Three ladies are flying into Madrid the first week of June for about 9 days. We were thinking of 2 days in Madrid, then on to Toledo for the day and night, pick up a car and drive to Seville by way of Cordoba. Now, we need help. We are flying out of Malaga. We want to see Gibralta, Tangiers, and the Alhambra, of course. Any suggestions on how to space that out and where to stay so we aren't hopping so much?

too many places; do a search on this forum using Spain as a search word; read the threads; listen to the advice

Leave out Gibraltar and Tangier and you should be fine, though a little too much driving for my taste.

There is so much advice here I agree. Not trying to be difficult, just do a search as advised & you will find alot of info.

I agree forget Gibraltar & Tangiers this time around.

Personally I would need more info about you: Ages, where you live & can you tell us what interests you?

I can't advise you on your particular plans but, if it's helpful, can offer a taste of our itinerary last week.

Spent 8 nights in Spain (flew in on an overnight flight but that night doesn't count).

Night 1: Granada - toured the Alhambra the next morning and took a 4:30 p.m. train to Seville (3 hours)
Nights 2, 3, 4: Seville. Sufficient time to tour Seville including Italica on the outskirts. Could have done Cordoba for a half day on the AVE but husband preferred Italica. Left early the morning of Day 5 for Marbella stopping Ronda on the way.
Nights 5,6,7: Marbella for a business conference. Got there late on Day 5. Day 6 relaxed in morning and then did afternoon tour to Gibraltar (which we really liked). Day 7: hung out by the pool. Guess we could have gone to Tangiers but it was nice to relax. Flew home from Malaga.

I think you are trying to do too much. Our trip was busy and we have teenagers so didn't spend as much time as three ladies might when we visited certain sights. Visited no art museums.

So I think you need to decide what you most want to do.

1. Fotget about driving Madrid-Sevilla; take an AVE and book a car rental at Renfe Santa Justa in Sevilla. But you shouldn't need a car until you're departing Sevilla.

2. Scratch Tangier; IMHO it would be a wasted day, and with 9-days you don't have any to waste.

3. 2-days isn't enough for Madrid especially if it's your Port of Entry after a TransAtlantic flight

hi char,

a really good starting point would be maribel's guides - search this forum for maribel and the link will soon come up.

she's just been contributing to a thread about granada which you may find interesting.

for myself, I agree wholeheartedly that you are trying to do too much in 9 days.

IMO a better plan would be this:

4 nights Madrid [allows for jetlag and a day-trip to Toledo]

AVE train to Seville - stay 3 nights.

pick up car - drive to Cordoba, tour the town, drive to Granada. - stay 2 nights. tour the alhambra, both day and night tours [book now!]

drive to Malaga [about 3 hours from Granada]

go home.

you could take a night off Madrid and spend a night in Malaga.

regards, ann

May I suggest more than 2 days in Madrid. Four days would be better.

Thanks for all of your advice. I really wanted to see Gibraltar. How hard is it to navigate on the buses?

I thought you were renting a car--with buses 9 days shrinks even more. I have never heard anything good about Gibraltar I have to say.

Without a car, you take a day trip to Toledo by train, then from Madrid train to Sevilla, stopping for an afternoon in Cordoba, then train or bus to Granada from Sevilla, then probably bus to Malaga for your last night. That is what you have time for at the very most!

Has anyone rode the ferry to Morocco? We have the name of a guide. What about dropping Toledo in favor of Morocco?

And the link to Maribel's Guides is, thankfully (so that I can easily remember it): www.maribelsguides.com. Get the guides for Madrid and Sevilla for sure. She is working on a guide to Granada but it not likely be posted by the time you leave; as mentioned above, she has contributed to great, recent, thread on Granada that is full of wonderful info about the city.

Nine days is not a long time. Annhig's suggestions sound good to me. I have to echo the call to drop Morocco. Spent two weeks there some years back and the bits you would get to see would not do the country justice. Like going to the border town of Tijuana and saying you've been to Mexico.

Would definitely take the AVE south over driving. (Good thread about how to book on Renfe website recently.)

We are spending about 12 days in Spain in September -- we have friends in Madrid, so spending more time there than others might -- but we are basically doing this:
Arrive Madrid Thursday, another in party arrives Friday afternoon. Madrid for weekend;
AVE to Sevilla on Sunday (stopping in Cordoba for the afternoon);
Renting an apt (check out Sevilla5.com for great apt and hotel info) for three nights in Sevilla;
Renting car in Sevilla, driving through Ronda, spending one night in Nerja (got to see the Med while there!);
One night in Granada (concerned about not having enough time there, but researching and taking steps to make every moment count);
Driving back to Madrid on Friday;
final weekend in Madrid with a day trip to Segovia on Sunday.

Even with 12 days, I this will not be a relaxed trip; lots to see and do in the time we are there; and certainly, lots of tapas to eat and glasses of vino to drink. I wish I could help with info about getting to Gibraltar -- if you search on the forum you should be able to find some tips. It does help that you are flying into Madrid and out of Malaga.

Good luck with your trip planning! And, of course, have fun!

Having been to Spain almost a dozen times, here are our favorites and suggested time frames: Madrid (3 days); a day trip to Segovia (train). Segovia is probably one of our favorite small towns in Spain, and doesn't attract the dozens of tour groups (buses) that Toledo experiences.

Then picking up rental car, visit Toledo on the way out of Madrid (rental car), perhaps stay one nite in the Parador there. Drive south to Andalucia, stopping off for 3-4 hours in Cordoba. Driving on, two nights in Seville. From Seville, visit Ronda (perhaps even overnite there), then on to the Costa del Sol. By the way Malaga is a huge city, well over a million people; so, get a good map and know where you're going. Granada is an overnite trip from Malaga, or a VERY LONG day trip; the Alhambra in Granada is a "must see." Gibralter was a MAJOR disappointment for us, taking two hours to cross the border, abundant fish/chip cafes, and dozens of discount/cheap shopping goods (all imports from China); plus, having to convert our Euros to British pounds for the few hours we were there. Yuck...look at "the rock" but skip traveling over the border onto it!

Our last recommendation would be to stay in one or more of the Spanish (government-run) parador hotels. They are are wonderful and memorable Spanish experiences. Some of our favorite paradors are in: Segovia, Granada, Carmona (near Seville), Ronda, Nerja (near Malaga).

Ole!

DROPPING TOLEDO IN FAVOR OF MOROCCO? GOOD LORD, YOU DO NEED ADVICE!!!!!

If by Morocco, you meant Tangier, then you definitely need to get hold of a guidebook and recalibrate your expectations. Tangier is not representative of Morocco and you will be wasting your time on a dirty port town with little of quaint or cultural. You have received this advice consistently on this thread and you seemed set on doing it regardless, so best of luck with that one.... Gibraltar I do understand; it is mildly interesting. Not much more can be said about Gibraltar.

My advice to you is that you spend 4 days in Madrid with two day trips; Toledo and Segovia/Avila. To save on logistics, take a guided bus tour; leave the logistics to the experts when you do not have the luxury of leisure tome to figure it on your own. Toledo can be done as a half-day tour so you get the access to the sites without staying in line for tickets and stay the afternoon to wander on your own, return by train.

Take the AVE train from the Atocha Station to Seville, at least two days to explore (DO NOT MISS BARRIO DE SANTA CRUZ, nice paella with Sangria at Cafe Alianza, GREAT beef stew at Hostal Restaurante Hosteria del Laurel near Plaza de los Venerables). One day rent a car and take in Cordova or Granada. For Granada, you need to solidify your plans if going to the Alhambra as advance tickets are a MUST in June (May tickets sold out by early May).

One night in Granada (concerned about not having enough time there, but researching and taking steps to make every moment count); >>

hi molly, I echo the advice to book the alhambra visit as far in advance as possible. it really doesn't matter which time slot you get as once you've got your ticket, you can enter the grounds at any time that morning or afternoon. [the morning slots are better IMO as you could in theory stay all day; the pm ones you can't enter til the beginning of the afternoon].

The time on your ticket is for entry to the nasrid palace itself - you have 30 minutes from the time you've got to arrive at the entrance to the palace.

as for the evening visits, I urge you to do that as well. When we visited in November, we weren't gonig to bother, but finding ourselves at a loose end, we decided we would and it was a revelation. the gardens are lovely in the dark, and the palaces [the only building they let you into] are so beautiful at night. also they limit the nos. of visitors far more at night so you get a much better chance to look around.

so with only one night there, I'd book a night visit, and a morning visit the next day. the rest of Granada is interesting but this will maximise your time there, IMO.

we stayed at the hotel guadelupe which is right opoosite the alhambra, has a reasonable restaurant [the coda de toro was very good, though they were a little surprised when we said that we eat it at home in the UK! - it's oxtail stew!], does a good breakfast, and has a discount on parking in tehalhambra car park opposite. Also ,to get there you don't need to drive throguh granada - you stay on the ring road and follow signs to the alhambra.

Char - I can only re-enforce what others have said about Gib [a waste of time] and Tangier/morocco [ditto if you've only got one day].

you will have a much better time if you restrict yourselves to madrid and andalucia.

regards, ann

Char, I agree with all these guys.
Great advice.

But You have not really said what interests you ladies...art? What?

Your wishlist is doable but hurried. Buy your Alhambra tix early, and try Granada first then move west towards Seville. Im not impressed with Madrid(dust, noise, crime) or the coast(touristy but loaded w/natural beauty). However, Granada, Cordoba and Seville are well worth the hurried pace.

The first part of your trip seems to be in order (Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba and Sevilla) and I would continue with that itinerary. The last part of the trip, Malaga, Granada, Tangiers and Gibraltar is easier. I recommend staying in Benalmadena, Mijas, or Fuengirola; any town along the Costa del Sol west of the Malaga airport. This will give you easy access to the major highways that lead to Granada and Gibraltar/Tangiers. I would suggest arriving at the Alhambra early in the morning (no later than 10am)to beat the heat and dry air of the afternoon.