Touring in Andalusia

[coljack]

We are booked for an Atlantic crossing on Splendor in April of 2020 ending in Barcelona.  We are planning to stay in Spain for a week or two afterward and want to spend most of that time in Andalusia, particularly visiting Seville, Granada and some of the sites in between.  We have reached an age where we are uncomfortable driving in a foreign country so a rental car is out.  Although this is not directly a cruise question, we know many of you are seasoned travelers as well as cruisers, so we are asking if anyone has advice on a particular tour company or if you have personal experience traveling in southern Spain and have some tips.  Thanks for anyone who can advise and to all of you regulars for your wonderful advice in the past.

[poss]

People on the Spain board rave about Barcelona Day tours.    They do many tours through Spain, not just Barcelona.   We've never used them (will probably do a half-day Barcelona tour when we are there in May), but they get dozens and dozens and dozens of terrific reviews.    Take a look at the Port of Call boards, the one for Spain.   You'll find plenty of info about tour groups.

Have fun.

[poss]

To follow upon my earlier post:

https://www.spaindaytours.com

 

Wish I had personal knowledge, coljack, but the reviews are very enthusiastic.

[IndiTravler]

I know everyone's comfort level of rental cars in foreign countries differs.   I just want to point out that we found Spain to be one of the easier countries to do a self-driving tour.    This may be because this was the one country where we didn't actually drive the car much.   We too were touring Andalusia and found transportation options between the major cities to challenges.  So we got the car and just used it as a way to get from city to city on easy driving Spanish highways.  Once we unloaded the car at the hotel, it wasn't used again till we checked out.   Give us lots of flexibility with very little city driving challenges.    

[PSU]

When we were in Seville, we used Spain Day Tours. They also do other cities. They were fabulous.

[cruiseluv]

On 4/13/2019 at 12:12 PM, coljack said:

We are booked for an Atlantic crossing on Splendor in April of 2020 ending in Barcelona.  We are planning to stay in Spain for a week or two afterward and want to spend most of that time in Andalusia, particularly visiting Seville, Granada and some of the sites in between.  We have reached an age where we are uncomfortable driving in a foreign country so a rental car is out.  Although this is not directly a cruise question, we know many of you are seasoned travelers as well as cruisers, so we are asking if anyone has advice on a particular tour company or if you have personal experience traveling in southern Spain and have some tips.  Thanks for anyone who can advise and to all of you regulars for your wonderful advice in the past.

 

I travel in Spain often and have never rented a car, as I also prefer not to have to drive there. Spain has a fantastic rail system, as well as very good coach bus service that allows someone to reach even very small towns, so you could design the logistics to do this on your own and not have to do it as part of a tour.   Editing to add , for getting from Barcelona  to Sevilla, due to the distance involved, I would recommend flying. There're frequent flights in Iberia , and price is very low. 

Edited April 28, 2019 by cruiseluv

[coljack]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.  They were very helpful.  IndiTravler, especially thank you for your comments on the ease in driving in Spain.  We will give that serious thought.  Also, Cruiseluv, thanks for the idea of flying from Barcelona to Seville.  We were planning on taking the train, but flying sounds like a good plan.   Maybe the best plan is to fly to Seville and travel between the cities in Andalusia by rental car after that.

[UUNetBill]

I tried to post this the other day but it disappeared.  Somehow it's back today:

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FWIW, a quick check shows it to be about an 11 hour drive, about a 5-5.5 hour train ride (~$100-110pp), and about a 2 hour flight with several under $100 (if you don't need overhead baggage).

 

Flying seems to be the best option.

[1982CruzStart]

We used Spain Day Tours a couple of years ago for a few tours and they did a great job. 

[clp1476@gmail.com]

In October, we spent 17 days touring Spain, mostly in Andalusia.  Our TA arranged our travel thru Made for Spain and Portugal.  Their planning and attention to detail were impeccable.  If they said a driver would be there at 9:30, he was there at 9:25 (and wearing a suit & tie).  The guides were delightful.  The hotels were lovely (the Parador in Granada).  And they will work with you as to your itinerary and the costs.  I had a very clear idea of what I wanted to see, which my TA communicated to the agency.  And when the first proposal came in and I recovered from the sticker shock, they worked with me on the pricing (yes, they are on the expensive side but willing to negotiate).   We had an excellent experience and highly recommend them.

[Hambagahle]

If I were in Barcelona I would simply take a train to Madrid (AVE runs every hour and takes 2hr45) and then change to a train to Sevilla (AVE train another 2hr45).   Only thing is in Madrid you might have to change stations - just take a taxi.  Far easier than flying and more scenic too.  Probably cheaper...

Then use the network of inter city buses to get, say, from Sevilla to Granada to Rondo and finally train back to Madrid.  You certainly do not need a car in the towns.