adoreroma

Hi everybody,

We are going to Marbella and then from there to Madrid. But we would like to see Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada "on the way" to Madrid.

Do you recommend taking the train (assuming there is one) or driving ? Are the trains expensive ?

What would be the be the itinerary that makes the most sense from Marbella to these three villages and then on to Madrid ?

Thanks ever so for your help !

danon

they are not villages but fabulous cities.

To get to Granada you have to take a bus from Marbella ( I don't know if there is a train)and then a train or bus from Granada to Seville.
There is a fast train from Seville to Madrid , stops in Cordoba - you can stay there for a day or so.

josele

There is no train station in Marbella.

Robert2533

Of course there is a train station in Marbella. It's in Malaga, right down the road, but there is no direct rail connection between Malaga and Granada, but there is from Sevilla.

nytraveler

Suggest doing a little more work on those cities and what you want to do/see there - to decide how much time to spend there versus Madrid.

(IMHO they are about 10 times more interesting than Madrid - which is a large modern city full of skyscrapers and international chain stores. The cities of Andalusia contain much more that is really unique in Spanish culture and history.)

annesherrod

As the other poster mentioned there is a high speed train to and from Madrid - Seville.

I thouroghly enjoyed Seville. I spent 4 days here - I loved the Cathedral and the Palace. There are some great hotles and restaurants here too. I had kept meticulous notes about this trip in my purse and my purse was stolen my last night here so I have NO names of anything to reccomend...

We had a car so we were able to stop at little villages on the way - saw roman Ruins in one village, an ancient castle in another , so if you can - I would rent a car.


Alhambra is defintly woth seeing- But Granada was not my favorite place - this was a day trip for us from Seville, albeit a long one!!

Enjoy Marbella!!

isabel

I was in all three in March, for 10 days and as pointed out, they are wonderful cities. You don't do them "one the way" from one place to another. How much time do you have? They are between Marbella and Madrid, but they aren't "side trip" type places. And as others pointed out they are probably the "best" part of Spain - the most unique and beautiful architecture, the most interesting in general. annesherrod said she didn't enjoy Granada that much but admitted to doing it as a day trip from Seville. Perhaps that's why. I found Granada almost (though not quite) as wonderful as Seville, but I spent three whole days there. In addition to the Alhambra there are many different neighborhoods to explore. If you are going to be in Marbella and Madrid I would seriously consider arranging my trip so has to have at absolute minimun two days each in Seville and Granada. Cordoba was a little less wonderful than the other two, although the Mezquita is something everyone should see, absolutely amazing. But Cordoba is an easy stop on the high speed train from Seville to Madrid, and they do have a left luggage area so that one could be done as a side trip.

My trip report for that trip is at: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34977029 and my photos are at www.pbase.com/annforcier

bilboburgler

Gosh lots of facts and stuff

Well I took the Malaga train to Seville and Cordoba last year it was cheap clean and punctual. Based on other train journeys I would expect the same of Madrid journey only faster

Now villages, there are some sensible visits outside Cordoba but I guess you confuse cities with villages etc. If you want to see the white villages then rent a car from Cordoba (railway station has the usual suspects).

Lots of nice little 2 and 3 star hotels in the old towns of S and C (no need to see the new town that I can think of. Cheap and clean. I would plan on a whole day in each

Ackislander

You might consider skipping Marbella and going instead to Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada as the main point of your trip.

adoreroma

THANK YOU, all ... I appreciate your help !