Macaroni09

Spending September in Spain, but it is our first trip in Andalucía. (Me and DH, which I decided means "dear hubby.") Plan is:

Barça
Madrid
Segovia
Toledo
Cordoba
Sevilla
Ronda
Nerja
Granada
Barça

Too bad I did not book open jaw, but...there is always next time, right?

SO...originally planned to rent a car, drive from Sevilla through White Towns to Ronda, then south to Nerja, turn car in @train station in Granada. (Thanks, BillJ!). But now we are thinking an extra beach day or 2 en route would be more fun than navigating windy mountain roads. (Not sure, tho--we do love mountains, and go to the Rockies in our 4x4!). But maybe a car is not really necessary? We love history,architecture, art, small towns & large, you can not drag me out of a good museum.

Please advise. We have 5 days leaving Sevilla in the am till hitting Granada in the am.

Aramis

Help me understand. Nerja is on the beach so do you mean you are considering dropping Ronda and would go straight to Nerja from Seville ans spend the Days planned for Ronda in Nerja? Or do you mean you would select another beach location instead of Ronda before going on to Nerja after that?

Robert2533

Barça is the football team. Are you planning on spending time with them?

Other than that, I don't understand you itinerary...

CathyM

I'm not sure I understand your title and question. Do you have 5 days between Sevilla and Granada and need to determine how to allocate the days? Or do you have 5 nights total for Sevilla and Granada and points between (which is really not feasible)?

weber6560

I am going on the basis that you have 5 days not counting time in Sevilla or Granada.

I don't have answers but do have observations. a] the coast and the road beside are built up with elegant resorts. If that's what you are looking for, go for it. b] I love the drive through the hill country, but for me, I don't know what to do when I stop. I am sure others will disagree, but to me, the "White Villages" [Grazelema et al] are something you drive by rather stay in. C] Molina del Santo in Benoajan, right outside Ronda is a geat place to stay. Ronda is a winner.

I think the typical trip is leave Sevilla, overnite in Ronda and then head on into Granada. That works for me. I think you could drop down to Neja for 3 nights or take those three nights and add them elsewhere in your itinerary.

BTW: If you go to Nerja and then Granada, take a right at Lanjaron and head up toward Capiliera. Amazing.

Macaroni09

Thanks, Weber. Is this the road where you first see Granada where Boabdil sighed?

Macaroni09

We have 5 days in Sevilla, then Ronda & Nerja. But you can go North, South, or through the mountains to get to Ronda.

Spaniola

The towns of Carmona and Ecija between Sevilla and Cordoba are worth a stop. Heading from Granada towards Alhama del Granada, a fabulous road, is where Boabdil sighed ´suspiro del Moro´.

As weber6560 said the towns in Las Alpujarras are very nice, but it is a looong windy road.

I´d also recommend Jaén, fabulous cathedral, Municipal museum, Arab Baths and Popular customs museum and the UNESCO towns of Ubeda and Baeza.

No matter what your decision I am sure you´ll enjoy it.

Egbert

If you have 5 days, spend two in Cadiz, two in Ronda and one in Malaga. I'm not a big fan of the costa del Sol. If you are thinking it's a nice beach destination you might be disappointed.

Dickie_Gr

I am still unsure as to how long you intend to take to travel from Seville to Granada but there is some beautiful coastline on the Costa De la Luz. Sanlucar, Zahara, Cap de Trafalgar and Tarifa are well worth a visit. As are Rhonda and Arcos DLF.

bardo1

Macaroni09,

Did you compare the cost of changing your plane tickets to open jaw (into Barcelona/home from Granada) to the cost (and time!) of getting back to BCN from Granada?

What was the costs differential?

Ifnotnow_when

Mararoni, I'm not exactly sure what your question is. Your destinations are much like we did in 2010 and if I can help I'll be glad to. We did fly open jaw though. Here was our intinary: Barcelona (one week), flew to Granada (3days), picked up car - drove to Nerja (2 nights - stayed in Parador, lovely),(stopped in afternoon at Gibraltor), drove to Tarifa (3 nights, day trip to Morocco),drove to Arcos de la Frontere (2 nights, Parador, nice hill town), drove to Sevilla (2 nights), drove to Cordoba (2 nights, Parador), dropped off car, train to Toledo (have to take train to Madrid - change trains and back to Toledo - 2 nights), train to Madrid (one week). Flew home from Madrid. We stayed in apts in both Barcelona and Madrid. I loved everywhere we went and there was enough diversity to not become boring. Like you we enjoy museums, historical places, but also enjoyed some down time (Nerja). I could be more specific if you need.

kimhe

When in Nerja, you should visit the spectacular caves: http://www.cuevadenerja.es/index.php?lenguaje=en

If you're into the freshest seafood, local feel and extremely popular La Marina in Nerja is as good you get a seafood freiduría in all of Andalucía. Have splurged here on several occasions: http://www.guideofnerja.com/pages/gu.../marina_en.htm
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaur...Andalucia.html

Free tapas to choose with every glass of wine beer in most tapas bars/restaurants in Nerja. A glass and a tapa would be some 1,50-2€. Several great places serving delicious tapas, meat, fish and seafood grilled on the spot, stews, salads, ham, cheese etc. etc. Some of my favourites in town:
El Pulguilla: http://mynerja.com/view/bars/cerveceria-el-pulguilla/
La Puntilla: http://tapas-y-mas.com/la-puntilla/
El Niño: http://mynerja.com/view/bars/el-nino/

You'll have to taste conchas finas when down here, pure heaven! https://www.google.no/search?q=conch...w=1600&bih=783

Photo of Nerja: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2622/...de6a8146_o.jpg

Macaroni09

Hello everyone, and THANKS SO MUCH for all of the great responses!

It looks like I need an editor. (But it all seemed so clear to me at the time...) Our trip to Spain is well mapped out at this point, except the few days between our Sevilla stay and arrival in Granada. That should have been my tag!

Many posts say it is good to rent a car in Sevilla. (The flexibility of it all!) So it will be 5 days, 4 nights with a car rental. Looks like the Sevilla train station is a good place to pick up, and the Granada train station to drop off. We have 2 nites booked in Ronda, and 2 in Nerja. That can always change, but it's a starting point. So, if we drive through the mountains to see the Pueblos Blancos, it looks like Arcos would be a fun first meeting, a quick stop & poke around would be good. Grazelma looks wonderful, maybe a good spot for a late lunch and wander around a bit? Should try to arrive Ronda by 5pm or so, but this part of the drive looks a little trickier. Maribel says for fuel economy, get a deisel 5 speed. What is your take on that advice on these roads??

That leaves one evening and one full day in Ronda before we head south towards Nerja. One post said Torremolinos makes a great stop for lunch on the way with interesting small shops right on the beach.

East from Nerja en route to Granada, I am entranced with the road with the pass called Suspiro del Moro. Good thing DH likes to drive!

Will pack drinks & picnic snacks. Anyone have suggestions for to-do's along the drive? We like rock climbing, so even without boots or equipment, may try to stop in near Antequerra to see el Turcal. A good picnic stop, at least.

Kimhe, I have made so many notes from your posts about where to get good tapas, beach food, etc. Your posts are the BEST!!

Robert, thanks, it would have been nice to have some tapas & sangria with team Barça, I did get used to that name as my trip-planning shorthand for the city!

Hey Bardo1, YES, I DID consider rescheduling flights open-jaw. But in my zeal I had already booked a non-refundable flight Granada-Barcelona. Also, some hotels booked earlier now have no availability on weekends if I changed.

One of the main things these Fodorite posts helped me with is--just be sure to go back to see what you didn't have time for this time around! Plan A was to include Portugal and Gibraltar. It did not take long to decide to spend the time to really savor Spain. Next we will plan a trip back to Barcelona and points north. La Rioja looks awesome, we want to see more of the Pyrenees and the Basque country, and finish on the beach at San Sebastian. Thanks to Maribel's guides, we now know about Hondarribia!

I still value your input at this point! The places you liked most tell me more than any guidebook.

Thank you, thank you!! Mac

Macaroni09

Egbert,
I have a new friend from Madrid who says she loves the beaches in Cádiz. She made the same recommendation you did.

Macaroni09

Weber,

Molina del Santo in Benaojan looks incredible! Just spent a few minutes on TripAdvisor and on the hotel website. How gorgeous! Just a couple of questions, if you don't mind. Did you mind taking the train into Ronda? Did you park at the hotel?

Thanks!
Mac

weber6560

I parked at the hotel and drove into Ronda. Ronda has a good underground garage right in the center of town. No problem.