Egbert

Excellent plan, and much better to go in early October. Seville can be 100 degrees in September. I don't think you will find that you have enough extra time to rent a car and explore the white villages but if you do it's easy to rent a car from Santa Justa train station and drive to Ronda. As another poster stated you can even get the bus to smaller towns outside Ronda. I also like finishing an a trip to Andalucia with a few days in Madrid which is a fantastic city.

KarenWoo

I have been researching how to get from Marseilles to Madrid or Marseilles to Seville so that I have an idea of what this trip will cost us.

John, why did you take the train from Barcelona to Granada? Could you have flown to Seville instead?

What would other people recommend? Flying or taking the train?

I checked the high speed France-Spain train, and it costs $184 per person to go from Marseilles to Madrid, and then another $45 to go to Seville. I checked prices for November just to get an idea.

Ryan Air would be much cheaper, but it doesn't get good reviews. Is it true you can only check a carry-on? We will be gone for a month so I can't imagine traveling with only a carry-on. Vueling doesn't have a non-stop, and other airlines are more expensive. So I wonder if the train is the best way to go.

I would love to hear what other people have to say.

My son-in-law can buy us train tickets in France, which I think would be cheaper than buying them in the U.S.

Thanks for any advice!

Alec

Nothing wrong with Ryanair. You just have to book your check-in luggage in advance, ideally at the time of reservation for a fee. They are no-frills, but it doesn't matter for a short flight of an hour or two, their planes are well maintained and flights are usually pretty punctual.

kja

FWIW, I far prefer trains to planes -- trains are, IME, much more comfortable, and they are often more convenient. If flying, remember to plan for the time and money to get to / from airports.

PalenQ

My son-in-law can buy us train tickets in France, which I think would be cheaper than buying them in the U.S.>

No- they will not be as cheap as bought in Spain and especially if you book discounted tickets online - www.renfe.com is the official site of Spanish Railways.

If you go to station in France and buy Spanish tickets, which may not even be possible, you'll pay full price - may as well buy them as you go in Spain.

KarenWoo

I have been researching train schedules and trying to figure out the best itinerary. My husband and I have rarely used train travel, and we think it would be a nice way to travel, something different for us, and hopefully less stressful, from point to point.

I have been on Rail Europe's site, Seat61, and Renfe. It seems there is no non-stop train from Granada to Cordoba, or Granada to Madrid. My Fodor's guidebook on Spain recommends driving to Granada since you do have to change trains if you take the train for the whole trip. My husband does all the driving when we rent cars, so he might like a break from driving.

What do people recommend to get to and from Granada, car or train?

This is a temporary itinerary I have put together. The # of nights is completely flexible. For now I just need to get an idea of how to get from point to point, and what it will cost.

Marseilles to Madrid - fly or take the train - 7 hours 40 minutes. This might be a nice way to see the countryside if we take the train. 3 nights Madrid

Madrid to Seville by AVE - 2 hours & 20 minutes - 4 nights
Seville to Granada by AVE - 3 hours & 20 minutes - 2 nights
Granada to Cordoba via Antequerra Santa Ana - about 3 1/2 hours - maybe 1 or 2 nights depending on when we arrive in Cordoba.
Cordoba to Madrid by AVE - 1 hour & 45 minutes

Does this make sense? Depending on how many nights we decide to stay in each place, we might visit the white villages (would probably rent a car), and/or spend a night in Toledo before going to Seville.

Or, should we go to Cordoba from Seville (since it's only 44 minutes away), and then to Granada from Cordoba?

Because we aren't going until September/October, I entered dates for this November to get an idea of train schedules. I got several messages saying "online booking not available at this time". Does anyone know why this happens?
Thank you!

kja

Train in Spain are excellent -- comfortable, convenient, and in many cases, high speed.

For Granada, consider a bus. IME, buses in Spain are also very comfortable.

You might want another night in Granada. Be sure to book your tickets for the Alhambra well in advance (preferably with a time for the Nasrid Palace for as early in the day as you can manage; a separate evening ticket for the Nasrid Palace on the night of your day visit; if the Generalife is also an evening option when you are there, do that the day before or after your day visit).

I'll let others comment on the logic of routing -- for me, it really depends on exactly when I would be arriving and departing.

You wouldn't need a car to visit Ronda; you would probably need one if you choose to visit other white towns.

IMO, Toledo easily deserves 2 full days (and 2 full nights); other people visit it as a day trip. I don't believe you can go directly from Toledo to Sevilla -- you have to go through Madrid.

If you are flying out of Madrid, consider putting all of your time there at the end.

Hope that helps!

ProfPass

Aloha, my wife and I have been wandering about Southern Spain and Portugal for the past few weeks.

We landed in Madrid and spent four nights there in a spacious, well equipped apartment a few minutes from a convenient metro stop - that connected us to virtually everything.

We have not stayed in any hotels during our travels here - we book apartments/homes at websites like Air BNB - sometime for a single night, but usually for two or three nights.

We rented a car from Hertz when we left Madrid - $505 per month - the car runs on Diesel - which costs as little as $3.80 a gallon - and the car (seats five with spacious hatchback that hid our luggage) gets about 44 mpg - so it is \very affordable way to travel.

Spanish expressways are superb with fairly light traffic. Speed limit : almost 75 miles per hour, so one gets from location to location quickly. Highways are also good - speed limits 55 to 60 miles per hour.

With a car, one spends as little or as much time at sights as one wishes - moving on quickly (as we did in Ronda which was overloaded with tourists and was stupidly expensive - example 5 Euros for "hanging gardens."

In cities like Sevilla, we rented an apartment with parking near a mero stop and were in the heart of the city on the metro in 10 minutes - 3 bedrooms, full kitchen, sat tv, wifi, balcony, garage parking - 80 Euros.

We are finishing our trip near Cuenca where we have a two bedroom apartment in a village - also 80 Euros a night. In Granada, we had a four bedroom home (12 minute drive to Alhambra) with pool, full kitchen washer (had these at all of the places we rented), wifi, tv, and parking - 80 Euros.

We'll spend our last night near the Madrid airport in a 4 star Hotwire hotel - $72 for our final night.

Driving in Spain is no more difficult than driving in the States - except if you try to drive in the "old town" areas - just park and walk in - do, however, make life easier by bringing an updated GPS.

Elizabeth_S

kimhe - we're considering a trip back to Spain mid December to mid January as we have sold our house and are waiting to move into a condo. With about a week in Malaga, do you have any recommended accommodation?

TIA!

doug_stallings

I just got back from a trip to Andalusia. Just FYI: There is currently NO actual train service from anywhere to Granada. You take a train (AVE or not) from a destination to Antequera and switch to a bus to Granada, which is timed to continue your journey, albeit at a slower pace. I did this very thing when I booked a "train" ticket from Granada to Seville. I boarded the bus at the Granada train station, which does not currently have any tracks, and then changed at Antequera. We had more than 15 minutes for the connection, so it wasn't at all rushed, and people had time for a quick coffee and breakfast. I wouldn't bother to spring for the more expensive AVE service unless the connection makes it more convenient. The regular regional trains go almost nonstop from Antequera to Seville and are cheaper.

The logistics may work in your favor to take a train from Seville to Cordoba (where there is still fast train service) and a bus from Cordoba to Granada. The buses are convenient and comfortable, though the Granada bus station is outside the city center.

kimhe

Elizabeth_S,

We now use to stay in good value Don Curro, in the heart of town and close to "everything". http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/hote...rro.en-gb.html

But lots of great options in the area such as Molina Lario and Room Mate Larios etc. http://www.hotelmolinalario.com/en
http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/larios.en-gb.html

And the luxcury Gran Hotel Miramar from 1926 right on the Malagueta beach is about to reopen very soon. Great opening discounts: http://www.granhotelmiramarmalaga.com/en/
http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/gran-miramar.en-gb.html

Elizabeth_S

Thanks kimhe! If we stay more than about 5 days I'd likely book an apartment - safe to assume you'd recommend the area around Room Mate Larios?

doug_stallings

I stayed near the Room Mate Larios when I was in Malaga. It's a pretty convenient location, so I think that would be great.

shelemm

i like Madrid, I really do, but I would not trade time in your Andalusian destinations for Madrid.

For example, Cordoba is such a great and beautiful city, it's a shame to simply rush through it to see the Mezquita and leave.

KarenWoo

Thank you everyone for all of your replies.
Thanks especially to Doug Stallings. I appreciate your detailed explanation of how the transfer from the train to the bus at Antequera works. Since you were just there, were you told by anyone when the Granada train station is expected to have tracks and be operable?

I am now considering the following itinerary:

Madrid to Seville - by train
Seville to Cordoba - by train
Cordoba to Granada - by bus
Granada to Madrid - either bus to Madrid (need to check the schedule) or bus to Antequera, and then train from Antequera to Madrid.

Still considering 1 night in Toledo, either before we go to Seville or after we leave Granada.

kja

Should be good! Toledo is delightful -- but so are the rest of the places you are planning to see. For this particular trip, I'd urge you to make sure you have all the time you want in Andalusia. JMO.

doug_stallings

Everyone told me that train service to Granada would be reestablished "soon". It was originally scheduled to be completed in 2016, but I'm not sure it's on track.

But I should clarify, you need to book the "train" from Granada to Madrid. That will get you on the correct bus from Granada for your onward journey (the times work) and then will make the transfer to the AVE to Madrid fairly seamless. Renfe offers service on that route. If you book an actual bus from Granada to Madrid, then you leave from a completely different station, and the trip would take considerably longer.

kimhe

And be sure to spend some tine in Antequera, the so called heart of Andalucía. Ancient dolmens/burial chambers, Roman baths, a Moorish fortress, Gothic churches, Renaissance fountains and baroque bell towers. Antequera was the first of the Granada emirate towns to fall to the Christians in 1410. "Five reasons to visit enchanting Antequera", http://wild-about-travel.com/2011/07...ing-antequera/

The peaceful Escribano square in Antequera - in front of the Renaissance Santa Maria la Mayor Church, looking up on the Moorish Alcazaba/fortress, down on the newly excavated Roman baths and out on the Peña de los enamorados/Lover's rock - is one of my absolute favourite spots in all of Spain after 30 years of intensive travelling here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi-vtfunQnM

KarenWoo

kimhe,
thank you for the links. I watched the video and read the report. Antequera sounds lovely, and I hope we can fit it into our trip. How many nights did you stay there?

Elizabeth_S

kimhe - thanks to you I have our Oleo reservation for Day 2 - any other suggestions?

Staying near the Cathedral.

Thanks!