My boyfriend and I are traveling to Spain at the end of September for 15 days. At this point the itinerary looks like this
Land in Athens 8 am 9/22 and head to
Cordoba for 2 nights
Granada for 2 nights
Torremolinos or Mijas for 2 nights (we need a place to stay to scuba dive one day)
Seville 3 nights (I want to be in Seville on Sunday if at all possible for the arts market at the Bellas Artes Museum)
Cadiz (or any recommendation for 2 nights)
Athens for 4 nights with a day trip to Toledo

As travelers we like to see the sites, shop and eat and drink consequently this may not seem like a very aggressive schedule. I am looking for some advice.
1. Should we drive or take the train…I prefer the train but renting a car even with adding the price of gas seems cheaper and may give us some freedoms we might not otherwise have.
2. Am I being foolish to build a trip around one day at an Arts Market in Seville is there a better (i.e. more logical route)?
3. Torremolinos or Mijas any preferences for one over the other?
4. We like to spend a couple of days at a town that would be of the beat and path so the 2 nights in Cadiz could easily be replaced.
Any recommendations will be appreciated.

Land in Athens for Spain? You need a multi-destination plane ticket, landing in a major city in Spain and working your way to Greece to take off from Athens. Assuming you are travelling trans-Atlantic, the ticket won't cost much more than the standard round trip, minus the big costs in time and money to retrace your (long) steps.

It's that Athens piece that is the real outlier.... did you mean Madrid? LOL! ;-)

I believe the OP has made an inadvertant slip typo, and meant to type Madrid. (Maybe an old trip plan template for Greece that got re-purposed for Spain?)

ty,

Without knowing why you would prefer to take trains, it is hard to advise. You already seem aware of the tradeoffs.

If you've never been to Spain, you may not be aware of just how lively the towns and cities are at night and how dead they are in the middle of the day, so as you figure out your itinerary think about that. Day light lasts a very long time in September in Spain, so don-t always think in terms of a 9-5 clock

Cadiz

CORRECT Stevewith this was supposed to be a 50th birthday gift to Greece. I did a lot of planning and was not permitted the time off from work. So I went with Spain....happily. I was in spain 20 years ago and have always wanted to go back. I am aware of the lively nights (particularly in Seville). I like trains... I find them relaxing and I think that driving and possbily parking may prove stressful but maybe not...having never driven in Spain. But maybe it is not that bad and would be worth what appears to be a cost savings?

Lindaras you wrote Cadiz do you recommend?

We were in Seville two springs ago and went to the art market you mentioned, outside of the Museo de Bellas Arted and IMHO it is NOT worth structuring one's visit around! (And I am an art lover and museum docent here in the States...) Seville is AWESOME, and you will love however much time you have there. We stopped off in Cordoba for the better part of a day while enroute from Madrid to Sevilla, and that was plenty for us (we wanted to see the Mezquita, which is definitely worth seeing). We began in Madrid and used trains only to see Toledo, Cordoba and Sevilla, which worked easily and comfortably.
Two nights in Granada sounds about right - we enjoyed seeing the Alhambra by day and then again by night. We did not spend much time along the coast (lunch in Nerja was plenty...) but we enjoyed the white hill towns In southern Spain including Ronda, Arcos de la Frontera, which we did by car(picked it up when leaving Sevilla and dropped it off once we reached Granada). Distances in Spain can be lengthy, so figure out where you want to go and consider trains, cars and even flights (we flew Vueling from Grenada to Barcelona, which was both cost and time effective). Have a great trip!

> Granada for 2 nights

Be sure to book the Alhambra in advance, preferably visiting during BOTH the day and evening. Search this board for MUCH more info on that.

> this may not seem like a very aggressive schedule

Seems aggressive enough to me!

> I prefer the train but renting a car even with adding the price of gas seems cheaper and may give us some freedoms we might not otherwise have

I won't try to do the math, but it's hard for me to believe that the high-speed trains won't serve you well, particularly if you are committed to flying into and out of Madrid.

> We like to spend a couple of days at a town that would be of the beat and path so the 2 nights in Cadiz could easily be replaced

If you want to get a bit off the most beaten track, consider a visit to Las Alpujarras, maybe the Poqueira Gorge.

Another option is to add time to Toledo (which I thought easily merited 2 full days and nights) or give more time to Madrid or add a day trip (or overnight) in Segovia and/or Avila..... Although these options would keep you firmly in the main tourist destinations, they may be worth considering, depending on what you want to see and experience.

> how dead they are in the middle of the day, so as you figure out your itinerary think about that

Very good advice! And many places are closed on Mondays.

This is great advice thank you honestly if we did not HAVE to dive (and we do) this would be a less aggressive trip.

tyedye

I wouldn't choose on the basis of money unless you are on an extreme budget. Go with what will be least stressful fo ryou.

Sorry my reply got cut short.

Cadiz is a nice place, but quite small. I'm not sure it needs a full 2 days.

Marbella and Malaga are nice places if you want to get down to the south coast. Train is the best way to travel, although keep in mind you lose a little city visiting time due to the transportation time it takes in between each city.