Spain
 

We are planning a trip to Spain next March for about 3 weeks. We would like to stay in the south of Spain and have a few home bases. We would like to visit Malaga, Granada, Córdoba, Seville and Cadiz. Any other suggestions? We are looking for some advice on our itinerary:
Malaga - 8 nights with day trips to Antequera and
Nerja
Granada - 3 nights
Cordoba- 3 nights
Sevilla- 7 days with days trips

We will be traveling to Portugal from Spain so would it be best to go from SevilleMalaga or from Madrid?

I like that you are giving both Granada and Cordoba 3 nights, and that you are allowing plenty of time for Sevilla. :tu: Sounds like a great trip!

For your transportation options, you might spend some time exploring your options on rome2rio.com -- just be sure to link through to the source documents, as the main page is not sensitive to seasonal variation.

Nerja would not bother with. A week in Málaga, for what?
What is you method of transport in Spain?
To get from Spain to Portugal, using public transport, options are limited.
Train from Madrid to Lisbon. Renfe
Bus too https://www.alsa.es/
From Sevilla to Lisbon by bus. Same website as above. or fly.

Would it be better to shorten our stay in Malaga? Would you recommend Cadiz for 3 or 4 days instead?

I asked a question why are you going to Málaga for, what is your answer?

If you want to see the Algarve in Portugal you can take about a 4-hr bus trip between Seville and Faro - but Tavira before Faro was a nice old town with a seaside section too - if going by train and buses Renfe - Spanish Railways site you can book your own long-distance trains at a discount if you book early enough to get those limited in number discounted tickets - ditto for Portugal at www.cp.pt - Portuguese Railways site. www.seat61.com has loads of info on doing that - general info trains and what to expect also www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

Another good day trip from Seville goes to Jerez-de-la-Frontera and sherry tours and practice sessions many days of Andalusian horses in local arena.

Southern Spain and Portugal
 

Based on where you want to visit, and the number of days you have, I would recommend the following itinerary if you are planning on being in Spain during Carnival.

Fly into Málaga (4 nights) with day trips
Bus to Granada (2 nights)
Bus to Córdoba (2 nights)
Train to Sevilla (5 nights) with day trips to Jerez, Cádiz, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Arcos and possibly Zahara de la Sierra
Bus to Faro (2 nights for beach time)
Train to Lisbon (6 nights) with day trips to Cascais and Sintra
Fly home from Lisbon

But for a trip to Spain and Portugal next March, you should consider being in Cádiz during Carnival which begins on Feb 28 and ends 10 March. It's also big in Madrid and Málaga but Cádiz is considered the best outside of Tenerife. The final night of Carnival in Lisbon will be on March 5 next year.

Friends of ours stayed in Malaga for the month of March and loved the history and the museums. We would enjoy the museums and art galleries. As well, it would be a good home base to visit other places. Malaga would be too big for a day trip so I thought a week would be sufficient. I don’t want to move too many times over the 3 weeks.

We are planning 3 weeks in Spain and possibly 2 weeks in Portugal. Still deciding however...

If you want Museums and the like then Málaga will serve you well.
If you are taking day trips in a car then pick some where away from the city centre for ease of parking.
For me Nerja is more of a British vacation resort. Plus the sea is not worth a dip as it is presently quite polluted.

Bus to Faro (2 nights for beach time)>

Faro ain't on the sea but again Tavira and Lagos are two old neat cities with beaches just out of town. Either of those would be much much nicer cities than Faro or many modern Algarve beach resorts. Can take train Faro to Lagos and bus stops in Tavira I believe before Faro. And in March you may find it too cool even to sit on the beach let alone swim. Avg hi 66:

https://www.holiday-weather.com/faro/averages/march/

I'd also consider stopping in Evora for a few days - really neat old city with lots to see and do - between Algarve and Lisbon or instead of Algarve - bus from Faro and then train or bus to Lisbon. Obidos could be another neat day trip from Lisbon.

Those filling averages do not mean a thing. Weather is unpredictable.

Not again! Yes, weather is unpredictable, but the best single predictor is the average over recent years. For a better sense of what to expect, get information about the average and the variation around that average (e.g., highs and lows).
For data on climate, consult timeanddate.com

For a recent thread on the appropriate use of climate data (and ribeirasacra's misunderstanding thereof) see:
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...1656728/page2/

Yes again weather history websites do not prove anything.
The weather over the past few days
https://www.cope.es/trece/videos/tie...0180926_549404
The average for Málaga.
https://www.holiday-weather.com/malaga/averages/
No comparison.
You accuse me of something you and others have little knowledge of.

Averages are a good indicator of in general what to expect though there can always be divergences - in this case unlikely to be good beach weather. Period.

But averages do not tell you the highs and lows of the weather patten. I do not understand how you do not understand that. There is no way it can be predicted and in fact the Spanish weather agency is not good at even getting a 3 day forecast accurate.

http://www.weatherwizkids.com/weather-climate.htm

IMO, Sevilla was one of my most favorite towns in Spain and would make a good base to see Cordoba and Granada, then Malaga to see Antequera and Nerja. I would not want to spend 1 week in Malaga, I would shorten the stay there and perhaps extend it in another town instead. Dependent on where you are coming from in Portugal, if Lisbon, then perhaps going straight into Sevilla would be best, vs having to go up into Madrid, then come down south. You'll have to research the best connections and route times to determine the most practical route. Have a great trip, Spain is wonderful!

Thank you for your suggestions....we will be going to Spain for 3 weeks before Portugal. I like the idea of Seville for a week. We should probably end there before we head to Portugal. Do you suggest starting in Malaga for 4 or 5 nights? What itinerary do you suggest for the first 2 weeks? I don’t want to move around too much either.

Many here don't cotton to Gibraltar much but I actually loved it - could be a day trip from Malaga - just seeing the Rock is imposing sight and those pesky little tail-less apes - you can climb the rock or take people movers up there. And the town itself is a time trip - kind of an old British town with pubs and greasy cafes and even a large English supermarket last time I was there. If coming by bus weirdly we had to get off on the Spanish side and hoof it across the airport tarmac as buses then and now I think are not allowed by Spain to go into Gibraltar - something about their long spat about sovereignty of The Rock. Anyway for something very weird and different.

Hi kakathy: Malaga is nice but not sure if you want 4-5 days there unless you're making that your base to see those other 2 towns you mentioned. Like PalenQ commented, Gibraltar is a fun diversion. We stayed in Gibraltar for a day/night 1 year ago enroute from Tarifa to Malaga. Indeed, it's a quirky spot of Britain in Spain and yes, you have to stop at La Linea to get into Gibraltar (customs office at "border"). Once in Gibraltar, you can see fabulous views from The Rock over the Strait of Gibraltar into North Africa, etc. The views alone (despite the pesky Barbary apes) were worth our brief sojourn there. You could add Gibraltar to your cities to see around Malaga. Malaga being on the coast is not a direct connection to say, Madrid, so if you are flying into Madrid then it would make sense to go south directly to Sevilla first, then bus (or train) to Malaga. However, if flying into Barcelona, you could take a train down the coast to Malaga and start there, then work your way over to Sevilla. We took only public transportation while we were in Spain and it worked out fine. We saw everything we wanted to see and it was quite convenient. Here's my Spain trip report if you want some additional ideas: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...nager-1656144/

Would it be better to stay in Antequera for 4-5 nights rather than Malaga? What day trips are essential to see from Malaga? Nerja, Ronda...? I’d like to give Cordoba and Granada a few days each and Seville about a week. Just not sure how to use the other 7 or 8 days. We then will go to Portugal afterwards.

Nerja is very much a Brits playground. Plus the sea is polluted. I have said that before!
Visiting Gib may or may not be difficult after Brexit. The outlook is not good and the moment.
What do you mean better? There are pluses to both. Maybe in my opinion Antequera is a lot more of historical/country sites which can be visited then Málaga.
Maybe for suggestions of day trips should wait until YOU have made a choice.

We lived in a small town 30kms north of Malagá for almost a year and used it as a base to visit many other parts of Andalusia and so know the region reasonably well.

We spent several long weekends in Malagá and loved it. Great food, museums and a nice place to just chill and wander. How long you should allocate depends upon your interests and how you want to spend your time, I would certain be ok with staying there for 4-5 night

The closest town to where we were living was Antequera, a very pleasant small town which has the advantage of being a sort of hub for the train system making it easy to link to other cities. However, pleasant though it undoubtedly is, it is pretty quiet and I would not allocate anymore than a 2/3 days at most, unless using it as a base to visit other locations. Sights worth seeing nearby, assuming you are into a bit of walking, include ElCaminto Del Rey and El Torcal - we bloggged about the former @ https://accidentalnomads.com/2017/05...del-rey-spain/ both have stunning scenery.



Sevilla deserves a larger proportion of your time, a wonderful city. We preferred Jerez to Cadiz which I would probably limit to a day trip and try to schedule when there are no cruise ships due to dock!

Córdoba deserves two or maybe even three days and Granada about the same. I really would not bother with Nerja.

Basically, I think the itinerary you started with would be fine if you dropped a few days from Malagá and Sevilla

With the exception of Sevilla a rental car would help a lot in increasing your options and flexibility. One option would be to take a Paradores route. We used this company Routes | Paradores de Turismo to do a "route of the nasrids" which covered Ubeda, Jaen and Cazorla staying half board in a castle, a hunting lodge and a palace. Surprisingly affordable given thequality of the food and accomodation.

Anyway, just a few thoughts..

We enjoyed Malaga, a much under-rated city in my opinion. Its location on the Mediterranean is beautiful, and it was so nice to experience some coastal ambience. The promenade along the port is lovely, and we enjoyed drinks overlooking the port while watching the sunset. There is a lot to do in Malaga itself. Do you have a guidebook? There are quite a few museums; we visited the very interesting Picasso Museum. We also walked up through the Alcazaba, which was beautiful with ruins, flowers, greenery, small fountains and patios, and stunning views of the Mediterranean. We also visited the castle ruins, the cathedral, the indoor market, etc. There are lots of restaurants and cafes in the beautiful city center. We were there for only 2 nights, but would have enjoyed more nights.

Many people on Fodor's have really enjoyed Malaga.

I like the idea of the El Caminito del Rey... we enjoy hiking and we tend to do a lot of walking when we travel and wandering around in a city. I’m not overly comfortable with heights. Is that s big concern on this walk? Looks gorgeous and I’d love to try it. I am also interested in the Paradores route. I didn’t see the route of the nasrids....what were the prices of the half board?

It was 2-3 years ago we did that trip but from what I recall it cost around £400, say 500 usd for three nights half board. They don’t appear to offer that trip anymore, at least not that I could find. This seven day trip is the closest I could find Route of the Andalusí Legacy II | Paradores de Turismo

It is of course possible just to book the individual paradores either B&B or half board.

That is the company we used to book but there are others. I am semi thinking of heading back there maybe in December so if I find anything I will try and remember to post here.

The Caminito Del Rey does involve walking along board walks high above the gorge as you will see on our blog link above. I really don’t like heights either but was fine with this walk as it is well built with high safety fences. When we first visited a few years previously it consisted of derelict woooden platforms with large sections were missing. Some idiots were leaping over the gaps! Really made me cringe!

Don’t miss El Torcal , a beautiful wild area with wild rock formations and great views ( no heights!)

I meant to add that you need to reserve El Caminito Del Rey places a few weeks in advance as it does get booked up and numbers are strictly controlled

If we wanted to do both Caminito del Rey and El Torcal , would it be a better option to stay in Antequera as a home base for 4-5 days rather than Malaga? Or if we stay in Malaga, can we take public transport to these areas?

Again, for public transportation options, consult rome2rio.com