A Trail of Three Cities

Another brilliant Inntravel holiday. All arrangements worked well. Highlights include being the first to enter the Mezquita in Cordoba, the very informative guided tour of the Alhambra and wandering around the gardens of the Alcazar in Seville. It was just very enjoyable wandering the cobbled streets discovering smaller yet interesting attractions, for example the Perfume Museum in Granada and on a diffrent note the Museum of the Inquisition. Both great. A final memory was Sunday morning in the main square of Granada where the locals of all ages took to the floor to tango to delightful music. So very Spanish. 

We had a similar holiday with Inntravel a few years ago in Portugal (Porto/Coimbra/Lisbon by train) but this was a cut above. As ever, with Inntravel, everything was well organised-train tickets, hotels etc. We stayed at Las Casas de la Judeiria/Llave de la Juderia/Palacio de los Patos, all of which were great, with friendly, helpful staff especially Llave de la Juderia (Cordoba). Rather than write a review, I thought I would set out some tips for a highly recommended holiday.

1 Book everything in advance -Mezquita, Alcazar etc-as queues are very long and some days you might wait 2-3 hours for a slot

2 Allow 3 nights for Sevilla, unless you have a very early flight from the UK. You will need 2 full days for Catedral/Alcazar on day 1 and day 2 Plaza de Espana etc. The guided tours might be delayed as other participants might turn up late/forgot tickets (happened to us). So allow a gap between the two tours. If you are having an audio guide for Alcazar, allow time to pick up the device (away from the ticket office/entrance)

3 Email the hotels in advance for restaurant recommendations.They were delighted to help and came up with ideas well away from the usual tourist sites

4 Download and watch Portillo's Andalasiua (Ch 5). Really good guide to history and architecture of Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba. Don't be taken in by the lack of crowds at Mezquita/Alcazar etc. Presumably they were cleared out for TV!

5 Consider flying back from Malaga.The Luxury coach from Granada goes directly from Granada bus station. Plenty of flights as Brits use it for the Costa del Sol

As I mentioned at the start this is a fabulous experience.

Being from Australia we were not familiar with the Moorish architecture and we absolutely loved all three cities. The Alcazar in Seville with its gorgeous gardens, the Mezquita in Cordoba with its myriad of arches and the Alhambra in Granada sitting majestically up on the hill were all just fantastic. Hard to pick a favourite.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined three holidays - the White Towns & Rugged Mountains walk, A Trail of Three Cities journey, and a Taste of the Catalan Coast walk.

First and foremost, please can we thank you for organising such an amazing holiday for us.  This was a special holiday as Charles had just retired and we wanted to celebrate this major event with a special holiday.  This was our ‘retirement honeymoon!’ There was a special surprise waiting for us on our arrival at Al Largo, in Zahara – a particularly nice bottle of wine. 

Right from the beginning you embraced all of our requests. We always travel by train within Europe and your travel team put together the perfect itinerary. 

We actually did 4 holidays back-to-back.  All of the hotels were unique and amazing.  The hoteliers held Inntravel in great respect and had clearly had a long-standing relationship with you. The hotels were all centrally located with regional and historical features.  It’s impossible to single out one individual hotel but we were particularly touched by the view of the Alhambra from our room at the Casa Morisca in Granada; truly a ‘room with a view.’

All of the restaurants that we ate at were brilliant.  The hotel restaurants at Al Largo, Zahara; Molino de Santa, Benaojan and Sant Roc, Calella were wonderful.  We also tried to follow your recommendations wherever possible.  It would be impossible to list every restaurant but here are a few highlights and also some new ones to recommend to future Inntravellers.

Madrid: for great tapas try wandering down the road Calle de Leon, just around the corner from the hotel (Catalonia las Cortes). We would highly recommend ‘Triciclo,’ 28 Calle Santa Maria (www.restaurantetriciclo.com) also a short walk from the hotel, a great fine-dining experience – easy to book online.

Ronda: Carrera Oficial (C. Pedro Romero, www.carreraoficialronda.com ) was wonderful and just around the corner from La Taberna (one of your recommendations and probably some of the best tapas we had but you might need to wait for a table).  The Panoramic bar at the Catalonia Hotel in Ronda overlooks the bullring and has views all the way back El Torreon!  Great for a glass of cava watching the sunset.

Cordoba: The Casa Pepe Tapas bar was better than the Casa Pepe Restaurant in our opinion. We also recommend Taberna No 10 (www.tabernaelnumero10cordoba.com ) just down from the hotel, La Llave de la Juderia. 

Granada: Lunch on the terrace at the Parador in the Alhambra is recommended after the guided tour of the site.  The Huerto de Juan Ranas (one of your recommendations) does not take reservations so you just have to queue. The views over to the Alhambra and the snow-capped Sierra Nevada beyond are stunning but it does get chilly after the sun goes down so it’s worth recommending people bring an extra layer if dining in April. 

Begur: the restaurant at the Sa Tuna Hotel on the beach at Sa Tuna was our last proper meal before heading home and this was probably one of, if not the best meals of the holiday.  We arrived early and booked a table (initially they said they were full but a bit of name dropping by saying we were staying at the Hotel Aiquaclara, and mentioning Suzanne by name, got us a table).  The baked rice with prawns was the specialty of the house (which everyone in the restaurant seemed to be eating) was amazing.  The ceviche starter was probably the best single dish of the whole holiday.

One of the main reasons for choosing these particular holidays was to do walks in the Grazalema National Park, around the historical cities and along unspoilt stretches of the Costa Brava. 

The walks in the Grazalema region were all amazing despite the rain on our first two days.  We got completely soaked doing the Llanos de Ravel walk and the walk from Zahara to Grazalema. What were described as dry stream beds in the walking notes were raging torrents.  At one point along the Arroyo de Gaidovar valley we came across a ford that was completely impassable. Fortunately, I had downloaded all of the GPX files from your website and using the ‘Outdooractive’ app it was easy to retrace our way back to the road and continue along the road to re-join our route. This was not the only time that the GPX files and the Outdooractive app helped.  On the route from Calella to Begur there were changes to the route that didn’t fit with the written notes.  The app gave us the confidence to continue knowing our exact location relative to the route (although the map would also have helped).

It would be impossible to single out any individual walk but we certainly would recommend that people do the linear walk from Grazalema through the Pinsapos reserve to reach Benamahoma even though this necessitates a taxi ride home (easily booked by Andreas at La Mejorana). By doing the linear walk you come out from the reserve to a picnic area with stunning views of El Torreon. We would also recommend the longer walk from Grazalema to Benaojan as this gives stunning views towards Ronda on the final descent. 

Of the recommended city walks, the walk in Granada through the Albaicin to Sacromonte is very special. Starting at the Moorish Baths also gives access to other interesting buildings along the route.  The Casa del Chapiz along the way is worth adding to the notes.  Here there are gardens of orange trees looking across to the Alhambra. 

This brings me to another highlight of the holiday: the smell of orange blossom.  This was truly amazing in the gardens particularly in Cordoba and Granada.  Away from the cities, the wildflowers across the country routes were wonderful.  This is clearly the best time of the year to see such masses of wildflowers.  The wildlife was special with such diverse species from the griffin vultures around Grazalema to bats flying around the trees by the coast at Calella to frogs croaking in the recently filled pools in the meadows by the ‘rock gardens’ to dung beetles rolling balls of dung uphill to braying donkeys in the distance (heard but not seen). 

Culturally, the Alhambra was the highlight.  We had an amazing tour guide (Sabina) who was entertaining as well as informative. Other things that deserve a special mention are the Sorolla museum in Madrid and the Mooring baths in Ronda.  

All in all, this was an amazing holiday that Inntravel had perfectly choregraphed.  All the of travel arrangements were perfect with all trains running on time and all of the tickets spot on.  The walks were amazing through stunning regions.  The hotels were all unique and each one had its own character and charm.  The food at the hotels was always wonderful and the outside restaurants that you recommended were also of excellent quality.  We did find a few outside of your recommendations and are happy to allow you to inform other Inntravellers about our finds.  Thank you for all of your attention to detail that makes your holidays so special: we would never go with any other company for this type of holiday. 

A Trail of Three Cities was an excellent holiday. We went to places we hadn't been to before, saw some great sites, good food, and the hotels and travel arrangements were all of a high standard. Central hotels make a difference.

We were in the alternative hotels in every city - all were excellent. Las Casas de la Juderia in Seville is the most fascinating hotel we've ever stayed in! (Don't miss the piano bar.) The restaurants in the Cordoba and Granada hotels are highly recommended: we had 2 dinners at the Palacio de los Patos. We did all the Inntravel walks, which got us out of the tourist maelstrom and into more residential areas, essential if you are looking for more imaginitive menus. We arranged our own guided tour for the Mezquita, which is fabulous. Our guide for the Alhambra, arranged by Inntravel, did a wonderful job of explaining its complicated history, which has left us much to ponder on. The orange blossom was at different stages in each city, the sun shone, and we had plenty of time to enjoy the totally different characters of the 3 cities. A wonderful spring break. 

Thank you to the staff at Inntravel who set this holiday up for us at very short notice. We had a wonderful time in Andalucia. We loved all the cities but Cordoba was definitely our favourite - Llave de la Juderia was a brilliant hotel and the staff there made some excellent suggestions of restaurants and places to explore. The Alhambra was just amazing, an unforgettable experience with an excellent tour guide. We also saw some excellent flamenco at the Plaza D'Espana.

We loved walking in the Sierra de Grazelema - highlights included La gargante Verde, Dornajo Loop, Pinsapo Forest and the walk between Grazelema and Benaojan. Lots of birdlife and flowers including loads of different orchids and the amazing griffon vultures. Our favourite hotel was La Mejorana in Grazelema. We had an extra night there and could have stayed longer as there are plenty of walks. An excellent restaurant was La Cocina di Gaidovar - wonderful food at reasonable prices and much better than the two included restaurants. We also had a chance to see one of the Semana Santo parades in Ronda - a real spectacle.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our A Trail of Three Cities journey with the White Towns and Rugged Mountains walk.

Very pleasantly surprised by Seville - such an easy going, attractive and clean city, with a friendly atmosphere. Also throughout the holiday we enjoyed turning a corner and coming across yet another little square, filled with tables, singing and people enjoying time together over tapas and drinks. 

The Mezquita in Cordoba was beautiful and of course the Alhambra in Granada a magnificent setting. Both were well organised and easy to negotiate and enjoy, despite large numbers of visitors. 

This was an excellently curated tour by rail around Seville, Cordoba and Granada. The hotels were well located, friendly and comfortable and the travel arrangements were perfect. This was our second holiday with Inntravel and we will definitely be using them again.

Three fabulous cities with amazing histories, architecture and cultures. Easy to navigate cities, all very walkable. Hotels in excellent locations, a good range of restaurants, cafes and bars. Lots to see and do.

More guidance on priorities to visit at each location would have been helpful. We needed much more warning on buying tickets/tours for key sites much earlier as we hadn't realised that they were so difficult to get. We could usefully be alerted several times!! Generally we were very content with our holiday arrangements and the efficiency of your service/response to queries. We would certainly use Inntravel again and have recommended you to other people.

Cordoba was our favourite. In Seville you suggest choosing whether to go into the Cathedral or the Alcazar on the morning dependent on the weather or the length of the queues. On that criteria we chose the Cathedral first but when we returned in early afternoon we were unable to visit the Alcazar because it had become fully booked. The Cathedral does not become fully booked so far as we could tell. A useful tip to pass on to future customers would be to warn them of this possibility as we would obviously have chosen to visit the Alcazar first and avoided the disappointment of being unable to do so.

Each of the three sities had a different feel, making for interesting trip. Seville is a bustling large city, and the palace (both buildings and gardens) beautiful. Cordoba was our favourite: the mosque-cathedral is amazing, unlike anything we've ever seen before. The inner city is a fascinating warren of streets. Granada is hillier, with strong North African elements. After seeing the wonders of Seville and Cordoba, the Alhambra at Granada itself was (surprisingly) not the highlight of the trip. Some of the buildings are impressive, but the gardens underwhelming. 

We didn't find any outsanding restaurants, the food wasn't a highlight of the trip. The best meal we had was at the Michelin recommended Taberna de Almodovar on the north side of Cordoba's city centre. 

The pavements in the cities are mostly of grooved tiles or cobbles, so a robust wheeled suitcase is needed if you choose to walk to the hotels rather than use taxis!

A brilliant holiday! The rail and bus travel was easy to navigate and took the stress out of getting from place to place. All the cities were fascinating... the history and the architecture just took our breath away.  

An excellent and well organised tour of 3 facinatinig cities and their iconic historic sights. An extra night in Seville permitted a more leisurely exploration of the city and it's sights. Seville was easy to navigate on foot, but be prepared to walk c 14 miles if you want to visit all the main sites in a single trip (excluding the Alcazar). The hotel restaurant in Las Casa del Rey was very good and a good option on a Monday night when some city restaurants don't open. We can also recommend El Disparate and Il Pesciolini.

We liked the location of the hotel on Cordoba (Llave de la Juderia) which was in the heart of the Jewish quarter and within easy reach of the Mezquita. The welcome and service from the small hotel team was excellent. We had some excellent tapas in El Baron, Pl de Abades. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the organised tour of the Alhambra where our guide was clearly passionate about the subject. The walking tour around the Albaicin and Sacramonte was interesting and offered some fantastic views of the Alhambra.

We added this tour to a river cruise and it turned into the highlight week. We really enjoyed all three cities, Cordoba the most, and think the order of Seville to Cordoba to Granada is the way to do it, ending up with the Alhambra as the final highlight.

The Mezquita and The Alhambra are both extraordinary monuments and make this a memorable holiday, quite apart from anything else! 

The Mezquita in Cordoba was the highlight of the whole holiday - an amazing, breathtaking place with surprises at every turn of the head.  We also loved the Plaza de Espana and the gardens alongside in Seville and don't miss the San Nicolas church at the Granada/Alhambra viewing point. If you want an inexpensive, delicious and filling snack there is a small Churros shop in the Plaza Nueva in Granada which makes them fresh with sugar and chocolate dipping sauce - wonderful! I would recommend getting your own audio guide at the Alhambra rather than paying for a group guided tour.

All the hotels were lovely, thank you. We particularly liked Cordoba, you just have to think about what to request for breakfast as it isn't a buffet. The weather was HOT (September) but bearable. Take plenty of water in the heat. Some places have reduced entrance fees for over 65s, or even free. Take your passport. Street maps are essential for Seville (especially) and Cordoba (Granada too) or a very reliable Google map. The hotels provided them, but we needed maps from guide books to find our hotels as we don't do taxis. All winding streets in Seville seemed to end at the cathedral, or the 'wooden mushrooms' shopping complex, wherever you thought you were going. Book online tickets in advance (earliest morning if possible, before the guided tours get going) for the Cathedral and Giralda, and the Real Alcazar (Seville), the Mezquita and Bell Tower (Cordoba).  The Giralda (bell tower in Seville) is a not too steep, ramped access up 34 levels, and the bell tower in Cordoba is steps, some narrow,  all the way (only 30 people at a time allowed). Do your own research beforehand as the travel documents with suggested websites don't come early enough. We had 2 extra nights each in Seville, Cordoba and Granada which gave us plenty of time to look around. You can spend a day in Seville at the cathedral / Giralda and its surroundings, and another at the Alcazar. Another day to explore the other side of the river, (there's a small but interesting ceramics museum in Trianna just across the bridge behind the market), parks or the shops. In Cordoba it gives you time to find the Moorish Baths (below road level, just outside the walls on the way to the Alcazar) and Alcazar itself (beautiful gardens, and tickets sold at the kiosk across the road) - both of which were free for over 65 years, but you have to have a ticket, and your passport. We also looked at the Royal Stables. No horses during the day, but we attended an impressive, if very hot, evening display; Cordoba is where dressage was invented.

Inntravel booked our guided tour of the Alhambra (Granada Travel) and it was brilliant - a wonderful guide, and we don't do guided tours usually. Climb the not too steep road from the Plaza Nueva taking the middle road through the Puerta de las Granadas to the entrance (about half an hour with frequent sits-down). The meeting point of the tour (Hotel Alixares) is about 150 m on the right, above the Alhambra entrance. If you are early, there is an interesting cemetery further up the road above the carparks. Our tour started at 12 noon and took about 3 hours (with a comfort break) but afterwards we could remain in the grounds and revisit the Generalife, so that it can be a whole day trip. Return to the city by the quiet back road, Calle de los Chinos, turning right just below the main entrance, under the walls of the Alhambra, past La Mimbre restaurant. The Albaicin (old city) is worth visiting and Inntravel's walking instructions are good, otherwise you can go round and round in the narrow alleyways. It's steep, but you can cheat on the little bus from Plaza Nueva. On Sunday there were a number of places en route to visit for free - leaflet obtained from the Moorish Baths on Calle del Darro along the river. We saw the inside of more churches, and exquisitely dressed Madonnas, than I care to think about, but one evening in Granada we came across a religious procession, with crowds, statue, banners, candles and band - very impressive.

The climb to the Gibralfaro in Malaga is much steeper the the Alhambra, especially on a hot day, but there are plenty of places to sit and the views are great. Entrance to both castles 2.50 Euros for pensioners.  There is a bus (no 35) to the top for the faint-hearted - ask the hotel. Take the gentler, and shady, back road down, following Inntravel's instructions.

Take care to eat lunch on Sunday as it gets very busy and many restaurants close late afternoon. in Granada we liked 'La Cueva de 1900' in Plaza de Bib-Rambla - food and staff were very good and they were open Sunday evening.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers added our Malaga city stay to A Trail of Three Cities

A great experience. The itinerary was well conceived, with a fitting climax in Granada. It was an action-packed time (not suitable for a restful hoiday!) Two nights in each city was sufficient, and we loved the different flavours of each place. We added on Malaga and enjoyed a day trip to Caminito del Rey, which was a fantastic experience that other clients might enjoy.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our Malaga City add-on with our rail journey A Trail of Three Cities 

The three cities are all different, despite them all being in Andalusia. The holiday affords the opportunity to visit some unique places of historical and architectural interest and to experience something of the 'real' Spain. It's well worth adding an extra day in each city to have a chance to really enjoy your stay. Be prepared to do quite a bit of walking - overall we must have walked well in excess of 100km. 

We really enjoyed out first holiday with Inntravel. The customer service before we left was very good. The travel arrangements and pre-printed tickets worked seamlessly. The choice of hotels was excellent. The self-guided walk info provided to us was so helpful and illuminating - especially when you are not spending very long in each city. We hope to book with Inntravel again soon!

Quality of hotels was excellent and Casas de la Juderia is wonderfully atmospheric.

We would recommend this restaurant in Seville: El Pasaje Tapas located in Pasaje de Vila 6. Close to Las Casa de la Juderia. We would also recommend you add visiting The Palacio de las Duenas to Seville. It was wonderful. Also the Palacio de Viana in Cordoba was excellent. We found that most museums, galleries etc. allow a reduction in entrance fee to seriors with I.D. The reduction was often half price and well worthwhile.

The rooftop pool in Seville was extremely welcome, as were the central locations of all hotels. We enjoyed all the walks, which gave good introductions to all three cities. The gardens we visited in all three were an unexpected delight (and we saw Monty Don filming a new BBC series on Spanish gardens at Casa de Palatos in Seville!). In Seville we probably spent longer than necessary in the Cathedral - for anyone familiar with major European cities and their cathedrals, this might (perhaps uncharitably!) just be described as 'another big one'! We loved the Museum of Flamenco, which is very well designed - and if you can't book a performance there, go to Casa de la Memoria which is also very authentic. In Granada we ate in a couple of backstreet bars within easy walking distance of the hotel, which were chaotic and fun.

We enjoyed following the walking trails in all 3 cities. Cordoba was our favourite where we also particularly enjoyed the palace and courtyard gardens of Palacio de la Viana. Had a great meal down by the river at Amaltea.

HIGHLIGHTS & TIPS: 2 restaurants in Seville - Yebra Tapas Bar & El Disparate. Both are a good 20+ minute walk from the hotel. The Mezquita in Cordoba was breathtaking and we appreciated the recommendation of visiting first thing in the morning. Allow a whole day for the visit to the Alhambra in Granada. Avoid Bank Holidays if visiting Granada as the city was very busy and restaurants were full even when trying to pre-book.

Stunning views from the Dining room of the Posada del Valle.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our jounrey by rail A Trail of Three Cities with our walk The Rugged Hills & Coast of Asturias

I combined the Trail of Three Cities with the Grazalema Sierra holiday.  I particularly enjoyed the walks around Cordoba, the Sephardic Jewish Museum, the Mezquita de Cordoba and a flamenco show (also in Cordoba).  The Alhambra in Granada is incredible and the guided tour was great - our guide was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic. Staying in Grazalema after the three cities was a really nice change of pace.  Thls little pueblo blanco was beautiful.  Because of a foot injury I was not able to hike as much as I'd hoped, but I enjoyed some local walks and just wandering around the town - much less touristy than the larger cities.  The only thing I didn't like were those crazy winding mountain roads - a bit terrifying!  The hosts at the La Llave de la Judería in Cordoba and at La Mejorana in Graazalema were so welcoming and overall outstanding.  

The walking tours provided were particularly useful, there were many back streets etc that we would never have found on our own.  All hotels were of a particularly high standard.

We highly recommend 'Il Pesciolino' restaurant in Seville if you like fish - exceptional food and service.

What a fantastic trip.  Seville was an unexpected treasure and should be on everybody's list for a city break.  We were glad we added an extra night in Seville but were happy with 2 nights in Cordoba and Granada. Your choice of hotels was excellent and the train journeys went smoothly and enabled us to sit back and enjoy the views.  Sun, tapas, beer and wine - what's not to like.

We found that it was essential to book in advance for all the major sites - we had already booked a guided tour of the Alhambra, but the Alcazar in Seville and the Mezquita in Cordoba are very popular - even this early in the year - and advance booking recommended. Our tour of the Alhambra was, accidentally, just us and our guide (the other people never showed) so we had an excellent personal tour with a knowledgeable and friendly guide. This was, without doubt, the highlight of the holiday. It's good that the trip starts in Seville and builds up to Granada. We happened to be in Granada on Palm Sunday and enjoyed seeing the elaborate procession through the narrow streets. Taking the extra day in both Seville and Granada was a good idea - there is so much to see in both places and the suggested walks were excellent. Getting to Seville by train was good fun and increased our enjoyment of the whole trip.

Avoid eating near the Mezquita in Cordoba; very crowded and pricey.

We can recommend a trip on the river in Seville. A good way and not expensive to enjoy a cool hour in the middle of the day and you get to see many of the landmarks.

If you can book a visit to the Cathedral in Seville, go early, before the school parties wake up. Otherwise it can be very noisy and crowded

The Alhambra tour was superb: we were pleased that we'd booked it through Inntravel as it saved queueing and we had an excellent guide. We were the only English people in the group but our guide did a grand job of delivering all the information in Spanish and then in English, especially for us. We had a great dinner at Mirador de Morayna which was just round the corner from the hotel. The night we were there was very chilly so we were indoors, but there was a lovely courtyard with a view of the Alhambra, so it's probably great in sunny weather. We ate fairly early and enjoyed the quiet. The restaurant was filling with Spanish guests, as we left.

The Mezquita in Cordoba was amazing! We enjoyed wandering around without a guide, simply marvelling at the beautiful arches. We ate far too much on our first night in Cordoba; we found Casa Pedro Ximenez, which wasn't too far from the hotel, and tried all the local dishes recommended to us by Victor from our first hotel: flamenquines, salmorejo and berenjas con miel and added others. Excellent service and all served with a tasty house red.

In Seville, we followed the route supplied by Inntravel, breaking off to make an early visit to the Alcazar. Definitely worth making an early start, as the queue was growing by the minute. Another wonderful visit, both inside and out; wandering through the gardens was a lovely contrast to the busy rooms inside, and all this right in the heart of Seville. Pleased we managed to fit in a flamenco show. We enjoyed tapas at bustling El Pasaje one evening and ate at the quieter Bar Laherre twice, once in the restaurant and once in the tapas bar. The food and service were exceptional in both areas.   

This was a lovely winter break in two great cities. The hotels were both charming and delightfully quirky.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers booked a tailored itinerary staying in Seville and Cordoba

Of course the Alhambra is a highlight but we really enjoyed Cordoba and don't miss the Alcazar there which has extensive and beautiful gardens. Two recommendations to eat in Malaga: El Tapeo de Cervantes, best tapas we ate and Dynamit, a bit more upmarket (we went there for my birthday) behind the Picasso museum, you would need to book both.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our discovery journey by rail A Trail of Three Cities with our Malaga City add-on

We very much enjoyed touring this part of Spain and were lucky to have hot sunny days virtually throughout our trip. Each city is different, Seville has the most to see and is the most interesting, we are glad we added an extra day here. The Cathedral, Giralda tower and the Alcazar are all well worth seeing. But our highlight was the Casa de Pilatos, we went early and it was quiet to wander around before the hordes arrive.  Beautiful and well preserved buildings and gardens.

We enjoyed a visit to the Casa del Flamenco, mentioned in the walking notes.  An intimate experience with wonderful performances.

For dinner, we had a very nice and good value tapas meal at the Pasaje Sta Maria, just across the road from our hotel (Las Casas de La Juderia).  For a different experience we enjoyed a more formal and a more expensive meal at Restaurante Becerrita, a little outside the main tourist area but not far to walk. On our final night we enjoyed a lovely meal at La Sal, again close to our hotel.  This was after having booked Il 3 de Oro where we were rudely asked to move from our reserved table, hence we decided to leave and take our custom elsewhere...

Cordoba has less to see, but the Mezquita is outstanding.  The Alcazar is rather underwhelming compared with Seville.

Eating out we enjoyed a meal in the hotel (Palacio del Bailio) and a wonderful rooftop dinner at Restaurante Pepe Juder, great food and service with a smile!

Granada is a fair sized city and of course is a tourist magnet because of the Alhambra.  Inntravel prebooked a guided tour which took 3 hours but was well worth it. We were fortunate that our group was only 10 people, a mix of British and Spanish. We opted to walk to and from the Alhambra, about 30 mins each way but it is a fairly stiff climb.  We enjoyed touring the Albaicin and Sacromonte areas and even managed to find a bar restaurant that provided free tapas with our drinks!  We returned to Sacromonte in the evening for a nice meal and a flamenco experience (Jardines de Zoraya) which sounds touristy but actually felt quite genuine. 
The travel arrangements by train and in our case a coach journey from Granada to Malaga all worked well.  
If you're happy to walk and have luggage with wheels, it's easy to walk to and fro train stations and hotels, no walk is more than 20 minutes.

The visits to the Alcazar, Seville Cathedral (the tomb of Christopher Columbus), Mesquita de Cordoba and the Alhambra were spectacular.  The Juderia of Cordoba was mach more busy and commercialised since we lat visited. One of the unexpected highlights was passing a college and listening to the choir and orchestra practising The Messiah - I recorded it on my 'phone!  We would recommend eating at Puerta del Carmen in Granada.

We've been really impressed by our dealings with Inntravel - from our initial enquiries and plans for this trip (nearly three years ago now!) to the friendly, no-quibble cancellation in the early days of the Covid pandemic, through to the efficient revival and refreshments of our plans at relatively short notice late this summer. We appreciated your guidance, flexibility and expertise in making our train bookings, adjusting the schedule at our request, and all the excellent info and documentation.

We've had a terrific holiday - a lovely mixture of Big Sights and quieter corners: so many delightful squares full of orange trees and shady retreats, as well as the spectacular landmark sites. In our ignorance we didn't know much about what to expect in Córdoba, and were utterly thrilled by the astonishing Mezquita, which kept us fascinated and amazed for hours. We thoroughly recommend the long distance European trains for anyone who can allow the extra day or so each way - we were very happy not to be flying or driving.

Excellent tour and very well organised. Would have been nice to have slightly later trains as we had an extra day in each city, but I can see why you do it if you only have two nights.

The cathedral in Sevilla on a stunning scale, followed closely by the one in Cordoba. The walk up to and around the Gibralfaro in Malaga with the wonderful views. The Church of the Divine Salvador in Sevilla. My husband  would also say getting 50% discount at Sevilla Cathedral, Cordoba cathedral and Alcazar and Malaga Gibralfaro for age but not at Sevilla Alcazar where you had to have an EU passport. 
Our favourite restaurant on the trip was the Ordonez in Cordoba with good food very reasonably priced, good wine (with an enormous wine list- they are also vintners!), good and friendly service.

The Royal Stables in Cordoba - shows only Wednesday to Saturday but stables open daily - entrance 5€ and well worth a visit.

Sevilla and Cordoba cathedrals easy to book online. We could have booked the Sevilla Alcazar online but being unsure of timings queued for tickets - for about 15 minutes. Cordoba Alcazar - magnificent gardens - impossible to book online except guided tours - we queued only about 10 minutes at booth opposite and there was also an adjacent machine with English instructions.

Smaller churches in all locations were well worth looking into as well as the Cathedrals.

Great holiday where everything went exactly to plan.

The size of the cathedral in Seville was stunning, not to be missed. We loved roaming the small streets close to our hotel. All the train transfers were so easy and worked beautifully. I was surprised by the Mezquita in Cordoba, it was impressive inside. We had a great meal at Casa Pepe in Cordoba, the waiters were so friendly, I have a picture to prove it! We were very glad to have pre booked the Alhambra in Granada and great to see snow on the Sierra Nevada behind it. Just a word of caution, we were not allowed the senior's discount in a couple of places because we were told this was for EU citizens only.

Using the Roman Baths after a long walk around a sunny Cordoba was my treat. My top tip is to start out early and observe the siesta on hot days. Finding tapas bars where the locals go was a great respite from the crowds of tourists in these popular cities.

Fabulous trip. Hotels exactly as described in the brochure. Extremely helpful staff throughout the booking process and whilst we were away. Walking notes were very informative. We will certainly use Inntravel again.

This was a most enjoyable holiday with the visit to the Alhambra being the highlight. Inntravel arranged the guided tour which was well worth the additional cost.

We had flights and travel plans already in place and wanted to use trains to connect to other places In Andalusia.  Inntravel were very accommodating with our own plans and suggested a couple of different options, they even provided walking tours for the towns not booked by them.  The pack with all the tickets and information arrived in good time and we used a lot of it and walked to places we may not have done otherwise.  Some restaurants are now closed and this may need reviewing.  The hotels we stayed in were small friendly and traditional and in great locations. One of our highlights was Hotel Morisca in Granada and the wonderful Alhambra views, we booked a tour and it was well worth it.  We would recommend and hope to use again.

An enjoyable holiday and well supported with your information and bookings. We did take a taxi on arrival in Malaga to the rail station as we did find the instructions a little confusing (mainly the many alternatives!). We continued to use taxis whenever we arrived at a new location. We booked an extra day in both Seville and Granada which worked out fine. The two nights in Cordoba were sufficient for us.

HIGLIGHTS: Alcazar in Seville, Mesquita in Córdoba & Alhambra in Granada, not to be missed. Inntravel's suggestion of going to the Alhambra the day before to pick up tickets did not work for us - tickets only available on the correct day. In Seville, Granada & Málaga we enjoyed using the "Hop-on-hop-off" bus to get a first impression of the city as a whole. 

The tour guide (Anthony) of the Alhambra was very good.  We were the only English speakers but he went out of his way to involve us and provided so much interesting information. Tabersus tapas bar by the Mezquita and Roman bridge in Cordoba was very good.  We also went to the Royal stables for the equestrian show which was very enjoyable.

We had an excellent city break with Inntravel. The self-guided walks gave us a sense of each city and took us through places that we would have probably never seen otherwise. Recommendations were good, the hotels were particularly good. Our favourite city was Cordoba but only by a margin. We'd hope to use Inntravel in the future.

We thoroughly enjoyed this holiday and felt the combination of the three cities worked perfectly. Travelling by train was straightforward and very enjoyable as Inntravel had done all the hard work for us.  We booked an extra night in Seville and were pleased we did as there's so much to see there. Of the three hotels our favourite by far was Llave de la Juderia in Cordoba which has the most delightful and helpful staff and wonderful breakfasts. But all three hotels were very well located for the main sites, with plenty of restaurants nearby.

We made good use of the walking routes which helped us find places we might have missed such as the little synagogue in Cordoba and the amazing Plaza de Espana in Seville. We prebooked The Alhambra in Granada and the Cathedral in Seville which was probably a good move, but were able to turn up at the Mezquita and the Alcazar in Cordoba and get tickets with hardly any queues. Both these last two were just amazing. The gardens of the Alcazar in particular were unexpectedly beautiful. The Horse and Flamenco show in Cordoba was also very enjoyable and we booked on the day. We walked nearly everywhere (wear good shoes - the cobbles are very attractive but hard on the feet!) but in Granada to save the walk up to the Alhambra we used the red shuttle bus and found that for 1.40 Euros each we got an excellent sightseeing tour as the bus works on a circular route. We enjoyed it so much we took another shuttle bus up to the Abadia del Sacromonte and again had a very good 'tour' of the Sacromonte area. 

In Seville we really got into the tapas way of eating, visiting lots of different bars and restaurants in the central area. Our favourite was Las Teresas on side street - a bit chaotic but good fun. In Cordoba we tried El Churrasco. Quite formal but pleasant and knowledgable staff and if you are a big meat eater the mixed meat platter is worth sampling! We also tried two of the three Casas Bodegas in Cordoba which are a little more modern looking and made a nice chance. In Granada the hotel booked Las Estrellas de San Nicholas for us which is the perfect spot to watch the sun go down over the Alhambra. 

We were lucky with the weather. We had one day of rain but the rest of the week we enjoyed sunny, mild days - perfect for enjoying three beautiful cities and particularly the orange trees, and patios full of flowers and greenery. 

Highlight was the Alhambra in Granada, but take a guided tour

Some of the notes are out of date, particularly in relation to recommendations for bars and restaurants, eg Los Manueles in Granada had apparently been closed for 20 years! , though it had been succeeded by another of the same name in a different street. Many restaurants offer their menu only by a QR code on mobile phone. Not all sites recognise over 65 discounts for non EU citizens;this seems to be a particular problem in booking online. The tour of the Alhambra is very worthwhile, but you need to allow three and a half hours.

The location of all three hotels is extremely good. We used Seebybike cycle company in Seville, an excellent find at a reasonable cost. The highlight was the location of the hotel in Granada with magnificent views to the Alhambra.

Our 5th fantastic Inn Travel holiday, but our first 'journey' holiday.  We did all the walks which were varied and interesting. The train travel was easy. We pre-booked the Alhambra, got a taxi up but walked back down. The hotels were all good. March was a good time to go for the oranges. Weather was ok, a few rainy moments but a lot of sunshine too so we could sit outside to enjoy a drink and the free tapas.  We will definitely be doing more city rail breaks.

This was our first trip abroad after Covid, and our first with Inntravel. We were initially nervous about both but have to say that this trip was just great, and we can not hesitiate in recommending Inntravel to anyone for the first rate service. We were short on time and would have loved longer in each place especially Seville. It was brilliant to have the travel documents, history, maps, walks, helpful advice, and travel booked for us. Our highlights were Seville in general with the smell of the orange blossom, and the squares, windows, food, and ambiance. The Mesquita in Cordoba is stunning, as is the Alhambra. Our tour with Granada Tours was well worth the money. We ate in little tapas bars and enjoyed the experience, especially when we got the hang of portion sizes. La Bartola in Seville was recommended by the hotel and was fun with great tapas. 

Wow - what an amazing trip! Thanks to Inntravel for excellent travel arrangements and finding interesting hotels and attractions to visit. The best of several we have been lucky enough to do.

Highlights were definitely the Soul of Cordoba at the Mezquita and the Horse show with Flamenco in Cordoba. So glad we booked the guided Alhambra tour. Although this seemed expensive the Guide was excellent, the group was small and we by-passed all the queues! The Mirador room in Granada was brilliant - book it if you can!

We really enjoyed the whole trip and it all flowed together beautifully. Each city had something different to offer but the location of all hotels gave us easy access to most attractions and a wide choice of restaurants. Thank you for a lovely holiday.