HELP! Spain trip in late Sept.
 

Hi All,
My wife and I are travelling to Spain and France in late September for 3 weeks. We have a bike trip booked near Avignon in France from the 5th - 10th October but I would really appreciate any suggestions regarding the Spain leg. Rather than move every couple of days, we have decided to base ourselves in a couple of places as per the below for the first 10 days then are happy to move every night for the last 4. About us, we are in our early 50's, reasonably fit so don't mind walking, not into shopping but interested in the local food, wine, history etc. Would love to get away from the touristy areas occasionally too.
We fly into Madrid and have the following tentative itinerary:
Madrid - 5 nights (4 days) with possible day trips to Toledo and Segovia
Granada - 4 nights (base ourselves there and perhaps a day trip to Ronda)
We then have 4 days to get to Narbonne in France and we are thinking of hiring a car and driving from Granada. So my questions are:
1. Are we staying too long in Madrid and the day trips worth sticking with? any ideas on what else we can do?
2. Is Granada as a base a good idea (knowing full well that we will miss Seville)?
3. If we stay in Granada what do you suggest we do as day trips given we won't have a car there (i.e Ronda)?
4. For the last 4 nights on the way north, any suggestions on where to stop would be appreciated
Many thanks in advance.

1. Â Four days in Madrid with day trips is very rushed, but doable.


2/3. Â I would choose Sevilla over Granada, if you are forced to choose only one of those two. Â Daytrip to Cordoba from Seville if you have time. Â For me that is a lot more appealing than Ronda. Â I think Ronda is best visited on an overnight; I found it teeming with tourists during the day and since the town is smaller than Seville or Granada, the tourists were more noticeable. Â Just my opinion, and ronda has many fans.

4. Â Four days drive from Andalucia to Narbonne is not something I would attempt. Â Just too much tiime driving and not enough to really "visit" anyplace. Â Also consider drop-off charge for renting in one country and dropping in another.

ÂÂ Â If you want to do some driving, rent a car upon leaving Sevilla, and drive through Extremadura (Caceres, etc) to Madrid airport; drop car there and fly to France. Â OR, fly from Sevilla (or Granada, if possible) to San Sebastian or Bilbao...spend a few days there, then either go by train to Narbonne, or cross into France from San Sebastian and rent car in France to drive to Narbonne.

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It would make more sense to catch a train to Barcelona and investigate that area before crossing over to Narbonne. Try visiting Girona along the way.

If you plan to visit the Alhambra, I urge you to spend at least the night before in Granada. In my experience, it was crucial to enter the Alhambra first thing in the morning to enjoy it without teeming crowds. And the audioguide was hugely beneficial in navigation! Another thought: Wherever you finally end up in Spain, there may be a high speed train to get you at least partway to Narbonne. That could be enjoyable and save time.

Agree with bilboburgler. Train to Barcelona or Girona - - the latter is another great cycling hub by the way. Barcelona's huge Mercè festival is Sept 22-25 in case that is something you want to experience (or avoid). Train onwards to Narbonne.

Train to Narbonne - beware french rail strikes
 

Our train from Zaragoza to Narbonne got no further than Figueres thanks to SNCF strike (very common). It turned out a happy accident as we spent a wonderful day in Figueres and caught a bus to Narbonne at midnight. Although the bus had to drop us at a roundabout outside the town where a prearranged taxi picked us up. It was my third experience of wildcat strikes with SNCF and since then I choose comfortable and reliable long distance buses in France.

If you want to know when there will be strikes in France
https://www.cestlagreve.fr/

I much prefer Cordoba to Granada, so that's where I would base myself. And I find the Mezquita more impressive than Alhambra.

I don't have a problem with the drive of Granada to Narbonne with four days, but only if you have an idea of what you'd like to see along the way by car.

Thank you all so far for your advice! To give some context, we already have a bike tour booked near Avignon on the 5th of October but we will have a couple of days in Barcelona after that before we fly out. We really do like road trips so are keen to do some driving but perhaps we will cut one night from Granada (or Cordoba) so we have 5 to get to Avignon. Maybe we will only do one day trip from Madrid (any suggestions would be appreciated?) then catch the early train to Cordoba for one night then on to Granada for two. As for the rental car, we plan to keep it while we are in France then return it in Barcelona on the way back. As is usual for people visiting a country for a limited time, we are probably trying to see too much but hopefully we will be back at some stage. Also, any suggestions on places to stay between Granada and Avignon? We are happy to drive around 3 hours a day but if it's worth driving for longer to reach somewhere for two nights then happy to take suggestions. Thanks again everyone.

Did you check whether there is x an ALSA bus or RENFE train, from Granada to Ronda?

I skipped Ronda. I spent 2 nights in Granada. I arrived at 12pm, then had time for passing by various streets and monuments, then the Alhambra the next day, then I left the next day.

I spent 5 nights/ 4 days in Madrid; that time included d a day trip to Toledo. I didn't rent a car for any part of my trip. I don't know what I missed by not driving. Nerja has ancient structures or tombs that resemble some tombs a t mycenae in Greece. I didn't make time for Nerja. If I had spent an extra night in Madrid i could have found additional museums, park, and/or monuments to occupy myself, or I could have gone to Segovia. Segovia has part of an ancient Roman aqueduct. Madrid has 3 art museums + the Sorolla house.

I didn't eat restaurant food even once on my trip. And nobody tells you to not drink the tap water in Spain. Because it isn't "supposed to" be a problem. I bought bottled water but I rinsed my mouth with tap water. I caught a sickness starting on my 2nd full day in Spain, 51 hours after my plane arrived. I was in Seville when I suddenly developed scary horrifying gastro-intestinal problems that lasted full blown for most of a day and 80% better the day after and then gone. I could have gotten too dehydrated and needed a hospital or worse.

The King and Queen of Spain will inaugurate the new Royal Collections Gallery on June 28.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTS3...ature=youtu.be

For us, four days in Madrid was MORE than enough but here is the reason why for us:

• The Prado: amazing. For me, the best museum and tops the Lourvre. Take the FULL day there and relax and enjoy it. Grab a coffe or lunch and continue. There were surprises everywhere. But not being able to take photos was sad (but I get it... the world of selfies). As a painter, being able to capture some of the details of lesser known paintings was a disappointment.
• Walking the neighborhoods and enjoying cafes and people watching.
• For me, again, as an artist, I was personally not excited by Reina Sofia -- but I am not a Picasso or cubism fan and live in NYC where MOMA has a better collection. And at the time, there was not a particularly interesting exhibition going on.
• Royal Palace - could have done without.

But we LOVED Granada and Alhambra was truly an incredible experience for us. Part of the reason we loved Granada so much is we also really liked our neighborhood (albayzin) and the location of our AirBnB as well as the cafes up in the Albayzin. And we also enjoyed hiking Las Alpujarras and having a great lunch and view in Bubion (one of our best meals in Spain). If I could replan my trip I would have dumped Segovia and replaced with Seville.

Enjoy!

Thank you RubyTwins - after reading your advice and then clicking on your trip report THEN reading more older posts about travel in Spain (what a great rabbit hole to go down!), I think we may change things up a bit. Rather than stay in Madrid at the beginning, we may now travel to Sevilla by train after getting off the plane and base ourselves there for 4 or 5 days (with a day trip to Cordoba). May we even rent a car for the last couple of days just to get out into the countryside a bit.

We might then drive to Granada for 3 nights (2 full days) then train back to Madrid for at least 3 full days (maybe a day trip to Toledo if manage to stay an extra day) before flying to Marseille. We would also like to do a walk whilst in Granada but would have to keep it short, maybe half a day. One option may be the Caminito del Rey Trail on the way to Granada - if anyone has other suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.

After our bike tour in France we should have 3 full days in Barcelona before flying back to Western Australia - I can't wait for September to come around!!