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We're planning a trip to the UK and Spain and want to get any ideas and feedback from anyone who's been to southern Spain.
I am specifically looking at the area including Seville, Cordoba and Granada. I've always wanted to see the Alhambra in Granada, so we're building our trip around that. So far we're thinking of flying into Seville and out of Malaga. We will have 5 days, 6 nights in early December.
Any hints and tips would be appreciated on what best to see, where's good to stay and eat etc.
I have been to all three of those places, will raid my memory banks in the morning and send you some info. Loved all three, what time of year are you planning on going?
Sorry have just seen you said December.
We've been to Granada but not Seville or Cordoba. In Granada we rented an apartment overlooking the square in the center of town (Plaza De Bib-Rambla) . I think we got it through hotels.com or maybe VRBO. The location was wonderful but parking was a PITA because the closest parking was on the other side of the square. Once we parked the car we just left it there until we left Granada. You can get around easily on the buses and on foot.
The Alhambra was wonderful but it's not very well signed so you don't know what you're looking at if you don't have the headphone guide thingies. There are lots of cats and parts of it kind of smell like cat.
In December it will be colder than you are used to, can be windy/rainy too. Not a fan of Spain in the winter! But I haven't been there in years.
Where abouts in the UK will you be?
Manchester, Edinburgh, London. The point of the trip overall is to catch up with DH's family & friends. I'm a bit scared how cold it will be. Last time we were there was early May and I got really sick. I am really crap in the cold but I'll invest in some thermals.:
Edinburgh in December will be below freezing. As will Manchester. London isn't so bad, but still isn't warm. At least it's usually a dry cold in the UK winters. Then again, I do spend every winter saying how much I want to emmigrate and I live in the "warm and sunny" part of Britain.
Layers are the key - vest(singlet), 2 T-shirts, thin jumper, thick jumper and a big cardi on the top. You'll be fine. Thick tights to be worn under trousers.
Hmmm. Lucky me. I have a friend in Aberdeen so that should be interesting. It will be late Nov when we're in Uk. We're finishing in Spain.
We could have just gone to a South Pacific island for a week or so but given everything that's happened in the last couple of years, it's time DH saw his family. We havent seen them since we got married.
Oh well. At least most places in the UK have central heating. And maybe I'll see snow. I've never seen snow apart from on telly. The funny thing is we need to keep baggage under 20kg. How can I do that when I need all those layers? And leave room for shopping?
You will love Edinburgh its is a beautiful city!!
I was born in Glasgow and lived just outside Edinburgh for first 7 years of my life.
Enjoy your trip you deserve it xoxo
I think you'll be fine in the weather. England has pretty mild weather, they all collapse in a heap when ever it gets cold or hot and the whole country just about comes to a standstill. It never fails to fill my father with mirth when a few 29 degree days in a row is called a heat wave. If you would be warm enough for a really cold Melbourne day you should be ok. Unless I'm going to be outdoors a lot I just carry a really warm jacket because everyone seems to keep their central heating turned up so high that it feels like stepping into an amazonian jungle.
You could leave some space in your bag for some nice warm clothes and combine shopping with keeping warm.
I've been in southern Spain in December, at that time I think it was low 20's and overcast - quite bearable - but obviously like anywhere the weather can vary from year to year a lot.
England in December is cold, but it doesn't generally get to it's coldest until Jan-Feb so you may be spared the worst of it. Edinburgh in particular will be brass monkey weather LOL They say you haven't really experienced Edinburgh until you get properly soaked in the frequent rain.....watch out for that!
I loved visiting Ronda in southern Spain, quite an amazing place, google photos of it.
My down jacket was the key to Scotland in winter. I have a roll up vacuum bag for it and it packs down tiny. Kept me warm, and as Onyx said, you can strip off once inside by the fire cosying up with a warm drink looking at the snow out the window.
Not sure I have any tips on accommodation as we used to just turn up and find a 'pension' as we were always on quite a low budget. I would look up and see if there are any festivals/fiestas going on in those towns in the period you are there as many are great fun but may also affect how much accommodation etc available - although as you are there in December is not peak fiesta time I don't think.
Like Onyx, in Granada we parked up the car and didn't use it again the whole time we were there. We used the headphones at the Alhambra and I do think was worthwhile (although they may do specific tours in English at certain times too). From what I remember ticketing for the Alhambra is a bit odd so look it up ahead of time so you know what to do ahead of time. Near Granada we also visited Las Alpujarras which are a series of white villages in Sierra Nevada National Park, they were lovely but I suspect are not great to visit in December.
Seville I have been to a couple of times, both in summer, we didn't have a car (we got the fast train from Madrid the AVE) and then picked up a car at the airport when we were ready to leave, and I think again parking is not the easiest. Lots of great places to eat. Parque de MarÃ*a Luisa & Plaza de España where the expo was in 1929 are worth a visit (Plaza de España featured in one of the Star Wars movies apparently).
Cordoba I really liked, the Mezquita there was very interesting - and I liked all the "patios" - which are like internal courtyards in the houses/restaurants etc. We found a great public outdoor swimming pool but again that isn't much use in December, but we were there late June and was a life saver.
Oooooh sounds awesome hun!! Very jealous! Don't worry about not having enough room for shopping in your suit case, just pack the goodies in a big box and send it on a ship.
If you get good quality thermals you won't need to pack heaps of really warm clothing. We went to Scotland in March one year and it was so bloody cold I thought I'd die. And it didn't even snow that winter so the locals were saying that the weather was mild. Mild my ar*e@
Spain on the other hand sounds so nice.....
PS If you haven't noticed I haaaaaaate cold weather and I was born in Poland!!! lol. Go figure :o
In England, supermarkets do very cheap clothes - just buy some and donate to charity shops. Seriously - you need to budget less than the cost of flying the extra clothes out.
And for the last 2 years, December has been the 2" of snow that stopped the country rather than the new year. I do not like snow. (Currently in summer and DS is upset that the windows are crying so we can't go out and play - I hate our stupid cold wet weather!)
TFB - great tip on the cheap clothes. Thanks. According to my Scottish friend, it started snowing 25 Nov last year. I shall call it an adventure. I dont want to spoil it for DH by moaning about the cold, wet, grey etc. And hopefully it shall be warmer in Spain
Vic - thanks for the tips. I will look into them in more detail. We will book accommodation ahead of time.
Onyx - thanks for the feedback. I'm looking forward to the Alhambra. I'm fascinated by the history of the Moors in Spain. The art, science, medicine, literature. A great civilsation destroyed when overran by a bunch of unwashed fanatics. Very romantic
I shall find some Spanish lessons on itunes and learn something more than buenos dios. If only we had time and $$ to go to Italy as well...
My dad lives in Jerez which is south of Seville (about an hour by road). Beautiful town, they have an amazing fair in April (Ferria) which primarily celebrates the Andalusian horses and the sherry of the region. The whole town basically shuts down for the week (apart from the shops and restaurants!) and the population swells by about a million people for Ferria. Jerez also hosts the motorcycle Grand Prix, I don't remember what month! No one speaks English, but the people are friendly and tolerant of my crap attempts at Spanish!
Sagres mentioned Ronda. It is one of my favourite places in the world, the most beautiful little town, built on the edges of two cliffs. Very romantic! I highly recommend you look into Ronda, plenty of interesting walks (very interesting history, it used to be two separate towns until they built the bridge across the ravine), heaps of great little shops and gorgeous places to eat. A lovely place to sit back, enjoy some wine and watch the world go by! If you do go, try to stay in one of the places built into the cliffs, the view is amazing.
Ahhh... sounds like a great trip!
ETA Earworms do a great Spanish CD (not sure if you can get it on ITunes??), really easy and user friendly phrases.
When we got our ticket there was a specific time that we could enter The Court of the Lions on it. They are really inflexible about the time - if you miss your session you can't go to the next one you need to come back another day.:
We're now flying into/out of Murcia, which is closer to DH's Dad's place. We will fly in Saturday and have Saturday night at his place, then travel Sunday towards Granada. So Sunday is a travel day, then we have until Thursday for site seeing. We then need to drive back to drop off DH's Dad either on the Thursday or Friday, depending on the flights we can get.
Given we have less time for site seeing, I'm thinking we may need to reduce the places we go to. The Alambra in Granada is still definately a must. Out of Seville, Cordoba and Ronda, which places are best, which can be missed? DH prefers to stay in one place for 4-5 nights than keep checking in/out. If we do that, is it best to stay in Granada and do day trips? Is that realistic with driving times, parking etc? Granada seems to be 2.5 hours from Cordoba and Ronda and 3 hours from Seville.
Gracias
Spain is probably my favourite country in Europe and Cordoba was my favourite place in Spain!
We drove from Madrid to Cordoba to Seville to Granada then to Barcelona. I have to say though, driving in the old part of the cities (which is where everything is) is a nightmare, lots of one ways streets and sometimes impossible to get where you want to with a map. Also parking is really difficult. We ended up just parking outside of the main part of the city and walking to our pension. We were only in each place for 2 or 3 days, so would just leave the car there until we left.
Cordoba is just stunning. Exactly what you imagine spain to be, with whitewashed walls and tiny little alley's everywhere. there are lots of gypsies and it is just generally a wonderful atmosphere.
TBH Seville was a bit of a disspaointment to me after Cordoba, it all seemed so commerical and westernised. But the Plaza de Espana is a must see, it has the most amazing mosaics that cover everything for miles (walls, footopaths, stream, bridges).
Granada was also lovely, quite small, but nice to walk around and enjoy.
I don't think it would be too cold in the south of spain in December, probably no worse than a Melbourne winter. We were there in Oct/Nov and I remember it being mid to low 20's
Have a wonderful time, Spain really is magical.
Sorry, just saw this. Personally I would go to Cordoba over Seville.:
We only spent 1 night / almost 2 days in both Cordoba and Granada. They are tiny little towns. You pretty much see all the sights in one day. The Alambra is amazing, but it really isn't much more than an afternoon activity iykwim?
Personally, I wouldn't base yourself in Granada and drive. They are long drives and you often get stuck behind big trucks (as least I have memories of that). ALso, driving in the cities is difficult and parking is tricky.
I agree, Seville is lovely, but nothing special. Haven't been to Cordoba, LOVE Ronda.
I would also pick Cordoba over Seville (definitely as Seville longer drive) but have not been to Ronda
Think I have the itinerary down now. Remember, we have DH's Dad with us so there may be issues with walking distances etc.
Sat: Arrive Spain, stay with DH's Dad
Sun: Drive Murcia to Cordoba, stay Cordoba
Mon: See the Mezquita, Casa Andalusi, town etc
Tues: See Alcazar, Jewish quarter, Casa de Seferad. Flamenco show in the evening
Wed: Drive to Granada. Afternoon spent walking around town - Albaicia, Mirador de San Nicholas
Thurs: Alhambra, Monastereo de Cartija if we have time. More flamenco
Fri: Drive back to Murcia, leave Spain
The only thing we'll set in stone is the Alambra, as we need to pre-book. I'm not sure how much flamenco DH can take, but I figure whilst in Spain, see Spanish things.
Sounds great!
If walking is an issue you might want to check with the alambra. I have memories of having to walk up this huge hill to get there (good 30 mins at a steep incline). I don't think cars were allowed up, but tour buses might of :dunno: it was a ling time ago... Just thought I would flag it so you can work out a way around it.
You guys are going to have such a good time! I'm jealous!