Early spring travel Madrid-Andalucia
 

My husband and I plan to vacation in Spain for the first time around the last two weeks of March. (We've traveled in Europe, U.K., Mexico, China, but never to Spain.) We'll be flying in and out of Madrid. Would like to spend maybe 3 days in Madrid and 3 or 4 in Seville. Based on what we've read and other recommendations we want to see Granada, Cordoba, Jaen, Ubeda, Baeza, Granada, and possibly Ronda. I was thinking our three bases might be Madrid, Jaen or nearby, and Seville. I thought we'd do a combination of train and car rental. Can anyone recommend an itinerary and good places to stay and eat? Are Paradores the best option? We want to come away with a real flavor (literally and figuratively) of Spain -- or at least of the parts of it time allows us to visit.

While I haven't been to all the places you mention, it seems like it would make more sense for you to get an open-jaw ticket and fly into Madrid and out of Seville (or Malaga) so you don't have to backtrack.

I love the Paradores and think they add to the experience, so you might consider checking out their website and see if that would be good for you. www.parador.es

You don't mention your budget, so am not sure about other hotels, but petraabax.com and bancotel.com have inexpensive options. We liked the Conquistador Hotel in Cordoba and the nearby restaurant--El Caballo Rojo.

I haven't been to all the places you mention, so I hesistate to recommend an itenerary, but I'm sure many of the Spain experts here will have good suggestions for you.

Thanks, Artlover. I'll check out the websites you suggested and the possibility of an open jaw ticket. Do you know whether particular airlines are more willing to allow this? (We're flying out of the DC area.) Also, in doing some further reading it sounds as if the Paradores are quite expensive so finding a lower priced but nice hotel might be a better way to go.
Laura

I think too many places to go.
For the Jaen part, I may suggest to stay at Baeza or Ubeda, several good hotels there an plenty to see ; the Parador is in Ubeda. Both cities are 8 km apart.
Cordoba you can visit en-route Madrid to Seville by train, or as a daytrip from Seville.
The Ronda part I see it is usually done when driving from Seville to Granada, with one or two nights in Ronda.
Granada is too much for only a daytrip, you should consider a night stay there.

Josele, thanks for your thoughts. I took them into account and made up an itinerary. How does this look?
DAY 1 Arrive Madrid
DAY 2 Madrid
DAY 3 Madrid
DAY 4 AVE train to Sevilla
DAY 5 Sevilla
DAY 6 Sevilla
DAY 7 Sevilla
DAY 8 Train to Granada
DAY 9 Granada
DAY 10 Granda
DAY 11 Renta car; drive to Ubeda; stay in hotel there for 2 nights
DAY 12 See Ubeda and Baeza
DAY 13 Drive to Cordoba, turn in car,
see Cordoba; take train to Madrid
(or is it possible to return the car in Ubeda or Jaen and take the train to Coroba?)
Day 14 Fly home
I eliminated Ronda. That puts us in hotels in Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, Ubeda and back to Madrid -- more moving around than I'd ideally like to do in 2 weeks but I think it seems logical?? I'm getting really excited about this trip! On advice of others on this site I checked out Maribel's website -- it has great hotel suggestions!

The direct trip from Ubeda to Cordoba (skipping Jaen) is 90 min by car. I think there is no train at all, though am not sure. If you take a late AVE to Madrid, you'll have enough time for a stroll in La Juderia, lunch and Mezquita-Catedral at siesta time. Your itinerary works fine, but if you change your mind and do Cordoba as a daytrip from Seville, you can enjoy your drive through Andujar and Montoro, a different Andalusia off the beaten path.

Bear in mind by skipping the Jaen Parador you are missing some stunning views. See my trip report http://members.rennlist.com/imcarthur/spain2.htm for some pics of what you'll be missing.

You might want to cut a Granada night out . . .

Ian

For more economical lodging than the Paradores you might check out Bancotel vouchers http://www.bancotel.com
Semana Santa is the first week of April so the last week of March should still be 'low season' (i.e., more Hotels will still be accepting Bancotel or Talonhotel vouchers.

I don't know of airlines flying out of IAD (Dulles) but I have flown open jaw on Continental several times out of EWR (Newark) into Madrid and home from Lisbon.

Josele, You said, "You can enjoy your drive through Andujar and Montoro, a different Andalusia off the beaten path." Did you mean that we should consider driving to Madrid from Ubeda? How long would that take? Is it a hassle to drop off a car in Madrid? Andujar and Montoro -- What are they like? Ian, I enjoyed reading your trip report. It will be an interesting contrast to visit some of the same places in March without the heat... Of course, no sunbathing, though...

Afterthought: If I were visiting Spain in March I would definitely include Comunitat da Valencia (all the way down the Costa Blanca to Alicante) in my itinerary. The attraction? Las Fallas de Valencia (San José 19 Mar).

You write: "We want to come away with a real flavor (literally and figuratively) of Spain ..." You will probably enjoy the cuisine of Valencia, especially the Paella and seafood; and there are bullfights in the area during the Fiestas (if that's the sort of thing you are looking for).

Wow! Just checked out Las Fallas online. Sounds wild! Not sure we could deal with the crowds, though...have to think about that... might be difficult to get a hotel there, then,too, at this stage of the game, no?
I'll be away from email until Saturday -- hope to return to more great suggestions from everyone.

Do not drive Ubeda to Madrid, it is boring and uninteresting. I meant driving from Ubeda to Bailen and Cordoba, with stops at Andujar and Montoro. These are beautiful towns not visited by tourists, with religious and civil architecture and landscapes, though you may have had enough of that in Ubeda/Baeza..

As another alternative to getting from Madrid to the South, check out flying on http://www.vueling.com. We got tickets from Madrid to Seville in Feb for 20 Euro each, cheaper and faster than the train, I think.

Hi lauriter, I agree with Josele, both in Baeza and Ubeda there are quaint little hotels.Regarding paradores we always stay in Paradores whenever possible.
The one in UBeda is in an old palace in the heart of the places you wish to visit. Is you choose to stay there you have to pay special attention to which room you are getting, a few are inside rooms facing indoor patios and I found them terrible, fortunatly we got a nice one with a decent window facing out.
If I had to leave out any of the places you mentioned it would be Ronda, which is a place all tourist like to talk about but for me it is not that much. It is overated in my opinion.
On the other hand Cordoba, Ubeda, Baeza and Granada are great. Jaen has also a Parador, the Parador itself is wonderful and rates there are a little less than in Ubeda, it is located at the top of a hill , next door to the Fortress of Santa Catalina (Middle ages) it is beautiful, the view from its rooms over the ondulating hills full of olive trees is beautiful , also has a good pool. Of course you need a car there and coming up and down the hill doesn't make it ideal for a base. What is good
is that there is a train between Madrid and Jaen that you can take to avoid all the driving getting there.
Paradores offer all kind of promotions, for older people like us, they have the Anos Dorados, over 60 I guess, for younger people they have a 5 nights carnet and another thing called a Passport.

Hi I forgot, do a wlking tour of both Ubeda and Baeza, you can buy both togeher at a discount. Facinating.
Needless to say I love Sevilla too and it a must.
We stayed in Petit Palace Marques de Santa Ana a high tech hotel very nice. Go to their website at hthotels.com and insit that they give you the better rate possible, which they do.
The train betwee Madrid and Jaen is slower but much cheaper too and it is ok. You can take it to Jaen, rent the car there, and then do everything by car leaving the car in Seville , stay there the days you wish and then take the AVA to Madrid. Second class is great, very few Spaniards even consider taking first.