Questions on Southern Spain
 

Will travel to south of Spain with my husband first week in April. Thanks to all who answered previous post. Must cut trip from 11 to 9 days. Questions! 1) Is it easy to find garage to park car for 2 days while seeing Granada? 2)Is the drive from Granada to Nerja scenic? Would 2 nights in Nerja (after 3 in Seville, 1 in Ronda and 2 in Granada) be too much, or a welcome respite?) 3)Besides Iberian Airlines (which sounds awful) what other carriers fly from Malaga? 4) If we drove Ronda-Nerja-Granada, how long would it take to drive the Costa del Sol?(Not really interested in seeing it) 5)Is there a fast way from Granada to Madrid by train? Thanks for anwers or other ideas.

Laura, <BR>I'll give some of these questions a shot. <BR> <BR>1) If your Granada hotel doesn't have parking, you can find a garage on calle San Agustin, to the west of Gran Via de Colon a couple of blocks beyond the Cathedral or try the two underground car parks near Correos at Puerta Real or one near the train station or another near bull ring. My Michelin map shows 7 "aparcamientos subterraneos" downtown (Turismo can help you), and there's car parking up on the Alhambra hill if you plan to stay at a hotel there. <BR>Please don't leave any valuables at all in your parked car at any time! <BR> <BR>2) The drive from Granada past the "Suspiro del Moro" (where the defeated Moorish emir, Boabdil, sighed and wept when he gazed back at the city he had just lost and had to abandon Jan 2, 1492) to Nerja is slow, mountainous but extremely scenic (a treat) and the coast around Nerja/Motril has managed to skirt most of the ugliness and overdevelopment that plagues the area west of Malaga. Frigilana, near Nerja, is another one of those delightfully picturesque "pueblos blancos" worth a short detour. <BR>Don't think you need two nights in Nerja (it will be very quiet in April). I'd spend the other night in Arcos before Ronda or in Ojen, up in the mountains 10 km north from Marbella. <BR> <BR>3) Where do you want to fly from Malaga? Both BA and Air France fly out of Malaga to London (or maybe Birmingham?) and to Paris. Air Europa has service from Malaga to JFK but only May-Oct, I believe (but check at www.g-air-europa.es) KLM to Amsterdam, Sabena to Brussels, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, etc. <BR> <BR>4) Not sure I'm understanding the question, but the drive from Granada down to Salobrena and along coast to Malaga takes about 2 1/2 hrs. (150 km), then from Malaga to Estepona, along the Costa del Sol, add another 1 1/2-2 hrs. if you plan to stop along the way at Marbella or Puerto Banus (the most attractive stretch of the coast lies beyond Marbella). <BR> <BR>5) Unfortunately there's not yet a high speed train from Granada to Madrid. The Talgo takes 6 hrs., and there's also an overnight sleeper. (www.renfe.es) <BR> <BR>Hope this has helped you some! <BR> <BR> <BR>

Maribel, thanks for the very helpful information. In answer to your question about our flight from Malaga, we would be returning home at that point. But it's actually looking to me as if flying Spanair to and from Madrid will be our best bet (although we would have to modify our itinerary some.) We can fly with them direct from where we live, and they seem to have good fares. Does anyone have experience with Spanair?

Hi again Laura, <BR>If you do a text search on Spanair, you'll find one very satisfied customer and a couple of very unhappy people. I've never had a problem with them within Spain, but I haven't taken one of their transatlantic flights. <BR>

In Granada I stayed at the Melia which included parking and was in walking distance to the alambhra and other sites. <BR> <BR>I drove Granada to Madrid stopping at a beautiful Parador outside Carzola in the Province of Jaen. <BR> <BR>My Iberia flight was terrible, but I hear they are offering, with a gold Amex card,two business class for the price of one. <BR> <BR>Watchout for the "car parkers" in Seville. <BR> <BR>I saw cars being broken into and many with smashed windows.