Here's my 1st draft of our trip in March. We will not have a car until we leave Seville, then head onto Granada via Ronda. Prefer to minimize moving.

Day 0: Fly to Madrid
Day 1: Madrid - Palacio Real
Day 2: Madrid - Museums
Day 3: Madrid - Segovia
Day 4: Madrid - Toledo
Day 5: Madrid to Seville (bus)
Day 6: Seville
Day 7: Seville - Cordoba
Day 8: Seville - Jerez
Day 9: Seville
Day 10: Seville to Ronda (rental car Seville)
Day 11: Ronda to Granada - Alhambra at night
Day 12: Granada - Alhambra day
Day 13: Granada to Madrid (return car)
Day 14: Fly home from Madrid

Is one night at Ronda enough to see Ronda and the white hill towns? Should I take away one night from Seville and add that to Ronda?

Would I be able to find parking in Ronda and Granada?

Would I be able to appreciate the white hill towns on the way from Seville to Ronda and Ronda to Granada?

Is there a better mid stop than Ronda?

Thanks in advance.

I think you have yourself a winner of an itinerary. (I didn't visit Jerez, so my comments are limited to the other places.

The countryside driving between Seville to Ronda and then on to Granada is spectacular, in my opinion - some of the most unusual geology I've seen, and with beautiful golden hills dotted with rows and rows of olive trees. We passed several white towns, which were beautiful from a distance.

Ronda is a terrific mid-point stop. I don't believe you need more than one night there, however. The old town is quite small - spectacular, but small.

We stayed at the Hotel San Gabriel in Ronda, which was wonderful! They ha

Ooops! Hit the send button accidentally. I was starting to say that the Hotel San Gabriel handled parking our car. We unloaded our luggage and they whisked the car away and reproduced it when we were ready to leave. Staff was wonderful and our room gorgeous - all done in red fabric, with a fabric screen separating the bed from a pleasant little sitting area with TV. Gosh, that was a sweet place. http://www.hotelsangabriel.com/ingle...el/elhotel.htm.

In Granada, our hotel, NH-Inglaterra, had parking. I was quite pleased with the hotel. Here's a description in Fodors' hotels listing, which has a link to the hotel website: http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...perty_id=88549.

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I agree that your trip sounds wonderful! Whether 1 night in Ronda is enough depends on your pace of travel and interests, but I think for most people that makes sense. I spent about 24 hours there, enjoyed it very much, and felt ready to leave when I did. And I'm not sure that you would want less time in Seville. BTW, I'm not sure which museums you are thinking of in Madrid, but together, the Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, Reina Sofia, and archeological museum - all of which are wonderful IMHO - would likely take more than a full day. If you want to see them all, consider seeing at leason one on the day you plan to see the Palacio Real. Enjoy!

Your itinerary sounds great. I'm probably the only one in the minority in that I absolutely loved Ronda and spending less than the two nights that we did would not have been enough. But that's me. (Hey, I hated Seville, so what can you expect?)

Don't expect your time at the Palacio Real to last all day unless you are fortunate you see the changing of the guard. You should be able to comfortably visit there and, as kja suggests, visit a museum the same day.

Have fun - Spain is an amazing place!

Thanks for everyone's input. I'm still unclear on the white hill towns part. Since we will have one night in Ronda, I imagine we'll drive from Seville to Ronda visiting a hill town along the way, perhaps have lunch there? Likewise from Ronda to Granada.

Is a lunch stop sufficient or do I need more time? Some posters seem to just drive by with photo stops.

since you are not flying to sevilla, i think you would maximize time by getting off transport in cordoba instead of backtracking.

that way you can stay in sevilla a day or half day less and give yourself that cushion of time for unexpecteds or in the hill towns.

i would also rent the car and add jerez to the departing journey from sevilla. since you are going to drive anyway, it is nice to drive around the countryside and visit bodegas and the horse show. not difficult parking in jerez.

Hi

Looks fine. A couple of suggestions.

1.Take the AVE train Madrid to Seville, much quicker (2.5 hours). There is also an AVE from Seville to Cordoba that will get you there in 40 minutes. See www.renfe.es.

2.Visit the Palacio Real at opening times (9am). I didn't have to queue but when I exited a couple of hours later there was quite a line. Note that the Palace is closed on occasions for official duties so your plan of doing it on day 1 is a good one in case you have to return. If your visit falls on the first Wednesday of the month, look for the changing of the guard ceremony, which occurs at noon and is free to the public.

3. Don't go to Toledo on a Monday - museums are closed.

worldinabag, thanks for the info about changing of the guards. I didn't know about that and we will, in fact, be there the 1st Wed of Mar! Will it be a zoo like the one at Buckingham Palace?

I also didn't considered museum closures on the day trips. Which of my day trips have must-do museums: Segovia, Toledo, Cordoba, Jerez?

Thanks so much!

No, it won't be any zoo...in fact, they began to do it a few years ago and most people don't even know they do it

Not sure about now, but when were at the Palacio Real in Oct 2005 it seemed there was more confusion from the spectators than anything else concerning the changing of the guard. Tourists showed up to tour the palace only to discover it was closed and staff was not very clear in communicating why - and we could understand Spanish! The only thing we were told was that the closure was temporary - and then guards on horseback suddenly appeared! It was all quite amazing and surprising, as no one was expecting it. Maybe now that more people know about it there might be less confusion? It is quite a sight to see, though.

You can definitely see more than just the Palacio Real on Day 1 (depending upon what time you get into Madrid). It is possible to visit the Big Three on the same day (I did so with a friend), especially if you pick a day when one/more are open late. I would suggest either Segovia or Toledo to have one more day in Madrid, as there are other areas to visit that are worth your time, like the Cathedral, parks, the Debod Temple, etc.

One question for those familiar with the Palacio Real
many years ago we visited the private appartments of King Alfonso XIII and we enjoyed them a lot. Came back several times but always were told that they were closed. Are the apartments opent to visitors now?
We are going in March and I would love to see them again.

No, they are no more opened. The visits are only to the state rooms and the museums (paintings, armory and pharmacy). All the private dependences are closed. I think it's a finance problem, the palace is enormous and no one lives there...too much money only for tourist visits. They mantain the state rooms because King Juan Carlos uses them for receptions and state visits.

I think this itinerary is almost perfect as is. We did almost the exact same trip last summer and had a wonderful time.
I agree that you could do something after the Palacio Real. I really liked Segovia and Toledo and wouldn't cut them out to spend more time in Madrid. Take the bus to Segovia and the AVE train to Toledo and also to Seville. Much faster than the bus.
I think you have the perfect number of nights in Seville and Cordoba is an easy day trip on the AVE train (it saves you from having to check in and out of a hotel).
We found 20 hrs to be enough time to see Ronda and sleep there.
Before you go to the Alhambra at night, consider watching the sunset "paint" it red from the San Nicolas viewpoint.

Thank you Kenderina, I enjoyed so much visiting those apartments full of memories of everyday life of King Alfondo XIII and his British wife Victoria Eugenia, I believe it was her name. The state rooms as a recall them might as well being in France with that Borbon touch.

Yes, Graziella, totally Bourbons You are right with the name also, she was Queen Victoria Eugenia, youngest granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. The grandparents of our King , so I suppose some of the things that were there in exhibit were personal objects that know belongs to him and his family.

I did a similar trip to this in November, and I have a couple of suggestions.

On Day 5, take the AVE to Cordoba, tour the town, then take the AVE the rest of the way to Seville. Alternately, spend the night in Cordoba - it's pretty quiet there at night, once the day trippers leave.

Instead of taking a day trip to Jerez, what about stopping there on your way to the hill towns? I went from Seville to Jerez, visited the Real Escuela Andaluza de Arte Equestre, then went on to Ronda, by way of Arcos and Grazamala, all in the same day. You could also give yourself a little more time in Jerez and then spend the night in Arcos, and go to Ronda the next day (that was my original intention, but I couldn't find a parking space in Arcos).

For me, I'd spend at least a couple of nights in Ronda, and allow some time to drive to some of the other towns in the area. There's a lot to see, with some beautiful scenery, especially when you get off the highways and onto the scenic routes, such as through the Grazamala National Park. Beware, though, that road is very windy and a bit scary.

As for parking, I had a hard time finding parking in any of the hill towns, but perhaps someone else has some tips for that. I also got lost a lot, but I had a good time getting "unlost".

Hola Kenderina, sorry I did not used neither the right Spanish word Borbones nor the right English word Bourbons. It is a pitty that the appartaments of the ALFonso XIII and Victoria Eugenia are not open to the public anymore.
Have you ever seen them? May be you need to be old like me to have visited long ago the palace. Books,papers, souvenirs, pens, everything was there....
There is a lots of all kind of memorabilia all over the world but I love the fact that they were" in place", in the place they used them.
I know a little about Spanish history and this makes my trips fascinating. You have an amazing country
please keep it the way it is.