ccrosner

When we learned that my husband’s firm was planning its annual meeting in Marbella, Spain in mid-May 2008, we decided to use the opportunity to take our children (ages 11 ½ and 14) to visit Granada, Seville, Ronda, Gibraltar and Marbella. They have been studying Spanish since 1st grade so their school was amenable to giving them the week off.

I planned the trip using my two favorite planning websites: Tripadvisor and Fodors. My thanks to all who offered advice and helped me tweak our itinerary. I booked our two hotels directly with the hotels (through email or online directly) but gained insights from reviews on TA as well as Venere.com. Overall, I would say that our planning was quite good although I would have preferred longer stays in both Seville and Granada and wished we’d had time for a day trip to Cordoba.

Here’s our basic itinerary

Day 1: Travel to Granada from Boston
Day 2: Granada and travel to Seville
Day 3, 4: Seville
Day 5: Ronda and travel to Marbella
Day 6, 7: Marbella for meeting with ½ day trip to Gibraltar
Day 8: Travel home

Hotels:

Granada – Hotel Guadalupe
Seville – Best Western Cervantes
Marbella – Hotel Puente Romano

Our family has done quite a bit of travelling in the U.S. and had visited the UK last summer for the kids first exposure to Europe. They are good travelers and are well-behaved so we are not limited in our touring/eating, etc. We all LOVED Andalucia! Really even more than we expected to. The people were very helpful, the traveling (once we got there) was easy, and the sights were beautiful. Seville was definitely our favorite and I can’t wait to return.

Yes, it was very expensive but not as bad as I had feared. We stayed in mid-range hotels and did not eat at any fancy restaurants, although they were all very nice. On average, we spent between $100 and $150 for most dinners (with wine) and close to $100 for lunches. I found that snacks and drinks were the priciest but when travelling with kids you don’t want to skimp on those or you will pay the price in whining!

Day 1 – Travel

The lowlight of our trip was the travel from Boston to Granada (frankly, I still can’t believe that we actually got to Spain!). We travel to St. Croix every February and have survived (barely) our share of cancelled and delayed flights and connections due to bad weather. I NEVER expected similar trouble in May, but a strong rainstorm delayed our Boston to JFK flight enough that we couldn’t make our overnight Iberia flight to Madrid from JFK. One would have thought that my husband’s Platinum status on American and the use of the Admiral’s Club staff would have made our re-routing process a bit smoother. Suffice to say that after working with the Club rep for an hour and learning that the best she could get us was a flight leaving on Monday (and it was Friday!), I finally took out our computer and used www.kayak.com to find flights for us. Then we told the rep what flights we wanted and she did the reticketing.

We eventually changed terminals at Logan to fly BA to Heathrow, then changed terminals in Heathrow to fly Iberia to Madrid. The AA person in Boston could not seem to book us on to Granada (our final destination), and it was unclear when we landed in Madrid how we were going to get to Granada. My husband, the frequent traveler, just kept saying that we needed to get as far as we could as fast as we could and then we’d figure it out. We had several plans for the Madrid to Granada leg (rent a car, take the train, book and pay for new flights, etc.) but we lucked out when we decided, upon landing in Madrid, to ask for assistance at one of the Iberia customer service counters in the terminal. Finally, someone who understood the word “service”! I know many complain about Iberia, but we have nothing but praise for them. The rep found room for us on the only flight remaining to Granada that day and even upgraded one of us to business class in order to make it work (and didn’t charge us). Then we had the mad dash to collect our bags and make it to the connection.

I tell everyone that I wish that we had a video of the four of us in baggage claim at Barajas Airport as we tried to make our tight connection to Granada. OMG. I swear that airport has more baggage carousels than any I’ve ever seen. Almost seemed like I was in a house of mirrors because there were carousels EVERYWHERE! And none with our bags on them. So glad I bought red luggage before the trip as we did finally find our bags….o.k., we actually only found two of our three bags, and now had to find the lost luggage desk, process a claim (VERY quick on this) and then run to find our connection. What a sight we were…. Our 11 year old daughter, who was so excited about the trip and so worried we wouldn’t make it to Granada, is running full speed in the terminal with me trying to keep up so I wouldn’t lose her. Our 14 year old son is clearly fearful that someone he knows will be in the Madrid airport so he can’t possibly RUN. It’s just not cool. So he is sauntering behind. Then there’s my husband, who’s still trying to file the lost baggage stuff into his briefcase while hustling quickly behind our son. He gets so flustered that he ends up flailing his Blackberry onto the floor of baggage claim where it flies into pieces. Now he’s trying to pick every piece up, our son is trying to pretend he isn’t with any of us and our daughter is screaming “Hurry, we’re going to miss the plane!”

We made the flight easily and finally landed in Granada. But then we find out that they don’t have cabs at the Granada airport….did you all tell me that and I just forgot???? So we have to load onto the city bus (like a coach bus in the states). We have no idea where we should get off in Granada so we finally just decide to get off at what looks like a busy square. Good decision but now we have to get into a cab to get to our hotel (which is up by the Alhambra). And then I am convinced that the cabbie is taking us out of our way and question him on it. But he’s right and very soon we are way up high at our hotel, the Guadalupe across the street from the Alhambra.

And, yes, it’s still technically day one of our vacation and we are exhausted. We have booked two rooms at the Hotel Guadalupe as we wanted to be close to the Alhambra. The front desk staff is not very friendly but otherwise the hotel is a fine choice for one night. Our rooms are in their annex which is several doors up the hill and tucked behind a souvenir shop. The rooms and bathrooms are large by European standards and are very clean. They are also very dark which would normally bother me but all I really wanted was a clean, comfortable, quiet place to sleep.

While we left the kids in the room to “chill” (as our son would say), my husband and I went across the street to get the lay of the land for our Alhambra visit the next morning. Glad we did. We had booked our tickets online for a 9 a.m. entry. The kiosks for those with online tickets are tucked in a separate small glass-walled building further away from the street than the main ticketing area. We definitely would have stood on the wrong line the next day if we hadn’t done this reconnaissance. We also tried to find a café for breakfast the next morning but didn’t see one.

We chose to eat in the hotel lacking the energy to do anything else. We arrived as it opened at 8 p.m. and the food was DELICIOUS!! Best paella we had of the whole trip. I think the meal was a bit pricey but we were so excited to be in Spain, to have stopped moving and to be drinking Rioja that it really didn’t matter. All of us crashed early to bed and were looking forward to our first real day in Spain.

More to come...

ComfyShoes

ccrosner, Interesting start of trip but an engaging writing style. I look forward to reading more.

amsdon

Me too!!!

Samsaf

Wow, ccrosner, that was an exciting start to your trip! I'm glad you all finally made it.

AJMelheim

Having traveled with a 14 year old son, I had to chuckle at your description of his saunter through the airport! Looking forward to your next installment.

We (husband, son who is now 16 and myself) will be traveling to Spain in December. Our daughter is studying in Segovia fall semester so we will go over, tour for 11 days and bring her home. I posted "Seeking Help with December Spain Itinerary" on 08/03/08. If you have any suggestions on my itinerary, it would be so thankful.

ccrosner

Thanks for the encouragement....I had started to think I had totally embarrassed myself when no one responded early on.

I am now visiting family for a few days so probably won't be able to post until the weekend. But will do. And will check out the planned itinerary for December.

Thanks.

amsdon

Ok looking forward to it.

pittpurple

Thanks for this - we're in the midst of planning an Andalucia trip for October and I particularly appreciate your tip about checking out the layout of the Alhambra the day before. Looking forward to the rest!

Molloy95

Oh what an airport scene!! We traveled to France with the kids (now 11 and 8) when they were 9 and 6 and it had it's own challenges, but the sauntering son trying to pretend he doesn't belong to you . . . yes, I can see it dimly in the near future.

Can't wait to hear more and sorry I waited so long to read this! We are headed to Andalusia just before pittpurple (WITHOUT kids this time, unless you count my brother-in-law ;-) ) and so I look forward to hearing more about the trip and picking up some good tips like the comment about the ticket booth at the Alhambra. Keep it coming!

HappyCheesehead

I have no plans to go to Spain yet but I heart trip reports! Looking forward to more. Your writing style is easy and fun

shellio

Sounds like you managed not to physically assault anyone, which is more than I think I could have done faced with your flight problems; good for you for keeping it together (except for the Blackberry I guess.)

Your report so far brings back pleasant memories. My husband and I stayed at the Hotel Guadaloupe 37 years ago on our first European trip and loved it; not only was it directly across from the Alhambra, it was much higher end than the bath down the hall places we had been staying in in France. Spain was an incredible bargain in those days! Thanks for the opportunity to remember it.

ccrosner

Installment #2:

You have all been so kind in your comments and patient in your waiting. Thanks for both. I'll try to do a few more days now to keep this going and to be of help to those of you planning your trips.

Day 2 – Alhambra and Travel to Seville

We arose the next morning to find that the rain that had started the previous evening was still with us. Not a drenching rain but definitely a hard drizzle.

Some people on the travel websites had suggested not eating at Hotel Guadalupe for breakfast as it was too expensive. We couldn’t find another alternative nearby so we decided to do their buffet and not worry about the money. I don’t remember exactly what it cost, but I think it was about $20 per person (don’t quote me) and it did the trick. We knew to get over to the Alhambra 30 minutes before our start time and were very glad we did.

Note here about our “sauntering” son: it was stupid of me not to remember that I had a growing, sleeping teenager in tow. He really was quite good throughout the trip, but his body clock was strongly set on East Coast time so he didn’t ‘wake up’ until noontime most days early in the trip. Not fair to him, really, and it meant that my usual ‘get up and get going’ travel philosophy didn’t work that well. But he perservered (as did we!).

We left our luggage in a locked closet at the Guadalupe and went across the street to pick up our Alhambra tickets. Wow! What a line!!!! I guess everyone was there trying to buy same day tickets. We split up: girls went to the kiosk at the back to get our pre-reserved tickets and boys went to get the audiotours (which we highly recommend). I panicked at first as the kiosk told me that they didn’t have my tickets when I put my credit card in….but then a guard/guide pointed to the sign on the kiosk that said that particular one only held tickets for evening tours. So I switched kiosks and out popped my four tickets. We rejoined our boys and were off to see the Nasrid Palaces.

As always, I had done lots of reading and research for this trip and thought I had a good sense of the Alhambra and its environs. But it doesn’t lay out in real life like it does on a map. So we made a wrong turn before we got to the official entrance (others were doing it too), and we went on a 10 minute, wild goose chase down a path that went behind and below the Alhambra thinking it would lead us to the entrance. We eventually realized that that was not the case and all had to hustle back UP the hill so that we wouldn’t be late for our entrance. At this point, we all felt like this trip was going to be one long jogging race! And this time it was a wet one. So for those of you going to the Alhambra, do not make a right turn by the garden restaurant that you come upon after getting your tickets. Keep going straight and keep the Alhambra on your right (not left!).

When we finally got into the Nasrid Palaces, it was worth the effort. Just beautiful and like nothing we’ve ever seen before. The audiotour really helped as there are barely any interpretive signs throughout the palaces or elsewhere on the grounds. So without the tapes, you’d really know little about what you are looking at. We then moved on to the Alcazar (fort) which we didn’t dawdle at since it was raining. You get a beautiful view of Granada from here. And then on to the Generalife (the gardens) which I really enjoyed. By this time, the kids were Alhambra’ed out, so we let them sit on a bench at the start of the Generalife so that we could enjoy the visit. It is quite lovely and would have been even lovelier without the rain.

We probably spent three hours total touring everything and then decided to go into town for lunch. Really wished that our schedule had permitted a longer stay in Granada as the Plaza and the old part of the city (see, I’ve already forgotten the name of it) were really intriguing. Tiny little streets and little cars and fun to look up at the Alhambra. We had a nice lunch at a local place (it was actually my Mother’s Day lunch) for little money.

We then went back up to the Hotel Guadalupe (we took the bus back up and were amazed that they can drive even those small busses through those streets) to get our bags and took a cab back down to the train station. We got to the train station with plenty of time to spare but then there’s really nothing to do there (they are renovating the station itself so there’s only a small waiting area) especially on a Sunday. I had reserved our Renfe tickets online (thanks to the helpful instructions of BennyMalaga on tripadvisor). All was fine except that the ticket attendants at the station were quite gruff and had no interest in being helpful or friendly to tourists. I was glad that I knew some Spanish so that I could understand a bit of what he was saying.

The train ended up arriving about 30 minutes late (which surprised me) but the journey to Seville was pleasant. We had booked seats together and past the time playing cards and watching the scenery. There were vending machines on one of the cars, but I would encourage you to bring snacks as they started to run out of items.

Our arrival in Santa Justa station was uneventful, and we easily got a cab to our hotel (long cab line but we got one within 10 minutes). We never could have found our hotel, the Best Western Cervantes, without help from the cab driver. Check in was smooth and they had our two rooms (adjacent but not adjoining) ready for us. The rooms were very clean and comfortable and perfectly fine for a big city. The wifi only worked in the lobby which was a pain (and not as advertised), but we managed.

I then got to experience one of those “mother moments” that will remain with me throughout my life. To put it gently, my daughter was in need of a personal hygiene item for the first time in her life. I pride myself on my travel organization skills, but that one really never occurred to me before leaving home. So here we are in Spain on a Sunday needing a pharmacy item! I prayed that our hotel would have some supplies and promptly went off to the front desk with my Spanish dictionary opened to the item I needed. As luck would have it, all of the people at the desk were men! And, of course, they didn’t have any. Then they attempt to figure out which ‘farmacia’ in Seville would be open on Sunday night. Either they were misinformed or the local farmacia chose to close that evening, but I have never appreciated a 24 hour CVS more in my life! We managed without and a kind, older pharmacist helped us out the next day.

So after trying to find the pharmacy, we ended up wandering around Seville and happened on what seemed like a perfect little local restaurant for a very late dinner. By now we’re starting to feel like we are on vacation and are getting a bit smug about our travel skills. We are seated and given menus and then realize that we are probably sitting in a franchise restaurant similar to a TGIFridays here in the states! So much for local flavor. But the pork dishes were delicious and we tasted our first (but not last) bottle of Rioja. All is looking up. Back to the hotel for a good night’s sleep.

ccrosner

Day 3 – Seville

We awoke to better weather and set out for a long day of enjoying Seville. And what a wonderful city it is! We grabbed breakfast at a coffee shop on an adjacent small square and loved having our kids order in Spanish. We found the Sevillians very friendly and willing to humor us Americans. It was fun to watch the locals get off to work and to see their morning routines. We decided that our first stop would be to the Bullring for a tour and set off on the 15 minute walk there.

The tour of the bullring was very interesting and lasted about 45 minutes. The guide spoke first in English and then in Spanish. Much of the tour is a museum that explains the sport and its history. It starts with a visit to the bull ring itself which I found beautiful. Old brick building that has been lovingly maintained. I’m not big on violence, but it was fascinating to hear about this part of the Spanish culture.

We probably arrived at the Cathedral at around 11:30 and the line was quite long to get in. But it moved quickly and we probably waited no more than 5 or 10 minutes. We did not get the audiotour (my husband is not big on churches so didn’t feel a need to spend more time in there than necessary) so I don’t feel we got the full experience. But there are definitely more interpretive signs that you can read. And the cathedral is quite massive and impressive. We climbed the Giralda (which wasn’t very difficult thanks to ramps, not stairs) and got to the top to find more rain. So the view wasn’t perfect but fun nonetheless. We most enjoyed checking out the rooftop restaurants and pools in the Barrio Santa Cruz which is adjacent to the Cathedral.

The next logical thing to do was to wander through the Barrio (which we loved). The narrow streets and old buildings are unlike any others we’ve seen and you definitely know you are not in the U.S. when you are there. On the advice of others, we purchased flamenco tickets for that evening at Casa de La Memoria al-Andalus. They were sold out of the early show but we bought tickets for the 10 p.m. show.

We had lunch at Modesto which everyone loved. Sat eating outdoors and enjoyed the food a great deal. Terrific pork skewers (so good that the kids insisted that we go back the following day). One unusual moment came when a young 30ish-looking woman came up to our table (and others) and started begging for money. She was quite adamant and I told my husband to be firm and say ‘no’ (based on what other travelers had suggested on these and other boards). She kept it up until he told her ‘no’ emphatically. Then she just went off to another table and tried the same thing. Our son found it most interesting as she was wearing what looked like very expensive jewelry. And in the states, the restaurant workers would not have allowed that in their restaurant. But we realized that the restaurant is probably on public land (at least the outside area) and that it is permitted. Not frightening at all. Just interesting.

Another interesting moment at the same lunch came when a small group of guys walked by. They had clearly had a few drinks and were quite happy. My kids were watching them in their revelry and the most flamboyant of the crew realized that my son was watching him. So he stepped up his bawdiness as he kept walking. Kept looking at my son and patting his own behind. And then, suddenly, as he got on the escalator at the adjacent parking garage, turned toward my son and pulled his pants down essentially ‘mooning’ us! Needless to say, it was a memorable lunch.

After lunch, we split up so that I could help my son buy a silver bracelet for his new girlfriend back home (there was a new experience!) and my husband and daughter could wander on their own. My son also looked at buying a Spanish sword (to match the Claymore he bought in Scotland last summer), but he decided they were too expensive.

A rest at the hotel was welcomed by all and then we ventured out for dinner and the flamenco. We had dinner at a place call “La Cava” which featured matador outfits and was in the Barrio. We got to the flamenco show about 30 minutes early as I’d been told that it was best to get there early to get the best seats. In hindsight, I think we should have picked second row seats in the center rather than front row seats on the side….but the venue is so small (maybe 60 people total) that the views must all be good. Our daughter is a dancer so she and I particularly enjoyed the dancers. The children found the singing strange to their ears (it was all they could do not to giggle) but knew that this was all part of the experience. We didn’t see any other flamenco shows while in Spain but I would say this one was excellent. How can they dance that fast and for so long???

amsdon

Ahhh..I am glad you enjoyed flamenco. I do advise to listen and taste some flamenco and become familiar first. Tim's flamenco radio us free online, fyi fodorites.


Ccrosner you have a very descriptive style and I am enjoying this very much keep it coming please. This will be such a treasure for yor family as well.

ccrosner

Glad you are enjoying this, Amsdon, as I know that I used advice from you to plan and execute this trip. I do love travel and would love to be able to find a way to combine my love of it with a little paying job. Maybe a family travel guide someday.... But I'd have to learn how to be less verbose!

Here's more.....

Day 4 – Italica/Seville

My husband is very interested in ancient history so was much intrigued by the prospect of visiting Italica. I knew that the children would not be too keen on visits to art museums so I figured we could make the trip out to Italica on this morning and still have time for the Alcazar and wandering the Barrio.

Again we had breakfast at the local coffee shop and were more adept at ordering than the day before. We set off for Plaza de las Armas travelling down streets that were becoming more familiar to us. We got a bit sidetracked as there is a lovely shopping mall in front of the bus station that looks like a converted bus station. One of the store clerks explained our mistake (though glad we got a chance to see this nice spot) and we crossed the street to catch the bus. The information center was helpful and printed a bus schedule for Italica for us, sold us tickets and showed us the way to the correct platform.

The bus ride out to Italica takes about 30 minutes and gave us a chance to see where some of Seville works and lives rather than just the touristed areas. The bus drops you off right at the entrance to Italica ‘which couldn’t be more convenient’ and there was no charge to visit. We probably spent 1 ½ hours at the site and found it very interesting (o.k., the adults found it interesting). There are terrific mosaics and a great sense of how the ancient Romans laid out their cities. The interpretive signs are only in Spanish if I recall so that was the best challenge for the kids and me: try to find enough words that we knew so that we could understand what we were viewing. Sauntering son (and, frankly, bored daughter) got a bit whiny here as their father would have spent HOURS looking at EVERYTHING if given the chance. So I simply told them to humor the great guy, understand his interests and “suck it up.” It worked. It also helped that we saved the amphitheatre to the end. This was amazing! The kids have never been to Rome so they thought this one was ‘cool’ and enjoyed bobbing in and out trying to scare each other and us. We almost missed the bus back because we were standing in the wrong place, but it all worked out well and we were glad we went.

Upon our return to Seville, we had lunch outside under awnings (a good thing because it started to rain hard during lunch) and then headed back to see the Alcazar. If memory serves me correctly, we received audioguides as part of the admission price. The Alcazar is beautiful and the gardens spectacular. It was quite crowded but we still enjoyed the fountains, gardens and tapestries.

We then wandered to see the Hotel Alphonso (beautiful but I wouldn’t spend the money to stay here—we sat for 5 minutes hoping to get a drink and no one bothered to acknowledge us) and on to the Murillo Gardens. Some more wandering through the Barrio and then very tired feet walking back to our hotel.

I’m a bit fuzzy on all of this now and somehow we must have gone back to the hotel and then walked back to the Barrio Santa Cruz to have dinner at Modesto….but that doesn’t all work out quite right in my mind. Bet I’m missing something in there or I’m just forgetting how much we WALKED in Seville. To me, that was the best part of being there. I just loved wandering around, peaking in shops, marvelling at some of the differences between Seville and American cities, showing the children a different way of life. It’s a special city and one to which we will definitely return and stay for a longer time.

One note: it is easy to get lost in Seville or to get disoriented as the streets do not follow any logical directions. The maps are quite good and you must travel with one at the ready at all times. We got very disoriented on our last night returning home from Modesto to our hotel. Some how ended up on a very busy street in an area that was not bustling with activity and was unknown to us. We realized how far out of our way we had gotten and made a quick decision to simply hail a cab and get home safely. Good decision. It was quite a long ride back to the hotel.

amsdon

Don't worry about being verbose.
Way too many things are "bottom line" these days. On the contrary, I like the way you write it is very visual.

Molloy95

We're continuing to enjoy reading about your trip. Such a sweet mom thing to clarify about your son . I, for one, did not picture him as a pain at all, just very 14 and I got a chuckle out of your description while at the same time seeing it all coming down the pike for our family! It's good to read a report about how you alter the pace of the day and the places visited to accommodate everyone's interest and attention span. All important considerations.

I was very interested in reading about your experience at Italica, as we are thinking about adding into our list of "things to do" since we will miss Merida and have a couple of folks in our group who are very interested in seeing Roman ruins. Sounds like it was an easy trip out to the ruins and well worth the effort. Also appreciated the info about the Alhambra (tickets, where to enter, etc.)

Thanks again for posting your report!

RONREYN2008

Your trip sounds like you had a very good time. My Wife & I went over to visit our Daughter, Son-in-law and Grandaughter in Frankfurt, Germany a few years ago and (Xmas time) they took us down to that area of Spain for about a week, so they could get a little sun. My Daughter set up stays in Paradors in most of the places we stayed in except Seville. If you can Paradors are really great and are full of culture in themselves. They are run or at least I think they are by the State(Spain).Our kids over there have stayed in them a couple of times in different places in Spain.

pittpurple

Thanks Ccrosner!
Do you remember how often the buses run to Italica? I think I'd like to have this on my radar just in case - don't want to rush around too much but if we really do have the time it would be lovely to see. Thanks for the info!
PittPurple

ccrosner

Glad everyone is enjoying the report. More to come on Ronda and Marbella probably later today or tomorrow.

Pittpurple--I believe that the busses to Italica ran every half hour or so. It's located in a 'suburban' city outside Seville so there are many people who use it to get in and out of the city. Just be sure you get to the bus stop a bit before the time of departure from Italica. Our driver left a bit early and we almost missed it.