missViv

HI there!

We are planning a 15 day on the ground trip to Europe - urban experience ideally as we have a 5 week "beach" sabbatical planned for the month of June as a family. Brussels is in the itinerary (really can't cut it out unless we skip Paris) because we have to see family. My husband has never been to Europe except Madrid. We are skipping Madrid sightseeing entirely because we have both been. Please advise if this itinerary makes sense and is feasible. I took Girona out of this itinerary because I thought we would get that "feeling" in Andalusia and Toledo. I'm concerned I have cut Andalusia too short? Is this enough time to get a nice sense of the towns? This trip is just me and my husband - leaving kids with the grandparents! Really hoping for some suggestions. We planned to stay not too far from the train station in Madrid because of the Toledo and Cordoba trips... Lastly, would love advise on whether it makes sense to rent a car in Cordoba and return in Seville or just take public transit.

Mon May 11- arrive Madrid 6:30pm, sleep Madrid
May 12 - am Toledo day trip, sleep Madrid
May 13 - am train Cordoba, day Cordoba night tour of Cordoba sleep Cordoba
May 14 - morning Cordoba, then train or drive to Granada sleep Granada
May 15 - Alhambra am, then late afternoon train or drive Seville sleep Seville
May 16 - Seville sleep Seville
May 17 - Fly Barcelona (am or pm?)
May 18, 19 - Barcelona
May 20 : morning flight Paris
May 20- 25 - Paris
May 25: mid-afternoon train to Brussels
May 26 - Brussels (seeing family)
May 27 - home from brussels

Robert2533

You don't say how long it's been since either you or your husband experience Madrid, but it's probably been awhile. As far as the first 7 days go, they are a bit fast paced to get any enjoyment out of them.

With only two weeks, I would simply skip Spain and maybe save it for another day when you have the time to spend a few days on one location.

Bedar

So you're not having a look at Madrid, just sleeping there ? A mistake in my estimation.

Bedar

Oops, didn't read what you said about having already visited Madrid. Glad to see you're stopping in Cordoba. Only one day in Seville ? I'd spend more time there and scrap Barcelona.

missViv

Yes, we have both spent time in Madrid (and the North - like Santander, etc...) but neither of us has been to Andalucia or Barcelona. Scrap Barcelona entirely?? Are there some other towns in Andalucia that you feel cannot be missed? Would love some more detailed recommendations. Thanks so much

kja

I would find this trip unpleasantly rushed -- YMMV. Examples: I thought Toledo worth 2 full days. I though Cordoba worth 2 full days. It is easy to spend a FULL day at the Alhambra, not counting anything else in Granada, and IMO, visiting the Alhambra during both the day and the evening is one of life's great joys. I thought Seville worth at least 3 days. I'm having trouble fitting my plans for Barcelona into just 4.5 days....

I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. And do check opening times -- many things in Spain are closed on Sunday after noon, all day on Monday, and during a LONG siesta.

kimhe

Fine intro to Andalucia, should help you decide where to go: http://www.andalucia.com/

And I would be very hard pressed to skip Barcelona, keep coming back here more and more often the past few years. The medieval parts, the modernistic architecture, the museums, theaters and fabulous tapas bars and restaurants. Very different districts with differennt attractions, atmosphere and vibe: http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/

Christina

I don't think there is anything wrong with your itinerary, 2 weeks is plenty of time to see two countries. I would not just spend 2 weeks in Paris, that's for sure.

I would cut out Seville, though, what's the point of going for one night. I imagine you can get flights to Barcelona from Malaga, which is a lot closer to Granada (or just Granada itself).

debinthepeg

We went to Spain last year and struggled to find the right itinerary. After researching destinations, they (Granada, Seville, Cordoba and Toledo all started to sound the same - Cathedral/Alcazar/museums. Not that I think they're not all worthy of a visit, I just thought trying too see al of them on one trip might be sensory overload. In the end, we visited
Barcelona for 6 days - was just right to see everything we wanted, included a day trip to wineries. 4 days minimum in my opinion for Barcelona
Cordoba 1.5 days - found we could have easily spent another half to full day here. Loved the small city vibe.
Ronda 1 day with an overnight - loved the town and it was different than anything else we visited
Seville 3 days. Was a good amount of time. I felt a little bad because I'm not sure we did Seville justice. It was our last destination and after seeing such great sights in all of the other destinations our brains were a bit overloaded. I don't think we fully appreciated everything Seville had to offer.

We cut out Madrid, Toledo and Segovia from our original plans and we are heading back to Spain this fall to visit these destinations. Granada and other destinations are still on "the list" for future trips.

My advice is pick fewer destinations and really enjoy them. Gives you a good excuse to return!

missViv

Thanks for all your advice. debinthepeg, (and anyone else weighing in, which we appreciate) did you find seville and cordoba similar? a family member suggested we just do seville and granada - skipping cordoba entirely. i also wonder if the medieval cities end up having a similar feeling- such that toledo is also "redundant?" i hate to use that word, because i know and appreciate that each place has unique things to offer, but i ask about consolidating in the interest of maximizing time in individual places. . current itinerary shuffled a bit, but still maybe too much.

thank you

kja

"did you find seville and cordoba similar?"

I did not think them sufficiently similar to visit only one. Quite in contrast, I treasured the differences I saw between them. YMMV.

"such that toledo is also "redundant?"

I don't know of another place in the world that is similar enough to Toledo to consider it redundant. YMMV.

kimhe

Córdoba, vida y genio (life and spirit) gives you an idea of what might await you here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfGdpF55Uk

Córdoba is easily accesible with the high speed AVE Train from both Madrid (100 mins), Sevilla (40 mins) and wonderful and quite different Málaga city by the Med (50 mins).

A recent presentation of Málaga city in Telegraph: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/de...pt-secret.html

debinthepeg

I didn’t mean to suggest that anything would be redundant. I found for us, shortening our time in destinations to squeeze in so many magnificent sights in one trip would become sensory overload. I really did (and still do) want to see everything on my list.

Barcelona was a must for us, so I didn’t want to cut that out. There are SO many magnificent things to see in Barcelona.

For our other destinations, I made these choices:

Cordoba and the Mezquita vs. Granada and Alhambra – I think they both deserve a visit but felt I would save one for another trip. There seems to be people who prefer the Alhambra over the Mezquita and also vice versa, so I really didn’t think you could go wrong with either. We picked Cordoba. I agree with the other post that there is enough Cordoba and Seville to warrant a visit to each.

Seville and the Alcazar and Cathedral vs. the Alcazars and Cathedrals of Toledo and Segovia - I really wanted to see Seville and given we were travelling only on public transportation, it worked out a little better logistically. By the time we reached Seville though, we were on sensory overload and while we enjoyed the sights, it was with as much enthusiasm as the other places we visited.

We added Ronda to the mix to see something different. The beauty of Ronda is in the outdoors. We enjoyed the gorge and the town from above but also did some light hikes to the bottom. This is the website that convinced me to add Ronda to our itinerary

https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2...town-in-spain/

I am excited to returning to Spain to visit Madrid, Toledo and Segovia this fall and I’m sure we’ll make it to Alhambra some day.
Good luck with your choices. You may not manage to see everything on your wish list this trip, but whatever you will see will be fantastic!

Bedar

OK, I'm not a particular fan of Barcelona, but you've never been there so ... I think going to Seville for just one day is silly. Spend your time in Cordoba and Granada. You won't be disappointed.

Christina

I love Barcelona, it's one of my favorite cities in Europe. I think a lot of people really like it, so I wouldn't worry about that choice.

missViv

Thank you all so much - we have actually decided to save Andalucia for an entirely separate trip. It was definitely too much and the trip wasn't resonating in any way I tried to make it less all over the place and short. Your advice was really helpful. We have decided to either do:

Barcelona 4 days + Morocco 10 days OR

Brussels (2 days - to see family), Paris (5 days) (+ Provence area 9 days OR Corsica 9 days)

Less flights, more relaxing. It was just too many cities and too much bouncing around.

Bedar

Think your decision is wise. Both options are good, but you've left off Belgium on the first. I haven't been, but my daughter said Corsica was just beautiful. Perhaps you could get a good flight there from Paris.

MalagaAnna

Hi, i agree that you may not get as much out of each city as you would like due to the short amount of time you are planning to spend. Cordoba is beautiful and would warrant 2 days in my opinion from Cordoba save yourself the hassle of driving and take the high speed train (renfe.com) straight into Malaga and spend 2 days here.

It's a lovely small city that you can easily get around on foot, it has the benefit of being a city on the beach too so you may even get an afternoon relaxing by the sea if you're tired of all that sight seeing. For more info on what to do in Malaga check out: http://malagatravelguide.net/locatio...g-malaga-city/