ash318

hi,

My husband and I , are in barcelona, for the last 2 months. We were thinking of doing this blw trip, and we are thinking of flying from BCN to Granada, and then renting a car to get around.

We are looking to stay at apartments (so if anyone has any recommendations please advise) and also where to rent a car in Granada.

This is what we are planning:

March 24th Mon- fly into Grandada, just stroll around etc. Get a feel for the city.

March 25th- Granada- get tickets to visit Alhambra, 8.30 am entry.

March 26th- drive to Marbella-- has anyone been, what do you think? will things be open? we are not beach fans, so will just get a little sun and relax.

March 27th- Drive to Sevilla
March 28th- stay another nite in Sevilla

March 29th- Cordoba (should we stay here)?

March 30th- Mezquita-- some ppl say its great.

Where can we fly out from ,that will get us back to BCN? also need to return the car.

Any info will be great . Thanks!

yorkshire

A lot of places ask for at least a 3 night minimum for apartment stays.

You are probably most likely to get a flight from Sevilla to Barcelona, so maybe you should drive from Granada to Cordoba to Sevilla, but then you wouldn't really need a car to get between these places. It will be more of a hassle for such a short trip.
La Mezquita is a must see, and I think Cordoba was a great place to stay, but you could also do a day trip from Sevilla.

MECindylou

Just in case you assume what I did - that the entry time is for the whole Alhambra complex - it is for the Nasrid Palaces. You would have to arrive at the entrance early enough to walk to the Nasrid Palaces, which is a good 5-10 minutes walk. You might want to get an audio guide which takes a few minutes, or look around at the guide books. Also, the Nasrid Palaces are pretty much the highlight of the whole thing, so you may not want to rush there first thing. When we went, we had rushed up the hill to get to the entrance by the ticket time. Once in, I was dilly dallying around in the book shop until the audioguide rental person saw my ticket time and told us to run to the Nasrid Palaces. Luckily for us, it was winter and they didn't really care if we were late. In fact, we went back through that part again later when it was less crowded. That section is considered the high point of the complex. But don't miss the Generalife and the Alcazar. There are also great views of the Alhambra from the upper parts of the Albaycin (Moorish quarter).

The Mezquita is fantastic - a cathedral (unfortunately, say many) plunked down in the middle of a giant mosque. Don't leave your visit till the end of the day - sometimes they close early - that happened to us, but luckily we had enough time anyway. Yes, it might be nice to stay there (very charming and atmospheric, much smaller than Sevilla), but possibly not worth changing hotels.

Have fun!

LB1958

We stayed in Seville at a great hotel called Las Casas de los Mercaderes Hotel Seville
and also in Granada at another fabulous hotel near the Alhambra called the Anacapri. Check it out. It is not fancy, but the location in the historic area was fabulous!
We had time shares in southern Spain. Don't miss Nerja, where there are fabulous caves. It is on the coast and is beautiful. Also, the castle in Malaga is incredible.
Spain was to die for. Enjoy!

isabel

Well if you have 7 nights, and aren't big beach fans why not skip Marbella and divide your time between the other 3 cities. I did 9 nights between them last March and did not feel it was too much. If you do just those three cities then a car is really not necessary. You could fly into Seville, train to Cordoba and bus to Granada and fly out. Or reverse it. I did bus between Granada and Cordoba and train between Seville and Cordoba and is was very quick and easy. As mentioned, lots of apartments like you to have a three night minimum so if you drop Marbella you could do 3 nights each in Granada and Seville and one in Cordoba and probably get apartments in two out of three. I did really like cordoba and spent two days there, but of the three it was my least favorite. So one night there and maybe get there early from Seville (less than an hour by train) to have most of two days there.