Andalucia in Oct 2008

Hi guys...

I'm planning for 9D 8N in southern of Spain.
My journey will kick off from Granada --> Malaga --> Cordoba and end in Seville.
I'm wondering whether is 2 nights sufficient on each place?

Knowing the Car Journey:
Granada - Malaga -- 126KM about 1hr 39mins
Malaga - Cordoba -- 159 km – about 1 hour 52 mins
Cordoba - Seville -- 142 km – about 1 hour 42 mins

My doubt is on Seville and Cordoba. Some say, Cordoba is just a small town so a day trip will
be sufficient, some say 1 night will do. And some say, Seville is huge and need at least 3-4 nights ??

I would much appreciate any advice.

Cheers,
Nick

I'm jut going to add to the confusion! Visit Ronda if you can--it's a beautiful, stunning place. My favourite of all the stuff we saw in Andalusia.

Enjoy your trip!

It depends a little bit on your interests, you can see Sevilla in 2 days. In my opinion you can see the must sees in those days, if you take 3 days, you have time to walk through Santa Cruz (the old Jewish part), see a flamenco show, have time to go out for tapas, and see some other parts of town without having to hurry. Again for the highlights one day in Cordoba is enough, and if you take the AVE it's only 45 minutes from Sevilla, so in that sense it's doable as a daytrip. If you don't want to hurry, and see a little bit more of the towns than the tourist sights invest a little more time.

If you have a car, I would rather prefer get to smaller places like Ronda or Arcos de la Frontera instead of Málaga.

Also: Sevilla is hell to drive and park. If you are getting a rental car, return it on the day of your arrival there, (Sevilla is not that big, so you can get by walking). If it's your own get a hotel with a private parking spot.

Many thanks for the advice...

Are there regular buses / trains from Granada to Ronda or Arcos de la Frontera assuming that I won't be driving.
Would it be best to go from Granada --> Ronda --> Arcos de la Frontera --> Cordoba --> Seville?
And would it be necessary to overnight at Ronda or Arcos if I were to miss Malaga?

I think you can see enough of Seville in 2 days to make it worthwhile.

There are direct trains from Granada to Ronda. There are 3 trains a day - it takes about 2 and a half hours - look at http://horarios.renfe.es/.

You can't get to Arcos de la Frontera by train, but it is possible by bus. You might have to change, perhaps at Jerez, if you're coming from Granada or Seville.

Sounds like a fantastic trip. That part of Andalucia is beautiful. I would definitely aim to miss Malaga itself and focus on Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba, Ronda etc. You'll love it so much that you'll probably go back anyway so you can see all the things you missed first time round!

Thanks!

I can't wait to go. Is it still warm in Oct?

Nick

Quoting magykal1

I think you can see enough of Seville in 2 days to make it worthwhile.

There are direct trains from Granada to Ronda. There are 3 trains a day - it takes about 2 and a half hours - look at http://horarios.renfe.es/.

You can't get to Arcos de la Frontera by train, but it is possible by bus. You might have to change, perhaps at Jerez, if you're coming from Granada or Seville.

From Jerez it's possible to get to Arcos for sure. You can check the website of the Baia de Cadiz for this http://www.cmtbc.es/sistema.php?op=3 It's in Spanish but timetables are not that difficult to understand. You can take the train to Jerez from Sevilla, the busstation is next to the trainstation.

Hey

I have been to Granada and Cordoba but infortunately not to Malaga or Seville, personally I thought Granada was an amazing place, its so beautiful, surrounded by the mountains and the Alhambra palace is a must see - although you have to order tickets in advance so I would do that before you go, I didn't know that and was quite dissappointed after walking in the blistering heat up the mountain to find we couldn't go inside!! I think Granada will be cold in October, although its in the south and its usually an oven..Granada is cold due to the Sierra Navada. I went in May and it was roasting but my friend went in October and said it was really sunny but there was a cold wind. I'm not sure how old you are but if you are interested in going out there is an amazing club built into the moutain side called El Camborio, its quite a big club but there are different parts to it, there is a chilled out area and an outside area where you can sit with a drink and see the Alhambra lit up! Also, Granada is most famous for tapas - you can get full meals for free!! I didn't believe this until i was actually there, me and my friends bought a small beer each and got a plate with three baguettes with chorizo (sausage) chips and olives!

I didnt find Cordoba as impressive, it is nice but quite small and you could generally see the main sights in a day, the Mesquita is the biggest tourist attraction - a famous mosque. Next to the Mesquita there is a long bridge you can walk over - the water under it is not very clean unfortunately - but you can get nice photos here. I was warned not to go
further than the bridge as the other side of the bridge is a rough area. There are nice small winding streets with tapas bars and you can eat really cheaply there.

I have heard that Sevilla is an amazing city with a great atmosphere, I think 2 days in each place is a good idea as it means your not too rushed and if you do really like the place you are in you know you have another day to enjoy Although I have to admit I'd rather spend more time in Granada or Sevilla than Cordoba.

Oh meant to say I think everywhere other than Granada will still be really warm in October, I had friends living in Cordoba and Seville and in October they were still going to uni wearing shorts and flip flops

Have a good trip

[ Edit: Edited on Sep 12, 2008, at 2:21 AM by hellosweet ]