Help with Andalusia Itinerary
 

Hi,
Starting in Benidorm, looking at flying into Seville from Alicante next week. Seemed the most economical but open to other ideas.
Want to go to Cordoba, Granada, day trip to Morocco, Seville.
Have 5-10 days. Want to use buses or trains.
See the Alahambra.
Open to suggestions for routing, days in each area or other area suggestions as well as lodging.
Thanks for your help.

I can't imagine doing this on a bus. It's too large an area with so much to see. I've traveled the area many times by car and love it.

Also I would never count on a day trip to Morocco. The stop the boats at the slightest bit of bad weather and you could be stuck, as I have been once. Always allow for the fact that you might have to spend a night in Tangiers. The Ibis is nice, clean and cheap, but you would need a car to get there, or taxi.

Thanks for the advice. How is the driving? I've driven easily in NY, LA and Boston but Europe for some reason scares me.
On researching it looks like Cordoba is a day trip from Seville.
Seems like there are one day tours from Seville to Tangiers. Did you go on a tour or on your own?
How does this 2 day trip look to you http://solchasers.com/tours-to-moroc...m-seville.aspx
What itinerary would you suggest? If we get stuck in Tangiers it wouldn't be the end of the world.
We have some flexibility in days.

Driving in Andalusia is just like the US, except the signs are in Spanish. Well I guess that makes it just like southern Texas, New Mexico and California. ;) In any case, it's quite easy. In fact, the coast roads and terrain very much resemble the California coast.

I'm not much for tours. I like to wander around on my own. I have a GPS so I can always find my way back to the hotel if needed. However back in the days before GPS I managed to find my way around with fold up maps.

If you only have a day or two for Morocco, stick with Tangiers and maybe arrange for a tour, especially if you can't speak French or Arabic. With more time you could drive, or take the train to Marrakesh, or Essaouira, or Fez.

I second the car idea. We did it on our first trip to Europe and it was a piece of cake in Spain.
Sevilla is awesome. We also really liked Cordoba. Gibralter was an interesting stop.

Thanks for the help. Where do you recommend picking up the car and any special company to rent from?

If you don't have a corporate rate, check with your credit cards to see if they have any deals or programs. Personally I prefer Avis and Amex gets me good rates and benefits there.

It has been a while, but we used one of the major Euro compnies with no issues. I seem to recall Hertz having a good rate. I might check one of the car rental boards for available discount codes.