where to go in southern spain??
 

My husband and I are flying in and out of Madrid in several weeks. We are staying for a total of 2 weeks ande have hotels booked in Madrid, Toledo and Sevilla. We have 3 nights that we have yet to decide on. Cadiz? Ronda? Cordoba? Please help us decide!
Thanks for your help.

I didn't visit Cadiz, but I loved both Ronda and Cordoba, for different reasons. I also loved Granada, which you might want to consider. (Seeing the Alhambra was one of the highlights of my thoroughly wonderful trip to Spain.) Hope that helps!

We liked Granada much more than Sevilla. We thought Granada was cleaner and easier to get around and in terms of sights, we thought Granada with the Alhambra was more our speed.

Any suggestions of where to stay in Granada? Thanks for the advice, keep it coming! ;)

We loved Ronda and Cordoba. We didn't see Granada because it was in the opposite direction. We did day trips from our seaside resort in Benalmadena-Costa.

My daughter and I visited Spain in November '05. I, too, liked Granada a lot; it's smaller than Sevilla and has the fabulous Alhambra, which was a "don't miss" for us. We also loved Cordoba for la Mesquita. It's nice to stay there, but if you want to limit your hotel changes, it can be visited easily on the way to or from Sevilla, on the fast train. Both Granada and Ronda are about 3 hours from Sevilla, by bus. I don't know whether you're travelling by car or by public transportation, but we found it easy to get around by train or bus; bus was faster than train between Sevilla and Granada, and also between Granada and Madrid. We wanted to see a hilltown, and Ronda was the most accessible without a car, so we added it as a last minute impulse and really liked it. Stayed in Hotel Royal for just one night - a quick walk from the old city, very nice, and quite inexpensive. http://www.ronda.net/usuar/hotelroyal/indice.htm We found an easy hike down to where we could have the famous "postcard view" of the bridge that spans the gorge.

We thoroughly enjoyed Sevilla's massive cathedral and la Giralda, plus the Alcazar and the Santa Cruz Barrio (am I remembering that right?), and I'm sure there's lots more we didn't have a chance to see, but honestly, we were more charmed by the smaller cities and towns. Didn't get to Cadiz.

I don't know how long you're staying in each city, but spending 4-5 nights in Madrid (extra night if you are jetlagged for a day) would give you time to see the Prado (I spent 7 hours there!), the Reina Sophia (Guernica is the highlight; otherwise I think not many would bother), the Baron Thyssen (I had 4 hours there, and could have stayed longer), Plaza del Sol, and Plaza Mayor. You could stay longer (or come back) and do day trips to Segovia and/or El Escorial. 2 nights for Toledo, 3 in Sevilla...still leaves you with 3 nights (I'm guessing) to spend in Granada. You could squeak in Ronda, by giving up a night somewhere, but maybe that's too much running around, and also maybe you'll have a car and visit other hill towns nearer to Sevilla.

Hope this is helpful and not too boring! Spain is great. I was frustrated by how much we couldn't get to, but now, looking back, I think about what we did do, and not what we didn't. I bet you'll love it, whatever you decide. Have a great trip!

Cordoba ceraitnly deserves a visit, Ronda I absolutely love, but I am Granada's #1 fan :D

I must have missed something about Cadiz, I would not rate it as a 'must see'. At least not compared to the other locations mentioned above.

How long are you planning to stay in Madrid, Toledo and Sevilla?

We still haven't decided about renting a car for those last few days or just sticking with public transportation. I think we're now leaning towards a night in Ronda and 2 in Granada?? We'll have to check on our public transportation options.

Thanks for everyone's input!!

That sounds good. We spent one full day in the Alhambra, and then a morning seeing the tombs of Isabella and Ferdinand, the Cathedral (so-so, but nothing compared to Toledo and Sevilla), and a walk in the Albaycin up towards Sacramonte - great views of the Alhambra. It's recommended to book a reservation for the Alhambra visit and you have to specify a time to enter the Nasrid Palace (the highlight of the complex). In Ronda, the bridge is lit up at night, so go take a look! Both Granada and Ronda have paradors that people rave about. Granada's is inside the Alhambra complex and Ronda's overlooks the spectacular views and old city. Have fun!

I am also planning a trip to spain for the summer and I wanted to jump in to this stream for a second.

I am also having some trouble deciding which places to visit in a short time - in your opinions, is it better to go to Ronda or to go to Ubeda for a day?

I have heard good things about both! Any suggestions?

hi, nizerla,

Here's another vote for Granada. we went for 2 nights about 18 months ago [Nov '05] and loved it.
IMO, the best itinerary is to do the nioght visit the day you arrive - it's magical- then the day visit the day after, followed by exploring the albercin, etc or driving up into the mountains. [or given that Spain stays open so late, both!]

we stayed at the hotel guadelupe which is right opposite the alhambra entrance. Big room, full bathroom for 60E per night. B'fast may have been extra - don't remember, but at that price it hardly mattered.

you should book your alhambra tickets as far in advance as possible at www.alhambratickets.com. the time you will see is for your entry to the nasrid palaces - the only buildings open at night. you may enter the site at any time during your session, and stay as long as you like. in the daytime, there are other buildings to see as well, which are not timed, as well as the nasrid palaces and the generalife gardens. The whole site took us over 5 hours for our day-time visit, and about 1 1/2 for the night.

good luck!

regards, ann

Anyone know about the public transportation from Seville to Ronda and then Ronda to Granada? As much as we'd love to see Ronda, I'm not sure that it'll be that easy without renting a car. Now we're thinking that we'll spend 3 nights in Granada (2 days really, as we'll probably stay longer in Seville and head out late to Granada via train).

Thanks to everyone for all of your help!!

I went from Granada to Ronda by train and from Ronda to Sevilla by bus. It was very easy and worked very well for me. I think I chose to do it that way because those schedules suited my needs best. Hope that helps!

kja,

Do you remember what train? I logged on to the renfe web site and I didn't see a train from Granada to Ronda. Do you remember how long both trips took? It looks to be a rather long trip from Ronda to Granada.

Top on my list would be Granada. It has the el alohombra, a big castle/mansion on the hill top that has got to be 1 of the top ten sightseeing spots in Spain, maybe Europe.

Granada also has wonderful lit alleys with people from Morroco selling their wares. The beautiful squares lit up at night. The big cathedral. etc.

Sevilla is nice as well. I really like the tappa/drink feasta time during the day.

I've been to Malaga but didn't see much of interest.

Good Luck

Theresa

Check out my travel blog at www.nomadwannabe.com

The train I took from Granada to Ronda took about 3 hours. I just checked the Renfe web site, and was able to find trains between these cities by using the option at the bottom of the page where you type in the name of the city you want to start in and then search (not the option with the drop down menus).

The bus from Ronda to Sevilla was operated by Los Amarillos and took 2.5 hours.