upupaway

My wife and I are heading to Spain in May. We have 2 weeks and will concentrate on Andalucía ending with a few days in Madrid. We've been to Barcelona on a previous trip.
We will be arriving in Spain from Italy the evening of May 17. Here's what we are thinking, but we would really appreciate input. In particular, please comment on whether the distribution of days in the various cities and towns is appropriate, whether there are any must see places we're leaving out or whether we should skip a night in Cordoba or Ronda and make a day trip to one or both instead. We also would appreciate any comments on whether we are doing the cities in the most convenient order. We plan on traveling by train and bus, but will fly if that makes the most sense. Thanks in advance for your help!

Granada - arrive in the evening and then have 3 more nights (giving us 3 full days)
Ronda - one night.
Seville - 4 nights
Cordoba - one night
Madrid - 4 nights

upupaway

We just discovered that the flight schedule to Granada from Florence isn't convenient, so we're going to reverse the order. So, please comment on this instead:
Madrid - 4 nights
Cordoba - 1 night
Seville - 4 nights
Ronda - 1 night
Granada - 4 nights

nytraveler

I would put another night in Cordoba - take it away from Granada.

kja

I agree with nytraveler -- I found more than enough in Cordoba to find me happy for 2 full days. BUT before I commit to that recommendation -- Do you envision visiting Madrid again in the future? If so, you might want to add some time to other locations in Andalusia, such as Nerja or Marbella. If not, then you might want to see if you can add some time for Madrid so that you can see Toledo (IMO, easily worth at least 2 days, though many people visit it as a day trip from Madrid), Segovia, and perhaps Avila.

upupaway

Thanks nytraveler and kja for the suggestions. We'll add a night in Cordoba and take it from Granada. We have no current plans to return to Madrid again in the near future, but I'm not sure where we'd pull extra days for Madrid on this trip. Any suggestions on how to make that change given that we cannot extend our trip past 14 nights total?

kja

It really depends on what YOU want to see and experience. If you are a great lover of art, you will want more time in Madrid. If not, less. You really need to map YOUR interests out on a calendar. 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 the train/bus station or whatever, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together.

Good luck!

kimhe

This gives you an idea of the Córdoba state of mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfGdpF55Uk

"Córdoba: the city that changed the world":
http://www.theguardian.com/spanish-t...-changed-world

Be sure to visit "Roman Córdoba", around Plaza de las Tendillas and Plaza de la Corredera just North of the most obvious attractions. Great atmosphere and local feel and affordable tabernas on every corner up here.

upupaway

Thanks very much everyone. Kimhe, that video has convinced us that Cordoba is worth the extra night. It looks beautiful and fascinating. Taking into consideration everyone's advice and learning that it will in fact be feasible for us to start in Granada, here's what we've decided:
Day 1 arrive Granada at 8pm.
2 more nights Granada
1 night Ronda
4 nights Seville
2 nights Cordoba
4 nights Madrid
We may take a day trip to Toledo from Madrid, but we'll figure out whether we'll have time for that as we continue our planning of what we want to see in Madrid.