Spain Andalusia Itinerary Advice

Old Oct 18th, 2016, 11:58 AM
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Spain Andalusia Itinerary Advice

Hi Guys,
Me and my wife(late 20s) are planning a week long trip to Andalusia Spain at end of October(very excited!).This is out first time going to Spain so looking for some advice on our planned itinerary, to make sure we make the most of our trip. We know its not enough time, but we can only do a week for this trip.
Following is our plan:

Day 1: Land in Madrid early morning, spend some time in Madrid then take a train(2.5 hours) to Seville in the afternoon
Day 2: Spend the whole day in Seville sightseeing
Day 3: Pickup rental car from Seville and do a day trip driving to Ronda/surrounding areas and return to Seville. Seville-Ronda seems to be around 2 hours by car.
Day 4: Drive Seville to Cordoba in the morning and spend the night there. Drive time 1.5-2 hours.
Day 5: Drive Cordoba to Granada early morning and spend the night there. Drive time 2-2.5 hours.
Day 6: Spend the day in Granada then take the train back to Madrid in the Afternoon, spend night in Madrid
Day 7: Returning flight from Madrid in the afternoon

We were planning to spend our last night in Granada as well, but looks like there isn't any direct train from Granada to Madrid, we have to go through Malaga/Cordoba and it would take around 5 hours by train. Our very long returning flight leaves at noon from Madrid, so decided to spend the last night in Madrid to make it easier for our return journey.

One thing I wasn't sure about was to spend the night at Cordoba or not.
We could just drive from Seville to Cordoba, spend a few hours in Cordoba and then just drive to Granada to spend the night there. Not sure if there would be enough to see/do in Cordoba to warrant spending the night there, or we are better off spending more time in Granada.

Another thing was that on Day 6, since there isn't a direct train from Granada to Madrid, since it goes through Malaga, maybe we can stop in Malaga and spend sometime there before catching our train to Madrid.
But from looking around on this forum, it might be better to spend more time in Granada than in Malaga, considering we are already short on time.
Another option could also be leaving early on Day 6 from Granada to spend sometime in Toledo, on our way to Madrid.

Any advice/suggestion will be appreciated.
Thanks!
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Old Oct 18th, 2016, 01:02 PM
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This seems like a lot for just 1 week - you'll be able to hit some highlights, but you'll definitely be on the move. I wouldn't add any more destinations to the list - otherwise, as soon as you arrive, you'll be leaving. If it was my trip, I think I'd add a day to Seville. Depending on how you do with jet lag, you may not be fully with it for your day in Seville.

When I visited Cordoba last year, I had 2 nights there and felt like that was a decent visit, although I could have easily spent longer. Of course, it depends on your level of interest and your travel style. I loved Cordoba.
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Old Oct 18th, 2016, 01:20 PM
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Answer from an old guy whose last overseas trip was Madrid-Andalucia two years ago. Loved it. No comment on your travel route as we were on escorted tour. But a reminder of that wonderful Prado Museum plus Royal Palace and needing more time to enjoy Madrid. Do check comments/advice in Fodors from past Spain travelers. We've shared reports. Must mention fascinating flamenco performances. Yes, I also say more time Cordoba with its immense La Mezquita and much charm.
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Old Oct 18th, 2016, 01:39 PM
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Two things:

Sevilla to Córdoba is some 42 mins by the high speed AVE train.

Give a bit more time to wonderful Córdoba, the most advanced city in the western world some thousand years ago. A well worth destination with world class sights and great atmosphere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfGdpF55Uk
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Old Oct 18th, 2016, 09:01 PM
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My thoughts:

Consider skipping Ronda (your itinerary is, IMO, too ambitious to include it) and using trains rather than a rental car (which could easily be an encumbrance, rather than an asset, for the locations you plan to visit.

Definitely spend the last night of your trip in the city nearest your departure airport.

I loved Cordoba in the evening and thought it well worth 2 full nights / 2 full days. I often think about how much people who visit only as a day trip miss.

Consider taking a bus from Granada to Madrid. Buses in Spain are, IME, comfortable and convenient. You can get some preliminary info from rome2rio.com, but warning: that source is good, but not authoritative.

IMO, you don’t have time for Toledo. Think of ways to trim your itinerary, not ways to add to it.

You'll see some wonderful things no matter what you choose -- just make sure you actually have some time to, well, see them!
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Old Oct 18th, 2016, 09:59 PM
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This is my suggestion. It will be very rushed and tight, but doable, and you can survive the pace for such a short time.

Day 1, Arrive Madrid early. Don't bother stashing luggage to do a few hours in Madrid. Go straight to Córdoba. You will be jet lagged and tired, so save La Mezquita for day 2. Spend the afternoon and evening walking and exploring Córdoba, having dinner and relaxing.
Day 2, Tour La Mezquita as early as possible, train to Seville (about an hour) Afternoon and evening, Seville.
Day 3, Seville
Day 4, Seville in the morning, travel to Granada in afternoon (rental car, train, not sure which is best. Others will have up to date advice). Book tickets ahead for evening at the Alhambra.
Day 5, Morning at the Alhambra. Travel to Madrid in the afternoon.
Day 6, Madrid
Day 7, depart for home.
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Old Oct 18th, 2016, 10:04 PM
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Oh, in case it wasn't clear. Take the train from Madrid to Córdoba, train from Córdoba to Seville.
On day 6, in Madrid, you could do a quick 1/2 day trip to Toledo, about 30 minutes each way by train. Depends on what you want to see in Madrid. If at all interested in Art, the Prado is one of the great museums in the world.
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Old Oct 19th, 2016, 06:18 AM
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Do Cordoba as a day trip from Seville and cut Ronda.

4 nights in Seville and 3 in Granada.

You could do a half day in Carmona (as a day trip from Seville).
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Old Oct 19th, 2016, 06:33 AM
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I also would spend more time in Madrid, make Cordoba a day trip and cut out Ronda. Here is our 2015 Spain report (with tons of photos). Since you are not going to Barcelona, start with Chapter Six (Granada). Have a great trip!

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/spain-2015/

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Old Oct 19th, 2016, 06:56 AM
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I think Sassafrass' plan is very good.

One tip for each city:

Córdoba. Have dinner in Taberna Salinas from 1879. Typical regional food, mentioned in the Michelin guide, yet very affordable. And in the midst of very charming and local atmosphere Roman Córdoba just north of the Mezquita area: http://www.tabernasalinas.com/
https://www.viamichelin.com/web/Rest...s-219683-41102

Sevilla. See top of the shelf flamenco in either Casa de la Memória or La Casa del Flamenco. Only great artists perform here. Intimate venues, no food, no drinks, just 60 minutes real deal flamenco. A great intro to the quintessential Andalucian artform: http://www.casadelamemoria.es/
http://www.lacasadelflamencosevilla.com/

Granada. The Cathedral and the Capilla real (Royal chapel), the history of both is directly linked to Alhambra and the end of Moorish Spain. See my comments in http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...in-granada.cfm

Madrid. Dinner in Casa Alberto from 1827. Traditional food with a modern touch. One "sol" in the Guia Repsol, the Spanish equivalent to the Michelin guide, yet very affordable (some 35€ pp.). Outstanding Jamón Ibérico (Iberian ham). A great tapas bar in front of the restaurant. Just off vibrant Plaza Santa Ana and close to much of the best live venues (jazz, flamenco) and nightlife in town. http://www.casaalberto.es/en/
https://www.guiarepsol.com/es/gastro...-casa-alberto/
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Old Oct 19th, 2016, 10:34 AM
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I agree with most everything so far, Ronda has some nice country views but you would be sacrificing valuable time in more exciting and interesting places. I'm biased and would spend 4 nights in Sevilla with a daytrip to Cordoba but you can't go wrong with a night or two in Cordoba. Malaga is also another unique Andalucian city and you can take the high speed train back to Madrid easily. Public transportation is so good and cars are a major hassle in all of those cities (except Malaga). The only reason to rent a car is if you had extra time you could pick one up at the Seville train station, drive towards Ronda and be able to stop in the really small white towns where buses don't run often, I don't think you have time. The "white villages" are quaint but not much going on. I think you'll be surprised, you're trying to pack a lot into a short amount of time.
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Old Oct 19th, 2016, 05:32 PM
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Here is my suggestion, keeping in mind that you are in your twenties, and you still have plenty of time for the old geezer stuff (BTW, I will be sixty in January)

Day 1. Pickup car in Madrid, drive to Orpesa (210 kms). Overnight at the Parador

Day2. Drive from Orpoesa to Seville, via Guadalupe, Merida. Check out Merida, see if like it.

Two or three nights in Seville. Stay at a hotel with parking ( for example Eurostar Regina)

Day trips from Seville to Ronda (since you are in your twenties, google "via ferrata Ronda")

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ronda...l7oMKHY8vDe0Qs

or day trip to Cordoba.

You have three or four nights left, and , if you followed the consensus, should have seen a couple of cathedrals, churches, alcazars, etc. If you need to see more, decide about Granada, Toledo, otherwise throw a dart at a road map, or go back to Merida, or go to Malaga or head into Sherry triangle.

Eight days is plenty.
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Old Oct 19th, 2016, 07:03 PM
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IMO, several people have done their best to say, OK -- given what you said, how could you make that work? I applaud their efforts, but would suggest a different approach, one based on the time you might actually want to spend in each place. No right or wrong answers -- just your call about what you want to see and experience, your preferred pace, and your willingness balance THIS trip against possible FUTURE trips. As a specific example, I think sassafrass gave you a great option IF that's what you want, but it's a plan that I, personally, would find way too fast and therefore deeply unsatisfying. Your call!

FWIW, I never assume a return, so when I plan a trip, I want to make sure I have time for the places I include. In doing so, I don't necessarily include the cities into which or out of which I fly in these calculations -- they are the ones I can most easily revisit, so I always consider short-changing them if necessary -- so I, personally, would "easily" short-change Madrid (and cut Toledo) because I would rather see at least a bit more than the very limited list of so-called "must-sees" that have seem to creep into every guidebook and travelers' forum, and if that means skipping a place entirely -- for now -- sobeit. JMO.

If there is any chance that you will have jet lag, then please don't consider picking up a rental car immediately upon arrival, instead giving yourself at least a day or two to recover. Although many people are not aware of it, driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourselves and others -- as driving drunk. And the chief problem -- microsleeps -- are something you might not even be aware of and that you cannot prevent, not with caffeine or sleep on your flight or anything else.

Good luck!
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Old Oct 19th, 2016, 07:25 PM
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Cdynul really has offered a fun and interesting itinerary. S2t2 did ask about Madrid, Córdoba, Seville and Granada, and unless he added time to the trip, and I missed it, he has nowhere close to 8 days. He really has only 5 full days and 2 half days, one of which will be their first, jet lagged afternoon, and the last will be the morning of the day they are checking out and heading to the airport for their flight.
Day 1, arrive and get to first stop
Day 2,3,4,5,6 touring/sightseeing
Day 7, an hour travel to airport, be there about 90 minutes before flight (or longer). They may have a few hours, depending on flight time.

I also do not recommend, even a young person, picking up a car immediately after a transcontinental flight and driving 2 hours on unfamiliar roads.
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Old Oct 20th, 2016, 09:18 AM
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Hi Guys,
Thanks a lot for all the responses and suggestions.

But yes I think we are packing a lot already in our plan, so we will not be adding any other places to our itinerary, and will look into skipping some place.

I like kja's point, that we shouldn't focus on the city we are flying in/out of, which in this case is Madrid. Since that is much easier to get to, so we can spend some time there during some other trip in the region. So for this trip we should focus on spending more time in the Andalusia region instead.

As others have said above, it might be easier to take trains between the places, so I'm checking that if we end up skipping Ronda from our itinerary, maybe its better to take the trains instead. Comparing the costs/times.
As for driving with jetlag, right now we are planning to get the rental car on our third day in Spain, so I think that should give us enough time to recover from that. Plus the drives don't seem very long either (~2 hours), compared to North America.
But one more reason to get a car instead of trains was just to do a sort of road trip in South of Spain, and we thought that might be fun, stopover at some interesting places, see some other sights of this area.

Very interesting suggestions from Cdynul. via ferrata Ronda seems very cool. I'll check the other places you've mentioned as well.

Thanks guys.
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Old Oct 20th, 2016, 05:24 PM
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BTW, you don't need a rental car to see Ronda -- bus to or from Sevilla; train to or from Granada. As noted above, you can get an idea of your options from rome2rio.com

The high-speed trains in Spain are incredibly fast, convenient, and comfortable. For that part of the country, and the time you have, I personally would opt for the trains when possible and buses when not. YMMV. If you are leaning toward a rental car, make sure you know what you are going to do with it when in cities and how much it will cost to park it.
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