Short Andalucia Trip - Advice please
 

I am planning a short trip to Andalucia with a group of three women for a 50th birthday trip. We have 6 days (5 nights). We will fly to Sevilla from Paris on June 22nd am. Will need to leave on Friday June 27th. I am assuming we only have time for Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada. Would you suggest 3 nights in Sevilla (with a day trip to Cordoba) and then 2 nights in Granada? We could probably fly out of Sevilla or Malaga. I will look for the latest flight possible on Friday. We want to do as much as possible, but realize our time is extremely limited. We cannot extend the trip..it is what it is. We are experienced travelers. I've lived in Europe for 9 years. We are happy to rent a car, for the flexibility, but could do trains, as well. Thanks in advance for the advice!

I would go with your initial plan -- 3 nights in Sevilla (with a day trip to Cordoba) and 2 nights in Granada. Be sure to book your tickets for the Alhambra in advance, and plan on visiting it twice -- once during the day and then again in the evening, preferably in that order. Personally, I don't think you have time for anything else on this visit. No need for a car if you stick to Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada.

Enjoy!

I second kja. You're itinerary is right for such a short trip. I know you want to do as much as possible, but the first thing is to enjoy what you can do. You can always take another trip sometime in the near future, maybe over a long weekend since you will not have to deal with jet lag.

KJA is right on target with her advice. Slow down, absorb the culture and the sangria!

Thanks everyone. Yes, I think that sticking to the three cities will be about all we can handle. I just booked a flight into Malaga on Sunday morning, arriving at 9:10 am. We will head straight to Granada, hoping to arrive by noon, so we have a bunch of the day to explore. Tentative plans for itinerary and hotel (we need a triple, so all hotels won't work):

2 nights Granada (Sunday & Monday)- Alhambra Palace
1 night Cordoba (Tuesday) - Exe Conquistador
2 nights Sevilla (Wed and Thurs) - Hotel Becquer

If you have any comments or know of a way we could do it better, I'd be happy to hear it. I will check out trains and car rental both and see which is more affordable. Any thoughts there? I know we can do the train, but it does give less flexibility...

Any recommendations about flamenco shows? I don't want to bother if it is total touristic crap, but if there are good ones, it might be nice to see it one evening. I think we are out of season for bull fighting but is a tour of the ring in Sevilla worth a visit?

Thanks for the input! Really appreciate it.

Oh, I forgot to say that we are flying out of Sevilla, which gives us the whole day there on Friday, as our flight is not until 8:30 pm.

Having a car is unlikely to be an advantage for these locations and could easily cost you time because you will need to rent it, return it, find parking for it, and navigate through urban areas. In contrast, the trains were IME frequent and high-speed.

BTW, I'm glad you'll be able to spend a night in Cordoba -- well worth it!

Sounds fun, but yes, don't try to cram in too much. Whatever you do you WILL enjoy it and it will be a taster because you're bound to want to return.

For your one night in Cordoba please look for a different hotel if possible. The EXE Conquistador has a fabulous location and nothing else. It was the worst hotel of our 4 week trip to Spain last year. The room was tiny, the air conditioning did not work and even when we reported that to the front desk and were assured it would be fixed for our second evening it was not. The elevator only worked intermittently. The front desk staff apparently is completely overwhelmed by tour groups and are unable to deal with even simple requests like a map of the local area. I hate to see your fun girls trip marred by a truly bad hotel experience.

For your itinerary the trains will be your best option so that you don't have to deal with the parking issues in each of the cities. The train stations in Granada, Cordoba, and Sevilla are all very centrally located and a short taxi trip from the old sections. We did trains from Madrid to Cordoba, then on to Sevilla, and on our return from Granada to Madrid. All were very comfortable and enjoyable trips.

Agree with other's recommendations about taking the train. For the train Granada to Cordoba you might want to plan a little bit in advance and get tickets, but there are several trains each day Cordoba - Seville so you can be flexible with that and pay attention to the times, but you can buy tickets at the train station that day - that is what we did. I agree that it is good you are spending a night in Cordoba - we really liked it there. We did a very similar itinerary but with 8 nights. Here is a link to my trip reports that includes pictures, if you are interested:
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/catego...ope/andalucia/

Thanks for the advice, guys. JGG, I have read your trip report and its been very helpful.

JKM, I appreciate the advice on the hotel. I will look into it. I have friends who stayed there last year and thought it was fine. It is only for one night and because we are there such a short time we will need to be perfectly located..but we can see if there are other better ones. The issue is, we need a triple and they are not as easy to come by.

Thanks all!

<Any recommendations about flamenco shows>

I recommend to go to either Casa de La Memória or La Casa del Flamenco in Sevilla. Performances every night. Changing artists all the time, but they all perform as soloists at the major festivals. Popular with tourists, but this is the real deal. No food, no drinks, just flamenco for about an hour.

Casa de la Memória: http://www.casadelamemoria.es/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...Andalucia.html

La Casa del Flamenco: http://www.lacasadelflamencosevilla.com/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...Andalucia.html

Clips of a couple of regular dancers at these places:

Pastora Galván, voted best female flamenco dancer 2010 by Spanish critics. Has danced frequently at Casa de la Memória the last years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2SBUcrJgeQ

Rising star Alberto Sellés is a regular at La Casa del Flamenco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV8hmd2Kox8

Mercedes de Córdoba won the prestigious Premio Nacional de Arte Flamenco in Córdoba one month ago. Performs regularly at Casa de la Memória. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE8ejuTNpaM

Great Lucía Alvarez "La Piñona" dances at La Casa del Flamenco:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlP-XTBvfE

The major flamenco theater concerts in Andalucía are updated here: http://www.deflamenco.com/conciertos...andalucia.html