meganstein4637

My fiancé and I are planning for a 17 night trip in July of 2024. I teach and so the middle of the summer is the only time that is available for travel to Europe. Here is a high-level itinerary based on the specific sites I want to see. There are 3 non-negotiables: visiting the Mezquita in Cordoba, visiting the Alhambra, and spending the last 4 nights at a beach resort. What do you think of the following:



Fly San Francisco to Malaga

Transfer to Granada

3 nights Granada

Train to Cordoba

2 nights Cordoba

Train to Madrid

3 nights Madrid

Day trip Toledo

Train to Barcelona

5 nights Barcelona

Day trip to Montserrat

Visit Girona en route to S’Agaro

4 nights Costa Brava (S’Agaro)

Fly Barcelona to San Francisco



It’s an unusual route. It misses Seville and gives Madrid short-shrift. But we are not much interested in museums and so I don’t have a lot on my Madrid list. And I am afraid of spending more nights in Andalusia in July. Ending with several nights on the beach is a must (though it doesn’t have to be Costa Brava).



A second option might look like:

3 nights Granada

3 nights Seville (Cordoba day trip)

3 nights Madrid (Toledo day trip)

4 nights Barcelona (Montserrat day trip)

4 nights Costa Brava



But I’m inclined to the first as I know 3 nights in Sevilla plus the day trip to Cordoba really, really gives Sevilla short shrift—I definitely want to visit it at some point.



Another option could have us start in Barcelona and work our way down to the coast, but I’ve read not-so-good things about the Costa Del Sol—and we would like a sandy beach.



I would appreciate your thoughts, especially regarding allocation of nights and general direction. Help, please!

Traveler_Nick

Have you seen any of those beaches before? My guess is the best will be worse than what you have at home. Obviously if you must have a crowded European beach mid summer you must have but I personally don't see the point of doing what you can do at home.

Personally I'd lean towards the second. Maybe take a day from Granada and put it elsewhere.

If you're worried about heat down south don't expect Madrid to be any/much cooler. Barcelona will be a touch cooler but that's just relative

meganstein4637

Thank you for your feedback. The more I read, the more I think you’re right. At the very least we could spend 1-2 of those “beach nights” elsewhere.

Assuming we do still include *some* nights (3?), would you suggest Costa del Sol (Malaga/Estapana/Nerja), Costa Brava as above, or Cadiz and its surrounds? Our primary interest I relaxing time on the coast—no day trips from here. Proximity to an airport so that we aren’t hours away from our departure would be valuable.

bilboburgler

Malaga, your arrival point, is pretty nice town with a nice beach, I might put the whole, getting over jet lag thing and getting used to Spain at the start staying in Malaga. Then follow your route, Cordoba (Seville is worth a day in passing through, leave bags at Station), Grenada, Madrid, Barcelona with side trips to Girona etc