Andalusia or Basque
 

My wife and I will be spending 9 days in Spain this coming June (our first trip to the country). The first four days have to be in Barcelona (business).

We are not adverse to renting a car, and we like to drive. Distances are not daunting. We're trying to decide whether to head to Basque country, or to head south to Valencia, Granada and Cordoba.

Whereever we go, we will have to head back to Barcelona to return home.

Any suggestions? And is it to much to try to stuff 1 1/2 or 2 days in Madrid out of the 5 days?

I would go north but
if you really wish to see Madrid take a train from Barcelona. Stay 2 1/2 days, fast train AVE to Seville for 2 days and fly Vueling back to Barcelona.

I also would go North: 'skirt' the southern edge of the Pyrenees, maybe stopping in Zaragoza (Aragón), continue across the Rioja region and then head North, to Bilbao (Vizcaya) and maybe even Cantabria. On the way back to Barcelona you could stop in San Sebastian (Guipuzcoa) and Pamplona.

I will train to Madrid , new line in less than three hours spend 2 days in Madrid and then if it is your first time I will go south. Train to Cordoba- Sevilla. Drive-train or Bus to Granada and fly back to Barcelona.
Simple and easy.

pacman,
If you havent seen Madrid(& Toledo), Cordoba, Sevilla, & Granada, I feel you should go with cars advice. If cars itinerary seems too busy, do Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada. Those are the true gems of Spain. Fly back to Barcelona the morning of your flight to the states as most US bound flights are afternoon ones.

Caveat- I havent been to the Basque region in more than 15 years. While I remember it peaceful & beautiful, I would rec the south if you havent been to Spain before.

It will be very warm in Sevilla in June, especially towards the end of the month. Since you are starting in Barcelona, and have only 9 days, you might enjoy renting a car and driving west to the Rioja and then up San Sebastian-Donostia and Bilbao, but I would not recommend driving back to Barcelona. It would not allow you enough time to enjoy this area. Instead, you can catch a flight back to Barcelona from Bilbao (1 hour), spending the final day in Barcelona before catching your flight home.

Having a car, you will want to stay outside of Bilbao and San Sebastian-Donostia. There are a number of excellent places along the coast between the two cities where you can spend a few days relaxing, including Lekeitio and Getaria, or even Zarautz.

Thanks to all of you for your advice. All of it sounds so good, and so far, it's almost evenly split between Basque and Andalucia.

It seems that most of you however, do not think that including Madrid in the trip makes sense. Are we trying to cram too much into a short time?

yes.
You could go to Madrid ( by train) and visit Segovia and Toledo - easy day trips by fast train ( 1/2 hour).
I suggested going north but I have seen Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Granada.; for the firs time visitor the south is probably more attractive location.
If you don't mind a long day, AVE - fast train takes you to Cordoba in 2 hours from Madrid. A drive from Barcelona to Madrid is not very interesting. Cities like Seville and Granada are not very car friendly.
I don't think you have time for Seville and Granada ( yes, it will be hot in Andalucia)
There is so much to see in Spain, you'll be back ..

You've hit on my challenge. I feel as though it's not likely I'll be back, so I'm worried about missing things.

Thanks again!

First off, you don't offer up much information as to what you folks enjoy when on vacation; beaches? big cities? small cities? food? wine? nature? museums? monuments? fashion? Is like batting in the dark trying to come up with a helpful answer. Spain is incredibly diverse. It is also the size of Texas; you WILL miss things. That is why God made one day after another :-D. What type sughtseeing you find enjoyable?

Off the bat, a Spain fist timer ought to go South; Andalucia. Fly to Seville, day trip to Cordova from there. Rent a car for a couple of days and venture to Granada (overnight), back to Seville via the Route of the White Villages.

If wine and food are your thing, then you want to stay North. Maribel is a brilliant contributor to this forum whod has published a number of Spain guides, one of which covers Barcelona and places North. There are three things ou should NOT leave home without for this trip: 1) Passport, 2) Streetwise Barcelona map (i.e. Barnes & Noble bookstores), 3) Maribel's Guides ( http://www.maribelsguides.com/.

Have a fun time! I wish you find your way back to Spain many, many times in the future. It is an AMAZING destination!

Thanks for the great advice. My wife and I are good travelers. We enjoy beautiful scenery and we love great food. We enjoy big cities, but we like the slower pace of the country and smaller cities. We like to take photographs, but most of all, we enjoy meeting the locals.

While we certainly would want to visit Alhambra, we would get just as much pleasure out of finding some charming little restaurant in a small city that serves unbelievable food. We wouldn't lie on a beach all day, but we'd walk along the beach at sunset. While my wife would spend all day in a museum, I would prefer driving along a beautiful coastline drive. Neither of us is much into shopping.

Does that help?

P.S. Great answer about one day after another :)

"I'm worried about missing things."

you have 5 days to see a huge and diverse country - you WILL miss things.
If you try to cover too much , it could be a blur of driving, looking for parking, packing and unpacking.. ( often in very hot weather).

Spain it probably the most heterogeneous country in Western Europe...so different from North to South, from East to West...in all senses (culture, languages, landscapes,...), so you will surely miss A LOT of things. Both Basque Country (my homeland) and Andalucía are great places to visit...a hard choice...

As Mikelg noted, Sapin is probably seven different countries. You cannot go wrong with visiting either area. The south has extraordinary sites but the it over run with tourists and pensioneers. The north has great beauty combined with the the best food in Spain.

As someone noted, whatever you do you will miss many major things with only nine days.

We've settled on Andalucia. Thanks to all of you for the help. We will be doing 4 days Barcelona, 2 days Madrid, then taking a train to Granada. We have secured accommodations at the Parador at Alhambra for a night. We are going to spend the next night at the Parador in Arcos de la Frontera, before driving to Sevilla to spend the day. We fly out that night to return to Barcelona in time to catch our early morning flight home.

Wish us luck!

good luck !
let us know how it turned out.