Madrid & Andalusia For Easter

Hi guys,
My girlfriend and I are heading to spain for about 9 days at Easter. We fly into Madrid and spend the Easter weekend there. Any recommendations on the the Easter processions? Which ones are the most colourful / extravagant... which area? We are staying in a hostel on Gran Via.

From Monday to the following Saturday/Sunday we intend to relax down at the beaches in Andalusia. We might fly from Madrid to malaga and then hire a car and head out of malaga. We are hoping to find a little town/village that has some life to it, but prefereably not too built up with highrises etc. Some suggestions so far have been Nerja and Salobrena. Any other suggestions would be much appreciated and if anybody stayed in a small villa/apartment that they could recommend that would be fantastic!

Any other tips on what to see/do in any of these areas would really help me out a lot
Thanks guys,
Tomas

Have just sent a long reply to your post but think it has gone to you as a PM rather than on here.

If you do not receive it please contact me.

Cheers,

Brenda (casaianda)

Well you are in luck my friend.. I live in Salobrena, so I am a bit biased.. We run the processions here, and they are real old village style..but they lack nothing. It's quite amazing.. Easter is earlier this year, so the weather can go either way.. Nerja and Almunecar will both have more night life, we have bars and what not, and it is busy here at Easter, but Nerja is a bigger town. We have no high rises here. If you would like to see some shots of the town, take a look at my blog, www.salobrena.wordpress.com go back thru the pages, and you will see some pretty good pics in and around our town. I also look after rental apartments here, so if you interested, email me and I can prolly help you out with a good accomodation.. Pensions and hostals are cheap here but you must book early for easter..there is one in particular on the internet called hostal san juan.. it's a lovely little spot. I have included the link.
http://www.hostalsanjuan.com/ they are friendly and nice, and in a really good location on the flat instead of up the hill in the old town.

You can contact me via the blog if you would like any further info okay.

Cheers M

Hi

I think you will enjoy Salobreña and having a contact via Adavant is helpful. Defo book early for wherever you want to stay as the rest of Spain seem to visit Andalucia for Easter. From Salobreña you can easily visit Granada (Alhambra of course, but you have to book your tickets weeks before...do it now online). The caves of Nerja are a must too. I would also take a trip along the coast in the direction of Almaria. The towns of Castelle De Faro and Calahonda are worth a visit to see where the rest of Spain take their holidays.

With regard to your accommodation in Madrid. Gran Via is a very very noisy street (carn horn crazy and the noise on the street never stops). If you cant change your accommodation to something off Gran Via ask for a room at the back of the hostal. I would recommend Hostal Abril on Calle Fuencarall, well priced and very very comfy n clean. Again ask for a room off the main street of Fuencarral.

There are a lot of professional and desperate pickpockets in Madrid, esp around Sol and in the metro, but if you arent walking around w your head in the clouds youll be fine. the metro is excellent in madrid (as long as the cleaners arent on strike) and you can buy a ten journey ticket for around 6.50€ and share it between you. Bars n clubs - Malasaña area (calle Espiritu Santo) and Chueca (Bizarre for dinner or lunch) are good. Take breakfast in The Commercial Cafe at metro Bilbao, lots of good restaurants round here too. Bear in mind the Spaniards dont take lunch till until around 3 pm and dinner is from around 10 pm. If you go at 8 youll be the only ones there, except a few other ´guiries´ (their word for us Anglos.

Enjoy,

Profa

Alhambra of course, but you have to book your tickets weeks before...do it now online

It is indeed best to buy them online, but if you can't, just show up at the Alhambra, they also sell a large portion of the tickets at the cash register. In the mornings there is a long line, so it can take 2 hours to get in. There is a limit to the number of tickets they sell, but you can always try to go the afternoon, and probably you don;t have to face a queue, but there is a possibility that the tickets are sold out.

Madrid - Málaga is now also available as an AVE connection, that takes 3 hours. check www.renfe.es. But flights might work out cheaper. If you want to fly don't wait too long, to book the tickets!

I prefer the inland, so can't really help you to find a nice town on the beaches. (and like Adavant already mentioned Easter is early, so don't be disappointed if the weather is not really hot yet)

For hostals: always bring earplugs (if it isn't for the traffic outside, you can use them to block out people coming in, and old the other noises they make when the sleep)

Another few tips - if you fancy saving yourself around 25€ take the metro (2€) from the airport - you can take it direct to the city centre (change at...hot damn, I cant remember the name of the stop....its on the pink line). 25€ goes far in Spain...its almost lunch for two in a mid level restaurant.

One thing that´s sweet to do in madrid is take a ride on the cable car - it gives a good perspective of the city. Id miss out on the red tour bus...the commentary isnt the best. Instead Id jump on the circle line bus (you can use the 10 ride ticket here too) and see the city, albeit without the commentary....most of the under 35s speak English and enjoy practicing, ask them what things are. Learn a few phrases though, as they appreciate you making the effort.

If you are in Madrid on a Sunday morning a visit to the Rastro market is fun and everyone under 30 hangs out in La Latina´s cosmopolitan bars on Sunday afternoon. One restaurant that is unbeatable for value at lunch time is Buffalino in Malasaña (closed on Mondays). I cant remember the street name, but take calle Barco from plaza san Ildefonso, walk to almost the very bottom and turn right at the fairly main street you come to. Its a green frontage.

When you get to Andalu - if there is ajo blanco on the menu - get stuck in, its immense (not in the soup form more in the humus consistency style as a dip).

All the best.
Profa

HI!

I think everyone here has given you pretty much everything you needed to know.
My advice is that if you are hiring a car in Malaga, to take a trip to Ronda, which is a faboulous "white town". To get good information just type it in google.

Profa has given you very good advices, I will tell he knows well Madrid.
I will be adding though another suggestion (you can't miss the Rastro!), and is the neighbourdhood of Lavapiés. Some say it's dangerous, but I don't really think so, and it's quite trendy. A lot of Spanish writers (and an Irish historian whose name I can't remember right now) live there. If you want, you can go during day time, which is a great option also. C/ Argumosa is a great place with lots of great bars on it. Lavapies is a very madrilian place, even if now it's a very multicultural neighbourdhood.

Hope it helps and have a great stay here!
Yolanda

Quoting Profa

Another few tips - if you fancy saving yourself around 25€ take the metro (2€) from the airport - you can take it direct to the city centre (change at...hot damn, I cant remember the name of the stop....its on the pink line). 25€ goes far in Spain...its almost lunch for two in a mid level restaurant.

I never take a taxi, always take the metro. You need to change at Nuevos Ministerios, and then if you go to the center of Madrid at Tribunal. At the airport you need to buy at ticket for the metro + a ticket surcharge because you are coming from the airport (the surcharge is 1 euro), and it you buy a 10 rides tickets. (they usually work out very well, you pay another 6,40, or maybe now a little bit more if they raised the prices the 1st of january. (check the Madrid travel guide on this website for more details) Ooo, and grab yourself a map of the metro, at the metrostation at the airport. (the system is vast, so it is worth planning your route before you so places)

Last time in Madrid I had a wonderful Indian lunch (at the Calle de Lavapies, there are 5-6 Indian restaurants next to eachother.) for 20 euro, for 2 persons, including one drink each.

(for me it's back to Madrid in 3 weeks )

[ Edit: Edited on Jan 11, 2008, at 12:17 PM by Herr Bert ]