Granada->Gibraltar->Sevilla

Is it possible (via public transport) to get from Granada to Gibraltar, see some of Gibraltar and then travel to Sevilla all in one long day?

If not, can anyone recommend a place to stay near Gibraltar?

Also, what is the best way to get between these points? It doesn't look like the bus or train companies (at least those on line) have direct routes between these places. But I'm sure people must do this trek all the time. Any experiences or recommendations?

Thanks

Jms
I would suggest that you stay in La Linea, the town where the Rock is located. When I visited Gilbratar, we stayed in Algeciras and took a bus from Algeciras to La Linea. There is bus service from Seville to Granada to Algeciras. My recent trip, we took a bus from Granada to Algeciras. Someone wrote that they drove from Sevilla to Granada for less than 2 hours that is driving 100 miles per hour! In Sevilla, there are two bus stations; one that services Madrid/Portugal and the other services Andalusia towns.

Hi jms! The Costa del Sol is a very awkward place to travel along without a car. The train line ends at Fuengirola and the bus service could be better.

There is a bus which leaves Granada at 8 in the morning and takes about 5 hours to get to La Linea. From the bus station its just a couple of hundred metres to the frontier with Gibraltar. After a trip round the rock (five or six hours is plenty) you have several options open to you. You can either stay overnight in Gib, or La Linea or else go to Algeciras.

I would personally do none of these! Indeed I would go to the bus station and backtrack the way I came and head for either San Pedro or Estepona (about an hour from La Linea, with a frequent bus service).

You can enjoy a night there, or even in Marbella, just a few more kilometres down the coast and then the next morning there is a bus to Sevilla from San Pedro, going via Ronda. Just an opinion and I know mclarke had a good time in La Linea and Algeciras, but certainly LL has a bit of a history for being a dodgy town, with high unemployment and a lot of drug related crime. Algeciras is a port city, which I'm sure has its good bits, but for me the best bit now is the by-pass around it!

Anchovy Front

You are definitely right about Algeciras - dead town but La Linea seems to more alive than La Linea. If had known about Estoponia, I would have visited your area. I am now looking at Estoponia area. You must be living in heaven - 325 days of sun, near orchards of mangoes, avocados, lemons.
Please describe Esteponis in your own experience. Gracias!

Excuse me for being a Buttinski but I feel qualified to speak on Estepona. My girl & I spent 1 week there in November. It was beautiful and we loved it all. We took long walks throuout the town and ate at their lovely restaurants. The people were very sweet and helpful.The weather was phenomanal and we had a lovely condo right on the beach.Out the back terrace was the Meditteranean Sea within 10 meters. The Rock of Gibraltar was massively close and the Atlas Mountains of No. Africa was seemingly touchable.We were close to many sites and towns worth visiting. Convenient,Beautiful,Friendly and Quiet all fit Estepona. They say it is the last bastion of small towns not overbuilt.A lovely brickblocked Passeo wanders alond the shore. If I had the writing ability of MClarke I could go on & on. Try IT, you'll like it.One last comment is that Estepona is as inexpensive as the rest of Espana.It's Heavenly.

Billy Ski
Magical description of Esteponia and more! So far what I have read is that you have beautiful weather, lots of Europeans (English, Germans, Italian, etc) and of course still is Spain. When did you go there? What month is the best time to really enjoy Estoponia. Gracias, Billy!

Billy, so you went in November! What was the temperature of the beach? Was it warm to swim?

[This message has been edited by mclarke (edited 02-15-2001).]

Re:Estepona,In Nov.we had lunch on an open-air terrace plus morning coffee numerous times.In the afternoon it was close to 75`F and as far as I know it is not a good idea to swim in the sea. All condos have pools as this one did and it also overlooked the sea.My girl jogged every morning to comfortable Temps. and we strolled every night. I would imagine the best time to visit is May or October. No crowds and warm temps.There is also pockets of Scandinavians along the Costa. In Estepona they have an American Club but when I stopped in I was told they also have Brits in the club.The Brits are by far the most numerous. They have been going for years.It is their equivelent of Florida.Plus the Pound goes alot farther.The biggest benefit to going off-season to me is that you deal mostly with the locals rather than fellow-tourists.I would return in a heartbeat & will in the future.I think you would love Estepona MClarke, especially with your gift of seeing the beauty where others may not.P.S. Thamks for the compliment on my earlier posting. Bill Ski

Billy Ski

I am impressed on how you described Estopona (is the correct spelling). Please, please write your travel experiences for the reason when things do not go your way, your travel experience will always be there to cheer you.
Again, thank you for taking time to introduce Estopona to the board. I hope others will have the opportunity to read your posting on Estopona. Definitely, Estopona is on my list the next opportunity I will have to visit Spain. Probably, I will start saving to celebrate my 30th Wedding Anniversary in Estopona!

Billy Ski - I've lived here (in ESTEPONA, mclarke) for fifteen years and you just summed up my town perfectly after just a short visit! Well done! However (and I'll whisper this bit) it does rain now and then and it looks a little bit different ...BUT we know that it won't last for ever and the sun will shine again soon!

By the way, I gave a lift home to a friend of my mum last night. She's from Prague and we were talking about the ACE (American Club of Estepona). She goes there quite a lot and told me the same thing - lots of different nationalities. She's been to the Brit one too, but thinks they are a bit more snooty! Must be our stiff upper lip, reserve and all that, eh what!!

A generous bunch too, at ACE, as they are always in the paper being thanked for big and generous donations to local charities. Good work!

Dear MC, Wise decision to save $ for a trip to Estepona.Congrats on your upcoming 30th.The town has everything a traveler could hope for and you will not be disappointed.As for you Ms.Anchovy I have read your postings for near 8 months now and wish I had known you were there in Estepona.We all could have had a Cafe Solo or 2.We stayed at the Edificio Jakaranda at the West end of town.Next to us was the great Super Mercado(Carrefour)and they fed us for our luncheons on the terrace.I found Estepona because I read many negative things about the larger towns on the Costa.It is a Gem and doesn't seem to have much room for further expansion.I hope not.We would watch a dozen or so independent fisherman on the beach repairing their nets and working on their small boats almost daily.We never got to the Marina but loved the Carousel on the Paseo.Many families came with their little ones and seemed to love it.I miss it now by writing about it.I've said enough plus I wise only there for 1 week.I envy your location in Estepona.Eat it up.I promise to look you up next time Anchovyfront.

Estepona--my favorite!! We've spent many wonderful vacations in the area. Weeks at a time. I'm really regretting that we won't be going there in May. It's been so, so long (14 years). Has it changed much since then? We used to rent a house in Bahia Dorada, an urbanization west of town. We'd sit out on the terrace with a bottle of sherry and some olives from the market. Lovely view of the Sierra Bermeja and the twinkling lights of Estepona. Heaven! And I loved going to town to shop--the freshest fish, eggs and produce. A special stop for bread. Anchovy Front, do you know the "lechuga man"? I remember him well, standing out on the street growling "lechuga, lechuga!"

My husband and I had pretty much ruled out "retiring" to Spain. Maybe we should reconsider?

What's happened? I leave the office for the weekend, get back, log on and ......I've had a sex change!! It's Mr Anchovy, actually, billy ski, but what the heck, I'll still have a cafe solo with you next time you're down here! (This last line delivered in a VERY deep voice!)

Carole, Bahia Dorada still seems the same as it was when I first saw it fifteen years ago. All those entrances and neat gardens is what you see from the road as you drive past. I must say, I've never walked around but it looks lovely through a car window!

Estepona has changed for the better over the last few years. Lots of plants, trees, new promenade, pedestrianised streets and in general it's being cleaned up and improved constantly, although without losing any of the character of the place.

Never met the lettuce man! We did see the knife sharpener though the other day. He has a grinding wheel on the back of his bike and blows on a set of pan pipes to let everyone know he's around and people bring out their knives, scissors.