Spain help - Andalusia

[Deleted]

I posted a few weeks ago about Spain.  My friend and I are doing two weeks on the Camino de Santiago, from Oviedos to Santiago in northern Spain.  My husband is going to fly out so we can spend a third week together somewhere.  I was originally thinking Barcelona, but the more research I do I'm looking at Andalusia (Seville and Cadiz or Cordoba, maybe).  Also, I just realized we will be there over Semana Santa. I'd be very interested in checking out the processions, and I don't mind paying a bit more for hotels if its a busy week. However, I'm reading mixed things on whether usual sightseeing, shops, and restaurants are all open during that time.

Questions:

1. Barcelona or Andalusia?
2. How would you spend a week in Andalusia?
3. If you traveled during Semana Santa, pros/cons?

[tcu2003]

I loved Andalusia, but Barcelona is also fun. I studied one summer in Sevilla, and there is a ton to do there. Cordoba was beautiful - I only did a day trip there, though. And if you can squeeze it in, I think a couple of days in Granada is worth it.

[Deleted]

May 6, 2014 20:08:26 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

What time of the year is Semana Santa? Because I did Andalusia in late June / early July and it was so balls hot (100+ degrees and humid) it wasn't enjoyable at all.

ETA:  I see that's Spanish for Holy Week, so I must assume you're talking about 2015.  I thought it might be sometime this summer.  I'm a heathen.  

Personally I would do Barcelona over Andalusia, but it really depends on what you like.

First week of April - 2015.  I'm a heathen too, it's coincidence that we'll be there that week but I know it's a big deal there. 

How long did you spend in Barcelona?  We have one week (for this part of the trip) and would do a day trip or two.

[anna7602]

Semana Santa in Sevilla is really cool to see, but not much else is going on. Most places of touristic interest either shut down or have very limited hours. I can't speak for other towns in Andalucia, but I have also spent Holy Week in Barcelona and not much there seems to shut down. I was able to go to museums, la Sagrada Familia, etc. It just depends on what kind of experience you want to have.

I will say that unless you know a ton of people in town to "see and be seen" at all the processions and go to all the bars with, you get the idea of Semana Santa in just a couple of days. As much as I love Sevilla, I wouldn't stick around for that entire week. Now, if you have friends there or know yourself well enough to recognize that you will swoon the minute the Macarena passes you by in a procession, no matter how many other saints you've seen, that's another story.

I don't know if the processions and whatnot are as intense in Granada, Malaga, Cordoba, Cadiz, etc., but I will respectfully disagree with @sfgal530 that it's all the same. There's a ton to see in the south. I love Ronda and the "pueblos blancos," find Cadiz to be beautiful and a nice place to wander around lazily (and get great fried fish), and I think Granada is amazing and has a much different vibe than Sevilla- more cosmopolitan, a little grittier, and closer, as well, to a ton of lovely little towns in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. One of my very favorite places I have ever stayed in Spain, besides the Parador in Santiago, is the Casa Rural Las Chimeneas in a tiny town with nothing to do but wander around and laze the day away. Link below.

www.sawdays.co.uk/spain/andalusia/granada/casa-rural-las-chimeneas

Note that for ANYTHING during Holy Week, you should make reservations, even for the Renfe trains, as far in advance as possible. The entire country has that week off. I tried to go spend part of Holy Week there in 2013 on a whim, just to see family, and there was not a single train ticket I could book leaving and returning to Madrid (where I would have flown into) the days that I wanted.