Southern Spain
 

Planning a 10 day 2 person trip to Seville-Cordoba-Granada area in early October. We plan to fly to Seville for a few days and no plans except to start and end there stopping over for a few days in each of the other places. Not a car driver. What are the trains and buses like? Is it possible to hire motorised bike? Given the season, what are the chances of just showing up in Granada or Cordoba and finding a hotel (preferably authentic!) with vacancies? If time allows maybe catch Algeciras ferry to Morocco too. Any suggestions welcome.

The trains are very good by European standards which means generally very good by North American standards or soso by Japanese standards. Hope that helps. Spanish trains are relatively cheap.

Buses are reasonable and tidy.

Yes you can hire motorbikes, helmets mandatory.

Finding a hotel, unless a conference is in town, should be no problem. Note that even if the international hotels are full the local ones will not be and are worth trying. I stayed in a converted brothel once (with concrete headboard) and never looked back.

Ferry to Morocco takes you to a pit of a city. Have a look at the African section on this subject for more evidence. If more time you might prefer to take a train to Malaga or fly to Marakesh.

It will depend on your actual dates, but just showing up at a hotel, any hotel, means that you may end up paying the Rack Rate, the most expensive rate listed.

It's always better to do a little planning and book your hotels in advance. You'll end up with a savings in both money and the time spent looking for a place to spend the night.

As far as taking the ferry to Morocco (Tangiers), it's not the best reflection of the country. If you want to experience Morocco, then head further south. Marrakech would be a good choice.

Many thanks both for your tips and note both your comments on Morocco! Ha ha. I remember the Tangiers- Tetouan region as a dump from way back and it's probably not improved so we'll skip Morocco as too little time to venture further South.
We'll take your suggestion Robert2533 and book hotels in advance. Where possible we'd like to stay somewhere family-run and authentic (though maybe not a brothel!!) and hope they won't be too difficult to find.
Thanks for info about transport too bilboburgler and we'll definitely consider hiring a motorbike.

Granada "hostal"- http://www.hostalrodri.com/
absolutely amazing (price, location, cleanliness, list goes on).

Got the tip from people here and stayed there in July.

If your budget allows, the Parador in Granada is on the grounds of the Alhambra complex and is nothing short of spectacular. Totally worth it at least one night as a splurge. On our trip to Southern Spain in '09 we also thought dinner at that Parador restaurant was the best meal we had in all of Spain (visited Seville, Jaen, Granada, Gibraltar and Madrid.) Try the fried eggplant!

Train is the best way to travel from Sevilla to Cordoba. Bus is a slightly better option, or at least comparable to get to Granada.

The Parador hotel in Granada is nice, the only problem being it is a little isolated way up there on the hill. If you are coming only to see the Alhambra - terrific. If you want to see more of Granada, it is big hike up and down or you have to take the "little winding buses" as my wife likes to call them.

All useful stuff guys and thanks again.
Decided against hiring motorbike as helmets are not part of the deal and we dont want to schlep around with our own. Trains and buses are good for us and we still get to see landscape.
Only really heard of paradors before and seems like a good time to try one out somewhere along the road. Basically just don't want one of those hotel chain jobs!
Yes, food is an important part of the experience too MMC923!!
In the process of putting the trip together now so tips still welcome.

Stay in hostals (smaller, family owned hotels).

The Parador de Granada is one of the most expensive in the group, but you can sometimes find a good deal. One thing about staying at a Parador is that you can become an "Amigo", which means that if you are driving, parking is free when available, you receive a welcoming drink (wine, beer or mixed drink), and often get upgrades, if available (mostly off season).

www.parador.es/en/portal.do

We did a similar trip in March - one week Granada-Cordoba-Seville. We had a fabulous time and particularly loved the food in Cordoba. Here is a link to my trip report which gives all kind of details including all the places we ate at:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-le-pigeon.cfm

Thanks again all - we've checked out some of your tips on hostals and paradors.
A really informative post from jgg. Lots of evocative detail covering Spain - really mouthwatering descriptions of food especially and a good tip about sturdy footwear!
So far we've got around to booking flight London(Stanstead)-Seville and looked at seat61 site for trains when we get there. Also recommended is an International SIM card - apparently up to 82% cheaper mobile rate!
Plan to post equally helpful stuff when we return, but in the meantime we hope to receive more from you guys.

Take a wonderful train journey through the Ronda mountains
Algeciras-Ronda-Granada, or viceversa
More info here
www.thewhitevillage.com