I'm Cristina, I live in a Jimena de la Frontera, a white village of Andalusia between Gibraltar and Ronda. If you are looking for information to organize your trip to real Andalusia, I would be happy to help you !
We have young children, and we love traveling, meeting new people, Andalusia, music and good wine !
We moved from Australia to Andalusia earlier this year and totally love it. I am not there all the time - yet anyway - but treasure the time I do spend time there. We are near Alcaucin,about an hour inland from Malaga, just renting at the moment and looking to buy sometime next year. Not sure where yet.
I don't know that village but we have visited Ronda.
Welcome to the board and all the fabulous friendly and helpful people.
And thank you for posting. I am thinking of my next trip already and Andalusia is my intention.
We want to visit the main areas, i.e. Seville, Cordoba, Toledo and Granada. My plans are still in the very preliminary stage but I would be happy if you could answer these questions :
1) If we fly into Madrid, should we rent a car or is it better/easier to just travel between these cities with trains/bus, etc.? Once we are actually in the cities, I assume that having a car will just be more of a problem that a help. Is that correct?
2) Approximately how much time would you allot for each city and why?
3) How is the weather around mid-April?
4) If you can suggest any other "hidden gems" to visit I would like that.
1. Once you passed Toledo (a few kilometers after Madrid), the drive become really boring..until you reach Andalusia.
So I would recommend to catch a train to go from Madrid to the south, and then rent a car... but if your choice is to visit only cities, then you're right, a car is a bit of a pain (parking, thieves)... trains and buses services are excellent here.
2. To answer your question number 2, I need to know how much time you have and who is traveling with you. I would recommend something different if you are traveling with children.
3. Around mid april, the weather is still cool, you can't swim in the sea (I also had some heat in April.. so we never know) and not totally dry...you have to expect a few showers.
4. I would be happy to make some suggestions, but I really to know more about your party.
Cristina - thanks for your reply. I have started a new thread in the Spain forum, as Shannon suggested.
To answer your questions, I think we will have between 10-12 days total for this trip. And we will be 3 adults. Thanks for any suggestions and help you can offer.
