Hello!

I'm in the midst of putting together something of an itinerary for a trip that my boyfriend and I are planning for the South of Spain, in May. This will be our first long vacation together and our first time in Spain. I have a rough plan and I'd appreciate your insites and experiences on timeframes in each city/town, method of travel and accomodiations.

We will be arriving in Seville from Paris.

Day 1 Arrive Seville from Paris,2 nights @ Hotel Alcontara
Day 3 Rent Car Drive to Arcos de la Frontera
1 night Arcos (Hotel TBD...Recommendations?)
Day 4 Drive Los Pueblos Blancos, stop in Rhonda
2 nights beach town (Malaga, Nerja,Hotel TBD...Recommendations?)
Day 6 Drive to Granada
2 nights Granada @ Casa Federico
Day 8 Drive to Jaen
1 night Parador Jaen (we are excited to stay in a Castle/Fortress!)
Day 9 Drive to Madrid - Return car
2 nights Madrid (would love recommendation on whether to stay in Toledo or Madrid and suggestions for accomodations)
Day 10 Day trip to Toledo
Day 11 Fly home


I have read some postings on various sites warning people off from driving in Spain. Considering our itinerary, I'm not sure how else we'd do it with out hopping, skipping and jumping trains constantly, all the while lugging our bags around. What is your experience with driving in the areas noted above? Also, does anyone happen to know how long it takes to get from Jaen to Madrid?

Thanks in advance for your time!

ohh why am i having flashback to summer in Spain and folding roadmaps. hehe. We did not start in Seville, did visit, but started in Malaga and did that whole Souther Spain thing. For a hotel in Malaga/Nerja I would vote for Nerja over Malaga any day! Malaga was too congested and just gave a bad vibe to me, guess it was the cloud of smog hanging over the city. In Nerja a good place to stay is

HOSTAL RESIDENCIA MENA
C/ El Barrio, 15
29780 Nerja
Tel.: (0034) 952 52 05 41
35,50 € (double with terrace and view)
E-mail: hostalmena@hotmail.com

we had a nice corner room, not huge but a good size for 2 people, terrace did have a view, which was nice and hearing the ocean is a nice way to fall asleep. Nice small town feel in Nerja, a bit britsh too since mostly the brits visit there and have houses. Rhonda is most certainly worth a stop! great view off the bridge and roaming the town was great. Nice centralized parking too in an underground garage so you come out I believe right next to the town hall.


Nice hotel for Seville, pack good walking shoes, and don't miss the bullring. As for Granada, do NOT! miss the Alhambra, an amazing sight, www.alhambra-patronato.es for info and ticket reservations. Have to see it at night, when it just glows red, very romantic And know some great places to eat with a view of it too. Btw, do not do the walk thru the park, take the shuttle bus that runs up it, you will be thankful.

Ohh lord, I could just ramble for pages here on what to see in Spain. What are your plans for Granada and Seville? Any plans to stop in Cordoba?

Thanks for the great reply!

I haven't included Cordoba in the itinerary because, well, there is so much we want to see and somethings just had to fall off :-(

I'm actually thinking of modifying it a bit so we are doing fewer 1 nighters...

3 nights Seville (having been to Seville, would you recommend 3 nights there or 2 nights and 1 night in Arcos or Ronda?)
1 night Nerja
2 nights Granada
1 night Jaen
3 nights Madrid

Decisions, decisions!

Thank you for the hotel recommendation. I'll definitely look into it!

How did you find driving in Spain?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Brandi,

Specifically for Granada, since you decided (good decision, by the way) to stay over for 4 days, I would recommend to either stay all four nights at Hotel America, which is ideally located (and priced) for visits to Alhambra, or split the stay in two nights at Hotel America and two nights in town, which is what we did.

Reviews on Granada hotels are here!

As to Madrid, we found Hotel Regina well located. Reviews on this and another well located hotel are on the same page as Granada, just scroll down to "Madrid".

Driving in Spain was okie. Just have to remember the basic European road rules. Always wear seatbelt, left lane is for passing ONLY, except I am not sure if it is slower speed zones or congestion, or a combo of both where it is possible to be in the left lane driving. And I am remembering something too about if pulled over and driving in the left lane they might revoke the DL of the person driving. I could be wrong on that, get all these evil stories from the German bf, so I let him drive and I navagate.

I would do the 3 nights in Seville and see Ronda on the drive to the next stop, or on way to Seville. Takes almost a day to see the Cathedral and the Real Alcazar, spend hrs just in the cathedral looking at the ceiling and trying to get close to Columbus' tomb to get a shot.

On Granada, I would either split the nights between hotels, or just stay in town, that is up to you. They do run taxis up to the Hotel America but at times there is a wait and the bus service stops to there at I think 10pm, could be wrong. I will try to find the resturants we ate at that have the over look of the Alhambra for meals, one was a fondue place, nice little courtyard and the other was in an old house, we had a great view of the Alhambra as the sun was setting. Think that one was Verde Luna, but again I will double check.

Hope this helps, or will confuse you more, I never know.

The best views of the Alhambra are:

- in the evening, just before sunset, from Carrera del Darro (access from Placa Santa Ana), along the Darro and from the Paseo de Los Tristes.

(Unforgettable; I still see as if I am there.)

- from the Parador garden, looking over the Generalife, at any time of day or evening.

Highly second Doru's recommendation of the Hotel America in Granada-a really, really neat place. If you click here, you can read my description of it plus some comments and pictures of Spain that might be helpful to you in your planning. We really enjoyed Toledo and would recommend going there. I have a great hotel recommendation for there on my site. It's just easier to send you there than to write everything here. Hope it helps.

Spain

I found the restaurants, okie, so I didn't really do it, the bf did it. Thank god at times for German's and their behaviour, hehe.

Fondue place was "El Agua", Plaza Aljibe de Trillo 7, Albayzin (no website)


Other place was "Restaurante Carmen Verde Luna", Camino Nuevo de San Nicolas 16, Albayzin

www.terra.es/personal2/carmenverdeluna

sorry but they do not have an english version of the website, but the menu is in Spanish and English. I remember the BF having a selection of soups, some cold some hot, with little scoops of veggie sorbet. Very good stuff. If you do go, be sure to make reservations if you want a view at sunset. The fondue place, ask to be seated on the patio, but come somewhat early since they fill up as the night goes on.

Jaen to Madrid is 340 km, so it should take 4 hours.

Driving in Spain is easy, most streets are in good shape. In bigger cities driving can be quite painful when you're looking for a specific place and you get stuck in narrow one-way streets or get lost in detours. So get detailed maps! Local tourist offices also sell maps for other cities. However, most cities have quite good signposting for the city center, main sights, and often even hotels. In small towns (like pueblos blancos, or ancient little towns with a castle on a hill) it is often advisable not to enter the historic town, since streets may be very narrow and steep. Expect approaching traffic even on an one-way street hehe.

Parking: Often there is enough parking space at hotels (garages) or sights. Curbside parking often is metered. As in all cities around the world, avoid to park the car in dark, rundown and lonely areas and leave no valuables in the car. Your travel guide should give you hints on which areas to avoid in general. To give your abandoned car a "local touch", buy a local newspaper and toss it onto the backseat.

I think you are seeing many of the great southwestern Spanish towns. my own thought was: Why are you going to Jaen? I was there to visit one of my roommates and we went to their festival, but I cannot remember Jaen being all that interesting... some of the flamenco from that area is, but the city itself?

Cordoba is definitely higher on the worthiness scale.....

Arcos is my favorite. But Ronda is also stunning. Malaga is also not that interesting... but Antequera, on the other hand (and the nearby park with stone configurations), is.

Have you looked back to previous threads...? You will find lots in those, I am sure.

I would recommend the Rough Guide's Andalusia.

Enjoy! Andalucia is wonderful.

http://www.hotelamericagranada.com/

if you click on the Instalaciones on the left, it will give you the option of seeing part of the site in English. The reservation part is not in English though, so maybe a combo of online and calling would be best for reservations and to double check that they have the reservation and it is correct. We had this experience with lost reservations at a few places in Spain, so if you have the option, print off any e mail confirmations or confirmation pages and keep them handy when traveling.

As for quiet beaches, on the stretch of the coast you will be on, Costa Del Sol, quiet is pretty far and few between. We stayed on the Costa de la Luz, Western side, and the beaches there were much less crowded and over developed. If can find time, add or take away days, I would suggest the Costa de la Luz for the quiet beachy relaxing feel. We were about a 10 minute drive from Trafalgar in El Palmar, ver nice and relaxing town. Not much fishing though

An after thought addition.

Don't forget to make your Alhambra ticket reservations (especially for the night visit) at http://www.alhambratickets.com

Nerja, mentioned before, seemed like one of the more charming towns on the Costa del Sol (compared to the big hotel skyscraper towns like Torremolinos). Plus, just a few kilometres north of Nerja you'll find the beautiful pueblo blanco Frigiliana. A local bus runs several times a day. Other attractions in Nerja besides the beaches are the caves (Cueva de Nerja) and the lookout point "Balcon de Europa".

The above about Nerja is from the BF. Maybe flip a coin on the beach towns? hehe

Did I make you even more confused? hehe

This message has been edited. Last edited by: xandria,

Again based on my experience, the best way to reserve a room at Hotel America is by telephone (34 958 227471). The front desk people speak very good English, and this will allow you to express any preferences or special requirements you may have. You can then ask them to send you a fax confirmation.

This is the website for Hotel America I did it all using the web and it worked quite well. Click Instalaciones and you will get the link for the English version and then you can just use the Spanish request form which is easy to figure out. You will be contacted in English. There is also an e-mail address at the top of the form if you just want to e-mail a queston. BTW--Doru was the one who told us about this hotel. He should stay free next time for all the business he has brought them. Hotel America

Jane,
Thanks for the hotel link! I'll add it to Doru's review on SlowTrav.

...oops - I see that xandria posted it first - thanks!