I second the recommendations of Cadz, Granada, Seville, I would just rent a house in Cadiz or Granada for a week.

Alcázar in Cordoba is amazing.

From a weather standpoint, spring is great--not too hot. Yes, you want to avoid or at least be aware of religious processions. I got caught in one during the Christmas season and it was very crowded.

I thought the food in Seville was quite good and had no trouble finding local supermarkets.

Granada: I prebooked Alhambra tickets at the official website and it was very smooth. The Alhambra is one of a fairly short list of landmarks that I am happy to visit repeatedly.

Anonymous wrote:The most amazing thing is that almost every city in Spain has gigantic religious processions through the city most days of the week leading up to Easter. Unbelievable. Seville is especially noted for its processions.

This is not amazing! Try getting to a restaurant across town during Semana Santa in Seville! We were like rats in a maze, trying to avoid all the processions. At one point we had to march in the procession to get where we were going.

Can anyone add recommendations for Sevilla, cordoba and Granada? Places to stay vs day trips, travel method, restaurants that weren’t just for tourists?
Whether you had a wonderful private guide somewhere (I’ve never done this). Skip the line Alhambra tours? It’s been decades since I was there, we just walked up, bought tickets and went in. It wasn’t crowded.
Visited or stayed at an olive orchard? Are there equivalents to French gites, to avoid Air b and b? Other reasonably priced places to stay?

TIA

Had an incredible trip in southern Spain - Cordoba and Granada mostly and some small towns in between. It was absolutely glorious, the air was perfumed with orange blossoms, the food was amazing and I loved every moment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Seville's food is incredibly terrible (their special dish is pringá, which is like, pureed bologna spread on toast), and food poisoning is a real issue when dining out, regardless of the class of restaurant. Also recently restaurants and cafes have started overcharging tourists a LOT so watch your bill. Or just expect to be double-charged.

We ate very well in Seville.

Same!

Where??? What did you eat? I feel like it's always the same 10 greasy tapas on every menu in Seville, garnished with a glop of mayo and some sad little pico breadsticks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Seville's food is incredibly terrible (their special dish is pringá, which is like, pureed bologna spread on toast), and food poisoning is a real issue when dining out, regardless of the class of restaurant. Also recently restaurants and cafes have started overcharging tourists a LOT so watch your bill. Or just expect to be double-charged.

We ate very well in Seville.

Same!

Anonymous wrote:

Seville's food is incredibly terrible (their special dish is pringá, which is like, pureed bologna spread on toast), and food poisoning is a real issue when dining out, regardless of the class of restaurant. Also recently restaurants and cafes have started overcharging tourists a LOT so watch your bill. Or just expect to be double-charged.

We ate very well in Seville.

Anonymous wrote:Granada is the most magical place that I have traveled. The Alhambra and Generalife are transporting. Seriously awe-inspiring. It’s particularly interesting to read about the history of that area—Al-Andalus (andalusia) the presence of islam and its influence throughout the region, and then subsequent fall to northern Christian tribes.

Also, toledo is interesting to tour the sword making.

That's an interesting way of putting it. The Arabs themselves were conquerers and colonizers.

Loved Granada too. Special place with a fascinating history and how for centuries Arab and Christians and Jews influenced each other.

Granada is the most magical place that I have traveled. The Alhambra and Generalife are transporting. Seriously awe-inspiring. It’s particularly interesting to read about the history of that area—Al-Andalus (andalusia) the presence of islam and its influence throughout the region, and then subsequent fall to northern Christian tribes.

Also, toledo is interesting to tour the sword making.

Yes, it is SOOOOO nice with the smell of the orange blossoms everywhere. Sevilla, Granada, Córdoba, Málaga, Cádiz, will all be nice. The temperature can really vary--it can be 100 degrees with calima (dust storms) from the Sahara, or it can be 55 and raining. Make sure whatever accommodations you pick have heat and AC.

I would avoid Seville the week before Easter (Semana Santa) and the week of the Feria de Seville. That is March 24-30 and April 14-20 this year.

Sevilla is claustrophobically crowded for Semana Santa and with the Feria, everything shuts down in the city so people can go party on the fairgrounds on the outskirts of town--but the feria is all closed off to outsiders/tourists. It's all individual tents and you need an invite to get in--not at all like a country fair in the US (or frankly a feria anywhere else in Spain which are much more open, e.g. Malaga's feria).

Seville's city center in general is turning into Venice: there are more tourist apartments than residential apartments, the schools are closing for lack of children, all the supermarkets and cute little shops and public primary care clinics are being closed in favor of shops that cater to tourists selling overpriced bottles of water and English breakfasts. But the streets in the center are very clean and look like Disneyworld.

Okay, I am not selling Sevilla, at all, but you might as well go before they start charging admission to the Plaza de España (unheard of! it would be like charging admission to the National Mall in DC).

Seville's food is incredibly terrible (their special dish is pringá, which is like, pureed bologna spread on toast), and food poisoning is a real issue when dining out, regardless of the class of restaurant. Also recently restaurants and cafes have started overcharging tourists a LOT so watch your bill. Or just expect to be double-charged.

Here’s a video on the events leading up to Easter:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ34ECX5tjU

The most amazing thing is that almost every city in Spain has gigantic religious processions through the city most days of the week leading up to Easter. Unbelievable. Seville is especially noted for its processions.

what was it like and what did you do? looking for a fun trip with the kids for spring