Spain March 31- April 12
 

Hi there:<BR><BR>I need your input on iteneary...We arrive to Madrid March 31...Below are our preliminary plans:<BR><BR>Madrid - March 31, April 1 (2 nights)<BR>Toledo- April 2-3 (one night)<BR>Cordoba - April 3 (one night)<BR>Seville - April 4-5 (2 nights)<BR>After Seville my plans are not as clear...We would like to vistit Ronda and some picturescue places in the mountains, also Gibraltar and one day trip to Afrika and spend a day or two on the beach on the Costa del Sol. It seems to me that our final stop will be in Malaga, we plan to leave Malaga on train April 11 late afternoon, arrive to Madrid late evening and leave to the US of A next day (April 12).<BR><BR>Any comments ?

Jake: I think you're trying to do too much in too short time. You'll be spending all your time packing and unpacking and moving into and out of hotels. I think you'd probably enjoy your trip a lot more if you pick out 3 or 4 places and spend a few days in each to savor them. If you do a search on this site, you'll see that there are many negative posts about Gibraltar (and, of course, some positive ones) and the days trips to Africa are pretty uniformly panned as selling ops. The best advice I rec'd for my first trip to Spain was to cut down the number of destinations and I was glad I did. Go to a bookstore or library and look through a travel guide to Spain (southern Spain might be best) and pick a few of the cities that appeal most to you to concentrate on. Also, I think you're talking about being there on Easter and that is a BIG holiday in Spain. If you don't already have reservations, esp. in Seville, you might not be able to get them and you'll likely have to pay a lot more for whatever you get. Try searching this site for info on Spain; there have been a number of discussions about hotel prices during Semana Santa, as well as the festivities.<BR>Good luck.

It looks pretty good, but I would use only two home bases in Andalucia; Seville (from where to head out for a day trip to Cordova) and one more a bit to the southeast coast (Marbella?).

<BR>You can do Toledo as a day trip from Madrid. You can also take an early train from Madrid, stop at Cordoba for part of the day, and continue on to Seville. I had considered Gibraltar, but decided on Granada; the Alhambra is incredibly beautiful. Forget a day trip to Afrika (Morocco); not worth it. There are so many other places in southern Spain more enjoyable. I second Rhonda.

Jake, I'd agree with the posters above that you should try to minimize the number of times you move around. All that checking in/out, packing and repacking.<BR><BR>From Madrid, you can take the bus (or train) out to Toledo, takes about an hour. The buses were more frequent and I think cheaper than the train so check both options.<BR><BR>From Seville, you can take the AVE train to Cordoba, maybe even stop there on your way from Madrid to Seville as suggested, if there's a place to store luggage.<BR><BR>We made a base in Torremolinos in the Costa del Sol and did daytrips to Gibraltar, Ronda, Tangier and Granada. We liked our hotel but didn't really spend any time there. The beaches weren't that great in Torremolinos and the water too cold to swim in.<BR><BR>Try to fit Granada, to visit the Alhambra, in your itinerary. We did it as a organized bus trip from the Costa del Sol but I would have prefered to spend more time there than they allowed and would drive if I went back. I think you can arrange for Alhambra tickets in advance now which might be a good idea if you do it on a day trip from the Costa del Sol.<BR><BR>I'd recommend passing on the day trip to Tangier Morocco. It took all day (from 5 am to about 10pm), most of which was transport via bus and ferry. They herd groups of people through the town all day long, stopping at the designated photo ops with snakes and camels and a visit to the carpet store. I didn't find it interesting and I suspect that it's nothing like the rest of Morocco.<BR><BR>Opinions are mixed on Gibraltar but I enjoyed our visit there. If you end up renting a car, park it on the Spanish side and walk over or you'll spend the good part of your day in line to get in/out. When we were there, everything closed early on Saturday and seemed to be closed on Sunday so try to pick a weekday for your visit. <BR><BR>The drive up to Ronda was very nice, be sure to plan it for daylight hours and the roads are quite winding and steep.

Ohhh, don't bother going to Tangier, maybe consider going to Casablanca or something. <BR>Sevilla or even Jerez (45 minutes to Sevilla by car or train) would make a wonderful "home base". Gibralter is great but be advised that the border is often closed for a few hours at a time due to the feuding Spanish/British over the ownership of Gib. For party fun, try Torremelinos in the providence of Malaga. Forgot the name but check out the aquarium dance floor club. Have fun!!

As one who packs in lots of travel and sightseeing in a very short time, (and does not pack lightly)I would agree that you should go with your itinerary. I am in my early 40's and live in NYC and I would say that the three musuems in Madrid are really the only reason to spend a lot of time in Madrid. Since Madrid will always be there (although after the WTC disaster, I hesistate to say that), I would explore the other areas of Spain. I have been to Spain about three times and always rented a car. Toledo is well worth the trip. Even though it is a day trip from Madrid, spend the night. Gibraltar is worth doing again as an overnight. The rock is not worth the hype, but you are there so see it. I like Spain very much, but have to mention that I have only been there in January when it is not crowded with the hoards. We are not beach people, so the cultural aspects are what appealed to us. I got my kitchen tiles in Spain. We never did pop over to Morocco. I would second not trying to combine Spain and Morocco. I have not been to Morocco, but I have been to Egypt, which I am told is similiar to Morocco in many ways. <BR>Feel free to send me an e-mail, if you want more details about staying in reasonable places in Spain. <BR>[email protected]<BR><BR>Caren

We just were in Spain in October. I would recommend Costa Del Sol, Ronda and Seville. Forget about Morroco or Gilbrater, not worth it. Spain is beautiful, the food and people wonderful. Have a great time!

I would probably do Sevilla-Jerez (two nights, day trip to Cadiz by train, bus or car ) and then would take the route of the white villages: Jerez, Arcos , Zahara, Grazalema and Ronda ( 1 night at San Gabriel, the Parador or Casona de la Ciudad). Then 2 more nights in Marbella/Estepona with possible day trip to Gibraltar. I would strongly recommend you not to do Tangier trip, it is not a satisfying Moroccan experience. Can not compare with Fes, Marrakech, Xauen or Essaouira.