4-Day Spain Tour: Cordoba, Seville and Granada from Madrid

Madrid, Spain

Head on out of Madrid and spend four days exploring Andalucia's most popular cities: Seville, Cordoba and Granada. You'll visit several UNESCO World Heritage Sites including the Alhambra and discover the rich history of this beautiful Spanish region.

Departing Madrid, you'll travel through the legendary country of Don Quixote to reach Cordoba. Your city tour of Cordoba's mosque/cathedral and Jewish quarter will reveal a beautiful network of streets, alleys, squares and whitewashed courtyards, reflecting the importance of the city in the medieval period.

Next, it's on to Seville to take a tour of the beautiful city's many highlights, including the cathedral, gardens and Santa Cruz quarter. Built on the banks of the Guadalquivir River, lively Seville has a rich Arab legacy and colorful local districts such as Triana and La Macarena.

After some free time in Seville, your tour continues to Granada to see the amazing Arab architecture of the Alhambra, last stronghold of the Moorish kingdoms until 1492 and one of Andalucia's special highlights.

Your tour also includes a visit to the World Heritage city of Toledo before returning to Madrid. You'll discover a glorious city filled with amazing medieval architecture, and take a walk into the past along its cobblestone alleyways.

USD $521.04

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Ingrid L	April 2012
This tour included a stop in Toledo while on the return leg to Madrid. The local guides were knowledgeable and fun, the sites are amazing, and you can't beat the convinience of being taken from place to place without worrying about luggage and connections and trains and hotels etc.

Review by: Michael P	March 2012
This trip was just the right length for us - we covered a lot of distance and saw all the main highlights. Our tour guide was great. Hotels were comfortable. The only thing we would have liked more of was some free time to shop in Granada and Toledo, and some information beforehand to decide on the optional side tours.

Review by: Karen B	March 2012
Great value for money in a comfortable coach with pleasant and interesting stops, good hotels and delicious included meals. Dislikes were the constant translations in two or more languages and not going into some key sights in some locations.

Review by: Yuliya K	March 2012
I enjoyed this tour because of places we visited and local guides at each place, who were awesome. We had a small wonderful group, but we had one couple speaking Spanish and rest were English speaking people. Carlos, our guide was giving 3 times more information in Spanish than in English. I speak a bit of Spanish and I could notice the difference in information, tips for activities and history was so much more extensively covered in Spanish part, which made unfair to rest of us. Food was awful. It seemed that travel agency decided to feed us something that nobody would eat. That was downside as well. Hotels were situated away from center. We had to always take a taxi to get to the center. Places we visited were awesome, but it is just too many downsides to recommend this tour. I think we could have given the option of paying a bit extra money to have, let’s say, paella for lunch. We all noticed that and were upset by the quality and choices of food. Last remark I want to make is that our guide and a driver should wait for us when we take a short stops not other way around, and places for these short breaks could have been chosen more carefully, not nowhere stop which nobody wants to visit.

Review by: Robert M	January 2012
The tour was wonderful. The guides were excellent. The accommodations were fine. We were surprised about the add-ons. They were worth it but should have been informed in advance.

Review by: CHARISSE H	December 2011
I loved this tour. I went as a solo traveler and thank God that it was only 9 others- so it was an ideal tour. Small, one language and most all in the same hotel. I thought the 3 star hotels were really nice, even enjoyed international shows on the tv. I felt I had ample free time to relax and prepare for the next day. Factoring in that it is only 4 days it is unrealistic for some of these other reviews to expect the world. I think the tour did the best group booking a tour company can do. There are three optional side tours that cam up to about 100 euros extra- I went because I just wanted to see everything- hey Your only in spain once, for the most part. Why miss out if you have the money. If not, I would suggest at least the classical flamenco and the day tour. I enjoyed each city and took lots of pictures. I would suggest not going in season. Like November was perfect so that you avoid the large tour group issues._br/_ Good luck and safe travels._br/_ Cheers!

Review by: Marelize	December 2011
Really great value for money, tour guide is very kind and informative, enjoyed a group of 10 people traveling together. Definitly can recommend this tour!

Review by: Jacqueline H	December 2011
Excellent tour, I saw a lot in 4 days and glad I did this trip. Cordoba, Seville and Granada are places I would like to re visit to spend more time in each city to experience the culture and city.

Review by: Shoaib F	November 2011
Tour was very nice it would be made even more Superior by making minor adjustments like providing more individual time, better explanation by local guides of what will be covered, a lot of time we just followed the guide without having any idea of what will be covered etc. Hotels check out time was too early for a vacation and almost every day we had extra time left at the end of the day so may be each day could start a little later so that people were not feeling rushed in the morning

Review by: Geraldine C	November 2011
TRIP WAS GOOD. HOWEVER, THERE WAS AN ISSUE GOING TO THE FLAMENCO SHOW IN SEVILLE. THE BUS NEVER SHOWED AND WE HAD TO WALK. IT WAS GOOD WE WERE CLOSE. OTHER THAN THAT IT WAS VERY PLEASANT AND THE GUIDES WERE GOOD. WE ALSO HAD ENOUGH FREE TIME TO EXPLORE ON OUR OWN.

Review by: wazabi	November 2011
This was a great tour! really enjoyed my time, and enjoyed the company of others on the tour. Would do this again.

Review by: AdrianAtacador	November 2011
The pick-up was conveniently located beside the Plaza de Espana where the Julia Travel office is located. The bus was in good condition although a free wifi access onboard would be awesome. The tour guide, Cristina, was simply the best in taking of all of us and the driver, Jose, was as very much helpful as well. The tour started in Cordoba then to Seville, next is Granada and we had a short tour in Toledo as well. The 4-star hotels were nice and the food was filling. The tours were great especially the Alhambra tour. I would recommend to take the optional tours being offered in Seville and Granada to complete your travel experience. The night tour of Albaicin in Granada was simply worth taking especially during the cooler months and the local tour guide, George, was more than informative but also entertaining.

Review by: Leonard N	October 2011
Overall I enjoyed this tour and recommend it to see some outstanding sites in Spain. My major criticism is that the hotels in Seville and Granada were too far from the downtown and historic areas, making independent exploring inconvenient. Also, we were not aware of the several optional tours until after we were underway.

Review by: Sunita G	October 2011
Great tour and very good value!

Review by: Alfred E	October 2011
In general, a very good experience. We saw wonderful sights, and could not have seen so much in four days without being on a tour. The bus was modern and in good condition, and the driver was good. A few criticisms: It would have been better not to split our group between two hotels, since that added to driving time in city traffic. The guided tour of Seville did not take us into the cathedral and the Alcazar, though we saw tour groups going through both. The hotel in Granada was remote and mediocre. One thing that people should know: All three of the optional things that were offered while we were on the tour (the time on the boat on the river in _br/_ Seville, the flamenco performance, and the guided tour of Granada) were absolutely excellent. Be aware that early October is one of the peak times for tourists in Andalusia, because of the mild weather (and late October might be pretty busy too, for all I know). Expect mediocre food at the places where you stop for lunch on the road between cities; that may have been unavoidable. The Alhambra was the peak experience of the whole tour.

Review by: Richard	October 2011
The bus tour worked out well for us. Our tour guide Christia was energetic and well organized. From the very beginning of the tour she introduced herself and welcomed the group. The bus was very clean. The rest stops always came at the right time. With nice restrooms And also clean. Granada was our favorite...wanted more time there...so we will be back!

Review by: Svetlana Z	October 2011
Great experience! Interesting excursions, lovely well-english speaking guides, superb hotels and food included. Most of all I enjoyed professional and gypsi Flamenco and night view of Granada.

Review by: Elias S	October 2011
Amazing cities like no others, unique architectures and culture. I would do this tour on my own to enjoy these places I had to run through. WC break was longer than the visit to Alhambra. Very bad time management, no printed itinerary or schedule. Tour director was friendly with Spanish spoken travelers and mean to the others. She could allow some time to answer questions and give some information about attractions and main sights in the cities we have been to.. Too much free time without suggestions.. Tour guide should give a contact number (a cell #) in case of missing a meeting point or at least she could mention the next meeting point in advance. Most of the local guides were as boring as the tour director. From the office employees to the tour director they all need intensive training to learn smiling! Hotels were good. Granada Abades Nevada hotel was perfect. Sevilla Melia hotel was ok but staff wasn't helpful at all.

Review by: RICHARD B	October 2011
This tour began well with visits to the Jewish quarter and the Mosque/Church in Cordoba. However, it began to go wrong at the end of the visits because someone got lost and we had to wait for a long time before this person was found. This, in part, was because the group was too big. Over 60 people in one group is, in my opinion, too many for even the most experienced guide to control. The tour then went on to Seville for 2 nights where we had an excellent visit to the cathedral and the Santa Cruz quarter. It was then that we learned that the booking for the Alhambra had gone wrong and that we were not going to be able to make the visit on the third day of the tour. Consequently, instead of the Alhambra visit, we were given some time in Granada when we arrived there but it was during the time that most places (including the cathedral) were closed. We made an excellent visit to the Alhambra on the 4th day but this was when we were supposed to be traveling to Toledo. As a result of this and also because of people getting lost again, both in the Alhambra and, later, in Toledo, most of the Toledo trip never happened. The concept of this tour is very good and much of the trip was excellent. Sadly it was spoiled by the group being much too large and the Alhambra visit not being on the planned day.

Review by: Anita A	October 2011
It's definitely an easy way to see the amazing sights of andalusia but being a group of 60 was not a good experience . Part of the group stayed in another hotel which meant we had to pick and drop them at a different location every day . The amazing mesquita visit was marred by a poor local guide . Hotel melia in Seville is central but 4 star ?? hotel abades in granada was v good but away from city centre . Also somehow they didn't manage to get us tickets for the visit to alhambara on the day we were meant to go that is 28 th which meant we had a rushed visit of 2 hours there on the 29 th morning and then onto Toledo . We had already been to Toledo on a half day tour so it didn't matter but the others complained of being rushed through there . Have used viator before in Florence and liked the experience and was hoping for the same but disappointed with the overall experience in Spain . Maybe will stick to day tours from now on !

Review by: Liway H	September 2011
We are somewhat disappointed. Except the bus (very nice and comfortable bus), this is not a very well organized tour. The tour guild is not helpful at all - Provide little service and explanation.

Review by: Louai A	September 2011
The Trip was excellent,hotels were very Good,Food Not Bad.

Review by: LAUREN K	September 2011
Excellent!!!!! We had a fantastic time... The tour guide was excellent and the tour gave us a great taste of Spain!!!!

Review by: LAUREN K	September 2011
Excellent!!!!! We had a fantastic time... The tour guide was excellent and the tour gave us a great taste of Spain!!!!

Review by: JENNIFER M	September 2011
Time spent in each place was too quick and not much free time to do own thing. The places we were dropped off to eat were disgusting. Would prefer traditional spanish restaurants then roadside stops where food was often fried or generic. The last restaurant in Toledo where we had lunch was really really bad - took us at least 3/4 hour before we got any service and the food was gross. Also, the two female bus guides we had were often rude and inconsiderate. They only did the basics. Need more client-focussed attention and care.

Review by: HARRIET C	September 2011
Overall good trip, local guides were excellent. Definitely take the 4-star hotel option since people who took the 3-star hotels were unhappy. Tour organizer was slightly surly and disorganized. Julia tour co needs to have more staff to help organizer. Bus driver kept the schedule nicely. Loading luggage on the street was a poor idea.

Review by: wewedeebo	September 2011
Great trip and wonderful places to see. Well organized and nice hotels. Local tour guides very good.

Review by: wewedeebo	September 2011
Lovely locations to visit, well organized trip, good hotels and knowledgeable tour guides.

Review by: David W	August 2011
There were 48 people on our bus, which was too many for one tour guide to handle. She was speaking Spanish, French and English and it was often hard to follow. The hotels they chose were nice but not close to city centers and inconvenient. The food was mediocre. That being said, we did not let it bother us and enjoyed our trip. However, I would not recommend this trip.

Review by: Naheed C	August 2011
Tour itinerary, accommodation and timing was excellent. However the tour guide, while very knowledgeable, lent a sour flavour to the trip for everyone as she would publicly chide latecomers or children who were a bit naughty, rather than taking those people aside and chastising them. At one point, she publicly accused 2 women travelling with children, of giving the driver a nosebleed because of stress from the children's antics (and they were not the naughtiest I have seen) even though the driver had a nosebleed from the start of the trip, before the children even boarded!

Review by: Dennis R	July 2011
First day program and guide in Cordoba totally unsatisfactory, Second day program in Seville was only 2 hours, third night program in Seville, Cavea Flamenco, an optional program, was a general repeat of the second night program, should have been told by the guide. Food restriction on the bus was unreasonable. Program not worth the money...Food ...ok, not great

Review by: Steven L	July 2011
Cordoba, Seville, and Granada are great cities to visit. I would highly reccommend visiting them. _br/_ We stayed at the four star hotels, and they were nice. Though, just so that expectations are set, the hotel in seville was stingy with there dinning service. We asked for coffee, and on one niight it was served with lecutance, and the other, they said they dont serve coffee for dinner. Seriously! Its Coffee!!! Not asking for a Frapaccino. Anyway, if you are in Granda be sure to go into town, awesome little shops, and shopping stores-- ask the hotel how to get there--it's easy by bus, just make sure to ask where to get off, although you'll know when you see it.

Review by: Jackie R	July 2011
Tour guides were not as enthusiastic or helpful as I would have liked. _br/_ There was a lot of driving and not much to see. _br/_ But Seville and Granada are pretty nice - but maybe visit them in a different way - not using this tour._br/_ Toledo is definitely worth seeing but it's only a short trip from Madrid so I would recommend finding another way to visit that._br/_ Overall I still enjoyed the trip, but it could be better.

Review by: Maria Lorna R	June 2011
My 11-yr old son and I took this trip. Jorge/George was our tour guide and Vicente was our driver. Both were very professional, helpful and fun! They went out of their way to answer our questions. The tour guides at the destinations were very informative. The only tour guide that we had trouble understanding was the one in Cordoba. He kept on bragging about his Ph.D. _br/_ My son enjoyed the tour guide in Granada the most. For an 11-year old to be interested in history of the Alhambra is quite impressive! The tour guide was excellent! _br/_ Maria Jose, the guide in Toledo went out of her way to call a taxi for me and my son who had to cut the trip short to join my husband in Toledo. That was beyond her call of duty!_br/_ The Los Angeles hotel in Granada was fantastic! Great food, great rooms, had working WiFi, great view._br/_ The Emperador Trajano hotel in Seville was ok but failed in providing Wi Fi. We stayed there 2 nights and there was no sense of urgency in fixing the Wi Fi. The food at night was not that great either. _br/_ A guided tour inside the Seville Cathedral or the palace across from the cathedral should be included in this trip.

Review by: Widad Z	June 2011
All in all this was a great trip. I was travelling on my own and was a bit nervous to begin with, but the travel agency organising the trip were fantastic. They answered and assisted with all my queries prior to the travel and were helpful at all times during the entire duration of the travel. I would have to say the food probably wasn't the best, and we didn't really get to experience a traditional Spanish meal. Also it would've been nicer to spend 2 nights in Granada than Seville. Other than that it was a wonderful experience, I recommend it to anyone wanting to experience Andalucia but are strapped for time.

Review by: LORENZO S	June 2011
We got off to a very rough start. For starters the bus we were supposed to get on was not nearly large enough for all the passengers. After chaos and a frantic tour guide we were moved to a larger bus. We wasted a couple of hours there. The hotels were nice but the food was AWFUL!! Additionally the tours were very rushed. All in all we did see some beautiful sights but it was one of those things where if you blink you'll miss it all. I am not sure I would go with this company again.

Review by: Mahmood F	June 2011
Myself and my wife enjoyed the 4-Day Spain Tour. The guides were good. Hotels and food were nice and officials co-operating. It was more than our expectations.

Review by: Nola C	June 2011
The four days was a great way to see some of the most wonderful historic architecture in the country. All the local guides were fantastic. I particularly liked the gypsy dancers on the last night, however we didn't get back to our hotels until after 1am. At the end I was very exhausted. The Spanish culture is about late nights and late mornings so having to get up at 6am when you are on holidays to be on a bus at 8am is cutting it fine. Travelling all morning and grabbing a lunch from some highway roadhouse to be eaten on the bus and then getting to a destination and walking for a long time, is a bit strenuous. But then we are deposited back to our hotels around 3pm. Now why couldn't it be that we start around 9-9;30am and go to the destination, have lunch in a little cafe to break up the day, and get back to our hotels at 4-5pm instead of 3pm. There were many others who thought the same.My other concern is the food that is served at the hotels and the restaurant in Toledo. Close to inedible and I couldn't eat the 2 slices of dried overcooked beef with chips that were soggy due to cooking in cold oil. Why not give tourists a real Spanish food experience - the country is recognised for its great food. Instead of doing a meal deal with the hotel, why not seek out 3 really good (not tourist) restaurants (e.g. Spanish, Morrocan, and the hotel) and suggest them to the group to make their choice and pay separately. I am sure they will really enjoy it more than a limited buffet of overcooked food at the hotel.

Review by: nicholas h	May 2011
English and Spanish speaking guide Pablo was outstanding: communicative, informative, careful and clear. 42seater bus was almost full -so-so. 3* hotel accommodation for single traveller was acceptable quality, and well located in every case. food was generally good. good value by tourism standards in Spain.

Review by: Dick	May 2011
The trip was fantastic right from the start. Our instructions and reservation were flawless. Our guide spoke clear English and was very knowledgable in his field. The trip was well planned and just busy enough. The 3 star accomodations were great. We saw and learned many things on this trip. The local guides used by the tour company were very good and gave clear explanations of what we were seeing. We have been on other Viator sponsored tours and will continue to value your services._br/_ Dick and Susie Hilton

Review by: Krishna-Lila S	May 2011
It's a great way to see the south of spain in a relatively short space of time. Tour guide is very friendly and has a wonderful local knowledge.

Review by: INDRESTRIATA D	May 2011
Excellent and Professional arrangement : Hotel, Tour guide, Breakfast and dinner included, all is good. I will recommend and will use Viator's service again.

Review by: Claudia B, Germany	June 2010
Excellent!

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	June 2010
I just got back from an eleven day vacation in Spain and my four days on my tour were probably the best four days of my trip! They organized tours with extraordinary local guides, the hotels they provided were spectacular I stayed in 3 star accommodations, the guide on our bus was so knowledge and caring, and I really feel like I got a good taste of the cities we visited. Plus, it was incredibly relaxing to have hotels, tours of local sites, and most meals already taken care of. It was virtually stress free! I would definitely travel with this company again!

Review by: yogesh d, India	May 2010
Hotels ,breakfast and dinner was good.

Review by: yogesh d, India	May 2010
Nice tour,timely,well organised and value for money.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	May 2010
It was an awesome trip because Andalusia was so beautiful at this time of the year and the sites we visited were breath taking. The tour guide that accompanied us was very enthusiastic and fun to be with. She was also very helpful in ways beyond her call of duties. The size of my group was about 12 people. I think that the small size made the trip much more enjoyable. The included meals were very good. There are however some flaws: One of the local guides was so-so. I had 6 local guides in total. 3 of them were great. 2 of them fine and better than fine. 1 of them is not so clear and not so eager. The lunch on the last day was great for me. However, some people in the group don't eat fish and they were not offered other choices. I thoroughly enjoyed this trip. The people in my group made it enjoyable as well.

Review by: Jan B, United States of America	April 2010
This was a fantastic trip. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get out of Madrid and see how beautiful southern Spain is. Our bus and driver were wonderful as was our guide. We stayed at the 4 star hotels, but the 3 star hotels were very good as well, according to other people on our tour. This was our second trip with Viator while in Spain and we also used their shuttle services from the airport to our hotel and then back to the airport. Viator was very easy to work with and their business was easy to find being located across the street from the statues of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza at the Plaza de España. When traveling in the future, I will always check Viator’s website to see what they have available wherever I travel.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	April 2010
We were pleased with the trip . We had a good guide and the hotels and food was above our expectations. The tour overall was great, but I would have liked to have a little more time in some of the places we stoped, but I realize we only had 4 days and no company can totally please every one on the tour as far as how they divide the time in each stop.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	March 2010
Glad we did this tour, very satisfied--transportation, accommodation and food were all 4 star.