Final Spain/ Portugal Itinerary
 

Day 1 Arv in Madrid in the evening
Day 2- Day 5 Madrid (4 days in Madrid-4 nites) fly to Bilbao the 5th night
Day 6-Day 10 Basque(5 days-6 nites)
Day 11-Day 12 (2 days-2nites-) Cadaques –Dali House (6.5 hours of the 1st day will be driving)
Day 13-To Figurers -Dali Museum overnite in Figueres or drive closer to Barcelona
Day 14- Day 17 (4days- 3nites) to Barcelona, drop car. We will drive in early that morning from Figueres or Girona and we will fly out at 7 PM on the 4th night to Granada
Day 18 (1 day 2 nites) Granada
Day 19 (1nite) Pick up car Drive to Nerja, spend time and end in Ronda (1 night)
Day 20 Spend the day in Ronda and then drive to Tarifa (overnite) in the late afternoon or early evening
Day 21 Ferry for a day trip to Morocco (spend the 2nd night in Tarifa)
Day 22-(3 nights in Sevilla) Drive from Tarifa, stop in Arcos and then drive to Sevilla , Day 23 spend in Sevilla, Day 24 drive to Cordoba for a day trip only
Day 25 & 26 (2 days 2 nights)Drive to Evora , Portugal
Day 27,28,29- To Lisbon (3 days 3 nights)
Day 30, Day 31 To Obidos, Batalha and then to Tomar (2 days 2 nights)
Day 32 Drive to Salamanca mid morning or early afternoon and spend 1 night there.
Day 33 Drive to Madrid for 2:15 flight. (We drove back to Madrid so that we would not have a high drop off fee in Portugal and also because our friends needed to get back to Madrid)
WE HAVE ONE MORE DAY WHAT ARE SoME OF YOUR SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHERE TO PUT IT…Ronda, Barcelona, Sevilla, Lisbon??? Right now I am leaning towards Ronda.

You're spending time in Evora and Obidos and completely missing Sintra??? Big mistake.

You are missing 2 of my favs in Portugal---Sintra and Marvao.
I am not sure the big attraction in Tomar. Why not stay in Obidos and add Nazare to your loop.
When you drive to Salamanca, try to stop and have lunch in Ciudad Rodrigo.

> WE HAVE ONE MORE DAY WHAT ARE SoME OF YOUR SUGGESTIONS AS TO WHERE TO PUT IT

Do you plan on visiting Toledo? I found it worth 2 days. I'm glad that I had 2.5 days in Sevilla (without day trips) and I found that Salamanca, Granada, and Cordoba each had more than enough to keep me happily busy for closer to 2 days than 1.

> Right now I am leaning towards Ronda.

I'm glad I saw Ronda, but was ready to leave after a little less than a day.

When in Nerja, you should consider lunch at Restaurante La Marina. Fish and seafood as fresh as you get it (they do meat also), and one of my absolute favourite places in the Málaga region. Extremely popular with both locals and tourists alike: http://www.guideofnerja.com/pages/gu.../marina_en.htm

Casa Luque is more upscale and inventive and serves excellent food: http://www.casaluque.com/restaurant-in-nerja.php

Logistically, an extra day should be rolled over towards the end-- Salamanca. If anything was to happen you would have a "buffer" day.

Days 20 - 22 are convoluted. I would drive from Granada to Nerja - To Tarifa (if you must...) - to Ronda - to Cordova -to Seville. This would avoid a lot of backtracking you are doing with the Ronda and Cordova stops and will tie better to the Portugal portion.

Same q's as above: your Portugal stops are unusual....I would not skip Sintra, Ovidos, etc..

Ronda

lOVE THE HELP. yES, i KNOW THAT MANY OF THESE PLACES DESERVE ANOTHER DAY BUT tHEY ARE NOT PLACES I WANT To SPEND ANOTHER DAY,(because of time retstraints) I.E. sALAMANCA, gRANaDa, tOLEDO OR cORDOBA.
Kimhe, Tell me more about Malaga, would you spend some time there instead of Nerja???
We are doing Sintra as a day trip from Lisbon on Sun. May 29th. I hope to also go to Belem as a day trip from Lisbon so will only have 1 day in Lisbon where we don't take day trips.
Marvo sounds intriguing but don't think we can add that because it is a different directions than where we are traveling.
Tomar, tell me more- maybe not worth it?? So if not, then where??maybe overnite in Alcobac and see a few place from there the next day. Thoughts on the 2 days after Lisbon will be appreciated.

This trip looks like the Monte Carlo rally. For example: Day 19 (1nite) Pick up car (in Granada) Drive to Nerja, spend time and end in Ronda (1 night). According to guides, it is a 260 km drive, doable in 2h15min (this in fast roads where you'll have no chance to stop/sightseeing other than gas stations). You'll see that it takes much more than that.
Is it necessary the trip to Morocco?

Málaga is a big and fabulous city with some 560 000 people, while Nerja is small (pop. 20 000), more touristy but with lots of charm and great beaches. I spend time in both places quite often.

I posted this some time ago, about both Málaga and Nerja:

MÁLAGA:
Genuine Andalusian atmosphere, excellent tapas bars, cafés, nightlife and perhaps the most easy-going people in all of Andalucía. Within three hundred metres in the center, you'll find the recently excavated Roman theater, the 8-11th century Moorish Alcazaba, the great 16th century Cathedral and both Picasso's birth-place and the new Picasso museum (2003).
A couple of articles on the city:
"Málaga: Authentic charm of an overlooked treasure"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ci...-treasure.html
From Andalucía Magazine:
http://www.andalucia.com/magazine/en...ed2/malaga.htm

These are two great hotel options in different price categories in the middle of everything:
Hotel Molina Larios: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/mala...-lario.en.html
Hotel Don Curro: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/mala...ncurro.en.html

NERJA:
Nerja (pop. 20 000), some 35 miles east along the coast from Málaga city (on the way to Granada). Has got everything that makes it popular with tourist, but has retained much of its charm and character. Great food, beaches etc. This site is excellent about Nerja: http://www.nerjatoday.com/

If you go to Nerja, I can recommend bustling La Marina or La Puntilla to get a feel of the local flavour. Especially La Marina in Plaza la Marina is in my opinion as good as you get a seafood freiduria in all of Andalucía.
http://www.nerjatoday.com/barsandrestaurants/la-marina/
http://www.nerjatoday.com/barsandres...s/la-puntilla/

Top tapas grilled on the spot (conchas finas, mussels, clams, prawns, monkfish, whitebait, baby-squid, sausages, pinchos morunos, mini-burgers etc.) and great atmosphere at El Pulguilla in C/Cristo, just off Balcón de Europa. Free tapas to choose with every drink in the bar area (as in almost all tapas bars in Nerja).
http://www.nerjatoday.com/barsandres.../el-pulguilla/

Cafetería Cavana, on Plaza Cavana behind the church, is an excellent place to relax and have a heavenly Carlos I (primero) brandy. One of the oldest bars in Nerja.

Some ten beaches in and around town. Quiet El Salón is my favourite: http://www.nerjatoday.com/nerjabeachguide/el-salon/

The spectacular prehistoric Nerja caves are just outside town: http://www.nerjatoday.com/nerja/nerja-caves/

You should live in the centre/old town close to the sea, the best bars, restaurants etc (some of the tourist apartment areas are 20-30 mins walking from the center). These are all excellent options ranging from upscale to basic and good value:
Hotel Carabeo: http://www.hotelcarabeo.com/
Hotel Plaza Cavana: http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/nerj...cavana.en.html
Hostal Mena: http://www.guideofnerja.com/pages/ho...talmena_en.htm

Morroco- I would give it up although the folks we are traveling with would like to do it and they are easy travel comapanions so it is a bit of give and take.

Nerja: Since you are passing through on your way to Ronda, I suggest Nerja instead of Malaga, as it will be a bit quicker to get into town, and back on the road again. As above, there are good restaurants around the Balcon de Europa, but for me, I would not miss Ayo's paella on Playa Burriana.
Arguably the best paella experience in the world. (Well, I'm not a paella expert, but it sure was good.)
On Burriana beach in Nerja, Ayo has been serving his version of paella for decades. All you can eat for 6 Euros. Gigantic shrimp, chicken and pork, along with the rice and a lotta other stuff. Just fantastic. IMHO.
His restaurant seats about 100, and some parking is available along the beach promenade.
Recommend most highly.

Agree, Ayo's can be great!
http://www.ayonerja.com/ayo.en.htm

But Burriana is not exactly the most charming part of Nerja.

Nerja is not on the way to Granada. Antequera is. The route from Granada to Ronda via A-92 then detour to Campillos, Teba and Ronda is better and less travelled than the coastal option.

I would rather stay in Malaga than Nerja. I would skip Morroco, I've been there three times. There is way too much traveling around in this itinerary.

I'm exhausted just reading the itinerary. I'd cut about 1/2 and actually get to experience some of the culture versus see the roadways.