18 days - how would you do it?
 

Thanks to all for your earlier thoughts - we bought the tickets today (yay) and stretched it to 18 nights. We fly into and out of Madrid. Now to fill in the outline.
Basics: we love history, art, countryside, just exploring.
We prefer to stay 3 nights or more in any given place but can be flexible if need be.
I'm thinking 3 nights Madrid and 4 nights Barcelona, and staying the last two nights in Toledo and going straight to the airport from there (I'm assuming we could get a taxi or limo for that part of things)
so that takes us to 9 nights out of the 18 - leaving 9 to allocate.

We are interested in Granada (definitely) and then also Cordoba, Seville and spending a few nights in the countryside somewhere in Valencia. As you can see - something has to give. If it were you, how would you allocate the time? Would you cut out one of the stops altogether (and if so which one) or would you only stay 2 nights in one or more....

we are planning to use the train for most of the intra-city travel, but rent a car for the countryside part f things...

all ideas and innovations welcome - thanks

hi Laura,

from your previous thread I see that you are going in the summer - is that right? in which case Spain will be hot, but specifically Andalucia will be very hot. Therefore I would concentrate on coastal and more northern areas. I would also put all your time in Madrid at the end so that you are in the right place for going home and don't waste nights splitting up your time there.

IMO Valencia is one of the nicest places in Spain, so I would go there straight on arrival and spend 4 nights exploring the city and enjoying the beach. [it's also a good centre for day trips so even more nights there wouldn't hurt].

Then get the train to Barcelona and have another 4 nights there - now you've got 10 left. From there I might go up into the mountains for a few days before going back to Madrid to finish the trip.

If you decide that you can't bear the thought of missing Andaluca, then I would forget about Valencia and Barcelona, and concentrate on there and Madrid. Travelling around in the heat is very tiring and although 18 days seems a lot, you can waste a lot of it in transit.

As I probably said on your other thread, I would skip Barcelona and Valencia on this trip -- as you say, something has to give, and Barcelona is relatively easy to reach, since it has an international airport. I was glad I gave 11 nights to Andalusia and glad I gave 10 nights to Madrid and around. On a later trip, I gave about 10 nights to Barcelona (depending on what you count is "in or around"). JMO. Really, only YOU can decide on your priorities. At least there are no BAD choices here, IMO.

This represents our trip through Spain quite a while ago, but the pictures are still valid. It assumes a car. We started and ended in the Pyrenees.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622975757180/

And I was tired last night when I posted...I meanto Andalusia, not Valenicia for the countryside part - oh my so many decisions. I know we definitely want to see Granada - what are thoughts about Seville vs Cordoba?

You'll find the water fountains in Madrid are attractive to hang out by and that Madrid only really starts to party at about 11pm (last time there I went to a theatre at 11:30pm and the tango club started at 4am). So you want to be able to sleep in the middle of the day.

Cordoba's Mezquita is, IMO, among the world's most glorious treasures. I, personally, would not have missed it for the world. I found more than enough to do in Cordoba to keep me happily busy for 2 full days (in addition to my 4 nights in Sevilla), but many people visit Cordoba as a day trip from Sevilla.

KJA do you think two nights would be enough for Cordoba? and Bilboburgler - thanks for the heads up - guess we'd better find a quiet hotel cause we ain't the partying kind lol

It depends on what you want to see and experience! As I said, I wanted 2 full days in Cordoba for my interests; other people visit it as a day trip. Only you can decide....

lauram, you'll also find it hard to find supper until 9pm at least. Madrid is not a hard partying town, but in the summer it is very much a "two sleeps every 24 hours" town. You'll find the place goes a bit dead 2 to 4pm.

Yes, many thinks in many things in Spain will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break, and many things are closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too.