Hey folks-
I'm making my first real trip to Spain next week- Tues.-Sat. We'll be arriving (and spending at least a couple of days in) Madrid, and are torn between going to Sevilla/Andalucia or Barcelona. And the more reading I do, the more I'm torn between the two. Anyone want to make my mind up for me?

Thanks-

Mark

I vote for Andalucía! More places in the area to visit, better climate(??), and..... IT'S ANDALUCíA!

Saludos, MadridMan

Second the vote for Andalucia!!!

[This message has been edited by Puna (edited 11-30-2000).]

I say Sevilla/ Andalucía for sure!!! Sevilla is an incredible, beautiful, managable (sp?) city and there are so many wonderful pueblos in pretty close proximity. Go South!!

make that a fourth vote for sevilla. ah, such a beautiful, good to be alive city. as everyone else said, there are so many places to see in the surrounding area. the alcazar, catedral, la giralda, wandering thorugh the winding streets and along the guadalquivir, the music. ah andalucia, go and enjoy! =)do try and get out to the pueblos or stop in cordoba on your way down.

that is a tough one. Both have so much history. Cataluna is fascinating, historically - artistically,linguistically, with all of the pulling back and forth between different empires and governments (Roman, France-Spain). Barcelona is amazing.

The south though with its moorish influences and outgoing people is so special.

What are you really interested in? what is the appeal or either place, basically, why those two choices?

I love both cities, but I would choose Sevilla over Barcelona. It really does matter what you want to do. I saw Barcelona as a large, metropolitan European city. I loved Las Ramblas, Placa Catalunya and all things Gaudi, but when I think of "Spain", I think of Andalucia and the moorish influence. Plus, I thought Sevilla was a great city just to exist in.

Good luck choosing. Have a great trip no matter what your itenerary turns out to be!

Well, I think we have a consensus (Funny, on another unrelated board, it turned out just the other way).

We're going to Sevilla. I'm drawn to the Moorish history, as well as a desire to see the city that inspires such advocacy on its behalf.

So now to come up with something of an itinerary. The problem I'm having is getting a handle on how long it takes to drive between places in Spain. We arrive in Madrid around 9am- would it be realistic to think we could drive to Sevilla by the end of the day, with enough time to find a nice place to stay? I'm thinking we may just hop on the AVE and hire a car when we get there.

Once we're there, I'd like to spend a couple of days, perhaps with a side trip to Gibraltar, and then make our way back via Cordoba (seeing the Mosque).

Ideally, we'd turn our car in when we got to Madrid, spending the rest of our time exploring on foot.

Too much for a Tuesday-Sat/Sun. trip? Hints?

Thanks for the help so far-

Mark

I would say the AVE is the best choice. I would forget Gibraltar and just have a ball checking out all the stuff in Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada. That should keep you pretty occupied (and happy!)

I'm biased, being based in Andalucia, but Sevilla wins hands down. It's my favourite city. I could go on for ever gushing about it, but just go and see for yourself! Then there's Malaga, Cordoba and don't forget Granada, where right now you can visit the Alhambra and see the snow on Sierra Nevada a half hour drive from the city, where people are already skiing on over a metre of powder and just an hour away others are sunbathing on the beaches! Ah, Andalucia....I love you!