Sevilla Travel Forum

Q1.Could anyone help me, we are panning our trip to Portugal and Spain for Sept/October this year. I am concerned that we are taking on too much, and the travelling and driving will wear us down.
We start in lisbon and intend to drive to Barcelona we have a total of 36 days.
Lisbon 3
and hopefully Morrocco 5
then at the end
Barcelona 5
so that leaves 23 days to travel and see the most interesting areas!
Our possible route is
Lisbon x3 - Obidos x1- Evora x2- Algarve x4- Seville x2- Cadiz x2- Morrocco x5 -Ronda x3- Granada x2- Jaen x2- Albacete x1- Morella x3- Stiges x1- Barcelona x5. Does anyone think this is do-able??
Q2.Do ferries travel between Algeciras and Ceuta during Oct? does anyone know the times?
Q3.Is two nights and 1 full day enough in Seville, to see the most important sights?
Q4.We have booked both ends but have left the middle flexible so far, How important is it to book accommodation ahead?
My husband and I are travelling with our adult daughter
Oh well, lots of Questions for you to ponder, I am looking forward to your replies.
Con Muchos Gracias Mandy NZ

A.1. There are so many great places to visit that no amount of research will give you the ideal itinerary but yours is certainly 'doable'. Presume that you can find a vehicle in Lisbon and return it in Barcelona without too much hassle. Maybe some places you would wish to move on after only one night and others perhaps stay longer but guess you will be flexible with your plans as you say. In Sept & October the weather should be ideal and accommodation is normally found without too much delay without advance booking. However if you want to stay in specific hotels such as a well positioned PARADOR or such like, then it is obviously important to make a booking.

A.2 ferries run all year from Algeciras to Ceuta. Susggest looking at the Ceuta Port web site for some ideas. And Regular ferry lines. http://www.puertodeceuta.com/

A.3 Seville is a great place and certainly 2 nights is a minimum. Possible to see the main sights in one full day within and around the Cathedral and vicinity.

A.4 see A.1

Not sure what you plan with regard to transport especially if you go to Morocco. If you rent a car then am sure it will be difficult to take it on the ferry. Think also about public transport because it can work out more restful and comfortable on many sectors. For example, there is a nice rail journey going up from Algeciras to Ronda (where probably 2 nights is sufficient) and the train can take you on from Ronda to Granada.

i understand you included jaen and albacete because they're on your way to the north, but there's nothing much to see there. i wouldnt spend 2 days in jaen, i'd take one day off, even both, and would add it to sevilla or cordoba.
as for booking in advance, end of sept/october is not high season so i think you wont have problems in finding accomodation. however, i'd recommend to have a look at the hotels/hostels in every city before you get there, and have a couple of them in mind. it'd spare you some time as some of the cities you're planning to visit, especially sevilla and granada, are too big to go wandering in search of accomodation.
thing is, isnt it possible to combine a car trip with public transportation/plane? as for spain, your route is quite focused on the south of the country (and only a bit on the east). the south is very nice but that'll give you a biased view of spain. north, west, east and south are all very different and each of them have their own charm. just a suggestion :)
enjoy your trip!

Try adding a couple nights to Porto in Portugal as well. It is really nice, and you can visit the port wine cellars and such. :)

Thanks for your answer, we have already organised a peugeot euroease car for the trip,Pick up lisbon and return barcelona. We are not taking it into Morrocco as by then we might like to take a break, I will need to find a nice safe car park in Algeciras! Will now be staying three nights in Seville as my instincts were telling me!Thanks

Hi again, we are visiting a friends daughter in Jaen, sometimes it is fun to do that, and hopefully her parents may travel there to meet us. Otherwise we may well take it down to 1 day. Going through Albacete is because it saves us some miles, but I've read about a little place called Ademuz and though we could stay the night around there although it would make it a long day of travelling.
You advice on accommodation is good, I think might book the big cities, so that it will eliminate some of the stress. We have GPS to help us get lost!
Porto sounds great but sadly we can't go everywhere.
Thanks again

You mentioned Ademuz. Funnily enough I passed this area on the road from Cuenca to Teruel recently. The road passes through valleys and woodlands and I thought it would be a nice area to explore for a few days as could not be rushed. Never did any research before :-(
My experience of driving through Spain is that the main roads are excellent and normally fast and best to use if you need to get from A to B. If you are happy to take your time and sit in the car longer then alternative routes are fine. Some prefer to limit the time in a car each day to say 4 hours especially in the winter months when daylight is less. There is a lot to see and so much history!

The crossing over the Straits is either Algeciras to Tangier or Ceuta, or the alternative quick route to Tangier is from Tarifa which is west of Algeciras. presume you do not want to go to Tangier but mention the ferry from Tarifa is fast www.frs.es .

yeah, maybe ademuz would be a better place to stay over night on your way from jaen to barcelona, though it's a long distance. if it's gonna be a too long ride, you could stop in cuenca instead (thats a bit closer to albacete). cuenca is a small city but it's nice to stay for 1 day. either you stay in cuenca or ademuz you may want to visit some of the small villages in Teruel on your way up to Barcelona, for example to have lunch. I was to Mora de Rubielos when I was 12 and I remember it as a small and quiet place, with a kind of medieval atmosphere. and it has a castle.
I was born in Valencia, where I still live, but I have relatives in a village in the province of Jaen, so I've been there a couple of times. The trip takes aprox 6 hours by car (though my relatives live in the mountains, so it might be shorter to the city). Dont know if Valencia would be an option for you though. The trip to Barcelona from Valencia takes 3'5 h through the highway.
hope im not making you too confused.
Good luck! :)

As Jezzbell mentioned you might enjoy Cordova, a beautiful old city. If you enjoy the countryside, the Las Alpuharras area with its villages is perfect. You could visit Granada, then head south to Orgiva and enter the area from there on your way eastward toward Barcelona. Take the road up toward Guadix and maybe stay the night there in a cave hotel.
If you are travelling from Cadiz toward Algcerias, stop in Vejer de la Frontera and see the Molinos and the old city. and don't miss visiting one of the Bodegas in Jerez de la Frontera where they produce the Sherry that the area is famous for.
If you enjoy nature, a visit to Torcal near Antequera might be for you also.
We spent 17 days and our tour area was restricted to Andalucia only. Not enough time to see everything, but it did give us ideas for a return visit. All I can adivse is don't rush, take time to enjoy.
Martin

Hi thanks for all your replies! I'm still concerned that we will be spending too long in the car-four hours is quite long enough. Cuenca wuld be a good place to stay as it is too long for one day to head to Ademuz, and I have had a look at Albcacete and yes, there is not much to see! Jessbell, travelling straight to Valencia and on the fast road to Barcelona may be an option, the small village we are visiting near Jaen is near the town of Martos, maybe you know of it?
Martin yes we intend to stay at Vejer de le Frontera and I have read somewhere about Las Alpuharras, so if we have time I willl check it out!
But... I've been thinking we could enquire about dropping the car at Madrid instead, and catching the fast train to Barcelona, this way we could use the days that would have been used getting to Barcelona, either in Southern Spain or in Madrid before we take the train. My new plan Obidos x2- Evora x1- Algarve x4- Seville x3- Cadiz(Vejer de la Frontera) x2- Morrocco x5 -Ronda x2- Granada x3- Jaen x2- plus(5 days to use depending on the Madrid /Barcelona decision)- Barcelona x5
What do you think would be the best idea, spending extra days along the way and in Southern Spain with a quick drop off in Madrid, or spending a few days in Madrid before we head to Bar.
This is out first trip (and possibly the only one) to Europe and we are a little freaked out about the big cities and driving on the 'wrong' side of the road. We would like a nice mix of nature, history, site-seeing eating drinking and relaxing if possible. All you help is most appriciated.
Kind regards Mandy NZ