Southern Spain Tour Questions

I have gotten excellent advice from CC on tour companies in many cities throughout Europe. We will be in southern Spain this summer, not on a cruise but I'm coming here anyways for the knowledgeable advice. We'll be in Jerez and Marbella and looking for advice on things to do as well as private tours to Granada, Córdoba and possibly Tangiers. Does anyone recommend any specific tour companies for a group of 12? I have contacted South Ole Tours and am also wondering if anyone has used them. Thanks!

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I have gotten excellent advice from CC on tour companies in many cities throughout Europe. We will be in southern Spain this summer, not on a cruise but I'm coming here anyways for the knowledgeable advice. We'll be in Jerez and Marbella and looking for advice on things to do as well as private tours to Granada, Córdoba and possibly Tangiers. Does anyone recommend any specific tour companies for a group of 12? I have contacted South Ole Tours and am also wondering if anyone has used them. Thanks!

 

 

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We did Granda recently on an excursion from a cruise ship out of Malaga, the Alhambra was wonderful. I highly recommend going there.

Haven't been to Cordoba, but did go to Morocco on a cruise, but we visited Agidar and Casablanca. Those were great ports to visit, not sure about Tangiers.

I visited the Costa Del Sol in 1984 and Marabella is nice, but I would not spend good money to go to the beach in Europe. I would go to see historic or cultural cities. I have been the south of France and would recommend that over Costa Del Sol.

I agree. Another great town to visit is Rhonda. Malaga is also a very nice town.

Can't help with tour agents, nor with large-group specifics. But ......................

Jerez.

(full name Jerez de la Frontera, there are other Spanish towns called Jerez de .....)

Many of the old sherry bodegas in town offer tours/tastings. But don't expect to watch production - nowadays the stuff is made in large-scale modern "factories" on the outskirts of town.

The Royal School of Equestrian Art - the famous Andalucian horses. https://www.realescuela.org/en/

Seville is under an hour away by train. Or just over an hour by road. You'll not get a van to take you there more cheaply than the train, but having transport in the city is useful.

Cadiz is a short train ride away. Pleasant if unexciting, easy to explore on foot.

I don't know the composition of your group, but these are things that members of your group can choose to do individually.

There are a number of "white villages" within easy striking distance from Jerez but consider travelling through some, and stopping off at Ronda, on a road transfer from your Jerez base to your base in Marbella.

Journey time is under 3 hours, and Ronda makes for a great stop en-route. The Roman bridge over the deep ravine which divides the town between the old Moorish part (churches, artisan architecture, torture museum) and the (comparatively) more modern part (bullring tours, shops, bars, restaurants).

The road down to the coast from Ronda is quite spectacular.

Marbella

Marbella isn't "Spain", likewise the entire coast between Nerja and Gibraltar. Marbella was the new jet-set resort invaded by northern Europeans back in the 1960's. No longer "the" place to be, but still relatively up-market. A convenient base, very pleasant, seafront promenade, lots of accommodation, bars, restaurants, shops & such, both in town and its marina, Puerto Banus.

But very different to the Spanish culture you'll have experienced earlier in your trip. Expect more choice for burgers, English roast dinners, fish-n-chips, pizzas and such than for tapas or paella or gazpacho.

Ronda is about an hour e/w if you didn't visit en-route from Jerez.

Gibraltar (passports required) is also about an hour. Don't bother with a guided tour from Marbella, your transport will take ages to cross the frontier and won't be able to access the upper Rock. Book a coach transfer (coaches don't get held up at the border like private cars etc). Or, because of your numbers, a private transfer - the operator may suggest dropping you at the border & collecting you from there at the end of the day. He's not being lazy, he's wanting to save you a great deal of time by walking across the border rather than stuck in a long slow line of vehicles).

Renting a self-drive van will be cheaper, though I'm a little out-of-date on driving licence regulations - it may not be possible to rent one with more than 8 seats plus driver. If you self-drive, park near the border & walk through into Gib.

Constant shuttle-buses from border to Gib. town, cost one or two euros.

Whatever your transport to Gib, take a van tour or cable-car up the Rock - if a van (for 12 I think you'll need two), it's probably cheaper to pre-book.

Tangier (passports required) by shared tour is easier from Marbella rather than from Jerez, although the embarkation port of Tarifa is about 1hr 10 mins from either. You need the fast-ferry from Tarifa. The ferries from Algeciras no longer go to Tangier, they go to the newish commercial port of Port Med - miles from anywhere and about an hour by road from Tangier.

http://www.frs.es/en/

On that site, click on "tours to Morocco". You will find an inclusive tour much better value & much better use of your time than buying simple ferry tickets and doing your own thing in Tangier.

Or, if you have no transport from Marbella (or Jerez), you can book the self-same ferry+tour plus shared coach transport from Marbella. Tickets sold in many many bars & hotels.

http://www.andalucia.com/marbella/excursions.htm

is just one example on the 'net..

That site also lists other popular destinations from Marbella

Note their comment about Granada - you need to buy timed tickets for the Alhambra well in advance, either as part of a tour deal or independently at the same time. I also note that their Gib coach tours include that van tour of the upper Rock.

There are other coach tour operators, best known is http://juliatravel.com/

But with a group of 12 you can get more flexible and personalised arrangements, and probably cheaper, by making direct arrangements with appropriate tour operators.

JB :)

JB- thank you so much for your thorough and thoughtful post. We will definitely take your advice while planning our trip.

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