sue

Our tour of Anadalucia has been cancelled for next week. Does anyone know a reliable English speaking tour company who tours the area. We want to pick up the tour in Sevilla or on the Costa del Sol. Or any contact numbers in Spain. Needless to say our travel agent is useless. Thanks.

Maira

Sue, to have a tour cancelled so close to departure time is a real bummer, but it does not mean you are not going to have a good time. Not knowing all the details about the type of tour you had in mind, I can think of three alternatives: <BR> <BR>- Go independent. Seville is a relatively small city with tons of things to do and day-trips to take once you get there. <BR> <BR>- a tour recommendation by your hotel. <BR> <BR>- contact the Seville Office of Tourism phone # is 34 95 422 1404 (central office in 21 Avenida Constitucion) or the Office at the Airport 34 95 425 5046. Their e-mail address is [email protected] <BR> <BR>Hope this helps.

kristi

Sue, Maira has some great suggestions. Southern Spain is easy to travel independently. We booked a 10 day independent land package through Central Holidays (www.centralholidays.com) that included hotels in Madrid, Seville, Cordoba and Costa del Sol, train pass between cities and 1/2 day sightseeing in Seville and Madrid. We could have easily done the same on our own but didn't want to hassle with reserving hotels. <BR> <BR>There are many companies that do sightseeing trips from each city. From the Costa del Sol, you can go to Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar, etc. either on your own or with a group. The hotels carry racks with this information. <BR> <BR>If you need any other info, let me know.

sue

thanks for your quick response. Unfortunately we do not drive. Will probably wait until we get to Marbella and then look for something. Accommodation in Marbella is also a problem.

kristi

Sue, you don't need to drive anywhere in Spain. There are trains that run from Madrid to Seville (2 1/2 hours)and from Seville to Malaga on the Costa del Sol. There is another train line that runs on the Costa del Sol from Malaga to Fuengriola (sp?), but not as far as Marbella. There are also public buses and bus tour companies that go just about everywhere-Granada, Ronda, Jerez, Gibraltar. <BR> <BR>Try www.hotelsearch.com for hotels in Spain. I haven't used them but it looked like had a decent selection of hotels in Spain.

Henry

Kristi:I planning to go to Spain next spring.How did you like Central Holidays ?How were the hotels?Thanks.

kristi

Henry, we thought the independent package was great and recommended it to my brother in law who also enjoyed it. The train tickets were reserved seats so all you had to do was show up at the train station. The 1/2 day tours were through an outside company (like Julia tours)and were a nice introduction to Seville and Madrid. We chose the lowest priced option of the hotels and found them all to be OK to quite good. The hotel in Madrid, Hotel Regina, was centrally located, very close to a metro station. The hotel in Seville, the Monte Triana, was not centrally located but it was the nicest of the hotels on the trip, I believe newly built for the 1982 expo there, and there was a bus stop nearby. The hotel in Costa del Sol was on the beach in Torremolinos, the Riu Bel Playa,which was also quite nice, very spacious (four beds and two bedrooms!), had a nice pool and was located near the train that runs along the Costa del Sol. They also had a nice buffet breakfast. We extended our trip to stay a couple of extra days down there. We booked our airfare separate as we found a great deal direct from Iberia so we only paid for the land package through them which meant no transfers from the airport. No big deal in either Madrid or Malaga.