Help Shorten Itinerary!
 

We need help in shortening our itinerary by at least one day. What would you leave out?
Madrid: 3 nights ( including day trip to Toledo
Sevilla: 3 nights (including day trip to Carmona)
Granada: 3 nights (stopping in Ronda on way from Sevilla)
Many thanks for your advice.

In my opinion I'd probably drop a night in Granada including the stop in Ronda and just take the bus or train from Sevilla to Granada. 3 nights Madrid, 3 nights Sevilla and 2 nights Granada is a somewhat busy trip. But I understand if you may not be returning anytime soon this would give you some highlights. With 3 nights in Sevilla I'd consider a daytrip to Cordoba vs Carmona. Although Carmona is a nice town Cordoba's Mezquita is fantastic. Given your tight timeline I'd probably stop in Cordoba on the way from Madrid to Sevilla. This way once you're in Sevilla you can enjoy.

I'd stay in Granada for just two nights. To get more out of each stop, I'd also consider cutting the day trips.

I second CathyM's advice. Enjoy!

Same as above, drop a day from Granada.

We are going a trip in early April. We are doing 1 night Cordoba, 4 nights Sevilla, 2 nights Granada and 4 nights Madrid. As it stands, we will spend about 10 hours of that time on trains.

Considering a DT out of Sevilla, but I want our itinerary to be reasonable. :)

Take one night from Granada and add to Sevilla.

Many thanks for your suggestions. It's clear that Granada would be the place to reduce our stay to 2 nights. We plan to fly into Madrid, stay 3 nights then get the train to Cordoba and pick up our rental car which we will have for the rest of the trip. We hoped to stop in Ronda for awhile on the way from Sevilla to Granada. Is Ronda worth the time? Also, Cathy, what is mezquita?

It's the Mosque-Cathedral. I've attached a website for Cordoba that's really good.

Honestly I'd scrap the rental car. It's going to be a hinderance when you're staying in Sevilla. You'd really only need if you wanted to stop in Ronda on the way from Sevilla to Granada. Ronda is beautiful but with such a short visit and somewhat fast paced itinerary I'd skip. Just my opinion.


http://english.turismodecordoba.org/index2.cfm

Again, I agree with CathyM - your time is too limited to fit Ronda in. If you insist on seeing Ronda, consider public transportation - a car won't be an asset for this trip.

Will you use the train system? I just did this route when my family visited me in Spain and it was perfect. The AVE between Madrid-Sevilla is worth it, 2.5 hours and you can find ticket deals online (they are called "estrella" prices and only available via internet - ours were 50 euros, as opposed to 80, one-way).

Ronda is beautiful - but hard to do if you have limited time, as others have said. I use the bus from Sevilla and its a long haul. Unfortunately there are no train connections. Don't pick up the rental car just for this.

One day less in Madrid or Granada works. Cordoba is a great add - the mezquita is a cavernous work of art and the old city is enjoyable. Buy your tickets to the Alhambra immediately - they sell out fast. http://www.alhambra-patronato.es/

Thanks again for your input. We'll reconsider the rental car. It sure is nice not having to schlep your luggage on and off trains, taxis, etc. Actually we have never been without a car in Europe--even Cinque Terre!

We just did a trip to Madrid, Granada, Seville and Ronda in October. While Ronda is charming, you simply don't have time for it. I second the advice to do the entire trip by public transportation. We bought our train tickets at the Renfe office at the airport (I selected our trains and brought the
printout with me so the purchases were easy). That way, we did not have to waste time in lines at the rr stations.

My advice for Granada is to stay up the hill so that you are right at the Alhambra. We stayed at the Hotel America. Next store is the famous parador. Both are in great positions to
tour the Alhambra and you can catch the public bus to the city right near the hotels. Live like a European while there!