14 days in Spain - self drive tour
 

We are planning a trip to Spain the last 2 weeks of May. We are traveling with 2 children so we thought renting a car and driving around would be the most convenient. We've never been to Spain, so we want to see many places, but I'm worried our itinerary might be too much. This is our plan:
Madrid - 2 nights
Santander - 1 night
San Sebastian - 1 night
Barcelona - 2 nights
Valencia - 1 night
Granada - 1 night
Marbella - 1 night
Sevilla - 1 night
Cordoba - 1 night
Madrid - 1 night
Basically we'll start and end at Madrid, drive in a big circle that includes all the places we want to see. Is this schedule too optimistic? Does it make sense? If anyone has any comments I'd appreciate them.

All you will see is the road and the inside of your car - probably with 2 very miserable children and 2 very tired adults.

With 2 weeks (and 2 children) I'd focus on one or 2 geographies. I'd group the areas you mentioned in these categories: Madrid, Basque Country/Cantabria, Barcelona, Valencia, Andalucia and only choose one or 2. For example you could easily spend an entire 2 weeks in Andalucia.

Have you purchased your airfare yet? I'd wait to see how the itinerary progresses as you may want to fly open jaw (into Madrid and out of Malaga for example). This will avoid backtracking and doesn't generally cost any more.

Personally I'd probably do something like: Madrid (4), Sevilla (4) w/daytrip to Cordoba), Ronda (2), Granada (2) and Malaga (2) flying into Madrid and returning from Malaga. You'd only need to rent the car for the time in Ronda picking it up as you leave Sevilla and returning when you arrive in Granada. This is a basic first trip to Spain type of trip that gives you an overview, isn't too rushed but will hopefully leave you yearning to return someday.

I'd get a good guidebook do some research and narrow it down. You're going to get all kinds of different suggestions on here since we all have our "favorites".

agree with PP about seeing mostly roads .( The drive alone from
SS to Barcelona is something like six hours).
You might concentrate on Madrid and the south, or Barcelona and the north.
Ten location in 2 weeks means spend a lot of time checking into hotels, unpacking, finding your way around towns or cities, and doing it all over the next day.
On the other hand, your family may enjoy that type of travel
End of May can be rather hot in Madrid and the South

Agree with previous two posters.

You should use the flexibility of the rental car to discover the "hidden" regions where you cannot get easily to by train or plane.
You will pay a lot for motorway tolls and downtown parking.
You will spend quite some time in the rush hours.
There are many car-friendly motels in the faceless suburbs of the big cities with easy freeway access. But then you have the problem of how to get downtown and back.

Spain is one of the best countries for road trips to see beautiful villages, hidden monasteries and castles and empty beaches, but not for an itinerary like yours.
A mix of trains and a rental car as Cathy suggests sounds best and most practical for me.

That trip would take 6 weeks to do justice.
Pick 2 areas to include Andalusia and forget any one niters.

Thank you all for your responses - you've been very helpful.

Spain is such a diverse country that in between these major points of interest you have so many gems waiting to be discovered by you.

I would take a look at castle websites, choose a few to see..also the World Heritage UNESCO site to see what monuments you find interesting, decide what museums you HAVE to see.. and if you want to visit a lovely beach or, depending on how old your kids are.. an aquarium or special animal park one day.

Spain cannot be "done" on one trip. I am sure if you reduce the itinerary geographically you will be much happier with the results.

As mentioned, drop off fees for rental cars are almost non-existent in Spain, so the suggested open jaw will help you save time.

You may want to do a search here for other reports that have had a two week trip to compare ideas.

We have vistied Spain several times - twie doing road trips (3 weeks or more). Once we spent 12 day sin Andalusia and once 10 - and we still have alot more to see. In your time you have no more than 4 hotels - and you should group it into either Madrid and north or Madird and south.

Also realize weather wil be very hot (we were there in april and the weather was high 80s - high 90s in Madrid - everyone at the pool or the beach).

That itinerary sounds awful. First I would not drive around Spain. It is huge and for the most part isn't that great to look at, long, excruciatingly boring drives. If you must do it go ahead but for a more interesting, relaxing, fun trip I would spend 4 nights in Seville, 2 in Ronda , 2 in Malaga, 2 in Granada and 4 nights in Madrid in that order. If you really want to rent a car I would pick it up upon leaving Sevilla and drop it off upon entering Granada. San Sebastian is amazing June to September only. I'm not crazy about Barcelona but many people would disagree with me. I think kids might really love Sevilla (isla Magica, Giralda, alcazar), Granada (Alhambra, Gypsy caves in Sacromonte), Malaga (alcazaba, beach), and Ronda (the gorge and bullring).

I have to agree with most of the other comments. Even 6 weeks would not be sufficient. All you will see in 2 weeks is alot of traffic and have very unhappy children.

Why not choose a couple of places to site see and then head for the beach for a week. I´m sure the children will enjoy this and you would have some relaxation.

In Spain we have some magnificent historical cities and 1 night would not do them justice.Guess you need to get back to the drawing board on this one.

In 2007, we spent about 2 fantastic weeks in Spain and covered quite a bit of ground but focused mostly on major cities/towns: Madrid-Granada-Seville-Barcelona. We were able to accomplish this by focusing mostly on spending quality time in those locations and used a train & plane along with a car in Andalucía. We spent 4 days in Madrid, visiting Toledo for a day trip, took a high speed train to Cordoba, drove from Cordoba to Granada (2 nights there) drove to Ronda for a night then on to Sevilla for 4 nights. We then flew to Barcelona for 5 nights (also drove up into Costa Brava with a friend for a day). I would definitely recommend visiting each of these great cities. If you wanted to drive, then Madrid down into Andalucia including Granada & Sevilla (and possibly Ronda) would fill your two weeks. We are spending 3 weeks driving in northern Spain this May and had to reduce the area we covered to be sure we were spending quality time in the places we visit not just on the road. Good luck.