Hi! I will be in Spain for the last two weeks in May - with stays in Seville, Granada, and Madrid. I'm not renting a car so I'll be relying on public transporation the whole way.

My first stop will be Seville for 6 days. I will take one day trip to Cordoba and was thinking of possibly two more depending how motivated I was feeling.

I wanted to go to the beach and was thinking of Sanlucar de Barrameda. The area sounded charming in my guidebook and it seems to have a nice beach. Just looking for someplace quiet and beautiful to lay out and soak up some rays. Better ideas?

For my third day trip, I was thinking of Arcos de la Frontera to see the pueblos blancos.

Comments on either of these?

Actually, reconsidering my itineray, I'll probably only go to one other place other than Cordoba. I'd still be interested in your comments on both to help me decide which place to visit.

Sanlucar de Barrameda is a neat town not overrun with tourists and does have several miles of "beach". It is on the Guadalquivir and the beach is really more of a shore. However, it does have some of the best seafood restaurants anywhere, great winery tours, access to La Donana Wildlife refuge, and a suburb, Bonanza, is the site of maybe the most interesting two hours I have spent anywhere in Europe! Bonanza is a small fishing port which has a daily auction beginning about 3pm of the catch from the returning boats. The dock is about 100 yards long. About 25-30 boats, each in the range of 35 feet long all try to get to the dock at the same time. It is the biggest bunch of bumping, cussing, hollering, etc you have ever seen. When they finally get to the dock, the catch is offloaded into flat wooden trays which are then auctioned off "tobacco auction" style to seafood markets and restaurants from all over Spain. It is a truly memorable experience filled with real life characters!

Vita, do you preferred history, nature, walking tours sightseeing? I tried posting another response to mmichaels, who is also heading out to Andalucia in May and it did not posted (darn!). On that response I recommended a visit to Monasterio de la Rabida near Huelva, the monastery where Christopher Columbus stayed and from where he planned his 1492 trip to The Indies (he had been there since 1485; this guy was determined!). Try Merida, near Seville, very interesting Roman Ruins, including one of the best preserved Roman Amphitheaters. Have a great time!

Thanks, Maira. I'm not so much interested in history on this day trip since I'll be doing a lot sightseeing elsewhere. Of course, I would visit anything of note anywhere I decided to go. I was just looking for a taste of something different from what I'll see in Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and Madrid. Also, I'm knd of interested in seeing the coast.

Lweber, Bonanza sounds great. Do you think I would have the time to explore Sanlucar and walk to the Bonanza? Also, will I still be able to lie out on the sand at Sanlucar?

One other question? How does Costa de la Luz (where Sanlucar is located) compare to Costa del Sol? Will I miss out on not going to, for example, Marbella instead? The Sanlucar trip is much shorter and seems less touristed but is the coast as pretty? Thanks for all your comments.

You would have time to walk Sanlucar, lie on the sand, and then cab to-from Bonanza. Its about 15 min ride. The fun runs from about 3pm to 6 pm. But with summer light, plenty of time to get back to Sevilla. Incidentally, in Sevile, there is a great little seafood restaurant called Las Monedas located just across the Avenida de la Constitution [behind the ice cream store on the corner]. Almost entirely locals. I mentioned in passing that I had been to Bonanza and good things started to happen. Seems the owner is from Bonanza. Free glass of wine, a couple of tapas thrown in, [try the tortilla de gambas], and much fun!

I took day trips to Arcos and Sanlucar by local bus from Jerez. I think 2 or 3 hours are enough in Arcos, but I would like to stay overnight in Sanlucar.