staying in Spain

[lanval]

Somewhat off topic...

My family is joining me in Spain for a week or so after my walk and we were thinking of renting an apartment or house in the Granada region.

Can anyone point us to a reputable website or supply any information that may help.

How's that for a general plea?

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hi

There are a lot of listings on the internet for holiday rentals in and around Granada. It is a very beautiful city and of course a starting point for the Via de la Plata.

I've used a number of internet sites which were not personally recommended for rentals in the past and they have always worked out.

Good luck

John

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Michael,
We've rented through toprural.com (or is it .es ?) There are tons of houses listed and you deal directly with the owner. Though we have usually been in the northern half of the country, we once rented a house outside of Priego de Cordoba through this site and it was fine.
Laurie

 

[lanval]

Thanks to you both!

We are now very excited about renting something in Andalusia!

 

[Artemis]

I came across this site when I was looking for house sitting jobs. They have rentals and also house exchange.
http://sabbaticalhomes.com/OfferedListi ... ords=spain

 

[Javier Martin]

Hello Lanvar,

First of all, you have to decide if you want to enjoy the coast and beaches (Almuñecar, Motril), the high mountains (Sierra Nevada) or the city of Granada (The Alhambra, el Generalife), between a lot of interesting options you have to see in Granada area.

Hope you to enjoy one of the most beautiful places in Andalucia,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain.

 

[lanval]

Well, we've decided that we want to see too much to stay in one place.

So, instead of renting an apartment we are going to use our International Hostel memberships and visit Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. This will give us 2-3 day in each city. I think it isn't enough, but it is all the time we have. .

On the plus side we hope to spend a night in the parador in Granada. We expect to use buses to travel from place to place.

 

[Javier Martin]

The three best paradores in Spain (in my opinion) and in this order are:

Granada
Santiago de Compostela
Leon (San Marcos)

The Granada one is incredible, and very, very difficult to obtain the reservation of a room. As soon as possible, when you know when you are going to be there, try to make this reservation in advance.

It's not difficult to obtain a ticket to see the Mezquita in Cordoba, but it is to visit the Alhambra in Granada.

Add to your list of beautiful places the town of Ronda, between Granada and Malaga.

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain

 

[amancio]

if you have a chance, visit the MEzquita on a Sunday afternoon, at about 3 or 4 pm, when everybody is having lunch and the place is virtually deserted.

PURE MAGIC (and I am from Granada myself).

If in Granada, try likewise to visit the Alhambra on the week inmediately after Easter, and at 3 pm or so, if you are lucky (it only happened to me once), you might be nearly alone, and then you discover a whole new place, silence, the fountains, it is something completely different!

Buen viaje!

 

[Rebekah Scott]

So nice to see when a pilgrim has time and tendency to look beyond the trail and see the fabulous country that lies beyond! Just be careful: Spain gets into your blood!

Reb.

 

[lanval]

We will be visiting the Mezquita and the Alhambra as we've talked about seeing them for the past 20 years. In some way, they are some of the primary reasons for the trip, my wife is an artist and has dreamed of visiting them for a long time.

We've added Ronda to our list, it looks lovely.

As for the Pardore, my son has decided to use his cute little "please, please" face on us and it looks like we will be trying the paradore in Jaen. He is a big history buff and feel in love with the place based on the picture of the outside.

36 days to my camino! 71 days to our family vacation!

 

[rachelwebb]

Hi,

I have a holiday home in Jaen and reccommend Toprural as all the accommodation listed has to be Tourist Board Registered, which means they meet a particular standard but also that they are legal businesses are paying their taxes.

Please support the legal ones!

Jaen Parador is an excellent choice, a fantastic location with great views, I'm sure you'll enjoy it there, don't miss the Arab baths and museums in Palacio de Villardompado.

Have nice trip
Rachel, Jaen

 

[lanval]

Mmm. baths. Are they still in operation?

It turns out that my wife and sons have to stay overnight in Madrid between flights. Can someone recommend a nice, medium cost hotel that is either close to the airport or easy travelled to from the airport? A privately owned Spanish hotel rather than a multi-national, cookie cutter would be nice.

Thanks very much for all of the advice and suggestions.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

for all things Madrid check out http://www.multimadrid.com, a website for expats that has an answer to questions like yours. You can also rent mobile phones there -- one of the best such businesses I´ve found in Spain.
When I´m overnighting in madrid I always stay at the family-owned, inexpensive, and very clean hostal santa isabel, near the anton martin market. It´s not near the airport, however, but right in the heart of the city.

No, I´m not related to any of these guys!

Buen viaje
Rebekah

 

[lanval]

What a lovely hotel!

Thank You Rebekah!