Help with Spain itinerary
 

Hi all. I'm looking at going to Spain somewhere between August and October. My wife and I are early 30s and enjoy food and wine, history, architecture and a little bit of down time at the beach where possible.
When travelling I like to minimise time wasted travelling and not rush too much, I don't really like to spent just a day or 2 somewhere.
So with my limited research, and utilising the fast train network where possible, Ive thought of this as an itinerary in progress. Interested to hear if I am missing somewhere along the way, or to hear suggested changes to places and times.
Another Q in particular is Cadiz going to make for a nice beach area to finish the trip off?

Arrive Barcelona from Australia, presumably exhausted- 4 nights.
Barcelona - Madrid by fast train. 4 nights (including a day trip to Toledo)
Madrid- Grenada by train - 3 nights
Grenada - Cordoba by bus - 3 nights
Cordoba - Seville by fast train - 3 nights
Seville - Cadiz - 3 nights
Cadiz - Seville - Fly home.

Thanks in advance,

Steve

It's a busy trip but doable. I would tweak the schedule a bit to have only 2 nights in Cordoba (1 full day) and I would add a day to either Seville or Cadiz. If you want some beach time I'd definitely put the extra day in Cadiz as the beaches are glorious and you will be very tired by that time. If you like history you may want to rent a car for day and drive from Cadiz to Baelo Claudia in the village in Bolonia where you will see some excellent Roman ruins and small museum and have a great beach available all at the same time!

Make certain you have reserved you tickets for the Alhambra in advance and also get your tickets for Toledo upon arrival in Madrid as sometimes they trains do fill up and you can't get your choice of times.

Doable, for sure, but more rushed than I would like -- which (of course) is irrelevant. (I wanted more time than that in Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, and especially Toledo.)

If you haven't already done so, I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. That's really the only way to decide if YOU will have enough time to satisfy YOUR interests.

I'm sure you know that Andalusia can be unpleasantly hot during the northern hemisphere's summer, so later might be better than earlier. FWIW, I was in that part of Spain some years ago in October, and except for planning around a national holiday, I thought it a good time to be there.

As jkm already noted, book your tickets for Alhambra well ahead of time. FWIW, I was glad I visited twice: once in the day, then later in the evening. During the day, you can visit the entire Alhambra, but you will do so with MANY others, so be prepared for crowds. (FWIW, the audio guide met my needs.) In the evening, you can visit the magnificent Nasrid Palace (only) with just a few other visitors, and I found it absolutely magical! Since I was there, I believe the Alhambra also offers evening visits to the Generalife, and if I had the chance, I would snag one of those reservations, too!

Enjoy!

Faster than I would like but can be done.

But I urge you to start the trip on Oct - not Aug. Southern Spain is hot as hell in summer - inland the average high is about 100 and it can get as high as 120. I know Oz is hot - but don't think it's that hot. In the summer don't be surprised at places that close after lunch due to the heat.

We've been twice in second half of April and it was already beach weather - highs well into the 80s.

I would also recommend going in October. We just returned and the weather was perfect in Oct/Nov.

Agree, Oct. Is better.
I would also cut a night from Cordoba and add it to Seville.

You should know that the world's greatest and most prestgious flamenco festival - the Bienal de flamenco - goes on in Sevilla theaters all around town from Sept 9 to Oct 2. http://www.labienal.com/en/

A night at the Bienal could easily be a highlight of your trip. Mostly a local and knowledgeable crowd, and this could be a great intro to this powerful art so important for Sevilla and Andalucia.

A couple of highlights from the last edition in Sept/Oct 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viW7-9NFlNs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytfetdYVBHU
And my favourite, Rocio Molina, a huge night in the Maestranza theater: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwpUMPN_-9g