DAY 1 - Depart U.S. (sleep plane)
DAY 2 - Arrive Sevilla; Sleep Sevilla
DAY 3 - Day trip to Cadiz; Sleep Sevilla
DAY 4 - Sleep Sevilla
DAY 5 - Sleep Sevilla
DAY 6 - Day trip to Cordoba; Sleep Sevilla
DAY 7 - Train to Granada; Sleep Granada
DAY 8 - Sleep Granada
DAY 9 - Train to Malaga; Sleep Malaga
DAY 10 - Flight to Barcelona; Sleep Barcelona
DAY 11 - Sleep Barcelona
DAY 12 - Sleep Barcelona
DAY 13 - Day trip to Stiges; Sleep Barcelona
DAY 14 - Sleep Barcelona
DAY 15 - Depart for U.S.

What do you think? Right now the only givens are that I'm flying into Sevilla on May 13th and out of Barcelona on May 27th. (And I've already done Madrid and surroundings).

Any advice is welcome!!

I'd do malaga before Granada - its on the way and you would avoid backtracking even if its a little ways

It sounds reasonable and not as if you're trying to squash too much into one trip. That said, my only word of caution would be that five nights is quite a long time to stay in Seville. Cadiz doesn't have much there at all - I spent perhaps two or three hours there and that was that. That said, it's perfectly acceptable as long as you know that the pace will be quite slow in Seville. Although it is a lovely city, and it'll be nice to spend lots of time there.

I assume you're taking trains to Cadiz and Cordoba? I'd advise this over an organised excursion as it's freer and far cheaper too.

And Barcelona I would cut down timewise. I'd sooner spend more time relaxing in Marbella, and shopping (not that I care for it much there) than Barcelona. It's a very pretentious city which left me feeling totally cold. Perhaps you will care for it, perhaps you won't. But I feel it's dreadfully over rated.

Do you require advice regarding hotels?

Thanks!

cmeyer > The flights to Barecelona are MUCH cheaper out of Malaga than Granada, so I think it would be more of a bother to switch them.

m_kingdom > If you wouldn't necessarily go to Cadiz for the day, what would you do instead? I was thinking a lazy day at the beach on my second day might be good for the jet lag. Is there a better beach town that I can get to by train or bus?

And, I would love hotel advice. I prefer to go as cheap as possible while still having my own bathroom (and in a convienent part of town).

I absolutely love Seville and Barcelona, so to me your plan looks really terrific, but I'm not sure about Cadiz as a daytrip from Seville--I haven't been there, but have been to Ronda and think it would be a great daytrip from Seville.

Another suggestion for a daytrip from Barcelona would be Montserrat, or if you're up for a bit longer one, Girona. I haven't been to either, but DD was there last spring and raved about them.

For good deals on hotels, try bancotel.com, petrabax.com, parador.es, and solmelia.com.

Sorry- I missed the 'flight' notation. You can take a train to Ronda for a day, rent a car and see some of the white villages, etc between Seville and Malaga. We spent 2 days in Madrid, 4 in Seville, 2 in Malaga and 4 in Barca last spring. Great trip!

I forget people like beaches to laze around on. I can't stand doing that. If you want a beach day then I suppose Cadiz is the answer. I just worry that it's not practical going to a beach and having to make your way back to Seville covered in sand etc. Perhaps I am wrong.

I don't know of any other beaches nearby, simply because I am not all that familliar with the area. Cadiz is about an hour's train journey from Seville, and the fare is so cheap so it's not poor value for money.

But I always try to explore my immediate surroundings on my first day somewhere rather than going further afield, but if that's how you like to do things then Cadiz is suitable.

you are so close to the following it would be a shame not to see alot of it as i think you have time.

-arcos de la frontera
-jerez(bodega tour and spanish riding school)
-puerto de santa maria
-cadiz

near chiclana is a lovely golf course with 5 star accomodations that would be fun to go for a coffee or whatever.
really GORGEOUS. Golf Sancti Petri

further down east of Vejer, great wilderness beach area.(maybe not so much as before) is a small town" Zahara de los atunes".

worth a visit if you have a car and go that far, which, imho, is the BEST way to get the most out of this area.

if you drove, you could actually stay there on way to estepona/marbella/ puerto banus/malaga on the coast.

May 13 vis about the time the Feria de la Primavera takes place in el Puerto de Santa Maria (Cadiz). You might consider stopping the night there: there's a Ferry over to Cadiz if you want to visit the old town: there are hourly Regional rail trains between the two during the day. I usually stay at Hotel Santa Maria in el Puerto but el Monasterio de san Miguel is much more Lujo.
Sundays are the best for visiting Barcelona (Parc Guell, etc.) but you don't have a Sunday overnight scheduled there. I think you are overloaded with midweek in Barcelona!
BTW
What airline flys direct TransAtlantic from the U.S. to Sevilla??

see www.andalucia.com

Thanks everyone, great suggestions! I must say I'm a little intimidated by renting a car. I'll be by myself most of the trip and can only drive automatic... Do you think a car makes Andalucia that much better and I should get over it?

Nedsirland > The flight is actually Chicago to Madrid with a connecting flight to Sevilla (Iberia).