Final Itinerary (Almost) Andalusia Need Help Please!
 

Message: I have almost finalized our 14 night trip to Andalusia mid-September. What do you think? Are we moving around too much? Need some hotel advise too.

Arrive Malaga
Granada ? 2 nights (Casa Morisca or Palacio de Santa Ines or Parador de San Francisco)

Jaen or Ubeda ? 1 night (which Parador)

Cordoba ? 1 night (Amistad Cordoba)

Sevilla ? 3 nights (Las Casas de la Juderia)

Sanlucar de Barrameda ? 2 nights (Posada de Palacio)

Arcos de la Frontera ? 1 night (Parador)

Ronda ? 1 night (Parador) or 2 nights, with a day trip to Gibralta or 1 night in San Roque (where to stay? ) to see Gibralta?

Nerja - 2 nights (Parador)

Thanks in advance. ? Lynne -

Just a word of caution. We tried in February to reserve the Parador de San Francisco in Granada for September and it was fully booked. I am told the popular paradores must be reserved early.

In my opinion you are moving around to much. When we traveled through Andalusia we initally planned way too many different hotels nights. We loved Seville and were there only 2 nights. From there we drove to Arco de la Frontera. We stayed at El Convento which is down the street from the paradour where we had dinner. The views are great and the drive up to the town was an experience we still talk about. At that point we decided to change our plans and we went to San Roque where we spent 3 or 4 nights using this as a home base for day trips (Rhonda, etc.) This turned out to be a wonderful decision. We then drove past Marbella towards Granada and stayed a fabulous resort called La Bobadilla. We stayed there for 3 nights and again did day trips...granada, marbella, etc. This was a wonderful trip. If I were doing it again I would stay in Granada at de San francisco (excellent location) as we ended up driving to Granada twice.
It was an easy one hour ride.

JuneAnn, I agree we don't like moving hotels too much. Where did you stay in San Roque? Do you remember what town La Bobadilla was in? We'd like to tour the Jerez area, Cadiz and possibly visit Gibralta in addition to the White Towns, Seville and Granada. We were trying to make a counterclock-wize loop. Thanks. Lynne

I will locate the name of the hotel in San Roque. It was not really a hotel but more of an inexpensive Inn run by 2 French men. We had so much fun there. I left a message for my friend about the name. La Bobadilla is a Leading Hotel of the World so you can check www.lhw.com and see pictures and get info. La Bobadilla is in LOJA. From San Roque we did a day trip to Morocco and another to Gibralta. From LOJA we visited Marbella and Granada (2x)

Andalucia is great and I am sure you will enjoy yourselves very much
2 nights in Granada is good - we stayed at Casa Morisca and loved its Moorish atmosphere. The service was great too. Make sure you have a meal at Pilar del Toro - the people at Casa Morisca recommended it to us and we had a scrumptious dinner.
I think that 1 night in Cordoba is sufficient and we too stayed at the Amistad Cordoba.
I think 3 nights in Seville is reasonable.
If you haven't managed to book the parador in Ronda, stay at Hotel San Gabriel, an 18th century mansion, which is located close to the gorge. Although it does not have the views that the Parador does, it certainly makes up for it in elegance and charm.
I have not been to the other places, so find it hard to comment. You could stay 2 nights in Ronda and explore Arcos from there or from Seville.
Have a wonderful time - we loved Andalucia

Thanks for the great advise. I feel good about the first part of our visit. It's the later part that has me perplexed. Any advise on this part would be appreciated.

We'd like to spend 2 days in the Jerez area to see the horse show on Saturday at Yeguada de la Cartuja, tour a winery and eat Langostinos in Sanlucar and a possible visit Cadiz if you think it's worth while. I found out the hotel in Sanlucar, Posada de Palacio, doen't have AC. Where to base ourselves?

Then the whole Arcos, Ronda and fitting in Gibrata is confusing. We have 14 nights which is a bit more than most of the itinerary's I've read on this board. Thanks in advance. Lynne

We drove from Seville to Arcos in one day. On the way to Arcos we stopped in Jerez and saw the horse show. This was an easy day.

We only spent one night in Arcos and then onto San Roque. As a day trip while in San Roque we went to Gibraltar and took a tour. Another daY we took a ferry to Morocco and again took a day tour of the city. I hope that makes things clearer for you.

Thanks, we've opted to stay in Cadiz for three nights and do day trips. Here is our plan.
Granada 2 nights
Jaen 1 night
Cordoba 1 night
Sevilla 3 nighs
Cadiz 3 nights
Ronda 2 nights
Nerja 2 nights
I thought of seeing Gibralta on the way from Ronda to Nerja. I'm concerned about leaving luggage in the truck.

The parador in Granada is booked up months in advance. However, as you would expect, there are cancellations and they are given to the first people who call (or fax) after a cancellation. It's easy to keep trying the parador in hopes of a cancellation. Find out what the last date for cancelling without penalty is for the time you are interested in and try around that time. That's how we got in.

I booked Casa Morisca, a Fodors starred choice in Granada. We're staying at 4 other Paradors. Thanks for the help.

easygoer, where are you staying in cadiz? what about cordoba?

Hi Crisssey, I hope this helps. We can't wait. This board has been very helpful in planning our trip.
Granada 2 nights Casa Morisca
Jaen 1 night Parador
Cordoba 1 night Amistad
Sevilla 3 nights Las Casas de La Juderia
Cadiz 3 nights Parador
Ronda 2 nights Hoetl San Gabriel (Ronda Parador was booked)
Nerja 2 nights Parador
I booked the Paradors via phone, and the rest via fax directly to the hotels. Good luck. Planning is half the fun!

I have no direct experience of this myself, but perhaps you might want to have a look at the following thread about Nerja:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...archText=Nerja