mkosseim

Hello! My husband and I will be spending 10 nights in Andalusia, and I have a rough itinerary sketched out. I'd appreciate input - critiques on the plan; recommendations on when and where to see a Flamenco show; other restaurant recommendations; and any adjustments given the heat wave in Seville this week. We leave New York this Wednesday.

Here is the itinerary:

Days 1-4: Seville, with day trip to Cordoba

1. Arrive into Madrid on May 19. Train to Seville, arriving 14:30
2. 4 nights in Seville at the <!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placementame-cell;}-->H10 Casa de la Plata
3. May 20 (Seville): 10:30 small tour booked for Alcazar (2 hours). We intentionally did not book a combo tour with the cathedral given heat wave... wanted to give ourselves flexibility. Dinner reservations at El Disparate
4. May 21 (Cordoba day trip): train booked for day trip to Cordoba (departing Seville at 9:25am). We don't yet have anything booked for Cordoba. Not sure whether we should plan to have dinner in Cordoba and take a late train back to Seville, or have dinner back in Seville.
5. May 22 (Seville): 3:30pm guided tour of Seville Cathedral; dinner reservations at Az-Zait restaurante.

Days 5-6: Drive through hill towns; Nerja

1. May 23: we've booked a rental car, and plan to take a leisurely drive through the white towns, the coast, and then end up in Nerja. In Nerja we've booked Restaurante Oliva for dinner, and will be staying overnight at Parador de Nerja.
2. May 24: we plan to hang out in Nerja for the day, then drive in the afternoon to Granada and drop off the car. We have dinner reservations at Atelier Casa Comidas. We'll be staying two nights in Granada, at Carmen de la Alcubilla del Caracol

Days 7-8: Granada

1. May 25: we have booked tickets to see Alhambra at 9am. No dinner reservations. Maybe tapas tonight?
2. May 26: afternoon train from Granada to Madrid, arriving Madrid at 19:11. 3 nights in Madrid, at <!--td {border: 1px solid #ccc;}br {mso-data-placementame-cell;}-->AC Hotel Recoletos. No dinner reservations yet

Days 9-11: Madrid

1. May 27: no specific plans yet. Lunch at Angelita Madrid
2. May 28: no specific plans yet. No dinner reservations.
3. May 29: morning flight back to New York.

Maribel

May 19: For dinner on your first Seville night, near your hotel, H10 Casa de la Plata (which we love), I can personally recommend La Casa del Tigre. Our friend, Shawn Hennessey of Azahar Seville Tapas Tours took us there.
https://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilleta...asa-del-tigre/

May 20: Shawn also took us to El Disparate--good choice

May 21: For dinner in Córdoba, for small plates, contemporary fare we like El Bar de Paco Morales outside of the touristed Judería, now with outdoor terrace, or there's the new Ermita de la Candelaria, in a pretty renovated 15th c. home, recently opened by the Campos family of Bodegas Campos. Or on the river walk, Ronda de Isasa, there's Regadera.
https://azahar-spain.com/azahartapas...a/la-regadera/
https://elbardepacomorales.com.
https://www.ermitacandelaria.com.

May 23: From Sevilla to Nerja with multiple stops in the white towns plus the coast, plan on it taking most of your day, but you probably have planned for that.

May 24: At the Carmen, say hello to Manuel, your host, for me. He'll take good care of you and give you great recommendations.

May 25: Granada, the city of the free tapa with each drink order. We like Taberna la Tana for a huge selection of wines (some local) and tapas made to order in the tiny kitchen, for seafood and fried fish, we like Los Diamantes II nearby with small sitting area in the back and St Germain, near the cathedral.
https://azahar-spain.com/azahartapas/la-tana/
https://azahar-spain.com/azahartapas...-diamantes-ii/
https://azahar-spain.com/azahartapas...saint-germain/

May 26: Cuban jazz tonight at your hotel AC Recoletos at 9 pm
Or....dinner near the AC Recoletos could be at Taberna Pedraza, a 2-min. walk on the same street or walk up to Serrano, there go north 3 blocks, then east on the Salamanca district's "restaurant row", Jorge Juan. There we like Dani García's Lobito de Mar (it will be jam packed) and Okafú Taberna Gallega for Galician fare (tortilla de betanzos, pulpo) and albariño wines.
https://www.tabernapedraza.com
OCAFÚ - Taberna gallega
https://grupodanigarcia.com/lobito-de-mar/en/madrid/



There are dozens of places that could be recommended for your two full days for Fri May 27 and Sat 28.
If you like art--
Joaquín Sorolla, the post-impressionist-- his atelier-museum is wonderful with a very special exhibit, "La edad dichosa" of portraits of children.
There's a special Picasso exhibit (free) at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando,
an American Art exhibit at the Thyssen....
A multimedia immersion experience of Klimt at the Matadero..
and of course, there's the vast and world class Prado Museum
And an audio guided tour or guided tour of the Royal Palace

Have fun!

Flamenco in Seville could be at Casa de la Memoria, Casa de la Guitarra or Tablao Alvarez Quintero. They're all small, intimate, excellent venues but I would book in advance. They're very popular.

Faedus

I don't want to infer too much from three full days in December, 2019, but during those three days I found Jerez de la Frontera to be a real flamenco city. I'm not talking about elaborate tourist shows, but local performances in humble tabancos (sherry bars). I found that I could just walk around certain areas in the evening, just listen for flamenco, and slip into whatever little tabanco it was coming from. Also, I sometimes heard flamenco coming from speakers on street lampposts, or piped into cafes; and occasionally people at nearly tables at sidewalk cafes would break briefly into flamenco song or dance.
Now I know that Jerez isn't on your itinerary, and if your interest in flamenco is casual, I'm sure any of the shows you will find in Seville or Granada will do, though I haven't been to those cities yet and can't give you venues. But the more serious one's interest in flamenco is, the more one should consider getting to Jerez de la Frontera at some point.