LapLap

The Seville Fair (Feria de Sevilla) which takes place in April is enormously famous and popular. However, Cordoba has its own lesser known fair which will be taking place between the 18th and 25th May this year.

Fiestas are an important part of Spanish culture and will definitely nudge you towards a feeling of being in Spain very different to the warm coastal style of living you are already familiar with.

I’ve not been to the Feria de Cordoba, but going on what I do know about the differences between being in the internationallly celebrated Fallas of Valencia vs Alicante’s lesser known Fogueres/Hogueras, I’ve always had more fun in Alicante’s celebrations. It can be different if you are in with well connected locals so this viewpoint is about the general visitor experience. In your position I would definitely check out Cordoba during its festivities. Make sure you bring plenty of earplugs with you so that you can get some sleep (and maybe even noise defenders for being in the streets themselves)

gold23

Circling back a bit here.... We have played around with flights and have used miles fairly creatively to have the current (can always cancel the mileage trips with little impact) scenario- late May flight into Malaga (arriving early am), ten days (nine nights), returning from Lisbon. Easy, direct flights both ways to lessen some of the travel headache. Assume we'll take either an am or late day flight to LIS from wherever we are so that we aren't losing a full day there.

How does this sound for a start.... Go directly to Granada from AGP. Assume private transfer is readily available? I'm open to renting car as well, but whatever is cleanest/easiest. Stay in Granada for 2 nights. We'd have a good part of that first day, then the night, then visit Alhambra the next day. Spend that night in Granada, and head east. Maybe hit Cordoba on the way towards Seville, ending up in Seville that night? Question- are there resorts/hotels (this is a splurge vacation celebrating a bunch of family events/achievements, so cost is not much of a factor) where we could base ourselves outside of Seville where we can easily visit it for a day or two while also experiencing the landscape and surrounding towns? We LOVE Tuscany in Italy, primarily because we simply set up in a town and drive all over visiting cute towns, etc. I know it's a completely different country/vibe, but would be interested if there were options to have flexibility while also ensuring we spend some time in a city such as Seville.

Then how many nights in Lisbon is required? Wife and I would love to go back and really dig into Portugal, so I feel this will be a "toe in the water" type of visit where we hit some big spots, eat some great food, and long to come back....

LupineChemist

I mean you should definitely stat at the Parador in Granada if it's a possibility in your budget. Probably one of the most special places in the world with the hotel literally inside the Alhambra complex.

As far as Seville, the city is easy to get in and out of so if you want to do some day trips, I'd just stay in the city and drive out. You could also spend a night between Granada and Seville at Ronda in the Parador there as well.

I'd recommend renting a car as far as Seville and then making it to Portugal. Maybe rent a car again there but don't do cross border returns. You can do one-ways reasonably within the same country but it gets very expensive internationally