My husband and I are going to Europe for 3 weeks in the end of March/beg of April. We are planning on spending 2 weeks in Italy and then 1 week somewhere else. Though it is probably more sane for us to travel through France and make our way back to London (our flight home is from London), my heart is crying out to explore Andalucia. My question is this... is this realistic for us or is it simply too much travel in a short amount of time?
Day 1: Arrive in Barcelona early a.m. after an overnight train from Milan. Explore Barcelona all day and take overnight train to Granada that night. (I have been to Barcelona before.. husband has not, but point is to get to Andalucia)
Day 2: Arrive Granada. Explore Granada
Day 3: Visit Alhambra.
Day 4: Train to Seville. Explore Seville
Day 5: Explore Seville
Day 6: Explore Seville
Day 7: Fly to London
We are somewhat young ( mid 30's) and can recover pretty well from sleeping on the train. Our other option rather than travel to Andalucia is to go to Paris for 3 days and London for 3 days. Thanks for your help.
This doesn't answer your question, but it's something to consider in case you're not already aware of it. I'm not sure when in early April you'd be in Sevilla, but this year the Feria de Abril is the second week of April. That would, no doubt, be an exciting time to visit Sevilla, but it would also mean huge crowds, lots of hustle and bustle, and very expensive accomodations that you'll need to book ASAP.
Posts: 656 | Location: San Francisco Bay Area | Registered: 28 June 2006
A week in Adalucia will just have you scratching the surface, but if you keep it to just Granada and Seville, that's not too bad a plan.
You should definately look into flying from Milan to either Seville or Malaga. Looks like both Easyjet and Vueling have low-cost flights. This will save you much hassle and no doubt, quite a bit of money and give you a few extra days of vacationing - and especially since Barcelona is not a priority, why deal with training it from Milan ?
With an extra few days, I'd try to add in Cordoba - it's a magical city.
I would definitely leave out Barcelona and spend more time exploring Andalucia. Whereabouts in Italy will you be visiting? I have been to Milan and there is not too much to see there compared to somewhere like Rome. You can fly with Vueling from Rome to Seville.
It definately seems much more doable if we fly... so cheap too. I actually hate flying and love the train but savings on both time and money make it a no brainer. Also, now I see that Ryan air flies from Pisa directly to Seville, so no need to go to Milan to catch the train.
Also, can people chime in on their thoughts about La Feria de Abril. Firstly, I have to say that I love Folkloric dance, so the Flamenco part sounds great. It is just that I have been to places during their yearly carnivals and festivals (such as Veracruz Mexico druing their carnival) and wished that I would have visited not during the festival time... too touristy and the carnival wasn't so good.
To answer your question Andalucian Traveller.. our 2 weeks in italy consists of 3 nights in Venice, 6 nights in florence (with days trips into Tuscany country side), & 3 nights in Cinque Terra. We have been to Rome previously (the only place in Europe my husband has been). Any thoughts on this is also welcome. Thanks!
i agree to keep in SEvilla and GRanada. then the Feria is a nice event, very much Andalucian,so it depends on your personal choice. Def is not the same as Veracruz ,Mexico.
Personally, I would say the schedule sounds too full and too hectic and sound slike it could ve stressful. I would try and remove one of the locations to simplify it a little. If you are unfornuate and comes across any train delays etc as can very very easily happen in Spain and also France every time for me (which you'll go through from Milan) then your schedul emay not work anyway.
I think it's a good idea to go direct to Andalusia, too, and I also suggest taking the qucik trip, via fast train, from Sevilla to Cordoba and back. It's a small city and you can easily see the Mezquita and old part of town in an afternoon or morning. 2 full days in Granada should be OK, too. You have a full day for the Alhambra (very smart...) and can see the Cathedral (not unbelievable, but worth a look inside)and the Capilla Real (tombs of Isabelle and Ferdinand, and their crowns, art,e tc.). Then you can wander around in the Albaycin and maybe Sacromonte and see the stunning views of the Alhambra. Sevilla is wonderful, and has la Giralda, the Alcazar, and the huge, fabulous Cathedral with so much to see, but the smaller two cities have the unique sites - Mesquita and Alhambra - both must-see's
