Southern Spain in December
 

I have a few questions:
1. Has anyone used Gate 1 Travel? (an internet company)
2. Has anyone stayed in Hotel Las Piramides in Fuengirola? (suggested by travel agent)

We are going to Spain in early December for 7 days. We arrive in Malaga. We would like to go to Cordoba, Granada, Gibraltar, Seville, and Moracco.

3. Should we take tours from the hotel or should we rent a car and go ourselves. We are 4 young senior citizens, one who walks with canes.

4. What is the weather like at this time of the year?

5. Any suggestions of an itinerary? I want to see castles. Restaurants, hotels? We are not locked into anything yet. We were hoping to stay at one hotel and then do day trips.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Weather in southern Spain that time of year will be moderate - not cold (unless you head to the mountains) but definitely no beach weather. Highs probably in th 50's.

In 7 days you will have trouble seeing just Seveile, Cordoba and Granada (we have been twice, one for 10 day and one 12 and there is still alot of use ot see in Andalusia). Gibralter is a big fat waste of time - nothing to see bu a rock and some monkeys.

And you definitely don;t have time to go to Morocco.

I wold not suggest tours since they tend to drop you fairly long distances from the sight - and make you walkd 5/6 or more blocks from the bus lot to the site - before starting all the walking there. You can definitely get much closer and do less wasted walking with a car. And I hope you aren;t pallning to see all this while staying in Malaga - or you will be all day in your car (or bus if you tour).

Seville is almost 3 hours from Malaga and Cordoba about 2 hours - meaning you would have 4 to 6 hours driving for a minimal day of sightseeing.

There are easy trains to seville and cordoba, grenada is an easy visit. Malage itself is worth a good day. Gibralter no and is hilly. Morocco, if you are serious just chose one city, i like marakesh, fly in, taxi to centre, walk of souk, a madrassa or maybe a museum and a quick visit to the main square, stay over a night and fly back (exhausting)

I agree. If I only had 7 days for Andalucia I'd spend 4 nights in Sevilla, visiting Cordoba as a daytrip, and 2 nights in Granada. For the remaining night I'd probably stay in Malaga since your flying into/out of this city.

I wouldn't attempt to base myself in Malaga and do tours.

Public transportation would be very easy for this itinerary.

mrscpa,

ditto what others have said. whether you hire a caar or use the trains, you are going to see more if you forget about fuengirola, [has your travel agent ever been to Spain?] and follow Cathy's plan, or something close to it.

whether you stay in Malaga at the beginning or end of your trip may depend on the times you flight arrives/departs. if you arrive late, spend the first 2 nights there, then head to SEville for 3 nights, [lunch in ronda?] then Granada for 2 nights, [? stop off in Cordoba en route?] before heading back to Malaga.

if you depart early from Malaga, stay there last.

I would suggest you base yourself in beautiful and 100% Andalusian Málaga city instead of going to very touristy Fuengirola.

Also on the coast, and within some 300 yards in the center of the city, you'll find the recently excavated Roman theater, the 11th century Moorish Alcazaba and the great 16th century Cathedral, the Picasso museum and the painters childhood home. About Málaga: http://www.andalucia.com/magazine/en...ed2/malaga.htm
http://www.andalucia.com/cities/malaga/home.htm

Great restaurants. Three excellent options would be Tapeo de Cervantes, La Cosecha and La Campana. All close to the heart of the city around Márques de Larios street and Plaza de la Constitución.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Andalusia.html
http://www.atapear.com/guia-de-bares...aga/la-cosecha
http://11870.com/pro/la-campana-malaga

Casa Aranda, just off Marqués de Larios street, is one of the absolutely best cafés I've ever visited in Spain.

Rent a car and go to marvellous Sevilla, Córdoba (with the Mezquita) and Granada (with the Alhambra palace). You might do it as a round-trip. Driving to Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada would be 2 hours respectively from Málaga (Granada some less), and they make up a perfect round-trip.

I would definitely recommend you not to include Gibraltar and Morocco for a seven day journey.

Weather statistics for the past fourteen years for the first week of December in Málaga: Day highs from 60-68°F and night lows from 45-55°F. Five hours sun pr. day and two days with rainfall. I've even had some good and cold swims in Málaga in the middle of Dcember. Cooler inlands in Sevilla, Córdoba and Granada.

Watch out for villancicos on the streets, flamenco-inspired Christmas-songs that you can stumble upon anywhere in Andalucía in December: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ltDBAXXnqI

If you stay overnight in Sevilla, I strongly recommend you to go and see flamenco at intimate Casa de la Memória in the central Santa Cruz district. Great young talents and sometimes some of the very best in the world perform here such as Pastora Galván, Adela Campallo, Rafael Campallo and La Choni. The real thing, and half the price (15€) of the flamenco tablaos/restaurants which also can be great.

This site is great on Sevilla: http://www.exploreseville.com/

Maybe lunch or dinner at Enrique Becarra?
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletap...rique-becerra/

kimhe,

i think I'm going to start stalking you.

have you thought of doing a guide to Seville?

Thanks everyone. I guess I need to clarify. We already booked a package deal through Gate 1 for air and hotel. It was spur of the moment. I usually do lots of research before I commit, but my friend convinced me that I need to be more spontaneous. The plane arrives in Malaga and the hotel is in Fuengirola. I think we can upgrade hotels, but I think Fuengirola is where we need to stay.

Hubby wants to go to Morocco and Gibralter. I will cross off Gibralter, but I'm not sure about Morocco. My main place to go is Alhambra. I would really like to see the other palaces of Ferdinand and Isabella.

What amount of time will I need for this? How far away are we from Fuengirola to Malaga? Maybe we can change to a hotel there. We just booked this thing yesterday and I haven't done much thinking about it yet. We were asking about a cruise for next year. After we got some info, I asked where we could go this year for $1,000 or less. It looked good and my friend booked it and convinced me to do the same. Hubby said great, it is about time I didn't over think it. I hope we made the right choice.

Now I need help planning my day trips from Fuengirola. Are we too far away from the places I mentioned? Because we are limited in our time, we thought the tours would be good. My husband and I usually do stuff on our own, but because we are going with another couple, we weren't sure if we should do that.

anhig,

Well, thanks a million for your enthusiasm: If not a guide to Sevilla, I hope to write a book about the region's troubled past and how it affects daily life today within a couple of years.

mrscpa10,
Fuengirola (15 miles from Málaga) is not THAT bad. During the past years, both the extremely popular tourist destinations Fuengirola and Toremolinos have shaped up some of their previous charm, that of being small fishing villages (which they were in the 60's). The high-rise seafront holiday buildings are not longer in vogue, and as pleasant as they might be in their own right, hidden gems are to be found if you move away from the most touristy coastal line. You can check this site for some restaurant/tapas bar suggestions: http://fuengirola.costasur.com/en/tapas.htmlarted

And, whether you stay in Fuengirola or Málaga, you should go to in between Torremolinos to see living flameno legend "Carrete" dance (taxi 10-15€) at his "tablao". He started out as a barefoot orphan, and have earned most of his living catering to tourists doing the flamenco "real thing" in his own and very special "Fred Astaire"-kind of way. I saw him in one of the great theaters in Málaga last november together with world-class flamenco singer Estrella Morente. It was huge and the malgueños was literally crying for more. He's an icon among his fellow flamencos.

Carrete: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9V0feq5OC0
http://www.andalucia.com/flamenco/dancers/elcarrete.htm

Fuengirola: http://www.andalucia.com/fuengirola/home.htm
http://www.andalucia.com/girola/home.htm

And Carrete's tablao is called Los Tarantos and is located in Avda, Playamar, 51 in Torremolinos.

Thanks Kimhe for your response. I think we may take the 3 tours suggested by the travel company, but should we rent a car to do the other 4 days? We are traveling with someone who has a bit of difficulty walking long distances. If so, where would we get the car, and what should we be paying? Do we need a special drivers license or insurance? If not, where do you suggest going for the 4 days. We will be staying in the one hotel and want to do day trips. Is getting to trains or buses difficult? How about cabs? We are looking for history and architecture. Thanks again for your suggestions.

I think you should do the tours with your travel company. If you stay in Fuengirola, you should also definitely go to Málaga. Some 40 mins by bus from Fuengirola, and a great city with lots of sights, great cafés, restaurants and tapas bars. Read the article "Authentic charm of an overlooked treasure":
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ci...-treasure.html

Cabs are always available, convenient and very affordable. I would use taxis and buses as much as possible.

Scenic route with bus from Fuengirola on the coast up to quite spectacular Ronda. http://www.andalucia.com/ronda/home.htm

1h 45mins. Five buses daily to/from Ronda. Search "Fuengirola Bus Schedule": http://www.gomarbella.com/costadelsolbuses/index.htm

I would give Fuengirola a miss, Marbella would be my preference in that area, and even better either (as suggested above) stay in Malaga or stay near Torremolinos where I was one December and had sunny weather all week and temperatures in the 70's. There are some lovely gentle walks along the promenade beside the fish restaurants in the La Carhuela part of Torremolinos.

If you could change your hotel location to Malaga I'd try to do this - Malaga is better location for transporation connections and is a great city.

I'd also consider firing the travel agent ;)

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the info. Just for clarification. My friend and I walked into a travel company office we thought was a conventional travel agent. It turned out that we walked into Gate 1 travel office, which is an internet travel company. They usually don't handle walk ins. This company puts together packages to sell on the internet. Our air and hotel are locked in. We can buy additional day trips through them.
So far, we have only given a deposit. The person we spoke with is on vacation until after Labor Day, but I will contact her with my questions about making some changes to our plans, and how to get around.

I am trying to make the best decisions for my friend who walks with canes. She gets around pretty well, but distance will be a problem for her. That is why we decided to take the tours offered. But for the other days, we thought we should rent a car.

We are not experienced travelers outside of the US. Will we have a language problem? Thanks again everyone for your suggestions. Please keep them coming. You make me think of other things I need to find out about.

Your Spanish sites ok for english speakers. Morocco should be ok but in preference French,

Hi Guys,

Any suggestions for the four days we will not be on the tours?

Any historic places to see from the time of Isabella and Ferdinand other than Alhambra? Again, thanks for your info.

Andalucía would be full of such places, almost every little village...

But, you should see the Cathedral in Granada which were one of the first great building projects of the "Reyes Católicos"/Catholic kings (Isabella and Ferdinand). They are burried together with their daughter, Juana la Loca (Juana the Mad), her husband Felipe and their son Miguel in the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) adjoining the Cathedral.

I've previously told you about Málaga, the Cathedral etc. etc. You might also have some interest in going to Antequera, the so called "heart of Andalucía" some 40 miles north of Málaga city. It was the first of the cities in the Granada emirate to fall to the Christians in 1410, and just after they got married in 1469, the Catholic kings gave a statue of the Virgen to the city as if to say "we shall finish off the work you started". On display in the historical museum in this very interesting city. You should also see the Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor, one of the absolutely first rennaisance churches to be build in Spain. On a lovely plaza from where you can see down on a newly excavated Roman bath and up on the Moorish Alcazaba (fortress).
http://www.andaluciacoastandcountry.com/antequera.html

The "must sees" of Andalucia: Spend two nights in Granada to enjoy the Alhambra. In Malaga I really like a stroll through the Alcazaba. In Seville of course the Alcazar is amazing and Giralda impressive, the bullring might be a must see. The entire old part of Sevilla is amazing in itself. It's too bad you can't spend 3-4 nights in Sevilla, it might be the best part of your trip. There are many, many more "must sees" but you won't have time. I'm not a fan of the Costa del Sol but it seems like you have to stay in Fuengirola. I would skip Gibraltar and Morrocco but if the husband must...

It is nice to see all the weather forecasters predicting what it will be like during next December. Last year is was wet and cold Malaga had more rain than Galicia. The world has turned on it`s head according to some Spanish.