pichulita

My hubby and I are planning our first trip to Spain in mid May of 2012. Since we are using airline miles for our round trip tickets, I need to make the reservations in the next month or so.

This is the itinerary we have planned. I would appreciate any advice, opinions or suggestions.

OPTION 1:
Day 1: (3 nights in Madrid) Land in Madrid in the morning. Visit El Prado and stroll El Paseo in the evening. (Play it by ear in between these activities)

Day 2: Madrid: Palacio Real and we will pick something else later on. Any suggestions?

Day 3: (Eurail 'n' Drive - 3 or 4 day train and 2 day car): Take train to Toledo in the morning and return to Madrid around 6pm. Catedral, Sinagoga del Transito & Juan de los Reyes Monasterio

Day 4: (3 nights in Sevilla) Train to Sevilla in the morning: El Catedral, Giralda Tower and Alcazar. Spend night in Sevilla

Day 5: Train to Cordoba for the day and return to Sevilla around 6pm. La Mezquita and Museo de Al-Andalus Life

Day 6: Sevilla: Museo de Bellas Artes, Casa de Pilatos and Bullfight Museum (and tour). Experience flamenco at Casa de Memoria

Day 7: (2 nights in Ronda) Pick up car and drive to Zahara, Grazalema and end up in Ronda (on our way to Granada)

Day 8: Tour Ronda and spend the night. Does anyone have a good driving route for this itinerary?

Day 9: (2 nights in Granada) Drive to Granada and drop off car. Royal Chapel, St. Nicholas Viewpoint and meander through the Albayzin

Day 10: La Alhambra

Day 11: (3 nights in Barcelona) Fly to Barcelona in the morning: Catalan Art Museum and one of the parks

Day 12: Barcelona: Stroll through the Barri Gothic and stop at: Picasso Museum & Casa MIla

Day 13: Day train trip to Sant Sadurni for wine tasting: Our main goal is to spend time at Cordiniu (we are members of Artesa, it's "sister" winery), but we would taste at a couple of other places as well

Day 14: Fly home from Barcelona

OPTION 2: start in Barcelona (Sant Sadurni) - Granada - Ronda, Grazalema, Zahara - Sevilla (Cordoba) - Madrid (Toledo) and fly home from Madrid

Does one "loop" make more sense than the other?

bachslunch

There are lots of other attractions options for Madrid depending on interests. Here's a list of possibilities:

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...6_indattr.html

Retiro Park is well worth visiting. Some good art museums depending on your interests include the Reina Sofia, Thyssen-Bournemisza, and Museo Sorolla.

Viajero2

Leave the Prado for the second day-- the Palacio Real will be easier on you guys the first day. Make it a combo with Plaza Mayor and Plaza de Oriente. The office of Tourism in Plaza Mayor have a nice itinerary of Guided Walks- very good prices (2 Euros?) and the guides are really good. The Walking Tour of Old Madrid was very informative and filled with fun historical city trivia. It ended at the Palacio Real, so that's an idea.

As far as the loop-- I love Madrid in May so I wouldn't even bother with Barcelona-- ooooppsss! boy, do I love to ruffle feathers!! Seriously, no great advantages one way or the other. The first 10 days of May are Madrid's Saint Patron celebrations-- your call whether that is good or bad.

danon

Prado is a huge museum..leave it for when you are rested.

I love Barcelona ( just got back from the fifth visit)- might be better to start there... easier to get around than Madrid ( more relaxing and not as hot!).

danon

p.s.
I would stay one night in Ronda and add a night to Barcelona or Madrid.
You are packing a lot in 13 days...hope you have stamina for it
!

bachslunch

The Prado is good sized, but it's not huge like the Louvre or Met in NYC. It can be seen fully in about 6 hours. Still, it has a high quality to quantity ratio, and seeing it on your second day makes sense.

iris1745

Good information for download on the cities you will be visiting. www.maribelsguides.com

MFNYC

I agree on adding time to Barcelona.

Egbert

You certainly have everything organized. Looks good. I would leave more time to just walk around places like Seville, Bari Gotic, Madrid getting lost in the old parts of town. For example I would skip the Palacio Real in Madrid. Two nights is a lot for me in Ronda when I could be in Seville, Malaga or Cadiz but if you like the peace and quiet then go for it.

bachslunch

Can't address other cities here, but I'm thinking you can have it both ways re Madrid. The Palacio Real is at the western edge of the historic area of this city -- and one can wander, stop in to tour the palace (it only takes ca. 2 hours tops to experience it all) along the way, then continue with wandering.

WomBatt

Fast paced, foolish. No recognition of jet lag and very like check list checking off.
Plenty of time to grasp what you might see as my harshness. Do you want a holiday? However, this may be what you do regularly.

What is ' Eurail 'n' Drive'?

Best wishes.

Spaniola

Too much, there is so much to see but sometimes it´s best to really see and experience a little than try to do a lot.

I´d suggest you pick the really want to bits and concentrate on those. Build your tour on what you want rather than the should dos.

Have a great trip and come back and tell us all about it, the best and the worst.

Rachel

Egbert

This is the way my fellow Americans travel. There's no use trying to change our minds. OP forgot to add the newly re-opened El Greco museum in Toledo. I can't wait to see his works in his home city.

josele

I like your itinerary. Have in mind that museums and these kind of places close on mondays. And before going to Córdoba, check that the Mezquita-Catedral shall be open that day to visitors, sometimes there is a religious service going on.
For Rdriving around Ronda, check my post Pueblos Blancos trip, and a recent post I made but cannot remember, try to find it clicking on my name. Basically, try to drive first to Grazalema and then to Zahara, and from here to Ronda, it is a steep slobe hard to drive the opposite direction.

josele

There's a typo above, it ir slope.
I've found the post I mentioned, I am pasting here:
Click on my name and look for my report "Pueblos Blancos Trip". Besides, I been around last month and I'll add:
The road from Grazalema to Zahara is narrow and very winding; and it is downwards in this direction (Grazalema down to Zahara). I do not recommend doing it Zahara to Grazalema.
I recommend Ronda to Arcos, then back to El Bosque, Benamahoma and Grazalema (you pass the detour to Zahara on the left). Then you drive back this route to the crossing and head downwards to Zahara. Viewing this town from the road on the dam in the late evening sun is the best image (you have to skip the town, but you can go back afterwards). The reservoir is full.

ured1975

One night in Ronda is good enough.
I think the Seville, Cordoba, Seville itinerary does not make that much sense. Try Seville, drive to Ronda and back to Seville and then drive to Cordoba, sleep over (there are now night visits to Cathedral/Mosque and Alcazar) and continue to Granada.
One last thing: Once in Madrid, take HS train to Segovia (45 min). Excellent day trip-
Cheers!

lincasanova

Here's a great website with "what to do in Madrid on Monday?". You can put it into English. Not sure if it also exists for Toledo and other cities.

http://www.esmadrid.com/es/portal.do...2&TR=C&IDR=998

thisblonde

So much to think about and lots to look forward to. That being said it is a very ambitious schedule - you will be pressing yourself through some cities that would be better seen at a leisurely pace. Here are my two cents.

Madrid: yes, the Prado is huge and somewhat chaotic. Do not go there tired. Palacio is beautiful and so are the nearby plazas (Oriente, Puerta del Sol). Have you thought about the Thyssen? It's a private collection with beautiful exhibits: http://www.museothyssen.org/en/thyssen/home

Day trips from Madrid: Segovia, Toledo, possibly Salamanca (but a bit far for one day). Take the train, enjoy the scenery and spend the night in Madrid.

The South: Sevilla could take a week on its own (I live here, I'm biased). Cordoba is ok as a day trip, but you may want a time out by then. Take a day and stroll the city, don't make plans. Ronda only needs one night - it's beautiful. Don't miss out on the mines, you can climb to the bottom of the gorge for a stunning view. Granada needs at least two days, buy your tickets to the Alhambra in advance (http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/).

Don't forget .. this is a vacation take a breather!

pichulita

Thank you all for your suggestions. We've decided to skip Ronda and take the train directly from Sevilla to Granada. We could also skip either Toledo or Cordoba. If we skipped Cordoba, then we could spend a day and night in Toledo on our way from Madrid to Sevilla. We would then add 2 days to Barcelona and 1 day to either Madrid or Sevilla.

danon

Toledo is not on the train line from Madrid to Seville.( Cordoba is)
If you are not driving, you have to return to Madrid .