My husband and I are planning a trip to Europe in September. We have booked a cruise for 7 days which will depart and return to Barcelona. We have decided to spend the week before that exploring some parts of Spain. We want to see Barcelona, Seville and perhaps Granada. We are planning to rent a car in Barcelona upon arriving there and then returning there to get on the ship. <BR> <BR>Any advice on how to best get between those cities and how long to spend in each? <BR> <BR>thanks...

I think if you drive from Barcelona to Sevilla and back (basically one end of Spain to the other) you will spend almost your entire week driving. I would spend the time in Barcelona and do some daytrips by bus or take the AVE to Sevilla and spend time there. I don't think you will see or experience much if you try to do both areas.

Then you are planning on doing a lot of driving... <BR> <BR>The distance from Barcelona to Seville must be around 1000 kms (600+ miles). <BR> <BR>This means that two of your seven days will be on a car. <BR> <BR>If you want to see Seville, I would recommend you to get in touch with a Spanish travel agent (www.ultramarexpress.es, for instance), and inquire about a flight. You may be surprised on how cheap the flight could be. I remember paying 50,000 pesetas (like 260 US) for two of us, to go from Barcelona to Seville, including two hotel nights and airfare.

I think that the AVE to Seville runs only from Madrid. They are building the rails, but that was supposed to be ready until 2002 or 2003...

I would suggest you to fly among Barcelona and Sevilla, stay 3 days in Barcelona and 4 nights in Sevilla ( making day trips to Cordoba/Medina Azahara and Ronda/white villages ). I think this way might be relaxing and also plenty of sightseeing. Hope you enjoy your cruise as well!