Taltul

We're at the end of our trip to Southern Spain and I have some up-to-date information for anyone visiting here soon.
Granada:
1. Still no trains from Madrid, Córdoba and Seville. At Antequera, Renfe provides a bus which takes a little over an hour to Granada. From what I saw on the way, the new track is far from finished. The transfer from train to bus is quick and efficient .
2. We were at the Alhambra in the morning last Tuesday and at 8:40, there already weren't any audio guides! I thought that I would be able to depend on the audio guide for the Nasrid Palace and didn't do any reading beforehand. Big mistake- I saw beautiful rooms and courtyards but didn't know what I was looking at. I recommend reading up and if possible find a map for the Nasrid Palace on the Net.
3. I wasn't sure how we would get back to the hotel after the Alhambra night visit because we had the 10 pm slot and the last bus was at 11:09. I didn't have to worry because at this hour there was a fleet of taxis waiting. By the way the entrance at night isn't the main entrance but the entrance nearer to the Nasrid Palace. We didn't know that and had to rush down the road to get to the proper entrance.

Seville:
The eternal question for travelers is where to do your laundry. Well, in Seville there is a chain of dry cleaners called Pressto that does laundry (wash, dry and fold, extra for ironing) by the kilo. We are staying at a hotel near the department store El Cortes Inglese and there's a branch in the basement across from the supermarket. Fast, easy and not expensive ( more than 5 kilos cost 20 euros ). There are other branches all over Seville. There are coin operated laundromats but who wants to waste time watching a washing machine when you could be out touring.

Hope I helped any future travelers to the area.

kja

That's too bad about the audio guide for the Alhambra, Taltul. Reading in advance is a great idea; another would be to load a guidebook or two onto an e-reader.

Ackislander

Useful post. Thanks!

EYWandBTV

We left Cordoba two days ago, midday sun very strong. Did night visit last night to Alhambra. Yes, you MUST use Puerta de Justicia to enter for night tour.

Did long, leisurely visit of Alhambra today, from 9:30 am to 4 pm (gadzooks!), including a tasty slow lunch at Hotel America. Many people here now. One of guards said early this morning all tickets sold for day.

Typing on cel, bad, will do TR on return. VIVA ESPANA!

Christina

I believe I had a guide at Alhambra, but I always take 1-2 guidebooks with me whenever I travel. I don't take the whole book (no smartphone for me), I just Xerox the few pages I want from each city/area I'm visiting, and I copy them 2-sided, so it doesn't really take up that much space at the end. I leave off any info I won't need (like the hotels). To give a shout out, Fodors Guide to Spain is one of their best, I think, I preferred it to some other brands. Detailed descriptions of sites like that are often good in Michelin, also.

EYWandBTV

We left Granada yesterday, lots of construction at the train station. If you have your RENFE tickets for Seville or for Cordoba, just go to the Granada train station and RENFE will put you on a bus to Antequera and then put you on your train for Seville or Cordoba. It's all handled very smoothly.

Nelson

Thanks much. We are having a great trip, in Cazorla now but will take the train from Granda to Ronda on Sunday. Sounds like this will affect us.

Appreciate the up to date information.