastal road can be slow and curvy if that makes any difference to you.

The biggest problem is finding your way once you are in the city limits. we've spent amny anxious moments looking for our hotels in Seville and Granada.

Hi Cindy, You know I'm a fan of driving. The roads while curvy are fine. The previous poster is right about finding an address once you're in town. You will most likely find a city parking lot and leave your car, if you're just daytripping. If you're spending the night, 1st, make sure your hotel can park your car for you and 2nd, you can pay a taxi to let you follow them to your address. Believe me, they are used to it! We've done it on a prn basis. Can't wait to see what you do!

Cindy2, my most important advice to you is to get a car with GPS. We didn't, and it caused *several* anxious moments relying only on our Michelin map. Our worst was actually on the highway, going from Toledo to El Escorial. Spanish highways are quite well signposted, but we somehow got so entangled in the web of autovias west of Madrid that we had to stop at a gas bar for directions. The nice woman attendant didn't know the route either(!), but was able to phone a friend to get me sorted out.

The coastal road can get congested, and the onramps are ridiculously short. But I've driven both routes, and much prefer the south.