J Gallagher

I am planning a trip to Southern Spain and having trouble finding information on approximate travel times (rather than distances) between the towns we plan to visit. Our general itinerary is from Faro (Portugal) to Seville; then to Arcos / Rhoda; then onto the Malaga area; next to Granada via Nerja, and finally to Cordoba. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. We want to see a lot but don't want to spend our whole vacation in the car! Thanks! (Note that e-mail is not correct...not suppose to use my work e-mail.)

clea

I drove from Tavira, Portugal (near Faro) to Seville and I think it took only a couple of hours - maybe 2 and a half. I don't remember exactly, but I know I left Tavira around 1:30 and was in Seville by 5 (keep in mind there is a 1 hour time difference). <BR> <BR>From Seville I drove back to Portugal so I can't help you with your other questions.

Colleen

We just drove most of that route a couple of weeks ago, and I kept pretty exact records (which I don't have with me today). Here's what I recall - but if I find any discrepancies when I review my notes, I'll let you know. Sevilla to Arcos: We drove from Sevilla to Ronda, skipping Arcos, but I've been told that it will take about 1 hour once you get on the motorway. Our drive from Seville, which included stops in Grazalema and Zahara got us to Ronda in about 5.5 hours. The next day we drove from Ronda to Nerja - it took about 90 min. to get to Marbella (dropped in for about 1 hour), another hour to Malaga, and about 30 min. to Nerja, for about 4.5 hours, total. Then from Nerja to Granada it's about 1 hr 45 min. I can give you route info., if you're interested - and the correct exit to use to get to the Hertz drop off in Granada! (Very easy to find.) When in Nerja, immediately book dinner reservations at "34" - we stayed in the hotel, a six room B&B type place - Hotel Carabeo, and loved the restaurant. (Address is 34 Carabeo). The parking ramp in town is very safe and convenient, and has a 24 hr. rate of 1500 pesetas, pre-pay. <BR>There's a good route planning website at euroshell.com. They'll give you routes, mileage, and drive time. Let me know if I can offer any other information. <BR>

Jackie

Thanks for the input. This is great information! <BR> <BR>Colleen...thanks also for the information on where to eat and stay in Nerja. If you have any other recommendations (eat / sleep) for Granada, Cordoba, and Seville that would be helpful as well. We're hoping with the off season that we won't have trouble finding places to stay. We also plan to drop the car in Cordoba and take the train to Madrid...from what I hear that shouldn't be a problem. Any suggestions? <BR> <BR>Thanks again, <BR> Jackie

Patrick

With the exception of Granada we did pretty much what you are doing. We left Faro about 9 AM, passing through Seville just before 11 (going on down to Cadiz for a night, then returning to Seville for several nights). We left Seville about 9 AM thinking we'd have lunch in Arcos -- but it was far too early --must have been about 10:30 or so, we spent about an hour there walking around then drove on to Ronda, arriving about 1:00 (we stopped along the way just briefly to admire the views and take pictures). We left Ronda at about 9:00 again, driving to Marbella for a quick drive around and along the coast stopping briefly to find our hotel in Torremolinas from 30 years ago, through (actually bypassing) Malaga, and arrived in Cordoba at 12:30. As you can tell, you can make surprisingly good time on those roads --we were constantly surprising ourselves with how much quicker we got where we were going than we had planned. Incidentally, the only change we made from our original itinerary (a full 5 months) was that we had booked 2 nights in Faro. We left after one adding Cadiz. We had been warned by people on this site to skip Faro, but we didn't listen. After a wonderful lunch there and about a 2 hour walk through of the old town we asked ourselves, "what are we going to do tomorrow?" Are you staying in Faro for a reason? After leaving Cordoba we drove to Toledo for one night and then to Segovia for one night before going to Madrid. We were glad we did this instead of the usual day trips to those two cities --we especially appreciated both in the evenings. We then dropped off our car as we approached Madrid.

Jackie

Patrick, <BR> <BR>Thanks for the feedback on your driving experiences in Spain. I know what you mean about Faro...we're acutally staying at a resort town that we got a deal on just West of Faro called Quinto do Lago. Just taking a few days to play a little golf, I guess, and take it easy before we start the world wind tour de Spain! <BR> <BR>Thanks again...Jackie

Pedro

I live in Seville and those are some of my favourite weekend trips. More or less: <BR> <BR>Faro-Sevilla: 2 hours 15 min <BR>Sevilla-Arcos: 1 hour 15 min <BR>Arcos-Ronda: 2hours 30 min but the drive Arcos-Zahara-Grazalema-Ronda is one of the best in Andalucia (worthy) <BR>Sevilla-Ronda :1 hour 30 min <BR>Ronda-Marbella:1 hour 10 min <BR>Marbella-Malaga: 50 min <BR>Malaga-Nerja: 35 min <BR>Nerja-Granada The drive Nerja-Almuņecar-Salobreņa-Gargantas del Guadalfeo-Granada is also very scenic: 1 hour 25 min. <BR>Granada-Cordoba ( if you go via Jaen try the views from Sta Catalina Castle Parador, if not ,Zuheros and Priego are the most picturesque towns ):2 hours 20 min <BR> <BR>Have a good trip