bakerstreet

I'd like to see these four places on a family spring break trip in March from the US, and I have only a week away from work: Lisbon-Seville-Granada-Barcelona. Can anyone help with travel solutions for us, in getting from city to city? My preference would be to take fast trains from place to place, but I don't think that's possible everywhere. We prefer not to drive.

Here's the itinerary I'm considering:

Fly into Lisbon, arriving Saturday. Spend 3 nights in Lisbon, departing Tuesday.
Tuesday: Travel from Lisbon to Seville. Spend 2 nights in Seville, departing Thursday.
Thursday: Travel to Granada, spending one night in Granada and seeing the Alhambra. Depart Friday to go to Barcelona.
Friday: Travel to Barcelona. Spend either 2 or 3 nights in Barcelona, departing either Saturday or Sunday to fly back to the US.

I don't really want to see Granada as a daytrip from Seville, as I would like to stay in a parador there for one night if possible.

What are my best options for travel in order to minimize time spent traveling within these cities?

yorkshire

I think you will have to scale back.
I often use RometoRio first to scope out travel options. Caveat: the search results require verification, but it gives you the providers websites, so this is easy to do. Google will also often give you options.

ribeirasacra

two nights means only one day sight seeing. One night means no day sight seeing.
Slow down and do not tick the boxes.

PalenQ

If not flying, bus from Lisbon to Seville
train or bus to Granada
train to Barcelona

If happy with traveling fast fine but for most being on trains or buses most of time would not be fun. For lots on trains and booking your own discounted tickets check Renfe (Spanish railways site) - www.seat61.com has loads on doing that yourself online and for a discount if book early enough; general info www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. There used to be an overnight train Granada to Barcelona but it was withdrawn - flying would not be much quicker than the fast trains.

Sassafrass

If you depart Granada on Friday to Barcelona, even if you did not depart for home until Sunday, that is only 1 day and 2 nights in Barcelona. Could not possibly be 3 nights unless you waited and left on Monday.
You have chosen places quite far apart, so travel will eat up a lot of your time. You have one too many places for a one week trip.

thursdaysd

Have you laid that out on a calendar including the transfer times? Sounds very rushed at first glance.

You can save a little time by taking the night train from Lisbon to Madrid and then a train from Madrid to Seville arriving a little after noon. See: https://www.seat61.com/international...sbon_to_Madrid

yorkshire

I also just noticed the words "us" and "family" -- and while solo, this trip would be too much for me, with others in tow, it is a firm no way.
A week is any of those places would be great really, so poll the family and see what are the top two, and cross-reference that with your transport options. Let us know what you want and we can better advise.

PalenQ

Drop Barcelona and you may have a workable plan - fly home from Granada.

danon

From Seville to Granad..bus
from Granada to Barcelona fly inexpensive Vueling.

Diamantina

I'd also suggest dropping Barcelona, as it's worthy of more than 2 or 3 days, plus there are many areas close to Barcelona worth visiting. Save this area for another trip.

With 3 full days in Lisbon, you could see Castelo de São Jorge. You could visit the attractions of Belém (Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, Belém Tower, and much more). If you have children, they'd surely enjoy the Oceanarium, the largest indoor aquarium in Europe. Lisbon has some unique and interesting museums, such as the Museu Nacional do Azulejo (tile museum). You could visit Rossio Square (Praça do Rossio ,also known as Pedro IV Square) and from Rossio train station take a day trip to Sintra.

I'd add a night to Seville. Two full days in Seville would give you time to see some of the city's top attractions. But with an extra day in Seville, you could make a day trip to Cordoba to see La Mezquita. Your kids might enjoy a day trip to the Royal School of Equestrian Art in Jerez (an hour from Seville by train).

PalenQ

Your kids might enjoy a day trip to the Royal School of Equestrian Art in Jerez (an hour from Seville by train).>

Yes indeed the rehearsals they have many days are great and in Jerez kids even may like the Sherry House tours - adults will with gratis sampling. (Sherry is a British corruption of the word Jerez and Brits dominated the sherry market once to supply the drink of favor for little old ladies!)

Jerez is a short train trip away - right near Cadiz which I did the same day from Seville - Cadiz neat old seaside town with fine beach.

See if you drop Barcelona and all that travel either by air or train you could relax more and do things like these or a day trip from Lisbon to Sintra and its fairytale castles which kids would love too - short train ride from Lisbon - also nice town where Portuguese royals used as a country retreat.

Less can be more!

StCirq

This would be way too much for me, even without kids. And I'm not a slow traveler. I like to be IN places, not getting to and from them, though I do enjoy train rides. I would forget Barcelona on this trip OR just stay there the whole time. One single week is nothing - it's gone before you really even know where you are.

Christina

I don't agree with a lot of these sentiments about how you can't see anything if you only spend one night in a place (that this means no sightseeing). Or the same thing with 2 nights meaning only one day. I guess I just don't take as long to do things as some people. I also don't agree that you should dorp all plans and just spend one week in Barcelona because a week is gone before yo uknow where you are. I really like Barcelona and have been there twice, but wouldn't tell someone they have to stay in any city a week.

I would drop Lisbon, at least, though. Granada is always a problem because of its location, it's not convenient on major rail routes in Spain. But you could easily do the rest if you drop Lisbon.

millie2112

Lisbon to Seville is far and there is no direct train system between portugal and spain
Your best bet is to fly. the bus will take at least 5 hours
you can take a bus between seville and granada. it takes 3 hours
granada to barcelona is best done by plane

isabel

I agree with Christina that you don't need a whole week to see any city, however wonderful it is (although you could be perfectly happy for way more than that) or that one nighters are useless. But I also agree with everyone else that your original plan is too much. Seeing four major places in a week is doable (assuming you like fast paced and just getting a 'taste' ) IF they are close enough together. Your four are not. At the least you need to drop either Barcelona or Lisboa. I'd probably drop both and concentrate the week in Andalucia. I did a wonderful 8 night trip of Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Even that was not 'enough' time in those places but it was enjoyable and not rushed. But at least drop one of the places on your list. And I would not fly in the middle of a short trip. The flight itself might be short but between getting to/from the airports, getting there two hours before the flight, the flight, delays, etc. No way. Eats up a whole day. So do five hour bus rides. You can find out exactly how long bus/train trips are between any two places online so do that and then decide what's worth it to you. But I'll add that even though I tell myself I can relax on the train/bus (after all you're not walking while you are sitting on the bus/train) I am always surprised how tiring they are.

twk

I agree with Isabel. A week in Andalusia is a lot better idea than trying to cross the Iberian peninsula, and then some, in a week.

KarenWoo

Firstly, I agree that you should not see Granada as a day trip from Seville because it would be a very, very long day. And you would have to time your entrance tickets into the Nasrid Palace based on the bus or train schedules. And you would most likely have to rush through the Alhambra and keep looking at your watches, which is not the ideal way to see the Alhambra. It is magnificent and should be seen slowly so you can savor and appreciate its beauty and its history. Don't rush through the Alhambra.

Based on our trip to Andalucia last year, I agree with Isabel and twk about dropping Lisbon and Barcelona, and spending your week in Andalucia. Seville, Cordoba, and Granada are all amazing places, and I would be very frustrated if I had to rush through them and their amazing historical sites.

Sassafrass

How many in the "family" and how old? Some advice might depend on that.

debinthepeg

I agree with much of the advice you've been given - too much for 1 week if you really want to "enjoy" any of these destinations.. My husband and I spent 5 full days in Barcelona and didn't have much down time - there's just so many options of things to do. We could have easily stretched it out to a week by taking one of the day trips on our list that we just didn't have time to get to.

We also spent 3 full days in Seville and for us, it was just the right amount of time - 2 full days would work though to see the major sites. We also went to Cordoba for a night and quite enjoyed it. We chose the Mezquita in Cordoba over Alhambra - as we couldn't do both. Alhambra is still on our list.

We've never been to Lisbon, but maybe next year. I agree - I'd drop it or Barcelona to get the most enjoyment out of only 1 week.

janisj

>>I don't agree with a lot of these sentiments about how you can't see anything if you only spend one night in a place (that this means no sightseeing)<<

No one said you can't see 'anything' with one night (which equals half or less free day). Sure one can see something, but not very much at all -- even if one is merely box checking, you'd miss much more than you'd see. And the logistics of finding your way around arriving say late morning, checking in to your accommodations, eating lunch -- you end up with part of an afternoon and the evening and have to pack and move on the next day. More time traveling than seeing. (the train from Seville to Granada takes about 4 hours so even leaving at 6:30 AM you wouldn't get to your parador until after 11AM)