First Trip to Spain Itinerary
 

Appreciate some feedback on the following basic concept:

Day 1: morning arrival in Madrid from US
Day 2: Madrid
Day 3: Madrid
Day 4: morning train to Toledo
Day 5: Toledo
Day 6: Morning train to Seville
Day 7: Seville
Day 8: Seville
Day 9: morning train to Cordoba
Day 10: Cordoba
Day 11: morning train to Granada
Day 12: Granada
Day 13: morning train to Madrid
Day 14: Madrid
Day 15: depart Madrid for US

Expect to return the following year to see northern Spain. Concerned about trying to do too many cities in 14 days. Would prefer not to drive on my first trip. Would do the trip in either May or Sep. Goal is a good introduction to historic Spain.

You could do Toledo as a day trip from Madrid and it might save time and effort if you can fly home from Malaga.

Sounds very reasonable, you should reconsider.

Day of arrival, take train straight on to Seville.
Put all time in Madrid together at the end of the trip.
Seville
Cordoba
Granada
Toledo
Madrid

Easier would be
Seville (day trip to Cordoba)
Granada
Madrid (day trips to Toledo, Segovia, etc.)

It is great that you are allowing longer stops. I would probably do only 1 night Cordoba though, if that.
Toledo is nice at night, quiet and mysterious.
Know you prefer not to drive, but you could rent a car in Seville and see a bit of the coast of some of the white villages.

If you do Toledo as a day trip from Madrid and Cordoba as a day trip from Seville, you save two hotel moves which is good. You are moving around very frequently.

Thanks for the advice

I am considering now in doing Toledo and Cordoba as day trips. Was originally thinking about going straight to Seville after landing, but was concerned about stress of getting from the airport to the train station and possibly missing my train.

I understand the apprehension, and with a trip of that length, it is certainly not a necessity, but the transfer from the airport to the train station to Sevilla (or Cordoba) is very straightforward. I found the trainride a nice way to nap and shake off jet lag.

If you decide to stay in Toledo overnight, which I highly recommend, you will have to return to Madrid in order to catch your train to Sevilla.

Iberiantraveler: thanks, that was one of my next questions

Yorkshire: I will run it by the other folks in the group. I think they were influenced by a trip report that talked about the first day being too stressful.

I like the list of cities and time spent in each. I would suggest cutting to 1 night in Cordoba though, as Sassafras mentioned above. I visited the same cities (plus Barcelona), for about the same length of time, and I wrote this trip report about it:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...s-loved-it.cfm
One luxury you won't have, which I enjoyed at the time, were 1-euro flights in Spain with Ryanair. Those were incredibly useful to avoid doubling-back!
You'll love Spain!

If you don't want to go straight to Seville on landing, consider this

Day 1: morning arrival in Madrid from US
Day 2: Madrid
Day 3: Madrid
Day 4: Madrid - day trip to Toledo
Day 5: Madrid
Day 6: Morning train to Seville
Day 7: Seville
Day 8: Seville day trip to Cadiz/Ronda
Day 9: Seville
Day 10: Seville day trip to Cordoba
Day 11: Train to Granada
Day 12: Granada - Alhambra
Day 13: Granada - Nasrid Palace night tour
Day 14: later day train to Madrid - arrive late go direct to airport hotel
Day 15: depart Madrid for US

for the day trip to Cadiz/Ronda portion - how do you recommend they do it? (I am doing a very similar trip in May... and we want to do that... hope you don't mind - seems like good useful information for the OP as well :-)

I like the idea of putting all your time in Madrid at the end so you only need one hotel there. The first day will be stressful no matter what. Going on to Sevilla would give you time to relax on the train, get into that city and settle in, and start dealing with jet lag.

I thought Toledo well worth 2 nights and 2 full days and thought it much more magical after day trippers had left.

I thought Cordoba worth 2 nights and close to 2 full days.

You don't need a car for Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Granada, and Cordoba.

You also wouldn't need a car for Ronda, but with your limited time, I'm not sure it makes sense to try to fit Ronda into your plans.

How many in your group? that makes a difference.

There will be three of us, late fifties/ early sixties. Two have never left the US. Nobody speaks Spanish.
One person has a slight mobility problem. I got out voted about going straight to Seville on the first day, and also in spending more time in Cordoba and Toledo.

Aramis: your schedule seems simpler and much less hectic.

Thanks for the additional feedback and trip report!

The ability to speak Spanish should not be a deciding factor for your chosen destinations. Knowing the civilities (hello, thanks) will be a plus.

Sounds like you are in a corner, sembach. Is there anything that we can say that might help move your companions?

Given that this started out as a group tour and then transitioned to independent travel, I think the limit has been reached with the movement schedule.

Three bases in two weeks is enough.

Seville: 5/6 days with day trips to Cordoba and maybe Arcos De La Frontera. I personally wouldn't do a day trip to Cadiz as that city is worth so much more than 5 or 6 hours. I think is too far to day trip from Seville.

Granada: 3 days

Madrid: 5/6 days with trips to Toledo and Segovia

Sorry - I meant to suggest EITHER Cadiz or Ronda as a day trip in my proposed itinerary, not both in one day. It would be 5 hours of driving, round trip - I can't imagine trying it using trains and buses.

Looks like you can do a day trip from Seville to Ronda by bus, but it would be a long day


http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1....To.Ronda.html

Yes, Ronda would be a very long day trip from Sevilla. And with such a short time in Spain, you would sacrifice a lot of things you might enjoy in Sevilla to spend a LOT of time on a bus.