I love Seville, but perhaps you should leave it until you can see Andalucia on a longer trip. Anyway around Madrid there is some beautiful places like Arunjuez, just outside madrid take the local train or there Segovia or El Escorial which is beutiful they are all day trips so that would suit you both. Barcelona is over rated in my opinion but anyway just just Madrid better. Madrid has got some cool areas just off the gran via like checa and la latina. Also La Rioja is not far from Madrid, have…

Hello everyone,
My wife and I are going to do a winter vacation in January in Europe. We are not looking for a beach vacation but rather a "sweater weather" touring vacation. We like to drive ourselves around. We are debating Andalucia vs Sicily vs Greece. We would like to be on the ground maybe 8 or 9 days. We generally like to plant ourselves in one spot and do day trips. Would be interested in your ideas.
Thanks much,
Joe and Jan Hill
Louisville, KY.

Just to endorse what Veta says, I've heard/read very good reports on the Hotel Argantonio.

I really like El Puerto but, like everywhere else, it's down to personal taste. For example, millions love the Costa del Sol and wouldn't live or take their holidays anywhere else: I, and many of my friends, don't like it. That doesn't make the Costa del Sol more or less desirable.

The RG to Andalucia has plenty of info on both towns, especially Cadiz.

@azaharsevilla. This like discussing Twelfth Night and suddenly William Shakespeare turns up :-))

I have to say that your idea seems an excellent one and, as I said, I had no idea if the review was genuine or not. Even though we live in Andalucía and are (very) used to going out tapeando, occasionally it would be good to be taken out in Sevilla. I already have your website bookmarked and I certainly would not have even mentioned your services had they not have been on the Guardian website.

I…

The province of Granada is a fantastic area to discover with a rent a car, make sure to get one with A/C, it can be really hot in Andalusia at that time of year. At Granada airport you will be able to find bargain car hire from local car hire companies like Auriga Crown or Solmar, but they do not allow to return the car in Madrid, as they do not have a depot there. If you change the drop off location on the booking engines from Granada to Madrid you will see the big difference in price for a car…

Be aware also that the cities empty out in August and everyone heads to the beach, so they can end up feeling like tourist ghettos

True. 2 years ago i was in Andalucia in June. While i was staying several days on the coast south of Cadiz there was an early heat wave and there were Sevillanos staying in our hotel who wanted to escape the unbearable heat in their city. We watched the news on TV together and it was 52° in Seville and the images showed only empty streets.

I would stay overnight in Ronda. You can check best connections from the websites I mentioned.
Personally I like Guadix, Nerja's caves, Alpujarras, mountains and villages around Ronda, Atlantic coast etc. in Andalucia.
There is also Madrid and everything around it on your route if you travel with high speed.
I've never been in Malaga (other than airport or highway) so I don't know about that.

Hi al, my wife and I will be heading to Andalucia end of January and are looking for hotels in central Sevilla, Malaga, Cordoba and Grenada: any suggestions?
We would like them to be central, walking distance from major sighseeing spots and railway/bus stations, not too expensive and possibly with some charme (and winter heating!)
Thanks in advance to all, ciao
C

Ronda is my favourite spot in Spain, so I can definitely recommend it. I didn't find it touristy at all - but we stayed on the far side of the Ponte Neuvo where it was a little quieter.

Having said that, I've not been to some of the other places (like Antequera) being suggested here.