sancochopr

Me and my wife are planning a road during the first week of April 2012 for 14 days. We plan on renting a car and drive to Barcelona, Valencia, Cordoba, Seville, Toledo, and back to Madrid. We figured we may stay for 2-3 days in some areas (Barcelona/Valencia) and just spend a few hours in others (like Toledo). We also heard that festivities are great during this time due to the holy week (4/1/12-4/7/12).

I figured I asked you experienced travelers about places to visit, restaurants, affordable hotels, tapas (wine & food places), sightseeing along the road, things to do, etc. How's weather during that time of the year? Are we been realistic to visit that many places in 14 days? I figured the whole trip is about 1,100 miles.

Gracias!

Robert2533

Based on your destinations, and with only 14 days, I would forget about renting a car and take the train since all of your destinations are served by high-speed rail.

Cordoba is a day-trip by rail from Sevilla. Toledo a day-trip from Madrid.

Aduchamp1

I am with Robert. And a car in most Spanish cities is more of a burden than a convenience.

danon

During the Holy week many Spaniards are on the move...hotels, especially in Seville, are booked months ahead at a premium rate.
You might wish to take a look at a guide book first, work out an itinerary and come back with more specific questions.
If you search the Forum, you will find useful info on driving, hotels, restaurants etc.

CathyM

I agree with danon. You are attempting way too much in 14 days and haven't factored in travel time. You should focus on at most 2 regions in which you have expressed interest. You will need to get this itinerary locked down and the hotels for Semana Santa reserved especially if you plan on visiting Andalucia during this time.

lincasanova

I would take the train from Madrid to Barcelona
Then train to Valencia
Rent a car when you leave Valencia and drive to Granada, stopping at Guadix to see the cave houses. be sure to get your Alhambra tickets online ahead of time.

Then drive to Sevilla and leave the car after stopping in small towns along the way. Return the car upon arrival in Sevilla.

Stopover in Córdoba on way back to Madrid via train, leaving luggage across the street at bus depot lockers.

Parking in the cities can be aprox. 15-25E/night so you certainly do not want to be paying for a car to be sitting in a garage. You also do not want to maneuver cities with a car, especially Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla. However a car is wonderful to see small towns, less accessible by frequent public transportation.

You are trying to visit a LOT of towns.. can it be done? Probably, but without much time to really absorb the feeling of the places and enjoy a slow meal and stroll.

If you could do an open jaw flight, starting in Barcelona/ending in Madrid or vice versa, you would save some time there. Or take out a few stops and fly between Barcelona/Sevilla or Granada, for example.

keano

We are going in november and I got $60 tickets to fly from barcelona to granada. We are renting there a car to drive to Sevilla with stop at Ronda. We are then taking the train from Sevilla to Cordoba and then on to Madrid.

from my research it appears that driving in some cities such as Granada, Sevilla etc is very difficult.