A Trail of Three Cities

Seville was our favourite city. For tapas, we recommend the Catalina Casa de Comidas near the hotel in Plaza Padre Jeronimo. We did not think much of Il 3 de Oro which you mention. In Cordoba, we enjoyed tapas at Casa Pepe near the hotel.

We thoroughly enjoyed our six day trip to Andalusia. The hotels were excellent and the train travel was effortless. All three cities were wonderful and we only wished we could have stayed longer in each place. It was our first visit to Córdoba and Granada so they were particularly exciting. The Mezquita exceeded all expectations - similarly the Alhambra. In Córdoba we enjoyed lunch outside at Ordóñez in a quiet side street off Deanes, near the hotel and Mezquita. In Granada we had lunch at el huerto de Juan Ranas, cl de Atarazana 8, high up in the Albaicin which had a fantastic view overlooking the Alhambra, with the snow capped mountains behind. Perfect!

Our highlights? The Alcazar in Seville, the Mezquita in Cordoba, and the Alhambra in Granada

Super trip (a Trail of Three Cities with a Malaga city add-on), with lots of interesting places to visit. Particularly enjoyed the gardens in the Alcázar in Cordóba which one might be tempted to leave out having visited the Alcázar in Seville - we almost did.  Tip, as mentioned previously, to take the bus to Malaga airport if staying at the Hotel Molina Lario as the bus stop is only a couple of minutes walk from the hotel. If looking for tapas in Malaga we would recommend Nacalú just round the corner from the hotel. El Pimpi had a huge queue! PIn Cordóba, the Bodegas Mesquita is very good value. In Granada, Restaurante Arayannes and Restaurante Libanes Samarkanda are near the hotel and a change from tapas!

This is a holiday full of rich cultural experiences. Each of the three cities has two or three gems so it’s important to give each one sufficient time and energy. This may mean leaving out some of the lesser sites. The local accredited guides are excellent, saving time and providing a great deal of important background.

A great holiday from start to finish. We chose to have an extended stay in each of the three cities and would definitely recommend that so you can maximise all the city walking routes and have sufficient time to enjoy all the many other great aspects of each city from flamenco dancing to beautiful  parks to stroll in. These are three cities to immerse yourself in their history and relaxing environs! A great holiday thank you Inntravel!

The highlight of the holiday was the Mesquita in Cordoba, a remarkable and unique building. However, it took us little more than an hour to look around. The unmissable experience is the Alhambra at Granada. We arrived there just after 10 and didn't leave until nearly 4. The audio guide there is excellent, well worth the €6 fee, and is one reason that the visit took so long, but we'd have stayed even longer if the gardens had been in bloom. We booked the Nasrid Palace tickets for 13.30 and this timing was perfect. Take some snacks and a drink with you because there is a surprising (to the British!) lack of cafes inside the Alhambra grounds. Seville is a treasure with the cathedral and Giralda tower the highlight. We wouldn't bother with the Palais de Pilatos in Seville, too expensive for what there was to see. On timing: we went in January and it rained nearly every day, and almost continuously for all our time in Seville. Most days were very windy too. We think this is unusual in January because all three cities were busy with tourists but it is a risk. Of course there are no flowers in bloom so the gardens are dull in January, and all the gardens in Seville were closed throughout our visit because of heavy rain. Finally our restaurant tips: we're not into fine dining but we very much enjoyed the creative dishes and excellent service at Casa Catalina, in Plaza de Catalina, 5 minutes walk from Las Casas hotel in Seville, and also the Bodegas Mezquita in Cordoba which provided delightful Spanish dishes and a glass of Pedro Ximenez on the house to finish!

Highlights were the Seville and Cordoba hotels for character and service respectively. No rain! Alhambra visit, but.... The night before the visit I thought the Inntravel instuctions in the file were ambiguous - I only took the file, not the letters, invoices etc... I spoke to Granada Travel who, like the Guide on the day of the visit, seemed to expect that we would have a voucher. As it turned out, it didn't matter, but your instructions could perhaps be improved in this respect. Also, a website like Trailfinders "Viewtrail" would be useful.

The walk to the ruined farm house where we continued to catch a bus back to Grazalema.  A hard but stunning walk.  Los Diamantes tapas bar in Granada - really authentic experience.  La Regadera restaurant in Cordoba - modern Spanish cooking,  L'Azotea restaurant and tapas bar in Seville - the one close to the Cathedral - again modern, beautifully presented and tasty tapas.  Also, close to hotel, La Fresqui family run cafe - doesn't look great but super coffee, traditional tapas at a very low price.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer combined our New Year Break in Grazalema with A Trail of Three Cities

The beautiful buildings & monuments were the high point. Three beautiful cities!!

This was a great trip, and even though the weather was a bit colder and duller than we'd hoped, the cities are amazing... especially Seville. All the travel arrangements worked like clockwork and even changing the timing of a train was done quickly and efficiently by the Inntravel office back in the UK, with new tickets emailed to us and then printed out by the Hotel in Seville. Food wise we ate at La Mata very near the hotel (Las Casas de la Juderia...amazing!) which was good and then on the second night we went, quite late, into Las Teresas, which is just 5 minutes from the hotel and ate at a great, crowded bar hung with hams, tapas... and of course very inexpensive. For lunch in Seville we had a beautiful leg of lamb in La Malvaloca on a plaza. Euros 22 for two! The next day, great and inexpensive standing tapas in La Fresquita (we had tried the night before but it was full to busting and it is tiny!) In Cordoba we did eat at El Churrasco and it was OK, but pricey and obviously aimed at tourists. The next evening we went to Taberna Gongora (about 2 minutes from the hotel... Palaccio del Bailio) and whilst we had to stand and wait for about 15 minutes they had a system and did take names for the next free table... again great and inexpensive... glass of Fino Euro 1! In Granada (Palacio Patos) we actually ate twice, lunch and evening, in the hotel restaurant: excellent. The other evening we ate, pretty late, at Tabernas Masquevinos, which we found up a little alley up off one of the main shopping streets! Buzzing, busy and excellent... and again very inexpensive... with the end of meal coffee on the house! And of course then there's the Alcazar, the Mesquite and so on.... beautiful architecture, tiling, intricate details from the Islamic influence. Not to mention all the amazing patterned cobbles we found in all 3 cities. Will definitely return (when it's sunnier!)

Granada - we loved everything about Granada and Hotel Casa Morisca was very good. 3 nights were perfect. Spent most of 1st day in the Alhambra and our 2nd day took the walking tour around Sacromonte. Pre-booking Alhambra is essential and best to get there as early as possible before the crowds arrive.

Cordoba - we booked 3 nights in Cordoba but actually only needed 2 nights as everything is very close together. The quality of our room in Hotel Llave de la Juderia was poor so would recommend the better class of hotel offered by Inntravel.

Seville - very busy and much bigger than other 2 cities. Took a Red City Sightseeing tour when we arrived to get a feel for the city. Essential to pre-book Real Alcazar. The EXPO29 gardens are beautiful and very peaceful after the busy area around the Catheral and Palace. Recommend a vist to the palace at Plaza Pilates with guided tour of the rooms which are still used by the family. May need to pre-book the tour - we were lucky that there was availabilty on the English tour when we arrived. Hotel Las Casas del Rey de Baeza was fabulous with a wonderful restaurant - a bit of luxury at the end of a very busy week.

It was the first time we had used Inntravel and the holiday lived up to our expectations. All hotels were in great locations and walking distance to all major sites and super restaurants. We used all the walking notes provided and they were invaluable and allowed us to see places we wouldn't have done on our own. We had 2 super meals in Cordoba at Casa Pepe and El Churrasco (the latter appeared quite formal but staff were very knowledgeable and friendly). Be warned, in Granada we tried to book El Trillo but they would not accept a telephone booking, even by our hotel and would only take online bookings and we had to provide full credit card details. We declined and hotel staff were very surprised too and recommended Estrellas San Nicholas which was delightful. Our tour (organised by you) to the Alhambra was fabulous and there were only 5 people in our group, which was great. Our young female guide Del Carmen Paredes Cruz was very knowlegeable and friendly. We will definitely consider using Inntravel again. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in all three cities. Your walks were excellent, enabling us to feel we had seen as much as we could in the time available. Highlights for us were visiting the mezquita in Cordoba and the guided tour of the Alhambra in Granada which was just wonderful. Although we would usually avoid a group tour, in this case it made the day so much more enjoyable, and we still had time to ourselves at the end to revisit the gardens and take in all we had seen!

Mesquite was just fabulous. Recommend getting there, and the Alhambra, first thing to avoid the crowds even in October.

We all thoroughly enjoyed visiting the three cities. Though in terms of WOW factor, nothing could beat our entry into the Mezquita in Cordoba, early on the Sunday morning, hardly anyone yet inside the building, and just trying to take in the magnificent internal vista across the magic space of the Mezquita interior. Magical, amazing, wonderful, spellbinding.... At the Alhambra, the guided tour you had booked us on, in advance, was excellent, our guide, Antonio Zappata, bought the complex vividly to life, and put everything into context in terms of history, and its place in time. The tour lasted - what felt like a short - 3 1/2 hours, there were only 5 of us - all English - plus the guide which we felt was so lucky!  So that was number two on our list. All in all a memorable trip.

One recommendation for eating. In Seville the hotel recommended ‘El Contendor’ in C/San Luis 50 phone 954 91 63 33. Its description was "Stunning food, great food, and wonderful concept. You will enjoy for sure!" And that was absolutely true. The food was very original, excitingly presented, not classic, but innovative. Not your usual Iberian Ham etc.  But for us definitely the meal of the trip. For foodies, a must!!

The main thing I would suggest is that if any forward ticket booking is going to be involved do it using a proper keyboard in the UK when you will probably have a better chance of overcoming the inevitable hurdles.

1 day too little in Seville, really need 3 nights/2/2. Suggestion for Cordoba - the Equestrian School for those interested in horses, €21 for premium show ticket includes watching training and early entry to see horses before the show.

In Seville we went to the restaurant opposite our hotel, The Altamira, which provided a simple meal with friendly service which we felt was good value. In Cordoba we particularly enjoyed the Alcazar and we found the Bullfighting museum fascinating. We enjoyed a good value meal at the El Choto next door to the hotel and a particularly good, if more expensive meal, at the Casa Pepe. In Granada we enjoyed an excellent meal at the Negro Carbon. The food and service was superb but it was not cheap and you need to like beef!

The tour of the Ahlambra was excellent, the guide was very good. You need to wear good walking shoes as it is something of a marathon but well worth it!

Cordoba is our personal highlight; the Mesquita is outstanding especially the illuminated night tour - this will remain in our memories always (no photos allowed, fair enough). Also the Light and Sound night tour of the Alcazar gardens was quite magical. Cannot recommend these 2 events' highly enough. Book on line before leaving home. 

Again in Cordoba, we became fans of the Bodegas Mesquita restaurants...a small 'chain' of 3 in Cordoba only. Excellent food, excellent value and friendly waiters. No outside eating areas though.

In Seville, do NOT eat at the Altamira which is situtated in the plaza close to Las Casas de la Juderia. Expensive, unfriendly waiters, poor food. I notice (too late for us) another review makes the same comment. 

We found that the only time we needed to use a taxi was to reach the Hotel Casa Morisca in Grenada. The others were within walking distance from the station. 

A general reminder to book visits to the prime 'must see' places such as The Alhambra on line several weeks (at least) before departure. 

We feel Inn Travel staff deserve praise for responding  to queries e.g. do the hotels have kettles in their rooms? You did not know so contacted the hotels and I received a prompt (positive) response. 

We loved this holiday. All arrangements made by Inntravel worked out impeccably. The hotels were quirky yet comfortable with extremely helpful staff. Train and bus travel was perfectly organised. The walking tours were interesting to do and allowed us to discover much more of Seville, Córdoba and Granada than if we had been trying to do it on our own. We would recommend that anyone doing this holiday lets Inntravel book the Alhambra tour. It was quite gruelling but worth every step!

We would also recommend the following restaurants: El Rinconcillo in Seville - just a few steps from Las Casas del Rey de Baeza. An old, traditional tapas bar with great food and used by the locals. El Trillo Restaurante in Granada - fantastic views of the Alhambra and wonderful food but be sure to book first to ensure a table on the roof terrace. Casa Pepe in Córdoba - again, book first (they accept online booking) otherwise you won’t get a table on the roof terrace overlooking the Mesquita.

Delighted with hotels selected by the company,ideally situated to make walking in the old, interesting parts of the cities easy . We were very pleased that we extended the holiday by a day so that we had plenty of time in Granada to enjoy more than the amazing Alhambra.

Emphasising that the Alcazar closes from 14.30 on Sundays till Tuesday 8.30 would be helpful. We travelled to Cordoba on the Sunday and were so relieved we notice in the folder in time not to miss it. We left our luggage at the hotel and walked straight there.

Tips - the EA Bus from Seville railway station to the airport on the last day took barely ten minutes, so we would recommend that v the taxi! 4 euros...Sunday...maybe there’s no traffic on a Sunday and the driver needed his lunch! We bought a ticket for the Alcazar Córdoba, at 1000 in the morning...there were three of us in the queue...it was Sunday...and then went off for a wander and coffee and then went back at 12.30 and skipped the massive queues! 5 euros for a shady sit before tapas.

Highlights include the Tapas bar Cafe Bar Teresa’s, we just sat and chatted to the bar tender using our google translate ...very limited conversation going on but fun, and we loved the Rinconcillo tapas bar. We stood drinking and eating Tapas while they chalked up our spending on the counter ...a definite highlight... stand like a local.

Wow factors...the moment we walked into the Mezquita Córdoba, you have to go into it to fully experience, it's one of those places where photos cannot capture the 'Wow'. The Alcazar gardens in both Córdoba and Seville, peace, calm and shade in the afternoons. The roof top pool in Seville; sun, swim, drinks served and a gentle breeze with the inevitable siesta snooze :-)

A must see is the Horse & Flamenco show at Caballerizas Reales de Cordoba. 

If possible book the Mirador Room at Casa Morisca Hotel in Granada - Alhambra view is stunning, well worth the upgrade.

We had an excellent holiday and visited all our planned sights. The extra days in Sevilla and Granada were very useful and enabled us to explore without rushing. An unexpected highlight was the Plaza de Español in Seville, which was quite spectacular. Advance booking for the Alcazar in Seville would have avoided a lengthy queue. The Mesquite in Cordoba with its Cathedral surpassed my expectations, it was quite breathtaking. Los Diamantes in Granada for excellent local fayre and atmosphere at lunchtime. If you are vegetarian then I suggest researching suitable restaurants prior to leaving home or the hotel.  

I have just returned from an extended version of the Trail of Three Cities trip combined  with the Ronda and the Grazelema Sierra short break.  

Upon the recommendation of fellow Inntravel customers I met on a previous trip, I extended the stay in Seville to four nights and the stay in Granada to three nights, and I am very glad that I did.  Particularly in Seville there is so much to see and absorb that a two day stay would easily leave one running full tilt the whole visit without the time to slow down to get some feel for the Andalusian lifestyle.  As someone raised on a very Anglocentric view of European history and culture, it was fascinating to see an entirely different perspective, and I would urge people like myself starting with only the most rudimentary knowledge of Spanish history to read up on it before the trip to gain the most from the experience.  As has been my previous experience with Inntravel trips, the accomodations were an important part of the experience, each one unique and a reflection of its city.  In Cordoba I literally had a room fit for a queen, even though I was a solo traveler, as I stayed in the same room that was Queen Sofia's when she visited Cordoba a few years ago.  The transportation arrangements went without a hitch, although there was a bus connection for part of the trip between Cordoba and Granada due to construction of the AVE line to Granada.  For travelers making the bus connection from Granada to Ronda or Ronda to Malaga as I did, it is worth mentioning that it is well worthwhile showing up a the bus station  with a time cushion before the scheduled departure, as bus schedules  and departure lanes are not necessarily posted at the stations, and the buses may not have any signs indicating their destination, thus requiring a bit of extra time to figure out the logistics of the journey.  The bus stations were the only situations where I was happy to have at  least some rudimentary  Spanish, as the hotel staff  and railway ticket agents to a one spoke much better English than I spoke Spanish.  

Ronda and the Grazelema Sierra provided a very nice, if brief, contrast to the cultural excitement and bustle of the cities.  Even though Ronda has many day-tripping tourists at midday, it becomes much more peaceful at night so that one can appreciate its traditional appeal as a romantic, cliff top destination.  The Grazelama Sierra is a young range of jagged, limestone peaks, which even in somewhat imperfect weather conditions provides a seemingly endless series of spectacular views, ranging as far as the Mediterrainean with good visibility as I had on my second day.  Even though I walked  almost nonstop my two days there, I could easily have spent another day to cover all the places I would have liked to have seen.  

As a repeat customer, I am quite sold on the Inntravel experience, as the quality of the notes and choice of accomodations and recommendations are second to none in my experience, and all of the transportion logistics now on several trips have gone without a hitch.    There is almost no way that as a first time traveler to southern Spain that I could have created a similar itinerary on my own, and I look forward to returning for future trips.  

Overall, a very good first experience using Inntravel. We will probably use them again for future trips.

Alberto in Cordoba hotel was excellent. The trip was a great success and we enjoyed the train travel

From our holiday in Southern Spain we will always remember the sunny squares, their fountains, the orange trees, and the tapas.  But for us our visit to the Mezquita in Cordoba was the highlight of our trip.  To enter into this amazing space, with a forest of columns stretching in all directions, and then in the centre of what was a mosque, a seamless transformation into a soaring cathedral.  It was an overwhelming emotional experience.  Such a beautiful building. 

For us the highlights of the holiday were the Mezquita in Cordoba which we found most impressive, and the walk to the Sacromonte in Granada to see that area and for the views of the Alhambra.

Tip 1, You will be walking a lot on cobbles stout walking shoes or trekking sandals are a must. Tip 2, buy your Alhambra tickets online and print them at home, this avoids the queue as you don't need to pick up the tickets. You could even enter by the Pueta de Justica and pick up an audio guide outside the Alcazaba. Tip 3, We found the audio guides very good and a much lower cost than the guided tours. If you go round in a group of more than 10 you will lose the sense of intimacy which is a feature of many of the palace rooms. Tip 4, We wished we had booked an extra night in Seville there is a lot to see in the city.

Personal highlight #1 - pork with whiskey tapas

#2 Cordoba - we found it friendly, and comprehensible (unlike Seville which just felt crowded, and confusing).  A third night here would be good.

#3 The Palacio de Viana in Cordoba - we wandered around the patios enjoying the peace and the beauty, to the sound of tinkling fountains - heavenly.

The quality and location of the hotels was a real highlight. We enjoyed the walking tours which took us to parts of the old cities we'd never have found. 

We have had holidays organised by Inntravel before so we knew that everything would be straightforward. This holiday was particularly nice as the hotels were so conveniently sited. The walking notes were all excellent. The thing that has struck us on all the holidays is that Inntravel has obviously walked these routes themselves and tested some of the recommended restaurants. So well done and keep up the excellent standards.

This is the most thoroughly researched adventure I have ever been on. Every detail of flights, trains, buses and walking routes was accurately documented. It is about as close to an invisible guide as you can get. The self-guided city walks enter nooks and crannies and illuminate shops, houses, parks and museums which you might miss. A few additional finds which I enjoyed were:

The Felix Revello de Toro Art Gallery in Malaga.

A climb up to San Miguel del Alto in Sacromonte, Granada.  The highest point.  Here not only the wonderful vistas of the Alhambra, but also, round the back a fountain where the hill-side dwellers can be found washing their socks.

A musician friend who had lived in Sacromonte, recommended a Flamenco Show in Granada at Jardin de Soraya. They change visiting artists every Monday and the female dancer, on her last night, threw her significant weight into her dancing shoes and produced a mesmerising performance.

Many people adjudge Cordoba's Mezquita as superior to Granada's Alhambra, mainly because the inside glories are still there. The gypsies that moved into the Alhambra for 350 years painstakingly stripped it out and flogged reachable tiles and mosaics. You may well stand a better chance of seeing a tile from the Alhambra in an antiques shop in Accrington than the Andalusian fortress! Arrive at the magnificent Mezquita by 8.30am and you have an hour to see if for free before paying visitors arrive.

Seville's Plaza de Espana should be in a walking tour because it is a magnificent edifice and the flamenco buskers are as good there as anywhere.

Finally, watch your back at traffic lights in Malaga. Whilst your attention is focused on the red countdown from 49' to green, the pick-pocket is behind you removing all the cash from your backpack. I know this from sad personal experience. The Malaga Police were documenting about 30 reported robberies a day in January.  

In conclusion, this was a memorable adventure which had been meticulously prepared by Inntravel.  I commend it and them to you.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Trail of Three Cities journey by rail followed by our Malaga City add-on.

This proved to be a very enjoyable and interesting tour of Spanish culture and architecture, and fulfilled a long held desire to visit these Andalucian cities. The spin that Inntravel added with their suggested walking routes took us to areas which we would not have found otherwise, but proved to be well worthwhile. The hotels were all excellent and in keeping with the itinerary and reflected the culture we had come to explore. A million miles away from the usual bland corporate chains. The staff were all extremely friendly and helpful. One update is that the synagogue in Cordoba has now opened (two weeks ago) and worth a stop off on the walking tour. We stayed three nights in each location and could not have done full justice to the cities otherwise - bear in mind though we did arrive at the Alhambra at 8:30 and did not leave until 16:00, perhaps other people would not get so involved! The weather was good overall with excellent weather in Seville, and rainy mornings but pleasant afternoons elsewhere even in November. The only negative comment we have is that some of the information in the notes provided by Inntravel could do with tweaking, but hopefully future clients can benefit from the updates we have provided to them. In conclusion an excellent holiday and one more destination off the bucket list!

We so enjoyed all of our holiday. The two nights in three cities made it feel like a much longer holiday, with the anticipation of somewhere new every couple of days. We left each city wanting more! Perfect.

We loved the whole Seville experience, and could have happily spent longer there. We delayed our train to Cordoba to give us longer, which we are so glad we did, as we walked to the Plaza de Espana, which was another real highlight. We found it an astounding omission from your walking notes, especially as this is the feature photo of the holiday on your website. Everyone visiting Seville should see this. It was magnificent. The Mezquita was the other real highlight. An absolute must, which helped to raise Córdoba up in personal regard, after loving Seville so much. In Granada, we found the Albaicín and Sacromonte walk an unexpected delight, that we nearly didn’t do, because we were pretty tired by the time we arrived. It was so worth the effort, and to be honest, the views of The Alhambra from this walk, were more enjoyable than visiting The Alhambra! After the wonders of The Alcazar in Seville, and The Mezquita in Córdoba, the busyness, the feeling of being rushed through The Alhambra, made it less enjoyable.

Overall it was a wonderful holiday, but I would prefer 4 star hotels for all stays with better facilities.

We spent 2 nights in each city, but would recommend 3 in at least Seville and Cordoba just to take more time over the visits especially with temperatures in mid 30s to allow more relaxation time.

Would recommend using local restaurants if staying at Las Casas del Rey Baeza as the menu was quite limited and expensive. We would however throroughly recommend the Catalina Restaurant (Plaza Padre Jerónimo  De Córdoba, 12, 41003 Sevilla) which is a short (5mins) walk away. Good food, reasonably priced and very welcoming ... but do book if meal wanted at a specific time. We felt sitting inside might be preferable as there is a bus stop outside which appears to have a very frequent service.

In Granada the restaurant Las Estrellas, Mirador, St. Nicholas is expensive, but good food and fantastic view. We asked the hotel to book it in advance which gave us balcony table overlooking the Alhambra as the sun set and the illuminations came on. The slightly cheaper nearby restaurant, Mirador de Aixa served good food and has a similar overlook.

We had a wonderful time.