Our itinerary is practically set, with the exception of Ronda and Cordoba.

We fly into Malaga and out of Madrid and have 10 full days (arrive in Malaga at 9am on day 1 and leave at 10am on day 11, which I am not counting).

We are likely doing:

Malaga (1 night), Granada (2 nights), Cordoba (1 night), Seville (3 nights), Madrid (3 nights, but with a day trip to Toledo).

However, I'm on the fence about including Ronda as a day trip (likely from Granada) or leaving it out. Also on the fence about spending a day and night in Cordoba, making Cordoba a day trip from Seville (making Seville 4 nights), or cutting that as well.

Would like a balance of seeing what we can while still having time to enjoy the cities we are in.

My inclination is to minimize day trips because its a lot of travel in one day, and you miss out on the late dinners/nightlife of the city. However, if its a city that dies down at night it might be better to spend that night in a more vibrant city.

Given our itinerary, what would you pare down? If we had to choose Ronda or Cordoba, which is best given the other cities we are visiting?

Any advice welcome. Thank you.

(we are a 20-something couple from NYC and this is not our honeymoon)

I highly doubt you're going to have time to visit Ronda as a daytrip from Granada (when you only have 2 days in Granada). You could play it by ear. As an alternative you could head directly to Granada when you land in Malaga and spend 3 nights in Granada. This may give you time for a daytrip to Ronda. However, the negatives are: you may be tired and just want to land in your final destination and Malaga is a beautiful city - you'd miss out on Malaga for a possible daytrip to Ronda. I'd probably just keep as you have now. But I realistically wouldn't plan on having time for Ronda. As I've mentioned before you just have too short of a time, 10 days, to try to fit in Ronda (with a reasonably paced trip).

Personally I'd spend the addiitonal night in Sevilla and do Cordoba as a daytrip. I love Cordoba and if you could spend more than 1 night I'd recommend staying. But to visit in order to spend just one night I'd prefer to stay in Sevilla. There's more going on in the evening in Seville anyways.

And your time in Madrid is very limited - really only 1.5 days of seeing Madrid when you factor in arrival from Sevilla and the daytrip to Toledo.

Are you planning on traveling by train/bus between your destinations, or will you be driving?

10 days doesn't allow much time to enjoy each of your destinations, but it that's all the time you have, then Ronda is a possible day-trip from either Granada or Sevilla by car or bus, but if you are traveling by bus, you could plan your route to allow for a stop in Ronda before heading on to Sevilla from Granada.

You can stop in Cordoba on the way to Madrid, either as an overnight stay or day-trip.

Decisions, decisions.
As much as I love Ronda, I think it is the kind of place you should spend at least one night (for the sunset alone), and you would not have time to visit as a day trip anyway with only 2 nights in Granada. When you go during the day you are with the hordes, but if you stay over you can go hike during the day and enjoy the town in the am/pm.
Just accept that you will be back--you could go to Andalucia for 10 years and not see everything.
Unless you want to skip Madrid, it just won't work.
As far as Cordoba, it is more quiet at night, but it is the place I longed to experience more. The mezquita is quite amazing, so just don't skip it entirely! I am the lone person (in the whole world I think) who was not wowed by Sevilla, but it is hands down going to offer the most at night, along with Madrid of course. Malaga is also great in the evenings.
Enjoy!

yorkshire:

"Just accept that you will be back--you could go to Andalucia for 10 years and not see everything."

So true!!! And the problem is you start having favorites that you just have to see again....so many things to see & do

"Unless you want to skip Madrid, it just won't work."

Exactly......

Thank you. I've been reading the Maribel guides and decided I definitely want the full 2 days/2 nights in Granada. Maybe Malaga would have been better as a day trip, but we will most likely spend our first night there (go see the Picasso museum, etc) and then head on to Granada in the morning. I'm not sure what we would do with our luggage if we left for Granada that evening because we would have no "home base" as we are not renting a car.

So, Malaga, Granada (2 nights), Cordoba/Seville (4 nights), Madrid (3 nights). After reading Maribel guide, don't want to cut out Cordoba completely so I guess we just need to decide whether to do it as a day trip from Seville (4 nights Seville) , or as a one-night stop on the way from Granada to Seville (1 night Cordoba, 3 nights Seville).

I wish we had more time and realize we can't see everything. Thats why we are also saving Barcelona for a future trip

Thank you

In Cordoba, there is luggage storage at the bus station. There probably is in Malaga as well, but I hope you will enjoy a night in Malaga as much as I did.
And wait till you start reading about northern Spain--the possibilities just never stop!

I think Ronda is worth a stop.

Many people only visit the "cities" and miss the smaller towns where most people live. Consider more time in Ronda and less time in Cordoba - IMO, with the exception of the Mezquita [which is truly a don't miss] I don't think you will see much in Cordoba that you haven't seen in Granada or will see in Sevilla.

Try this: Take an early morning train from Granada to Ronda. Spend the night in Ronda. [Read the history of the gorge before you get there. Particularly the part about the Civil War 1936--] The next morning take the train from Ronda to Cordoba - do the Mezquita, and then an afternoon train to Sevilla. There are lockers at the station in Cordoba.

I feel a night in Ronda will add more to your trip that a night in Cordoba.

Summer08bride, are you back from your trip? I am having a hard time deciding on whether Cordoba is a must, as well as if 2 nights in Ronda should be cut to 1 night. I have a similar route planned out but have the added problem of wanting a couple days by the beach. Any insight from your trip would be helpful!

We stayed in Andulusia 2 weeks last November. I was disappointed with Cordoba. We toured the Mezquita and could have only spent 1 night and we had reserved two. We were not wowed with the restaurants or the food. There was not much going on there except in very touristy are by the Mezquita. If I were you I'd skip Cordoba .We stayed 1 night in Ronda at the Parador . The views are beautiful there and the Parador reasonably priced but we didnt find any great restaurants either. 1 night is totally sufficient.

bstclaire, we are going second week of October. A family friend who is very knowledgeable about Europe said she loves Ronda, but that we are better off doing Cordoba as a day trip from Seville and having the extra night in Seville.

At this point (subject to change) our itinerary is as follows:

Day 0 - leave USA
Day 1 - get into Malaga at 9:05am (night in Malaga)
Day 2 - bus to Granada in morning. Day in Granada (night in Granada)
Day 3 - remain in Granada (night in Granada)
Day 4 - go to Seville (night in Seville)
Day 5 - remain in Seville (night in Seville)
Day 6 - day trip to Cordoba (45 min each way by train) (night in Seville)
Day 7 - remain in Seville (night in Seville)
Day 8 - high speed train to Madrid in morning. Day in Madrid. (night in Madrid)
Day 9 - day trip to Toledo (night in Madrid)
Day 10 - day in Madrid (night in Madrid)
Day 11 - fly home from Madrid at 10am

I know Ronda is supposed to be beautiful but I've heard Cordoba is worth a visit (even if not overnight). Trying to find a balance between seeing what we want to see, and having time to actually enjoy the cities we do get to see.

When is your trip?

Well, Cordoba has the unique Mezquita-Catedral, Ronda is charming and different, but you cannot see everything.

You can't see anything and its so hard to par down : ( Especially when there are so many "must sees"!

Summerbride08, We are going the end of September so hopefully I will have be able to report back here soon.

Thank you nslaerno for your post.

My boyfriend's mother actually recommended Ronda for 2 nights! So hard to decide...my instict says we will do Ronda but more than 1 night is not necessary.

hi 'bride,

if you swap seville and granada in your itinerary, you CAN have Ronda AND cordoba -

Day 0 - leave USA
Day 1 - get into Malaga at 9:05am (day and night in Malaga)
Day 2 - bus to Ronda in morning. Day and night in Ronda
Day 3 - bus to SEville (night in Seville)
Day 4 - Day and night in Seville
Day 5 - remain in Seville (night in Seville)
Day 6 - bus to Cordoba (spend day there) bus to Granada (night in Granada)
Day 7 - remain in GRanada (night in GRanada)
Day 8 - high speed train to Madrid in morning. Day in Madrid. (night in Madrid)
Day 9 - day trip to Toledo (night in Madrid)
Day 10 - day in Madrid (night in Madrid)
Day 11 - fly home from Madrid at 10am

you CAN go to the ball, cinderella!

annhig, is it worth sacrificing a day in Granada to go to Ronda? I'd love to be able to spend 2 full days there but your itinerary is tempting!

bstclaire, we were originally supposed to go end of Sept/early Oct but pushed back our trip due to the strike. figured better safe than sorry

summerbride,

I'm not sure that you are sacrificing a day in granada to go to Ronda. we had 2 nights in Granada a few years ago, and found it was enough to explore the town, see the Alhambra at night, and then again the following day, explore the Albercin, and eat loads of tapas!

rather, i think that I may have cut down your time in Malaga too much and might suggest you get your bus to Ronda in the afternoon. However if Ronda doesn't appeal that much, then by all means miss it out and spend longer in Granada; don't whatever you do, forget/omit to book to visit the alhambra both at night and day - at night it is very beautiful and they let in far fewer people so you can see things better than you can in the day.

It is not worth cutting out time from Granada to go to Ronda. Ronda is not a must see. It's a quiet sleepy town with a nice view from the bridge. The mezquita in Cordoba is a must see if you like architecture, if not skip it.

The problem is if you try to see everything.
anhig's suggestion I see very reasonable. When there's little time I always rec. doing Cordoba as a daytrip, something you can do easily from Seville.
However, I am not sure if there's a direct AVE train Madrid to Granada. There's a stop at Antequera. Better check.