To celebrate our 35th anniversary, we are planning our first trip to Spain in September. We planning to stay at less expensive hotels so that we can stay for 2 weeks. we are very budget conscious and do not need 5 * hotels and restaurants. We enjoy seeing the local people and dinng at small local restaurants so we can get a real feel for the country.We have been to Italy and Greece and loved both. Please suggest any changes to our itinerary: September 12-26,2003

Day 1: arrive MALAGA and see the town. Stay in GAUDIX in a cave hotel

Day 2-3: RONDA
2 nights @ San Gabriel
day trips to surrounding areas

Day 4,5,6:ARCOS DE LA FRONTERA
3 nights at Casa Grande
day trips to Jerez & Cadiz

Day 7,8,9: SEVILLE
spend 3 nights @Hotel Amadeus
my husband is a musician)

Day 10: CORDOBA
stay at Hotel Boston

Day 11,12,13:GRANADA
Stay in a small house in Albacin FOR 70 E/night. Roof Terrace has great views of the Alhambra. It is a 2minute walk to Plaza Nueva.

Day 14 drive to Malaga for 1230 flight

I use this site often and got most of my hotels from your suggestions. Please comment if we are spending too much time or not enough in one place. GRACIAS !

I've done exactly the same route two years ago and loved it. The only concern is that you have a long way to drive from Granada to Malaga especially to catch (I presume an international) 12:30 flight. How about leaving Granada one day early and stop over in Nerja? It's a very nice small town along the coast on the way to Malaga. That way you don't have many hours to drive the last day.

I think the Nerja idea is very nice and it would give you a relaxing day at the beach before your trip back.
However, I drove from Granada to Malaga recently and it took me 1,5 hours, it's a very easy drive too.

Thanks for the replies. I had thought about Nerja for the last night but since we live in Florida 1/2 mi from the ocean, the beach is not a necessity for us. Have you ever rented an apartment in Spain???
We are looking into a small house or apt in Granada so we can have an American breakfast after 10 days of carbs, and also have a place to relax after touring the Alhambra.

Congratulations on your anniversery! My husband and I did a similar trip for our 20th anniversery. My husband is also a musician, so I want to highly recommend you catch the flamenco show at Los Gallos--the music and dancing are fantastic.

Also, I suggest you get tickets for Alhambra on the Internet before you leave. You need to have tickets--I saw people being turned away.

Since your husband is a musician, he may want to check out an incredible flameco singer from Cadiz named Cameron. We first heard his music in Ronda and have purchased his CDs (they may be availabe at a record store).

Have a great trip and let us know all about it.

We just did a very similar trip in March (you might want to look for my trip report called something like Winter in Andalucia) and we are also budget travellers. Personally I think 3 nights in Granada is way too long. We had rented a house a half an hour south of Granada for 5 nights, but we actually only spent 1 day in Granada. If you are at all outdoors people, you might want to consider some time in Las Alpujarras; we drove in for the day and wished we'd had more time there. We also spent 1 night in Grazalema and wished we'd had 2 nights there.

In Ronda I would suggest eating tapas one night at Faustinos. In my opinion they're the best in town and they are really cheap here: about .50 each. And it's a great place to see the locals. It's right across the street from an Irish pub right off of Calle Espinel, one block north of the Plaza del socorro. Then you can go into the Irish pub if you want to speak some English and meet some students from around the world and the great bartender, Will. Happy Anniversary!!

is it worth driving to Gaudix our first day in Malaga? or should we do Gaudix as a side trip from Granada at the end of our trip? GRACIAS for all the great suggestions!!!

I can only comment on your Albaicin apartment in Granada: it may be two minutes TO Plaza Nueva, but it won't be the same getting back to your place. It is a pretty steep hill you'll be climbing. Thought you might want to know in case this affects your choice.

I'm curious...what's in Gaudix?

Also, forgot to mention Los Gallos is in Seville.

Though we didn?t stay there, we found the settings of Hotel Castillo de Monda very romantic. It's less than an hour from Malaga Airport and a little more than an hour from Ronda.

A flamenco evening at Los Gallos in Seville was a highlight of our trip.

As for walking up from Plaza Nuevo to Alhambra, may be it can be avoided altogether by availing the minibus service between Alhambra and Albacin that goes through Plaza Nuevo.