Hey all!

Going to Spain at the end of September and was needing advice on fun things to do! In my late 20's, love food, culture, but also some relaxing.
Flying in/out of Madrid and have 10 days (after flight times). Was thinking taking the train from Madrid to Cordoba for a day or so then to Granada for 2 days then down to Malaga - then train or fly back up to Madrid to leave.

Any suggestions if this is a good idea? Skip Cordoba and do Seville instead? Skip Malaga?
Need some "things to do" in these cities too! (besides the Alhambra)

Thanks!

Visit Madrid, Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada. Save Malaga for another trip.

And, trains are great on all those routes - but book as early as possible on Renfe, Spanish Railways site, to book your own tickets online, at a discount if early enough to snatch the limited-in-number of discounted ticketsd - www.seat61.com is a great adviser of booking your own tickets; general info trains - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

I'd do:
Day 1-2 Madrid
3-Seville
4
5 day trip to Cordoba
6 Train to Granada
9- Grenada
10- Train back to Madrid

With 10 days on the ground you could visit Sevilla (4 nights), Cordoba (1 or 2 nights), Granada (2 or 3 nights), Malaga (1 night) plus, assuming you already have your flight arranged into and out of Madrid, the night before your flight in Madrd. Of course, that means deferring Madrid itself until another trip – which can make sense, as Madrid is far easier to reach internationally than anywhere in Andalusia.

NONE of us can tell you what YOU will want to see or do. Please consult a decent guidebook or two, perhaps the Rough Guide or Michelin Green.

In the future, pease consider an open jaw ticket so you don’t have to backtrack. You are wasting time going back to Madrid.

I agree with kja that you need to purchase some good guidebooks. You should decide for yourself what youwant to see and do. Why do you want to visit Andalucia?

Seville would be at the top of my list -then Cordoba.

Most of the time this is good advice but it is sometimes better to do what OP is doing.
I'm taking this same trip next year and this is why: no cheap or convenient flight to Andalusia from my city. I would have many connections, long layovers, godawful early departures, and expensive airfares to contend with. It is much cheaper and convenient for me to fly nonstop to Madrid and make the domestic connections myself than to let the airlines route me. I do lose 1 night coming back to Madrid for the return flight but that is far better than trying to fly out of Seville or Granada.

OP: don't know what you're looking to do, but for my own trip I am doing this:
Day 1: arrive in Madrid 8 am, take a noon flight to Granada (I'm comfortable taking my chances with the 4 hours timeline)
Day 2 & 3: Granada
Day 4 & 5: Cordoba
Day 6, 7 & 8: Seville
Day 9: leave luggage at hotel, continue exploring Seville, evening flight to Madrid (stay at airport hotel)
Day 10: morning flight home

I did a full week in Madrid last year so I'm bypassing Madrid altogether this time. If you're more interested in Malaga than the ones I'm going to obviously you can swap them out. Also check to see closing days for sites you want to see. Most sites are closed in Cordoba on Monday for example.

marly_g, I have made several trips to Madrid for work and pleasure. Here're some thoughts that may or may not be helpful.

First, I think Madrid is a great destination and fell in love with it. I always stayed in the AC Recoletos. From there we enjoyed the great proximity to the Prado, Retiro Park and other attractions.

I also did day trips to Segovia and Toledo. Both are interesting sites and easily reached by train.

Although I have a friend that did a trip like you are planning, I always felt that the southern cities deserved their own trip, so I have to go back for them.

Hi PalenQ,
Are these cities in order? I'm researching for our trip to Spain next year June 2019. And I'm getting ideas/tips here in Fodor's Forum which I really find very helpful.
Appreciate your response.

Hi PalenQ,
Are these routes in order?
thank you

well yes but could be reordered too

Hi Everyone,
Can anyone please comment on my itinerary?
Flying in to:
Madrid (3 nights)
train to:
Cordoba ( 2 nights)
Bus to:
Granada (2 nights)
train to:
Seville (3 nights)
Flying out of:
PARIS (4 nights)

Question:
Is there a train from Seville going to Paris??
Appreciate your input.

First you have to get to Madrid. Then see: https://www.seat61.com/international...tm#Spain-Paris

Well forget any train Seville to Paris - it would take all day as thursdayds' link shows. Why not break up journey say in Barcelona which you must go thru by quickest rail route to Paris from Madrid/Seville? Or of course fly from Seville or even Madrid.

IMO, that's very little time for Madrid and a day short for Granada -- but it depends on what you want to see and do.

Gemini21, have you made your airline reservations? Is it possible to add on a few more nights? I would add at least one more night to Seville and 1 more night to Madrid so you have 4 nights instead of 3 nights to each of these cities. Otherwise, you will feel very rushed. And if you want to see Toledo, I would add 1 night for Toledo.

Hi KarenWoo,
No I have not made any reservations yet. I'm on the planning stage for a trip in June 2019. I have 2 weeks of paid time off. I really appreciate your thoughts. So these cities are ok? Next I will have to research the top attractions to see on every city. I'm not really into museums. But would love to see architecture, history, old town, culture and of course local food.

Don't need to step foot in a single museum to enjoy those towns - neat old churches and places like Alhambra yes - if not into Alhambra think twice about going to Granada - nice enough city but a big detour from others which are in a sraight line by train from Madrid.

Glad to hear that PalenQ. Thanks for the tips. I'm looking at the map to see where these cities are..

I highly recommend visiting the Alhambra! it is absolutely gorgeous! And it's a UNESCO World heritage site. I can't imagine not liking the Alhambra.

Madrid has some outstanding museums. However, we also enjoyed the Royal Palace, Retiro Park, Temple of Debod, San Miguel Market, and wandering around the plazas and neighborhoods.

If you wish, you can click on my name to read my trip report from September 2017. And I highly recommend buying some guidebooks.