Oh, Andalucia...
 

so thinking about a bit of a trip - and as usual trying to cram too much in... anybody who has been through southern spain, is this itinerary crazy?

goals: relax, see country side, drink wine, eat food, skip the nite clubs - dont care about cities as i live in a BIG one...

found bunches of beautiful little guest/b&b places. have done similar trips in tuscany & burgundy to great success...

day 1 - arrive madrid, pick up car, drive to granada
day 2 - alhambra, drive to ronda, nite in ronda
day 3 - drive to vejer de la frontera, nite in vejere de l.f.
day 4 - nite in vejere de l.f.
day 5 - drive to seville, drop off rental car, nite in seville
day 6 - nite in seville
day 7 - train to madrid early AM, nite in madrid
day 8 - fly home in afternoon (boo)

missing anything brilliant? skip granada? too long in vejer?

THANKS!

Can't answer your big questions but you must see both the Cathedral and the Alcazar in Sevilla. Pay the extra for the audiotours. It will make your tour much more meaningful...

ok - so seville is in. i dont want to miss the hill towns, but also like the idea of splitting up the 6hr drive down from madrid. preferably 3 nites in a place, but also dont want to get bored...

You can always wave to the sites.

ha - meaning we're flying thru all of them too fast? so what would you pick aduchamp?

If you are flying into Madrid, could you get a flight right away to Granada and pick the car up when you leave Granada? I think you are really short changing Granada. You will be pretty tired if you drive after a flight and you won't have even one nice evening in Granada and that would be a shame.

Another option might be to head straight to Seville from Madrid and fly back to Madrid from Granada the day you are leaving. I would probably try to skip the night in Madrid unless you are hoping to get there early enough to visit the Prado or palace or you planned to visit one of them in the morning before you leave. Otherwise, you said you aren't crazy about cities, so why spend a night there when you could stay someplace you might enjoy more?

For me, it is difficult to understand your preference.

Relax = staying in 5 different places in 7 nights
Don't care about cities = staying 4 out of 7 nights in cities

If one of your goals is to see the countryside, and you have a car, be sure to wind your way through the national park and the white villages - Zahara, Grazelema, etc as you depart Ronda.

Parking in Granada will likely be a bear.

You don't want to have a car while in Granada. Try trains or plane to go there from Madrid. The drive from Madrid is not even really scenic.
Add one night to Granada. It's not hard to visit the Alhambra in 1/2 a day, and then drive to Ronda - but it feels a bit rushed.
If you don't like cities, why stay IN Sevilla. If you traded Vejer for Arcos, you'd be in very short distance to almost any places in Western Andalucia (Sevilla is less than an hour) and could use it as your small town home base.

Also, there's more to Granada than the Alhambra. Maybe see the Capilla Real where Ferdinand and Isabella are buried, walk the Moorish Albayzin neighborhood to the miradors. This is probably a little different that your own big city.

Just kind of sounded like day one was mostly getting out of th eairport, getting to Granada, parking and all that. And then day two, after the Alhambra, you were on the road again for Ronda.

Cities are not interchangeable. At the very least I would visit the Prado whioh is in the top 3,4 in the world for a general collection.

Personally I would stay an extra day in Sevilla or Granada and savor Spain (or any country that you visit). Sit in a cafe and watch the world and Spanish pass, it could be edifying.

To me travel should not be like sexual conquests and how many but remembering which ones.

One of the highlights of my European travels was a night visit to the Alhambra. It is extraordinary to see it at night, especially the interiors, when there are no crowds.

I would go to Cordoba instead of Sevilla.

thanks for all the feedback!

zeppole - any reason for cordoba over seville?
greg - cites in the range of 8 million make me feel like im in quaint town of only 50,000, that being said you have a good point... sounds like im trying to "hurry up and relax"

the more i look, the trains are looking like a good option for getting down to andalucia, then getting a car. rent in granada or seville and return in the other.

how about food? any minor/major miracles? small towns with big reputations?

Here is my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-holy-week.cfm

Is there any way you can fly into Malaga? It is much closer to that area than Madrid.

I loved Seville and wouldn't trade it for Cordoba. But I would try to stop in Cordoba if you can.

I think Granada has an airport as well.

Kellie's right - Granada has an airport. I've flown out of it.

already have tix into & out of madrid.... trying to make the most of it (oh so hard!)

wildwest,

I think the mosque in Cordoba is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. I don't know how much you know about it, but after the Inquisition, there was an attempt made to turn it into a Christian church, which after it was started, it was stopped by the then-King of Spain, who saw it was a crime to change it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ue_Cordoba.jpg

You've stated a preference for small places over large, and Cordoba is filled with charm. While I'm quite impressed with the Alcazar in Sevilla, and the Cathedral is the grotesque madhouse of rococco it was deliberately designed to be, nothing in Sevilla reaches the supreme artistry of the mosque in Cordoba -- but, to be fair, few things in this world do.

I would save Sevilla for another trip when you have more time to get off the beaten track there, and find your own favorite corner. Cordoba will easily seduce you for an overnight, and you can extend your time elsewhere -- including a night visit to the Alhambra.

http://www.flavourofspain.net/cordoba.htm

Are you still looking for opinions? If so, here are a few more! I totally relate to the desire to see as much as possible in limited time, and with only a week, you may have the energy to attack a busy itinerary and catch up on sleep when you get home.

Having said that, are you particularly attached to Vejer de la Fronterra? It's on the farthest edge of the Pueblos Blancos region, and it seems like you're barrelling through Ronda and all its nearby gems in order to spend two nights there. Maybe you should consider adding a night to Granada and a night to Ronda, and skipping Vejer this time.

It's unclear whether you're wanting to spend time in Madrid, or just getting back there for your flight. Some posters above have recommended Cordoba over Seville, and while I certainly agree with Cordoba's merits, it seems wrong somehow to miss Seville completely. Here's my suggestion:

Day 1 - Arrive Madrid, fly to Granada, hopefully arrive in time to enjoy a relaxed evening.
Day 2 - Alhambra in am, other sights in pm, consider night visit to Alhambra.
Day 3 - Drive to Ronda - or if you want a real small-town experience, stay in Cartajima, a village of 200 souls 20 minutes away, with well-reviewed hotel Los Costanos.
Day 4 - Ronda, nearby villages
Day 5 - Drive to Seville via Grazalema and Arcos de la Fronterra
Day 6 - Seville
Day 7 - Train to Madrid. Stopover in Cordoba if that's a priority. Evening in Madrid.
Day 8 - Morning in Madrid, fly home in afternoon.

If you do decide to drive to Granada, Maribel and others strongly suggest a hotel on the Alhambra hill to avoid the nightmare of driving in Granada.

Good luck.