Granada Travel Forum

hi all, we are planning to spend 12 days in spain, please comment on our itin:

Day 1: arrive barcelona around 3pm, walk around city
Day 2-4: barcelona; barcelona night train to granada
Day 5: granada alhambra; stay in granada
Day 6: morning bus/train to ronda; stay in ronda
Day 7-9: afternoon bus/train to sevilla; stay 2 nights at sevilla; train to madrid morning day 9
Day 10-11: madrid
Day 12: early morning flight out of madrid

I'm having trouble booking train tickets on www.renfe.es. i went to their english page but when i go to booking, it turns into half spanish.

1) for night trains from barcelona to granada, there are a few prices but doesn't say which kind of bed it is. which price should i choose?
2) should i take train or bus from granada to ronda? seems like there is no direct train or bus, can anyone give me sites where i can book these tickets?
3) should i take train or bus from ronda to sevilla? also difficult to find info on this route.
4) if we decide to stop over at cordoba for a couple of hours, would there be lockers in the train station that would be able to fit suitcases?

any recommendations on hotels in cities we are visiting? looking for convenience and cleaningness. budget around 100 euro or a bit more per night.

thanks a lot for any input!! i don't where to start planning for this trip. have been looking thru lonely planet guide and some sites. but i guess everyone is just supposed to know the trivials of booking tickets. please help!!

best regards,
yammi

I am not big on wasting a night in Spain on a train. Intercity flights are inexpensive, check vueling, spanair. Even Iberia if you book early enough. Once in Spain, arrange your transportation when you get there on the first day. For example, when you arrive in Sevilla, throw your stuff in your room, then get the tiks for the high speed train to Madrid that leaves a few days later. You will be able to adjust your schedule better. If you do decide to do the train route, you can buy a pass where you get X number of travel days no matter where you are going.

thanks for your help! but as the flights to granada is very early morning,so we have to check out at the middle of the night. we are 2 girls travelling, so a bit scared of the idea. actually costs are around the same: train hotel is just a bit less than 1 night hotel + plane tickets. but we are just scared of going out in the middle of the night in barcelona, that's why we decided on the night train. can you give any ideas on the granada-ronda and ronda-seville transportation? i've no idea where to look now... thanks a lot

I would consider flying to Malaga from Barcelona. There are many flights on this route and cost just around 30 euros a person, one way. Try the folloing link to Clickair
http://www.clickair.com/view/default.aspx?lang=2
From Malaga it is much easier to find buses that go to Ronda ( http://www.estabus.emtsam.es/lista_viajes.asp ) apart from the possibility of going to Marbella or other coastal places in the province of Malaga. Granada is just 110 kiloeters from Malaga. You can get here by car by hiring one ( www.easycar.com ) o by bus ( http://www.estabus.emtsam.es/lista_viajes.asp )

The trip by plane apart from being much more cheaper than by train will save you alot of time, which you can use to see Marbella or the capital city of Malaga or Nerja on the coast. Should you decide on this option or need any specific information on any other option please let me know and would be glad to help you.
best regards from Valencia
Mahesh

please don't be scared about walking alone in barcelona at night. Barcelona is avery safe city so if your problem is that start to consider to take that middle night flight. I don't know why u think that Barcelona can be so dangerous to aboid one flight in the night. Think in Barcelona as Rome or Paris or any european city. Barcelona is a totally safe city the same as all Spain.

thanks a lot!! you have ease my mind a bit!! ^_^

My main comment is that you are really pushing yourselves pretty hard with that itinerary!! This is the problem I have - too much to see, too little time, always!!

I would try to cut back a couple of destinations and allow yourselves a bit more time to relax between destinations. I did Granada-Almeria-Granada-Cordoba-Granada last time in 2 weeks and I felt like I was running back and forth like crazy plus my daughter and I got food poisoning and had to cancel a couple of days of sightseeing, but at least I was able to do that without trouble.

Don't worry, if you can't see it all this time, you can come back!!! In order to get the most of out it, I am sticking to one region with a "home base" city (the city I fly into and out of) which makes me feel more secure.