Friends are going to Southern Spain after Madrid this summer. What do you think of using Cordoba as a base for seeing Sevilla, Ronda & Granada. On a map it looks doable, but with the hills and twisty roads it may not make sense. I realize most people use Sevilla, so is this brillant out of the box thinking or a bad idea.? They will not be using a car, but bus or train. I said I thought maybe the trains don't run often thru there, but I really don'y know that. Thanks in advance.

It's about 2-3 hours to get from Cordoba to Granada, and even longer to get from Cordoba to Ronda - they'll spend most of their time traveling.

Are you talking about train travel or by car? They don't want to have to change hotels everyday. I don't think they really have a choice, but didn't want to say so, because I wasn't 100% certain. We stayed in Sevilla and did a daytrip to Cordoba. Ronda & Grenada were separate destinations with overnights. What atr we talking about time wise, Ronda to Granada? Thanks in advance.

I personally don't think it is a great idea. Using Cordoba as a base, I think you would spend too much time each day getting back and forth to places like Granada. It would be a lot of backtracking each day. You also really miss the ambiance of places like Seville and Granada if you don't stay overnight. In Andalucia, I like two or three nights in each place.

I enjoyed Cordoba and did stay over once, but unless I had lots of time, I would make Cordoba a day trip from Seville or stop there on the way from Madrid to Seville.

Andalucia is a good place to drive if you can afford a car and enjoy driving at all. My DH & don't drive anyplace else in Europe except the Andalucia area of Spain, but we always rent a car there. With a car, you also have the option of staying at unique places outside of cities, if you want something different. For example, there are some lovely places with pools and great food in country areas near Seville.

The above estimates are driving times from www.viamichelin.com. If I remember correctly, it's about the same amount of time via public transportation between Granada & Cordoba. I'll be in Granada in June and thought about a day trip to Cordoba but gave up on it after I figured out how long it would take.

It's certainly feasible to travel between Cordoba & Seville. But from all the posts I've read here and elsewhere (I will be traveling to Seville for the first time in June) Cordoba is nice, but Seville is fantastic - which is probably why people typically stay in Seville and make a trip to Cordoba.

If "summer" meant July/August, I would find no major city in Andalucia a good base unless you are somewhat heat-resistant. Any smaller place sitting at some higher elevation (like in the mountains between Sevilla and Ronda or Antequera, e.g. Grazalema or similar) or on the sea will probably offer a more comfortable climate. The former would also be geographicallly more in the center between Sevilla, Granada, Ronda, and Cordoba which made day trips to either place not a long ride -- but with some driving on (well-maintained) moutain highways.

I would suggest using Seville as a base while you explore Cordoba (40 minutes away by train) and Ronda, then moving to Granada. Granada is a little hard to get to by train or bus because of winding roads through the mountains, so it will take a while to get there and doesn't make a good trip.

I have been in Andalucia in late June and the heat was as bad as here in Dallas. I was in Seville and Cordoba last month (March) and it was a whole different experience, just lovely.

Sorry -- I meant Granada doesn't make a good day trip because of the time to get there, not that it isn't a good trip. You can book to see the Alhambra online before you go to avoid long lines or, worse, not getting in at all the day you plan to. It draws huge crowds, especially during the summer.

How long do your friends have to visit this area?
I'd agree that Granada needs to be done separately - it's just too long as a daytrip from Sevilla or Cordoba.

Already answered above, but I'll chime in to say I visited the area using public transportation and it was easy to get from place to place using bus and train--and they should do that and plan on moving more. How much time do they have?