Evaluate our Itinerary
 

I have been reading on this web site for about 2 months now and have come up with an itinerary and hotels. Would love to get your opinions. We are going in Oct 07 so wanted to stay mainly in Andalucia (hoping for warmer weather).

Day 1 Arrive Madrid - Hotel Gran Canarias
Day 2 Madrid
Day 3 Side Trip Toledo - Madrid
Day 4 Madrid - Seville (via train) stop in Cordoba Stay at Alfonso XIII
Day 5 - Seville
Day 6 - Seville
Day 7 - Seville to Ronda (will pick up a car at Seville train station) Hotel Enfrente Arte
Day 8 - Ronda
Day 9 - Ronda
Day 10 - Ronda - Granada - Hotel Alhambra Palace
Day 11 Granada
Day 12 Granda - Malaga Hotel Pardaor de golf (we wanted to be near airport)
Day 13 Malaga - early morning flight home.

Would love to get feedback on what towns near Ronda are your favorites.

Thanks for all the prior posts. It really help alot in planning.

Sounds swell to me.

I loved Jerez de la Frontera, not too far from Rhonda by a road that goes thru several of the proverbial 'White Town' or whatever they call them - white painted towns on hills.

Anyway Jerez is a so-so city but has the fantastic Sherry Houses you can tour and sample the oak-aged product. And it has the Riding School, very famous, where you can take in shows or more frequent practice sessions.

Sherry is i guess a corruption of the name Jerez and became popular when Brits dominated the Sherry market after this strong wine swept Britain centuries ago - especially a favorite with little old ladies there.

Your plan sounds wonderful. You are allocating more time to Ronda than I would, but that's a matter of personal preference. Did you consider stopping in Cordoba or in Las Alpujarras? Both would probably be most easily reached from Granada.

I suggest you go directly on the fast train to Sevilla and do Cordoba as a day trip during your stay in Sevilla.

I don't know if you read my Spain trip report but we did a lot of the same things you are doing and had a great experience. Just click on my name to see my report. We loved Ronda and liked Arcos a lot. Grazalema looked very nice but it was raining so hard we did not get out of the car. Zahara is supposed to be nice also but the heavy rains stopped us from going there. We went to Gibraltar from Ronda and thought it was worth it. We would have liked to have gone to Jerez and Sanlucar de Barrameda but did not have enough time. We were not impressed with Ubrique. We were there in October and had very wet weather but everyone said that was very rare, it usually is very nice then. Your trip sounds wonderful. Enjoy!

I couple of things I'd do differently - not necessarily better, but different. Once I'd picked up the the car at Santa Justia, I'd take a day away from Sevilla and go to Sanlucar de Barrameda. Go about 5 miles north of Sanlucar to Bonanza at 3 pm and watch the unloading and auction of the fishing boats. One of the most amazing things I have seen anywhere. Stay on or near the river and eat terrific seafood. then head east to Ronda.

I think I would also suggest tking one day waway from Ronda and instead use it for a trip to Segovia while in Madrid. For some reason I love the place. Ronda is a must but I'd dedicate less time than you have.

an interesting drive [but a tad hairy] is into the Alpujarras from Lanjaron, about 30 min south of Granada on the road to Nerja. If that would fit into your trip it's worth it.

I think your itinerary OK.
I think a good advise the Sanlucar-Bonanza trip, but not the Segovia one, just too many things.
Be sure to have your train tickets to Toledo already booked, or you may find long lines at the station.
Once in Toledo, do not save on taxis to the city or (more important)back to Toledo station, I have just read a report in which they missed the train for taking the wrong bus.
The stop at Cordoba I see doable, you can leave luggage in lockers and take a taxi to the Mezquita-Catedral (which I always visit after lunch, 3 to 4 PM, siesta time, very quiet. The old quarters surrounding it will look very similar to what you'll find in Seville.
Ronda has a lot to see, especially if you take the time to. The trip to Grazalema-Zahara and Arcos de la frontera (do not miss)takes a day. I'll look for the link to a post I wrote on white towns. On the road to Granada, if you depart early, you can visit Antequera.
The Golf Parador is a very good idea, the place is very quiet to relax of all your travel (and write the report) and right in front of the airport, those roads really get crowded most of the days.

I agree w/Weber; while Segovia deserves more than a stop visit, I would not miss sightseeing the Aqueduct if even for a 5-minutes visit. I would take a day from Ronda and add it to a Madrid stay for a tour/guided visit (Julia Tours, etc...) to Segovia-Avila. You don't need to worry about transport, guided visits with (typically) good guides. Do not take the lunch option and you'll have that time to do whatever you want in Segovia.

As far as towns, Jerez de la Frontera and Carmona are great towns to visit.

I agree about taking a day away from Ronda and adding Segovia. Also, if you're a Picasso fan (which I am), suggest you make it to the Museo Picasso in Malaga, plus Malaga has a wonderful castle with great views.

Also, I think it's worth it to stay overnight in Toledo--we did and it was very special at night, but it might be too much moving around.

Artlover: Please tell me more about Malaga. I've always dismissed it a big town with no particularly ambience. I am ready to learn! thanks!

The centre of Malaga is not unpleasant to wander around but it doesn't IMHO have a strong "ambience". Just shops; a nice enough sea front. The Picasso Musuem may be something else altogether - I was only passing thru en route Granada to Malaga airport so didn't have time to check it out.

I totally and absolutely agree with those who have suggested staying overnight in Toledo. Now there is somewhere with an ambience (once the coach tours have been and gone away).

But you can't do everything and when you only have a short time staying overnight somewhere you hadn't planned to can have a knock on effect.

Hard isn't it? but great fun.

IMHO Malaga is underated, but I may be bias to it because we were lost looking for the Cuidad Centro on our way to the Museo Picasso and when I asked 2 policemen for help (in my awful Spanish) the had us follow them all the way to town and literally escorted us to a parking spot near the museum! How many places do you have something like that happen?

If you're a Picasso fan, the museum is not to be missed. This was his private collection and is exhibted appropriately. Also, as I said, the view from the castle is wonderful as was a stop for vino de casa at the Parador.

The outshirts appear unwelcoming, but I really liked the center and Gibralfaro, but I'd suggest taking a cab to get there, unless you're a really strong hiker.