9 days in Spain - is this too much?
 

Hi all,

My husband and I are planning a trip to Spain at the beginning of September. We were thinking of flying into Barcelona - staying there for 3-4 days, and then flying into Malaga. Once in Malaga, we'd stay there for about 3-4 days and then take the train to Sevilla, where we would stay until we'd fly back to the States. Does this sound too ambitious? Should we just do Malaga OR Sevilla? I want us to enjoy the trip and not be like the Griswolds running ragged. Thanks in advance!

"about 3-4 days" isn't definitive. How many actual days do you plan to spend in each place? THAT will determine whether you've bitten off too much, or not.

And count in nights, not days. How many nights in each place?

You do need to specify if that is 9 days on the ground, that is, after arrival in Barcelona. Will one day be your travelling day? If you arrive day 1, get to your hotel late, then that isn't really a day to see anything. If you spend 4 nights (3 days) in Barcelona, then take the train/fly to Malaga, there is most of another day travelling and getting settled followed by 3 full days in Malaga, you are now at 8 nights, and you have one more night before leaving Seville.

So, it depends what you really want to see in those cities before you determine the minimum amount of time to spend in each one. I suspect 3 places may be just too much, considering there is lots to do in both Barcelona and Seville, and going to Malaga for one or two nights seems quite out of the way to me, unless you really want to relax by the sea.

There are people who can do 3 countries in 9 days though, but that's not me.

It sounds fine to me if you have at least 2-3 days in Seville. I wouldn't bother going there for one day probably. If anything, I'd cut back one day in Malaga to add it to Seville. 3 days each would work.

3 nights in Barcelona, 2 nights in Malaga and 3 nights in Seville. ORRRR remove Malaga and just say 4 nights in Barcelona and 4 nights in Sevilla?

It depends on what you want to see and experience, but FWIW, I would find your plan WAY too ambitious! I wanted 6 nights in Barcelona -- and that didn't allow any day trips. I wanted 4 nights in Sevilla, plus time for Cordoba. I haven't been to Malaga yet.

With the time you have, you might consider Sevilla for 5 nights (or better, Sevilla for 4 nights and Cordoba for 2 nights) and Malaga for the rest of your time. Or visit Granada (3 nights) rather than Malaga. (Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada are the three truly world-class destinations in Andalusia; Malaga sounds wonderful, but as danon notes, it simply isn't in the same class.)

IMO, you could see a few nice things in Barcelona with 3 nights, but only a very few highlights. For my time in Barcelona, see
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...lunya-1047395/
and you might find some useful information in songdoc's recent report on Barcelona.

Hope that helps!

Hi Malaga is a beach town with modern culture while Seville is a traditional inland city .Both are incredible tourist destinations i suggest you to spend last days of your trip in Malaga.

I loved Barcelona, but I love the day trips to Montserrat and medieval villages even more. I did it with 5 nonstop, exhausting full days in Barcelona. (You can check out my trip report.)

consider taking the train Marcelona-Malaga in about 5.5 hours - no much longer than flying really and trains are rarely late. Check Renfe fort to book all your own trains at a discount if early enough - www.seat61.com has loads on that - general info BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

Malaga is interesting but nothing compared to Sevilla, which is fascinating and could be a base for your trip. Easy access from there to Cordoba, Madrid, etc. What do you want to do and/or see? Barcelona is fun, but it will be very hot and humid in September and they have an independence day or something in there (September 11?) on which everything shuts down. Check out the trains but you could probably do Barcelona and Sevilla and spend about four days in each place. If it were my first time in Spain, I'd fly into Madrid, wander around, do a day and overnight in Toledo, then take a morning train to Cordoba, leave your bags at the station, wander around Cordoba, then take the train to Sevilla and stay there for four days (you can take local trains to Jerez, Cadiz, whatever).

Or you could fly into Malaga, rent a car, check out Granada, Ronda, the White Towns, etc, land in Sevilla and fly out from there; save Barcelona and maybe northern Spain for another time.

I love Barcelona, and have been there four times, but it's hard to do both Barcelona and southern Spain in one week, which is what you have, and really get a sense of the place.