lery

My mother, 4 teenager (grandchildren) and I are plannig to stay about 20 days in Spain next January (we all like winter time). We are not sure about how long we stay in each place: Madrid, Andaluzia and Barcelona. We are not renting a car. We are thinking of 5 days for each big city, and then perhaps choose two or three small cities of Andaluzia. We do not know any Spanish Travel Agency to buy a package, or perhaps do them by ourselves????
Visit them all (Cordoba, Seville,...)or pick one or two?
Any suggestion will be more than wellcome.
THANKS everybody again!!!

josele

Seville, Cordoba and Granada are not small cities at all, and there is plenty to see in any of them. Besides, it depends on what you are looking for (culture, fun, beach...) and the time of the year you are travelling. Try to refine a little. Go to maribelguides.com to read more.
Anyway, I believe that with the help of fellow fodorites you'll be able to plan yourself.

buongiorno

I don't think you need a Spanish Travel Agency, just some good tour books and some advice here. I really like your plan of spending 5 days in each place. My favorite city in Spain is Barcelona, we had so much fun there. The food was great, they have wonderful Gaudi architecture, great sites and very friendly people. Madrid is a close second. You might consider taking an overnight boat to Majorca, it's a beautiful island. Also, from Barcelona, you're only 2 or 3 hours away (by car) from what I consider some of the most beautiful areas of Southern France, the Languedoc Roussillon area between the Pyrenees and the ocean. It's also known as the Corbiers. Fabulous food, great scenery and really friendly people. We stayed at a family B & B during the grape harvest and had a blast. It's the 2nd largest wine producing area of France but little known because most of the production is consumed there.

lery

Josele, If I had to choose one or two, what would you suggest? We are travelling in January. We are looking specially for culture and beautiful sights. We are not renting a car.I'm afraid to visit many places, and perhaps it could become a little tiring for my mother. One other thing, we are not the type of passengers who like to visit lots of cities in a short period of time. We like to explore a place a little bit more, or try to, in order to "feel"it.Thank you for your help!

josele

First, I got it wrong as it is www.maribelsguides.com as I missed the "s" in the middle.
About the cities:
Seville with no doubt, there is plenty to see, all beautiful., and flat. Maribel has a guide to seville you can download.
As it is very well communicated with Cordoba via fast train AVE, you can choose Cordoba as well, especially the Mezquita is worth the trip. I think there are many more things to see in Granada, but this city is on a couple hills, and requires a lot of walking, especially Alhambra (very beautiful, but tiring) and Albaicin. You can go to Granada from Seville by train or bus, good services.
You may consider as well smaller places (though big enough to spend several days): Carmona (with Parador and a couple good hotels), or Osuna, monumental cities very near Seville.
Whatever you choose, let us know.

Ainhoa

If you go to Barcelona in January, bring warm clothing. It will be cold and if you are lucky, sunny. (By cold I mean around 0ºC).

Ainhoa

Sorry half message got eaten by internet. It will warm up during the day, but once the sun goes down ......