Hi ..this is our 1st trip to Spain.My husband and I are travelling with our 2 year old in May to Spain for 9-10 days.
We will be flying into Madrid and plan to spend 4 days there and maybe do a day trip to Toledo too. Then we plan on taking the train to Seville and stay there for 2 days.

Since we are travelling with our child, we don't want to make the trip too hectic but since the weather is going to be good - we don't wanna just get stuck in any one city and do wish to travel around a bit.

Also, we might be inMadrid on May1 and ,May 2 - I know its a national holiday. Is it a bad time to be in Europe- will it be a waste of a day since everything is shut. What touristy things can we do these 2 days?

We were in Spain last year. The end of May, first half of June.

I realize that you'll be there a bit earlier, but allow yourself some time in Seville.

The day we got to Seville (train from madrid) we went to the Alcazar (a good few hours at least) and then walked around. Stopped for a drink in the late afternoon. 39 degrees (C). That's well over 100F.

You walk very slowly in that. Also, Seville has a fair amount to see in a couple of days.

I'm not sure whart you are looking for but it seems like you are on the right track. [minimize hotel changes]. A couple of options - add a day trip from Madrid to Segovia or visit Cordoba as a day trip from Sevilla or as a stop on the way to Sevilla. Let us know how we can help.

Thanks for the response- I am pretty lost so this forum is GODSEND!.
We have 3-4 free nights at the FOLLOWING HOTEL- hope the location is not too bad.
Holiday INN MADRID
PLAZA CARLOS TRIAS BERTRAN, 4
MADRID, 28020
SPAIN

Also, we are in Spain for 9 nights .Like I said we land in Madrid so thought we can spend Friday -Sat-Sun and Monday there (including 1 day trip to Toledeo). On Tues we were thinking of going to Seville and spend 2 nights there . Will that be good for Seville or shall we increase it to 3 nights?
We would still have 2 nights more as we fly out of Madrid on Sunday . We were thinking of spending teh last 2 days in Madrid too.
Do you think I am putting aside too many days for Madrid. Like I said , we don't want our trip to be too hectic as we have our 2 year old with us. But we also don't wanna spend more time than necessary in Madrid.
Pls advise.

I haven't been to Spain yet (am going this September/October, and I've put quite a bit of planning into it so far), but I think you might find you are a bit heavy on Madrid. Are the days you've written here to stay in Madrid cast in stone? If not, and depending on what time you are arriving into Madrid, perhaps you may wish to go directly to Sevilla? Spend 3 nights there, then perhaps a side trip to Granada for a couple of nights, and back to Madrid for the final 4 nights of the trip. Or spend one night (first night) in Madrid before going off to Sevilla and then ending spending one less night in Madrid.

Just a suggestion, and I'm sure you will get lots of good responses - these folks are terrific!

We absolutely loved Seville. We were there for 3+ days and wished we had had more time. I highly recommend staying at least 3 days, 4 if you can. We stayed in the barrio Sta. Cruz at the Hotel Amadeus, a lovely boutique hotel with very reasonable rates. Seville is the kind of city you can find lots to do or you can enjoy cafes and parks. I highly recommend extending your time there.

Agree with the others to add a day to Seville - you're too heavily weighted on Madrid. Also, let me second the motion to take a daytrip to Segovia (not in place of Toledo, but in addition to). Both Segovia and Toledo are terrific and well worth the time.