Help with my Spain trip (23 Mar to 7 Apr)
 

Hi everyone! I'm flying into Madrid on 23 Mar, landing at 11am and flying out of Madrid on 7 Apr at 12.10pm. I'll be using public transport to go around and I have 15 nights. I'm planning to base myself in a few cities and explore.

I really want to see Madrid, Cordoba, Granada and Seville. And would like to see Ronda/Toledo if possible. Therefore, I'm thinking that when I land in Madrid, I would directly head to Seville and then work my way back to Madrid.

What I really like to see/do during this trip is to have local food/drinking, see the historical sights, experience the culture and have some alone time.

Please let me know what are your thoughts/suggestions on which cities I should base myself in and any other suggestions. I'm pretty certain that I'll stay in Madrid and Seville but wonder if another base city should be Cordoba or Granada or both. Also wondering if I can squeeze in a stay in either Ronda/Toledo but willing to give this idea up if I don't have time. Thanks!

You can click on my name to read my trip report from this past September. This was our itinerary:

Madrid - 4 nights
Toledo - 1 night
Cordoba - 2 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Malaga - 2 nights
Seville - 4 nights

As you can see, we had 15 nights, too. So you can definitely stay in Madrid and Seville, along with Cordoba and Granada. I think you have time to stay overnight in Toledo or Ronda, but this depends on how many nights you plan to stay in Madrid and Seville. Many people stop in Cordoba as a day trip to or from Seville. We loved Cordoba, and I highly recommend staying there for 1 or 2 nights. If you want to tour the Alhambra during the day and also do the night tour, you would need 2 nights in Granada. I feel the number of nights we stayed in each city was perfect for us, and also the absolute minimum for our tastes and sightseeing plans.

Have you purchased some guidebooks? If not, I highly recommend doing so.

We also used public transport, a combination of trains and buses, and that worked out well, too. You should purchase your tickets early to get good discounts. I used Loco2 for my train tickets, and ALSA bus for my bus tickets.

Hope this helps.

We returned a month ago from Spain and had a great time. Our itinerary:

Madrid 4 nights
Toledo 1 night
Cordoba 1 night
Granada 3 nights
Ronda 2 nights
Seville 3 nights

We rented a car to travel from Madrid onwards and our trip didn't feel too rushed. We thought we'd explore the area around Ronda which is why we decided to stay there two nights but ended up just relaxing there.

Have fun planning!

IMO, your wish list is understandable, but ambitious – a bit more so than I would want, but people differ. My ideal itinerary for these cities would include Sevilla (4 nights), Cordoba (2 nights), Granada (3 nights), Toledo (2 or 3 nights), and Madrid (4 nights, more if you plan any day trips). If Ronda remains 1 priority, a night is sufficient, but please note that while it is scenic and has charm, it is not on a par with the other destinations you list, IMO. OTOH, Madrid is the easiest of these locations to visit internationally, so if you have to shortchange something, limiting your time there might make sense if you are sure to be able to visit it again.

If you want to visit the Alhambra, you really should consider staying in that city – it can take a full day just for the Alhambra (not to mention any of Granada’s other gems) and it isn’t within easy day-trip travel of any of your other likely destinations. And once you finalize your plan, book your tickets for the Alhambra as soon as you can!

Many people visit Cordoba as a day trip from Sevilla and Toledo as a day trip from Madrid; I’m glad I spent 2 nights in each – and could easily have enjoyed more time than that.

I recommend that you consult opening hours for the places you want to see and then marke them on a calendar. Note that many things in Spain are closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too; and many things in Spain will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break.

If you don’t already have one, a good guidebook or two – perhaps the Rough Guide and / or Michelin Green -- should prove invaluable. The cost will be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip and you will have a wealth of information at your fingertips.

You don't need a car for any of these destinations -- all are easily visited by public transportation, which in Spain is comfortable and convenient.

Hope that helps!

This trip is during semana santa.
Cost are higher, reservation will be necessary, locations very busy.
Your requirements : What I really like to see/do during this trip is to have local food/drinking, see the historical sights, experience the culture and have some alone time.
First two are always possible no matter when or where you go in Spain, but given the date you will never be alone.

Book trains in advance at www.renfe.com for discounted fares if book far enough in advance to get those limited tickets - for lots of good train info -www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

I'd base in Seville and day trip to Cordboa

and Malaga and day trip to Granada

and Madrid- easy day trip to Toledo.

In Dec. 2013, my daughter and I spent 2 weeks in Spain. Though I failed to post a trip report. Itinerary:

Madrid 3 nights (we saw the sights, but this big city wasn't our favorite, personally)

Train to Granada 2 nights (highlight of our trip was full day exploring Alhambra)

Picked up car for waterfront drive ending in Ronda (2 nights there to drive and see the white hill cities - recommend do it by train with one night Ronda which was lovely).

We then drove to stay at Puerto de Sante Maria on coast (but if did over, would also skip that as not enough to do; instead might do train to stay on coast one day and perhaps Ferry to see Casablanca).

We ended with 3 nights/2 days sightseeing in Seville - wonderful.

So all in all, favorites were Seville, Granada, with 1 day in Ronda. We had wonderful lodging in each place:

* Granada Apartment: Mirador de Comares @ 8 Gloria
* Ronda: Hotel San Gabriel, built in 1736 and remains family home of orig. owners
* Seville: Murillo Apartment

Recommend the Seville Walks tour (cost 15 euro per person), Alfonzo was excellent - humor, history and recommendations for our stay.

what ribeirasacra said is very important!

La Semana Santa is extremely busy and crowded especially in Andalusia.
Book everything well ahead of time if you are going south first.

Yes, what Ribeirsacra said is prime advice. Seville will be the most crowded (and expensive). Malaga also has a large Semana Santa celebration (Thursday and Friday are the most important nights) but is a more manageable scene.

What about Cordoba? Good base too though IME Seville makes an even nicer city to stay in for some days. easy day trips by train to Ronda, Malaga, Granada and Seville.

Oh wow, thanks for the replies! I definitely want to book accommodations early as its during the Semana Santa celebrations and I heard that tickets for the Alhambra runs out quickly.

So from the replies. my trip looks like this so far:

23 Mar - Land in Madrid, train to Seville
23 Mar to 27 Mar - Seville (4 nights)
27 Mar 29 Mar - Granada (2 nights)
29 to 31 Mar - Cordoba (2 nights)
31 Mar to 2 Apr - Toledo (2 nights)
2 Apr to 7 Apr - Madrid (5 nights)
7 Apr - Fly out from Madrid

I've taken Ronda out and will figure that out later. For accommodations, I'm looking at more of airbnbs or hotels so any suggestions of which areas to stay in are much appreciated.

Also, with the Semana Santa celebrations, I'm wondering if I need to take note of any dos and don'ts?

Looks good. Just be careful of pickpockets in those crowds !

Looks great!

One minor tweak for your consideration: you might switch one night from Madrid to Granada to make sure you have time for more than the Alhambra, but it all depends on what you want to see and do and when, exactly, you would move from one city to the next.

I strongly urge you to consider visiting the Alhambra during the day and also during the evening. FWIW, I was very glad that my evening visit followed my day visit.

Enjoy!

re Granada...
we arrived before noon...visited churches and around town in the afternoon . Alhambra night visit the same day.
The first thing next morning : day visit to Alhambra . In the afternoon - more Granada ( Albacin).
We had one more day and night which was ok, but not a must.
.

Ronda could be a few-hour stop say between Granada and Cordoba. You are traveling on enough trains to look at Spain Railpass which lets you chose which trains to take once there - not booking discounted tickets in stone (non-changeable from specific train) weeks in advance - especially nice when arriving by plane and dashing to train - if going discounted ticket route in that be sure to leave plenty of time between plane and train.

But your interary looks really really nice!

I like your itinerary except where are you flying in from?

Personally, after a long flight the last thing I would want to do is to continue my journey by train. It is hard to plan whether or not your flight might be delayed and if all your luggage will make it. I have experienced both issues. However, I have to fly from the US West Coast which requires a stopover as there are no direct flights to Madrid.

Otherwise, I like your itinerary. I would probably steal a night from Madrid to add to Granada as I liked having two full days in Granada but, of course, it depends on what you plan on doing and the times of your trains/buses.

Regarding Granada/Alhambra, I've put 2 nights in so that I can see Alhambra at night. I plan to get to Granada by early afternoon and leave around the same time.

@KTtravel: I'm flying in from Singapore actually. I usually do hate to continue my journey after a flight but I just did it for Ireland (in to Dublin, bus out to Cork) and it worked. Fingers crossed that there would be no issues with the flight/luggage.

I've put 5 nights in Madrid as I usually like to spend my last day with no plans other than to stroll around. But I'm re-thinking my plans now and maybe putting 1 night in Madrid at the beginning in case of delayed flight/luggage.

For Ronda, do you suggest to try and explore it between Granada/Cordoba or Seville/Granada?

With your itinerary, I'm not sure how you fit Ronda in without cutting your time in Granada, so I think you need to decide whether you have enough time for Granada to include Ronda at all, and if so, whether you have enough time in Cordoba and/or Sevilla to fit it in.

^Oh, that makes sense.

Will also be reading up on Spain Railpass and comparing it with the discounted tickets. Must admit that I've not read about the Railpass before.

If the pass isn't covered in your guidebook, get / consult a better one!

For info on the railpass check www.renfe.com - Spanish Railways site and sites I gave in a post above. Pass would be good probably only if you want flexibility to take which trains when there and not book in stone weeks ahead of time - and with pass you must still pay mandated seat reservation fees on fast trains at about $10-15 a pop.

Add it all up and if close go for the pass.

I just posted my trip report from several years ago that you might find helpful. Just click on my name above.

Be aware that night visits of the Alhambra are available only on Friday and Saturday nights from October 15th through April 1 each year. So if you have your heart set on a night visit, you will have to rework your itinerary, perhaps by flipping Cordoba and Granada.

^Oh wow. Thanks for the head's up! Will flip the 2 cities then.

I've checked the difference between rail passes. The trains for that time period are not out yet but it seems cheaper to buy the discounted tickets than the Spain Railpass.

I've checked and there seemed to be no direct way to head to Toledo from Granada. I'm not sure if I'm missing something though but it seems that I can only go there through Madrid. Any thoughts on this?

^But I did see KarenWoo's report where she took a train from Toledo to Cordoba. Will search more on this.

I'm almost positive that you have to stop in Madrid on the way to Toledo regardless of whether you're coming from Granada or Cordoba.

I'd further suggest looking at taking the ALSA bus between Cordoba and Granada. If memory serves, the bus may be a bit cheaper (we did a similar trip to yours this past March).

Introvertadela, we did take the train from Toledo to Córdoba, but it is not a direct train. First we went by train from Toledo to Madrid; then we had to board another train from Madrid to Córdoba. We had about a half hour layover at the Madrid train station, which was plenty of time.

We took the ALSA bus from Córdoba to Granada because the train tracks aren't completed yet to Granada. If you take the train to Granada, you get off in Antiquera and then board a bus for the rest of the trip to Granada. The ALSA bus was fine. Prices are reasonable; bus is modern with AC and comfortable seats. I definitely recommend taking the ALSA bus all the way instead of the train and then changing to the bus. Hope this helps.

We took the ALSA bus from Córdoba to Granada because the train tracks aren't completed yet to Granada>

tracks should have been finished but delays are rife and only sometime in 'early 2018' RENFE now says.

I think the track upgrade was originally supposed to be done in the fall of 2016. I've not read anything lately explaining the long delay. I was in the OP's shoes this time last year trying to make train/bus reservations for mid-March/early-April and finally gave up hoping that the upgrade would be done in time for our trip.

As it turned out, it really wasn't that big of a deal. As already mentioned, we took the bus from Cordoba to Granada. The bus was comfortable and got us to Granada on time. We took the bus/train combination that Renfe is currently offering from Granada to Madrid and it too was fine. The bus wasn't quite as comfortable as the ALSA bus, but that leg wasn't all that long. Just make sure you go to the bathroom prior to boarding; you can't count on the bus having a bathroom unless it's designated as a "premium" bus.

To take the bus/train combo, just book with Renfe. If you want to take the bus instead (ALSA runs routes for Granada-Madrid and Seville-Granada as well), then book on ALSA. We did get our bus tickets in advance. If memory serves, you can't use a US credit card on their website, but you can use Paypal. The bus we took was completely booked, so I do think you have to book in advance; I'm just not sure how far in advance.

We booked our bus tickets in advance, too, and both of our ALSA buses were full. We took the bus from Cordoba to Granada, and then from Granada to Malaga. The bus driver has a passenger list, and he checked off names as people boarded. The Granada to Malaga bus gave us bottled water and cookies! That was a surprise because it was a shorter trip (1.5 hours). The Cordoba to Granada trip was 2.5 hours. Our bus did not have a bathroom, so we made sure to use the bathroom before we boarded. Our trip was September 2017, and the train tracks were not finished at that time.

The Cordoba to Granada trip was 2.5 hours. Our bus did not have a bathroom, so we made sure to use the bathroom before we boarded>

and per another thread there are no pit stops! Another reason to take train if possible.

Good catch by indyhiker. Seriously -- I strongly recommend that you check the hours for the things you want to visit and plot them on a calendar before committing to any specific itinerary.

I learned this lesson the hard way re: the Alhambra’s evening hours, although in my defense they changed their calendar (spring/summer hours used to begin March 15th) after I booked everything. We opted not to alter our reservations, but it was disappointing. I’m glad the OP is in a position to move things around.

Hi there, we were in Seville 2016 for Semana Santa, its magic at that time, big crowds but everyone has a great time.Three points that might help: the roads in the centre of the city will be blocked off, and even as a pedestrian you will be redirected around at certain times, be prepared for that. Families eat out at this time of year so restaurants will be heavily booked, book a head if there are some you want to try. The last point is an observation.. the orange blossom is to die for, the perfume is everywhere and the trees look so beautiful.

I've bought tickets for Alhambra for day and night visits for 30 March. Thank you so much for letting me know to buy very much in advance. I thought I could still wait for Jan/Feb as there would be tickets available.

With that, I've confirmed that I need to be in Granada from 29th onwards. I've changed to spending 3 nights in Granada and 4 nights in Madrid.

23 Mar - Land in Madrid, train to Seville
23 Mar to 27 Mar - Seville (4 nights)
27 Mar - 29 Mar - Cordoba (2 nights)
29 Mar to 1 Apr - Granada (3 nights)
1 Mar to 3 Apr - Toledo (2 nights)
3 Apr to 7 Apr - Madrid (4 nights)
7 Apr - Fly out from Madrid

Glad you got tickets! From here, I'd urge you to secure accommodations right away in Granada and Toledo in particular (and perhaps Córdoba as well). You'll be in the thick of Semana Santa and the Easter Holiday. As others have pointed out, you can expect large crowds and higher prices. You should be able to view some processions though so I'd look at it as an interesting opportunity. We saw them practicing in Granada; it was fascinating.

Congrats! Looks like a great plan -- I'm sure you will enjoy your time in Spain. :-)

Yup a very good plan - so relaxed!

You could probably stop for a few hours in Ronda, physically gorgeous Ronda between Cordoba and Granada.

@ PalenQ: You already said that, upthread, at Dec 3, 17 at 12:21pm