Hi. Husband and i are fairly well travelled however this will be our first time with our first child who will be 7 months this June, and our first time together in spain. We have return flights to Madrid and other then the main highlights of madrid (Barcelona seville cordoba etc) we would love people's suggestions esp since we are driving and can easily stop at unexpected places. We love food and wine and culture and architecture. We have the option of ducking into France or portugal also. We want a slow pace, so happy to find a good base for some nights and make day trips. We have no idea what a 7 month old week be like to travel with. I acknowledge many will say we have left it too late (2 months to plan) but from our past travels is definitely workable.

First issue: rental of a car. If you are looking for the most economical rental, the CDW has to be carried by your credit card. But for that a valid rental must be no more than one month. So you would have to arrange for a split rental --my credit card accepts this subterfuge as perfectly legal. I have frequently rented one car in one location, dropped it off in another location where I picked up another car within the hour (sometimes the same car) and then dropped it off at a third location. I used Autoeurope for the rental.

Hidden gems are relative things. For the Catalan the Romanesque mountain churches such as in Taüll are bus tour locations, but the foreign visitor might by-pass these altogether; hidden gem for one, popular day trip for another.

Browsing through these photos you might get an idea of what to see: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622974992586/

I would consider some locations as hidden gems, such as San Juan de la Peña, as it seemed very isolated when we saw it, but that was a long time ago, and things may have changed.

Even if looking for "hidden gems," a good guidebook or two should be a good place to start. Guidebooks like the Rough Guide and Michelin Green Guide cover all sorts of things that aren't mentioned in other guidebooks.

A lot has been written in the past on subject similar to this:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...toll-booth.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...uggestions.cfm
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-southern.cfm
Also read these,
http://www.blueosa.com/spains-best-k...h-attractions/
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/home...b_4821651.html
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...25/babia-spain
http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...ecret-portugal
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/tr...anted=all&_r=0
One last word in this port, do not forget your IDP.

There are not too many hidden gems , but there are a lot of gems in Spain.

Oropesa and the Parador are a gem. The drive south of Orpoesa to Guadalupe is another one.

I think that Merida deserves at least three nights It makes a good base to explore the area (hike to the ruins of the Alange castle, the town of Medelin, castle ruins in Magacella, town of Trujillo)

North of Madrid, Pedraza and Sepuvelda are worth the trip.

Congratulations on deciding to rent a car.

The "Back Roads of Spain" by Eyewitness Travel is an excellent source of ideas and information (ISBN 978-0-7566-5918-9)

That and http://www.castillosnet.org/espana/index.php has been our main resource on our last two trips to Spain.

Traveling with a seven month is no problem whatsoever. At that age all they do is sleep and process what they eat. In addition, they tend to put smiles on peoples faces.

Mark