Have you been to Andalucia?

[BadMoodBoard]

Thinking of going there at Easter, DD will be 12 and DS will be 14, nearly 15. I guess we'll fly somewhere, spend a couple of days in a city, then hire a car and drive elsewhere visiting stuff, but if you have done this holiday, I would appreciate pointers. We are not a sun and beach family, we enjoy food, drink, music, people watching, would love to learn about the Moorish legacy, perhaps see some proper Spanish guitar playing... For starters, where would you recommend we fly to/from?

Fly to Malaga, head up to Granada. Stay there and enjoy!

How long are you planning to go for?

We've flown to malaga and Seville and either makes a good base.

Granada is amazing. Seville, Cordoba, Jerez and Cadiz are all fantastic cities in their own ways.

Malaga itself is also a very likable place. Good food, lots of people watching opportunies, a good picasso museum...

I'd love to go to that part of the world at Easter. The Andalusians really know how to throw a party.

Go when there's a fiesta on somewhere - will be lots of music around then. Isn't easter week when they have the carnivals and parades? Choose any of the cities strongandalong mentioned.

If you're going to either Seville or Cadiz, stop off at Ronda. If you're going to Granada, don't forget the Alhambra. Tickets need to be booked in advance and are often sold out several months before. It's really cheap though for what it is you just need to be organised.

I would fly into Seville and out of Malaga. We loved Seville, Granada is unmissable, malaga is nice too. I would love to see Córdoba and also that lovely hillside town near-ish Malaga. Lovely part of Spain!

Yes, Ronda!

Yes, if you go for Semana Santa (at Easter) there will be parades and fiestas galore.

Seville could be perfect and Córdoba (smaller) is lovely. Cadiz a real gem. Smaller towns around competa or salares (solares?) are really interesting but very small and probably not quite what you are wanting. Seville gets my vote for you. Easy flights some lovely hotels if you’re going in height of summer it can be blisteringly hot and for that reason kind of closed during the day. Went one summer when it was 110. Think it’s perfect in June or Easter even.

easyJet and Ryanair both do direct flights in and out of Jerez which is the nearest airport to Cadiz.

It's semana santa this year 14 th April until 20th. This means holy week and accommodation will be really expensive. If you are happy with budget airlines we flew to Seville last year then got a coach to Granada then back from there. How confident are you at city driving on wrong side of the road ? Plus parking is expensive even if it's available, the city centres are lots of twisty tiny roads to get anywhere.
If you are staying city centre a car is not really necessary taxis can take you cheaply to the major sites if you can't walk there..
Both Seville and Granada are with visiting though

My fantasy Andalusian road trip: fly into Granada, four days there including one for the Alhambra. Drive through Sierra Nevada to the coast, stop for a couple of days in Salobrena, day in Nerja to do the caves then on to malaga. Four days there including one to do a boat trip Morocco just to say you've been to Africa for the day. Head to Ronda for a couple of days, staying in a hotel next to bridge. On to Seville, four days there, down to Cadiz, four days there, fly home from Jerez.

Can you fly into Granada though?

If you like cities, and don’t want to bother with the car, you could use the trains. I’ve travelled between Seville, Granada and Malaga by train which was pretty straight forward. IMO Seville is a great city - has the moorish part with the Alcazar plus the cathedral, small enough to easily get about and good tapas with plenty opportunity to people watch.

easyJet Manchester to Granada then Seville to Manchester by Ryanair.
Other airports I'm not sure about

The semana santa corpus cristi parade in Seville is brilliant. Tickets for chairs sold in the street during the week. Took my ma one year. We weren’t too sure what we were buying tickets for. Ended up in front town seats right by cathedral door. Around town are then loads of smaller processions and roads strewn with rosemary. Quite magical.

Buses (at least the ones that cover major routes) are also good in Spain - fairly cheap, can book in advance online and air conditioned and comfortable etc.

I would take Brexit into consideration, passport controls and airport chaos. We were also thinking about a visit but are going to wait till after Brexit topics have clarified to refuce stress. Of course you can still go there though, just plan some extra hours into your travel schedule around March/April just in case.

Fly to Seville and stay for a few days. There is masses to do. Then hire a car and head for Vejer de la Frontera, one of the traditional white towns and stay at La Casa del Califa a very atmospheric hotel with a fabulous moorish restaurant.

Omg ! I actually forgot all about Brexit for a whole day ! Thanks for reminder harebellmeadow

Our first ever trip to Spain was to Andalusia at Easter 2003 - similar dates to next year. We had one week in Alhaurín de la Torre (near Torremolinos, not far from Malaga, so handy for beginners!) & one in Marbella.

On Easter Sunday we watched the local procession in Alhaurin. It’s quite a small town but the costumes & numbers involved were stunning - even tiny children in buggies dressed up - and it was much more accessible than the city ones. (City ones way more magnificent though of course.)

We didn’t do much culture that trip, but have since visited most of the places mentioned. It’s an amazing province with a stunning history, combined with unbelievable weather at that time of year. (We had 1 cold wet day, the rest was sunny, kids in pool/sea every day)

But - BREXIT. I would love to go again next Easter but wouldn’t book anything until things are finalised

Although Granada/Alhambra are beautiful my favourite city (so far) is Córdoba, for its fascinating multicultural history. Muslims, Jews & Christians lived amicably alongside each other for centuries.

breakingabroad.com/exploring-the-religious-history-of-cordoba/

Love it! Fly to Malaga, rent a car. Take a villa with swimming pool in one of the White Villages near Ronda, so you have a restful base when you are not out sightseeing, because there is a lot to see and do. You will be right in the heart of Moorish history and culture. You'll be up and out the way of the more crowded parts, but within easy access of all.

Just a warning about hill/mountain village villas and pools. It can be really cold up in them thar hills. I once rented near competa in early May. Freezing. Much anticipated pool nit used save for one dare for a photo. Still wonderful holiday walking and touring.

You're all making me wish I was already there! Thank you for all the info.

Re Brexit. I mean. Am I being naive? What can possibly happen? This is just a holiday. We holidayed in Europe before the EU so what am I missing?