Southern Spain Itinerary help
 

Greetings!

I need some help with my Spain itinerary.

Here's the quick rundown:

My boyfriend and I going to Spain from March 30-April 13.

We will be in Sevilla from Wed April 4-Sat April 7.
We have hotel reservations in Ronda on Mon April 9.

Our original plan was to go to Tarifa on Sat April 7-Mon, April 9. We also wanted to take a day trip to Morocco on Easter Sunday (April 8). We are seriously rethinking this plan b/c of a poor lack of response from Moroccan tour guides. Rick Steves suggests Aziz but he has not emailed me back. We are also concerned that a Moroccan day trip might not be much more than a day being hustled in a border town.

So we are thinking about deleting Tarifa and Morocco from the trip altogether. We are concerned that the travel time from Sevilla to tarifa (so far south) is not worth the day trip to Tangier. Thoughts?

Could you please suggest alternate cities? We are thinking about adding another white hill town to the agenda? Arcos de la Frontera perhaps? Also, remember that we will be potentially traveling from Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. We want to make sure transportation will be available over these holidays.

So I suppose I am looking for a myriad of advice. Thoughts on Tangier? Alternatives to the Tarifa/Tangier combo?

Thoughts on Cadiz perhaps? Or another not-too-out-of-the-way coastal city?

As this is my first trip to Spain, I would appreciate experienced advice.

Thanks for your time.

Hi

Why not Cordoba and Granada. Make bookings for the not to be missed Alhambra.

"We are also concerned that a Moroccan day trip might not be much more than a day being hustled in a border town." From all I've heard, this is true.

I agree with adding Granada and Alhambra instead.

Also, I have travelled in Spain during Easter and it can be a real challenge--seems like everyone in Spain is travelling then. If you can get train reservations in advance, I would recommend it. Or it might even make sense to rent a car during this time, but of course, you don't want a car in Seville.

BTW Tarifa is a fun place by itself, but there are even better places such as the nearby white village of Vejer de la Frontera. Don't know about Cadiz, but it might be a bit far out of your way.

Discover Sierra de Cazorla!
www.spain.info/TourSpain
Search Cazorla in Nature Areas section.

Could tell us where you will be prior to Sevilla, and after Ronda?

Cadiz is a short trip from Sevilla (120 kms). You could go by train or bus without major trouble. However, considering that Semana Santa is the most high season in Sevilla, perhaps it would be advisable to book transportation.
I guess that you know you are going to live a kind of "special" Andalucia: Semana Santa is full of religious acts that might interfere with your visits, although most people would consider the "procesiones" one of the most interesting things of their trip (Not me, I hate Semana Santa, but almost everybody likes it).
Granada's "procesiones" are also well known.

el Puerto de Santa Maria is Domicile for Bodegas Osborne. It's a nice size city. El Monasterio de San Miguel is a 5-Star Hotel. I usually stay at the Hotel Santa Maria - more in my price range. Semana Santa is peak season so you won't find any bargains. There's a small ferry across the bay to Cadiz: in el Puerto it docks across rhe parking lot from the Hotel Santa Maria.

Other places you might consider: Jerez de la frontera; Sanlucar de Barrameda where the Manzanilla (very dry Sherry) comes from; or any of several coastal resorts west of the Donana Wildlife refuge (largest in Europe).

Sevilla, try to make it to el Portal de la Macarena Friday around 10:00 AM when the Macarena and Jesus de Gran Poder Procession returns to the Basiica after an all-night ordeal: Cantaores on the balconies sing to the Vorgen - it can be very emotional.

Ginto,

We will start our trip in Madrid, then on to Toledo, Sevilla, then ??, then Ronda, Granada and back to Madrid.

:) I am loving the advice. Keep it coming!

I assume that you won't have a car, since you're specifically asking about public transport. Good advice about checking bus/train schedules during the holidays. Essentially, you have a couple of main options: Go east to Córdoba or west towards Cádiz.

Getting to Córdoba by train is easy (and seem to operating on a full schedule Sat Apr 7). The Mezquita-Catedral is a must-see. The city itself is also very pretty and worth time poking about; there's also a good Archeological museum if that's of interest. You could easily spend a couple of days here.

If you prefer to head westward, Jerez de la Frontera and Cádiz could be done in a day. You could then loop down along the coast and perhaps spend a day on a Costa del Sol beach, or visit Gibraltar, etc. Alternatively you could travel from Jerez to Arcos de la Frontera and then to Ronda, etc. But you'd be at the mercy of the bus schedules.

A car would open up your options, especially if you want to explore the Pueblos Blancos on your own terms. Very scenic drive and towns between Arcos and Ronda (Ubrique, Grazalema, Zahara, Olvera, Setenil). Warning if you do rent a car in Sevilla: a friend tells a funny story about when he was in Sevilla during Semana Santa, and planned to take his rental car out for a daytrip. He was *unable* to get out of his parking spot in Sevilla due to the processions!

Your trip sounds great, regardless of what you decide.