Bus system pretty good between those cities.
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We had the kids (college age at the time) and a lot of bags, as this was part of a longer adventure. Driving between Malaga & Granada was easy. Streets got very narrow in Seville. The car was mostly to get from point A to point B (and C). I’m sure there are bus/train options (plus taxi/uber if you want to go somewhere longer than a walk).
An hour of sitting is too much
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If you’d been through what we did after the last knee surgery he had (blood clot, stroke in a foreign country, heart procedure to fix a hole in his heart, disallowed from doing his job for 15 months, stressful testing to get the job back), you might understand why I don’t want to repeat the worst day of my life. It’s an additional 2 hrs and 25 mins from London, not one hour, and two flights within the danger zone for blood clots (over 3.5-4 hours) seems like we’re unnecessarily risking it when we can go elsewhere right now.
Add that to being in TLV over Passover, and the fact that next time we’d like to spend a couple of weeks and go to Jordon, it doesn’t seem like the timing is right for this one.
We don’t take long driving vacations in the US, certainly won’t in Europe. My husband and I don’t like driving. Last time we rented a car in Europe, GPS maps did not exist and it was a fiasco trying to open the gates from toll road exits in Italy. Never again. We take luxury bus tours where we get dropped off at the entrances of museums and picked up at the exits and let someone else worry about driving. No looking around where to park and figure out how to pay.
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I’m with you there. Honestly, after you add up the cost of rental/insurance/gas and the stress of parking, driving, trying to read signs in a foreign language, it’s just not worth the trade off for me. Plus the fact that we’ll be arguing about it all, nope! The few times we’ve rented cars in Europe, so incredibly stressful. I’m thinking either bus tours like you’re talking about from the hotel, or rail/bus on our own. I’m just getting too old to deal with travel stress, which is why we’re usually going on Rick Steves tours and having them figure it all out!
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One of the best trips we took was to Jordan, where we booked a guide/driver for just the two of us. Too bad it’s too far. I’d say Venice, because with any luck it wouldn’t be full of tourists, but it’s a place where you want to be comfortable walking. I like the idea of Spain. Apparently, while chilly, Scotland is surprisingly dry in April. It’s one of my favorite place.
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Scotland and Venice are definitely places I want to visit, though I don’t know if I’d want an entire week in Venice. I really want to visit Jordan in conjunction with an Israel trip. I planned one several years ago, and it fell through, but it seems like that will be an epic tour.
I loved Malta
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We enjoyed Malta when we visited, though it’s been awhile. We’re set on Andalusia for now, I think. I just have to figure out where to stay for seven nights. Thinking only two cities, maybe Granada and a central city for exploration, maybe Seville, Cordoba or Malaga. A beautiful interesting town, with good options for day trips sounds ideal. Any one have any thoughts on that?
One of my favorite cities, throughout the decades. Yes, easy to fly into/out of (given that you only have a week thus don’t want to spend it with additional travel), plenty to do/explore in different parts of the city, and also a good base to take a day-trip or two, if you’re not opposed to renting a car.
On several days, we used the extensive subway system to get around - something we typically adapt to quickly - and were very comfortable doing so. We also enjoy walking, so a few blocks didn’t deter us to get from/to stations.
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San Sebastián is lovely - sites, food and drink 
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Greece.
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Yes, esp if you build your trip around transportation hubs rather than picking places and trying to fill in the transportation. The train system is largely modern, clean & efficient, and pretty easy to navigate.
Look at the rail map, and build your trip that way. You can fill in shorter hauls with Uber and local tours (we have had good luck with local tours booked through Viator- and quite a few of them do private, customizable tours at decent rates), and many hotels have private drivers available as well. Sort out prices in advance, but you are likely to find them more affordable than you might think.
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went to Seville &Malaga, using trains (bus to Ronda), so you can walk around on the train if need be - but really you can visit a LOT of places just on foot within Malaga or Seville or within 1 hour or so.
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I think OP needs to worry about Easter, and Greek Easter is April 16. Often the holiday extends 2 weeks beyond Easter/Greek Easter (as far as the vacations go).
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Yeah, and at this point, I think we’re settled on southern Spain, Andalusia. Just trying to figure out the logistics of it, it’s kind of complicated.
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@busdriver11, my doc has me take Lovenox (it’s an injection) before I fly. Am also on blood thinners and aspirin, and I have a clotting disorder. Had a knee replacement last Feb. and was not up to long distance walking four months out. By the summer, we drove cross-country and back. I could do some gentle hiking and I drove pretty much the entire trip. Was still dealing with swelling and stiffness, though. Take a walking stick(s) for balance. I’ve never had a problem taking one on the plane (H puts the other one in his suitcase).
Other thoughts (though I know you’ve decided on Spain) – We’ve done Israel in April, right after Passover. It was in the 80s already, but cool at night. There are several other holidays shortly after Passover, so check a Jewish calendar. In Jerusalem, everything shuts down. Tel Aviv, not so much.
Keukenhof is glorious if you get to the Netherlands. It’s only open 6-8 weeks, so there are crowds. It’s easy to get there via public transit from Amsterdam.
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Yeah, we’ve decided on Spain, but look forward to a very nice trip in the future in Israel and Jordan. We’ve wanted to do this for years, but I don’t think a week long quickie will do it.
That’s interesting that you take the Lovenox also, along with the blood thinners and the aspirin, before you fly. They have not found a clotting disorder with my husband, but he has had two blood clots in different places, so they take that seriously. Makes me think that we should talk to his PCP or hematologist before we fly again. He will have done two 6 hour flight in March, two 9 hour flights in April, two 9 hour flights in May, and two 5 hour flights in June, when we’re through traveling. It alarms me, since he had a knee replacement in Jan. Doing great now, practically back to normal, but I’m still scared, it seems like a lot of risk.
One nice thing about not renting a car is you get to sit back and enjoy the scenery. When you rent a car, especially if you’re the driver, you have to keep your eyes on the road and figure out where to go. And if you’re covering a larger area, that’s a lot of driving!
Another warm weather place you could go is the Canary Islands or the Azores. I know people who’ve been and they really enjoyed themselves.
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