My husband and I are looking into a trip for his 60th birthday at the end of September/early October and are thinking Spain and perhaps Portugal due to never having been there (except to Barcelona) and the hope that the temperatures will still be somewhat warm at that time of year.

Would love some itinerary suggestions! We can fly into Madrid, Valencia, or Lisbon but have to fly out of the same city (reward miles ticket). We would love to include time on one of the Spanish islands (4-5 days?). We are active and love art. I am overwhelmed at all the possibilities! Do we include Portugal or no? Canary Islands or Mallorca/Ibiza side? Go to Madrid or skip it? Rent a car or public transportation? Would prefer to really be able to settle into a few places and enjoy some variety (city vs a more quiet place).

Thanks so much for your help!!!

One of our greatest trips was to Spain in 2015.

We visited Barcelona, Granada, a day in the White Towns (you could skip), Sevilla, Cordoba, Toledo and Madrid. Below link is my report with photos. Should give you plenty of ideas and sights you need to reserve online before you leave. Have fun!

https://travelswithmaitaitom.com/spain-2015/

The Alhambra - Granada

That's a gorgeous photo, Tom!

17 days not time for Portugal, Spain and 4-5 days in Spanish islands - one possible - Land in Madrid - take high-speed train to Seville - do Cordoba, Granada and Malaga - then fly to islands and back to Madrid. Trains and buses are great - for lots on that check Renfe - Spanish Railways' site where you can book your own discounted tickets - www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

"That's a gorgeous photo, Tom!"

Then I'm sure either Kim or Tracy took it

Glad we spent three nights in Granada. Cool town.

By the way, we used man in seat 61 recommendation and used Loco2 for our Spain train tickets. Great customer service. Prices were the same as Renfe as I remember. Very user friendly.

17 days is a nice length of time for a trip to Spain, and late September / early October can be a lovely time there, but Spain is not only enormous, it is, moreover, absolutely filled with treasures. You certainly can’t see it all in that time, and none of us can tell you how to prioritize. My recommendation would be to get or consult a few good guidebooks.

I went to Spain last October, splitting time between the Madrid area and Andalucia. You can see my trip report, here: trip report

As kja said, it's a big country. Don't feel like you need to squeeze in Portugal just because it's nextdoor. You aren't going to run out of things to see in Spain in that amount of time. That's not to say that its crazy to combine a Portugal segment with a Spain segment, but it's sort of like saying, I've got 17 days for a trip to France, but I'd like to squeeze in Switzerland, too.

Starting from Madrid you could do a round trip that includes some of Old Castille, the Extramadura, Andalusia (Seville, Cordoba, Grenada) and back to Madrid via Toledo.
This album covers that area, which we did in about the same time you are anticipating, except that we did not visit and stay in Madrid. https://flic.kr/s/aHsjp5co3q

• For Andalusia, I tend to think that 9 to 12 days works for most people, depending on specific interests.
• For central Spain (Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, etc.), I tend to think that 10 to 12 days works for most people, depending on specific interests.
• For the north coast of Spain, I tend to think that 14 to 17 days would work for most people, depending on specific interests.
• For Catalunya and the Costa Brava, not counting Barcelona, I tend to think that 10 to 12 days would work for most people, depending on specific interests.
• For La Rioja, a week or more, depending on one's interests.
• And that doesn't count huge portions of Spain, only some of which I have had the privilege of visiting to date.
• I haven't been to Portugal yet, but have determined that I'll want about 2 weeks.

No bad choices, IMO. Just a lot of options to explore and consider.

The only specific thing you mentioned was 'islands' so if that's a priority then do it. I havn't been to any but am going to Mallorca and Ibiza in March so have researched them and Mallorca looks amazing - combo of beautiful scenery and interesting old town. But for the rest of the trip you need to narrow it down to one or two regions. Since you have to fly in and out of the same airport then Madrid seems the most central. You could do the 'highlights' of Andalucia in about 8 days (Seville 4, Cordoba 1, Granada 2). Or you could stay around Madrid (Toledo 2-3, Segovia 1-2, Avila (1 or day trip), Salamanca 2-3, Burgos 2-3, Leon 2). Those are obviously just suggestions as to length of time in each.



Here's my photos of Spain, see which places 'grab' you. https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f855477163

Thank you all very much! Am narrowing it down... thinking something like:

Fly into Madrid and stay 2 nights (will give us only 1 full day there)
Fly to Gran Canaria, stay 5 nights
Fly to Seville, explore Andalusia area 9 nights
Train to Madrid, 1 night near the airport? (or cut 1 night from Andalusia for 2 nights in Madrid), fly home

Will be researching hotels, would love suggestions on awesome places to stay, as well as thoughts as to how to split up our time in Andalusia. (4 nights Seville, 3 Granada and ?).

Sounds like public transportation is the way to go.

Input appreciated! And thanks for all the photo and trip report links. Am really enjoying them!

Michele

For Andalusia consider 4 nights Sevilla, 2 nights Cordoba, 3 nights Granada.

In Sevilla, I liked Las Casas de la Juderia, which still gets decent reviews.
https://www.lascasasdelajuderiasevilla.com/en/

A definite yes on public transportation.

Santiago for sure. There's no city like it - busy and yet so tranquil.It's a place of pilgrimage, which lends it a very spiritual feel, even if you're not religious. Beautiful architecture, green surrounding countryside, it's great. Where I live In Alicante, the locals migrate up there in summer to avoid the heat down here.