I am having a very hard time deciding between whether to spend a semester in Seville or Granada to improve my Spanish. I have narrowed it down to a CIEE Seville or AIFS Granada program. I have tried making a list of what I think I like about each and so far here's what I have come up with:

Seville: Bigger city so more things to do/see, slightly easier to get to, slightly warmer in the fall/winter, has better access to other cities in Spain and Europe
Granada: Smaller but more intimate, close to the beach, free tapas, easier city to get to know well

In terms of the programs themselves, I would be taking most classes in Spanish and a one or two in English at an international center with CIEE, while with AIFS I would be taking all classes in Spanish at the University of Granada. I am not sure how the class difficulty compares at an American university compared to a Spanish one. In both cases I would be doing a homestay and living with a Spanish family. I would like to travel to a few other cities in Europe during my semester, and it seems like that would be easier to do from Seville since the closet major airport to Granada is Malaga. Another thing I am concerned about is would there be enough to do in Granada for four months? I understand the Alhambra is a major must-see sight and there's a few others. Either way I keep flipping back and forth between the two cities.

Would anyone be willing to offer their insight/experiences into what I should do? Thank you!

Granada is over 700 metres above sea level. Seville is almost at sea level. That difference means on average you'll see roughly a 5 C degree temperature difference.

I doubt you'll be spending a huge amount of time at the beach. Even the warmer parts of Spain will be rainy during the winter. I wouldn't put too much weight on the beach.

Seville is bigger but it's not huge. In either case you'll basically be worried about your neighbourhood not the whole metro area.

Personally I like Seville better but if you're thinking four months with trips out I would put ease of travel at the top.

Check the schedules from the Renfe train website. Check who flies from Seville. You may find out your favorite cities aren't direct flights. Or you may be lucky

I"d probably do Seville because it is easier to travel to other places from there.

Are you sure you are going to be taking regular university classes? I thought AIFS only had special programs for foreigners, so yes, they will be in Spanish but they aren't the same classes regular students take and you can't compare the difficulty of university classes to US universities for that reason. Obviously, Spanish speakers don't need to be taking Spanish language classes. Those are special programs only for foreign students to take who are not actually enrolled university students.

So you can't compare them to the US, but you could maybe compare them to CIEE. What classes are you taking in English at CIEE? I know AIFS has some option of just some language/culture classes for these special students that is in English. I don't see the point except to spend time abroad, I guess, I wouldn't think any university would give you credit for those.

If you are expecting college credit for this, I'd consider that factor, also, if you would actually get any for either one. If that isn't an issue, and you just want the experience and to improve Spaniosh, obviously, I wouldn't choose a program in English.

Have never been to Granada, but we LOVED our 5-night stay in Seville. I'd choose it.

I would choose Sevilla but my son, when traveling during a semester abroad, visited Granada to ski.It depends upon your interests. You really can't go wrong.

Thank you everyone for the responses. To answer some of the questions, I believe the Spanish Grammar courses at the University of Granada are perhaps a special program, but the other courses and electives that are in Spanish are just regular classes. The CIEE class in English that is required by the program is called CIEE Intercultural Communication and Leadership. Unfortunately most of the interesting electives that I found are also in English. Another downside I see is that with CIEE, you are mostly always with other American students rather than Spanish students or even just international students.

If there’s no downside, I’d choose Seville in a heartbeat. I liked Granada but I loved Seville.

For what it’s worth, a colleague’s daughter spent 4 months in Seville for studies and adored it.

I did CIEE in Seville and had the time of my life. I think Granada would also be a great choice. You can't go wrong with either. Both are special places. I had a friend who studied in Granada and loved it. My heart will always be in Seville though.