I'm starting to finalize my itinerary to Spain in a few weeks. This will be my second trip to Sevilla, but my first to Granada and the Costa del Sol. The main purpose of my trip is to check out the Costa del Sol in hopes of transferring with work (I work for a hotel chain). I also plan on taking a day to enjoy the Alhambra since I feel like I missed out on that last time.

I'm traveling on a budget so I'm not looking for fancy hotels or expensive food, I just want good locations and to see the towns. I'm really not worried about a lack of things to do, however I am concerned about my transportation between Granada and Estepona and then Estepona back to Sevilla. I will not be renting a car so I will be relying soley on public transportation. Here's the plan so far:

Day 1: Arrive Sevilla in time for dinner/tapas. Hotel Alcántara.
Day 2/3: Sevilla. Hotel Alcántara.
Day 4: Sevilla -> Granada (via Renfe regional). Hotel Guadalupe.
Here's a question...I can either take the 7AM train that gets into Granada at 10AM, or take the 12PM train that gets in at 4PM. Because I'm only in Granada for one night, which train should I take? I can either:
1) try and see the Alhambra immediately after the early train.
2) take the later train and see it at night.
3) take the later train and see it the following morning, leaving for Estepona afterwards.

Day 5: Bus(?) to Estepona. Hotel Aguamarina.
Day 6/7: Estepona. Hotel Aguamarina.
Day 8: Bus/Train(???) To Sevilla for flight back to London.


How does this sound? Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you in advance for your help!

As this is your first trip to Granada, I will take the 12 PM train from Sevilla , arrive at 4 PM and use that afternoon/evening for wandering a bit in the city centre (cathedral, royal chapel) and maybe go up to the Albaicin or Sacromonte. The next day , early in the morning you can see the Alhambra.
There's nothing important to see in Estepona, just a beach resort and is not the best in my opinion, so it's better to be as many time as you can in Granada.
If you want you can take a look at this website, I think it's useful :
http://www.granadatur.com/principalen.htm

Sorry, I forgot to say that there's no train station in Estepona. You have a bus Granada-Estepona and Estepona-Malaga, in Malaga you can catch another bus or train to Sevilla.
You can search for info here :
http://www.estepona.com/ingles/indice.asp

Kenderina
>If you want you can take a look at >this website, I think it's useful :
>http://www.granadatur.com/principalen.h>tm

I loved this website...........Do you have other similar sites for other regions in Spain?

I have these ones :
http://www.turisvalencia.es/index.aspx?idioma=EN
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/index.htm
http://www.bcn.es/turisme/english/turisme/welcome.htm
http://www.paisvascoturismo.net/
http://www.gencat.net/turistex_nou/home_ang.htm

Anyway, if you want info for a particular place just tell me and I'll do an internet research, I love it ))

Thank you so much for your help Kenderina! What exactly did you not like about Estepona? Was it just that there are better beaches? It's not a bad place though, is it? Like I said, I'm hoping to transfer there for work, is it not a good place to live?

Sure it is a good place to live !! I'll try to explain myself. I live in Castellón (60 km north from Valencia) and we have the same type of beach resorts, lots of sand and too much hot So I prefer little beaches with a bit more "privacy" and charm (like some in Costa Brava or Balearic islands), I don't like to put my towel in someone's head, hehehe. But don't worry,Estepona it's a fine place and not very big just too crowded in summer like almost all in Spain, but I'm sure you will soon feel confortable there

Thanks again for your help! (and the clarification ) Do you ever see international people working at the hotels on the coast? I know I was having problems transferring because some chains don't transfer internationally. I didn't know if this was common or not. I don't want to get my hopes up, you know?

I really don't know, there's no international chain hotels round here.
The tourism here is familiar so they rent an apartment (lots of people in one bedroom !!!, they are pretty expensive). Anyway, I've seen international people working on hotels in Spain, a lot ! Hope you have luck