My husband and I, along with our two sons, ages 16 & 11, are trading our time share to stay at the Marriott's Marbella Beach Resort in Spain over Easter vacation. Are there any interesting sight-seeing areas to visit in the area? We are also considering doing a day trip to Tangiers, Morocco, Gibralter, and Seville. Is it safe to travel these areas, especially to Morocco, for US citizens?

Erin,<BR>My husband and I stayed at the Marriott Marbella Resort last March. It was fantanstic--the people who work there (especially Miguel and Victoria) were unbelieveably helpful.<BR><BR>There's so much to do in that area, but it helps to rent a car. I would highly suggest getting some tour books (Fodors, Frommers, and Rick Steves are particularly good) and checking out various websites such as planetware.com, okspain.org, spainlist.com, tourspain.es, spainalive.com to name but a few. There's an enormous amount of information available.<BR><BR>We loved Sevilla, but it's about a 3 hour drive from Marbella, so I'd suggest doing it as an extra trip (well worth it!) and spending a few days.<BR><BR>Easy day trips from Marbella are Ronda, Mijas, and Nerja (the caves are fantastic), as well as the not to be missed Alhambra in Granada (get tickets in advance on the Internet.) The old city of Marbella is lovely too.<BR><BR>IMO I'd forget about Morocco--Spain has so much to offer and is safe and absolutely wonderful. I'm sure you'll have a great trip. (I loved it so much I'm learning Spanish now and planning to go back soon!)<BR><BR>I'm sure you'll have a great time!

It's safe enough to go to Tangiers - it's just disgusting. If you want to visit Morocco, take a separate trip and bypass Tangiers to see the real Morocco - Fez, Marrakesh, Agadir, Essouira, etc.

XXX is right...if you have the time. If not, you should visit Tangier just to get a notion of how that part of the world exists.

We also stayed at The Marbella Marriott and it was beautiful. Definitely don't miss the caves in Nerja. Your sons will love them and there is a great place for paella in Nerja - Ayo's - that was fun to eat at. Have a great time.

Another vote for avoiding Morocco - horrible, filthy country (in my opinion). Lots of pick pockets and very anti-western.

We also stayed at the Marriott Marbella for a week (last Easter vacation). I can't wait to return - the resort was the BEST. There is a restaurant about 2 blocks down on the beach that had the best langostinos (small lobster, or large shrimp) - not dressy but excellent. I'm not &quot;into&quot; religion, but it was worth an evening to spend watching the &quot;religious ceremonial parade&quot; into the old church at the top of the town of Marbella- the costumes and decorations were incredible. My opinion, Gibraltar was a waste of one of our days - it was a dirty tourist trap and the traffic getting into it was not worth the wait. Many people we spoke to agreed that Morocco was not worth the time so we didn't go (especially after seeing Gibraltar). Your day would be better spent driving up to the Alhambra or down to Seville. Don't miss the town of Mijas up in the mountains (your taxi is a small burro if you choose)- take your camera. Also, Rhonda and Nerja (your boys will like the caves - similar to Luray caverns).

I loved visiting Gibraltar but another man that I overheard at the airport thought it was boring. He looked like he was travelling on business.

I would not discount Gibralter. If you are in to history a tour of the caves carved into the rock and the naval museum I found most interesting

Thank you for all of your suggestions! They were very helpful. We've decided not to do Tangier. But the boys are so excited about seeing the Barbary apes in Gibraltar, that we feel obligated to go despite the surroundings. We will definitely get to Ronda, Nerja, Mijas and Granada. Any other specific info on sights that would appeal to kids would be helpful. Also any details on when and where to see some of the Easter processions would be great. Thanks again!

Erin, <BR>For some spectacular Easter processions in that area, I would head to the cities of Malga and Granada.