Seville or Malaga? Short break

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I have the option to do a short break in either Seville or Malaga in February. Will just be me and DP, wanting a rest from work and to sample delicious food. Seville is coming in slightly cheaper for a better standard of accommodation, but both options are good value.
I don’t mind that Seville isn’t by the sea, but DP does like to be near the coast. Aware it won’t be beach weather, but he likes to ‘see’ the sea! We could hire a car if staying in Seville and drive to thw coast anyway.
I think I’ll prefer Seville from what I’ve read, but it’s a close call.
Would love to hear from anyone who has visited these places - especially if you’ve been to both - and perhaps about the things you didn’t like. I know that sounds odd, but I’ve read so many positives maybe I need to be aware of some negatives. Not too many though 😄

Late to this as you’ve made your choice. We usually do a double city break and go by train to Seville from Malaga. We’ve also had lovely holidays in Malaga / Cordoba. The flamenco in Seville and Cordoba is wonderful.

And btw, the taxi from airport to city centre in Seville took about 10 minutes and only cost around EUR20 (possibly less) when there this February. No need for a hire car for sure.

yes the scent and sight of those orange blossom trees....

This was one of the best things I have ever done (and I'm terrified of heights!) I couldn't make it past the first floor of the Eiffel tower. The money they have spent on this, it has been done beautifully and feels really safe and sturdy. The two bits that got to me a bit were the bridge at the end and the stairs after it - but I stayed right behind DH and it was ok. I also stayed to the righthand side of the boards as we walked along. I would do it again it was that amazing - and I just bowed out of going up the bell tower in our most recent holiday as I'm still terrified of heights.

I would say though that if you have time and hire a car that the area around is fantastic. We went to El Torcal on the way and loved walking around there. We stayed at La Garganta which we also loved and who will organise your tickets for the caminito (you can walk to it from the hotel). Then we also visited the Ardales lakes which were also really beautiful. All this combined with lovely Malaga made for such a great trip.

Oh and I would do that trip over Seville (which I went to years ago and didn't really like that much) any day. Mind you I was there on my own and was targeted by some gypsy women who wanted me to buy from them and harassed me until I ran away so that didn't help my impressions.
The only negative we found with Malaga is that the beach in town is not nice - it's more like dirt than sand. For a good beach you're better off in Nerja from what I've read.

@itsmyp4rty did you stand on the glass bit?

That's the only bit that got me even though I know it's completely psychological and I have no problems standing on metal grid flooring high up in industrial sites, but somehow this was a step too far.

Granada beats both, but is more awkward to get to

It really does!

@cherryassam @PensionPuzzle - thank you. I have searched on Renfre and all trains I have looked at go via Cordoba. Maybe they only go direct in the summer? If you can help finding a direct one I would be very grateful. We plan to stay in Malaga and visit Seville, Cordoba and the Alhambra but the train to Cordoba seems to be the only one that gets you in at an early enough hour to have a full day sightseeing and the ones back from Granada seem very weird. We would prefer to not have to rely on booking a tour.

What time of year are you going, @Roystonv ? I suspect you're right about it being seasonal and I only know the RENFE to search as well but I'll gladly have a little look just in case! I'm waiting for the kids to be big enough to do the inter-railing I never did when I was young and free so always happy to look at European train times 😂

I’m not sure about it being seasonal, but I think they are doing quite a lot of engineering works in the area at the moment, which might affect some routes.

I use RailEurope to do most of my train planning - I can see direct trains (and other route options) from Malaga to Granada in early October but not from mid October onwards.

Renfe usually releases route and ticket info about 2 months in advance, but it can be as little as 30 days. I wouldn’t be worrying yet about there not being something.

@Roystonv also look at Man in Seat 61 for any train advice, best source on the internet IME

@cherryassam and @PensionPuzzle thank you so much - date to be agreed but spring or late autumn (I don't do heat and exploring very well!). We are trying to decide whether or not to do a tour with a company from the UK or do it ourselves both for keeping cost down and making sure we see all we want to but not making it a chore either as DH is 70.

Oh I found May very pleasant, everything still pretty and green/flowery before the hot weather kicks in, I'm thinking the various palace gardens probably at their best around then. I did get catastrophically rained on in Seville though (it cost me a pair of canvas shoes 😂).

If you can hit Easter then the Semana Santa activities are likely to be really interesting, although worth checking opening hours over the period for anything you'd want to visit.

That said I've been to the east coast in October half term before and had very pleasant weather, I think you're more likely to stay dry in the Autumn but others would know better!

We did Seville, Cordoba and Malaga this year for Semana Santa. It was amazing.
I booked our train tickets well ahead using the trainline app. Check times as some
of the trains are much faster than others.

I absolutely love Sevilla but it's very hot. DH did drive there (we were staying in Sabinillas/Puerto de le Duquesa) at least three times. The only pickle we had was when we put El Corte Ingles in the sat nav and it took us through streets that were barely passable for one vehicle! It was stressful but we got through it unscathed!

I know you have already booked, but I have to throw another city into the mix - Valencia! It's amazing - both city and gorgeous beaches. It's really flat and very walkable but there's a great bus service if you don't want to walk. Beautiful architecture both old and modern, great shopping, amazing food and not too expensive. It used to sit over the river Turia, but it flooded in the 1950s so they re-routed it and they have beautiful gardens under the bridges. The food is delicious and not overly expensive.

It's somehow different to other parts of Spain I have been to. They speak Valencian for a start, so everything is in Valencian with Spanish translation. I speak a little Spanish and my DC is fairly fluent and we had the best of treatment because we were communicating with them in their own language! We loved it, and will go back.

@Playingintheshadow I went to a lovely tapas bar in Málaga and ordered in Spanish (Castillan down there luckily so slightly easier), loved it, went back on my last day to kill a bit of time before the airport bus, ordered the same thing in English and got a very different version of the same thing. It was still nice but it was an interesting experience!

@Playingintheshadow nice to read that about Valencia - we will be going there in November- have booked our flights and are just looking into accommodation. We have spent a little while debating on whether to stay central or on the coast - I think we have decided on city centre and will get the bus to the beach one of the days.

Planning Spanish lessons as part of my retirement plans!

Strange lol! Sone of the translations are a bit iffy, to be fair!

@ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea we stayed centrally and it's a fairly easy stroll into the centre, and a short bus trip away from the beaches. We went to Playa del Cabanal, Playa de la Malvorrosa and Playa Alboraya, and they were all beautiful! Lovely golden sand. I think it was Alboraya where we ate at a delicious restaurant called Banana Beach - though food was excellent everywhere we ate.

You also must partake of horchata, a local drink, and agua Valencia (rocket fuel!!)

We loved it - would so go back!!

A good trip is to fly into Seville do the city, take train to Córdoba which is a gorgeous spot. Then train to Granada which was heaving with people so I just went to Alhambra and walked around the city. Then train to Malaga which is a great city,has everything you want and the food is brilliant. Then you can take a train from Malaga direct to Caminito del Rey, El Chorro station. I DIY'd it and while it's not for the faint hearted it is a wonderful experience. Then fly back from Malaga.

I hope to do a more Northerly trip soon Leon, Burgos, and up around the Camino, but I'm not walking it this time. Spain is just the best.

@Playingintheshadow
We've booked our apartment now - in the La Seu area - really looking forward to it !

Am sure you will love it! Enjoy! x

In March/April this year we had a brilliant holiday in Seville, Cordoba and Granada and we did it by train.

We actually booked Inntravels Trail of Three Cities tour but it would be perfectly possible to replicate this.

We travelled to Seville by train - Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord then TGV from Gare du Lyon to Barcelona. We spent a night in Barcelona then took a train from Barcelona to Seville.

We were able to get fast, comfortable, direct trains from Seville to Cordoba and then Cordoba to Granada.

We did fly back from Malaga. We were able to get a coach from the main bus station in Granada to Malaga Airport. Didn't spend any time in Malaga but after reading this thread maybe we should have!