My husband and I have been talking about going to Spain/Portugal for years now and we are finally making it happen this fall (2020). We have about a month, give or take a few days, and I’ve spent the last few days trying to get a feel for what our itinerary will look like. I’d love to get some feedback before we get too far along in the planning process! Right now, nailing down the bones of the itinerary is our priority so we can book flights. We nearly always fly open-jaw. At this point, we have for sure decided to save everything north of Barcelona and everything north of Lisbon for future travels. What I am having a hard time deciding is if we should deep dive into Southern Spain and cut out Portugal entirely, or do Southern Spain highlights and include Portugal (Algarve Coast / Lisbon).

Here is what I’m thinking so far:

Option 1: Spain AND Portugal
Day 1: Travel from Chicago > Barcelona
Day 2 - 6: Barcelona
Day 7: High Speed Train to Madrid / Madrid
Day 8 - 10: Madrid (possible day trip to Sergovia)
Day 11: High Speed Train to Toledo / Toledo
Day 12: Toledo
Day 13: Pick up rental car, drive to Cordoba / Cordoba
Day 14: Cordoba
Day 15: Drive to Granada / Granada
Day 16 - 17: Granada
Day 18 - 19: TBD Andalucia Stop (maybe Ronda?)
Day 20: Drive to Seville, perhaps w/ stop in Jerez or Cadiz on the way?
Day 21 - 23: Seville
Day 24: Drive to Portugal; TBD Algarve Coast Stop
Day 25-27: Algarve Coast (maybe Lagos? Not sure if this should be one-stop or two?)
Day 28: Drive to Lisbon / Return Rental Car
Day 29 - 31: Lisbon
Day 32: Travel Home Lisbon > Chicago

Option 2: Spain Only
Day 1: Travel from Chicago > Barcelona
Day 2 - 6: Barcelona
Day 7: High Speed Train to Madrid / Madrid
Day 8 - 10: Madrid (possible day trip to Sergovia)
Day 11: High Speed Train to Toledo / Toledo
Day 12: Toledo
Day 13: Pick up rental car, drive to Cordoba / Cordoba
Day 14: Cordoba
Day 15: Drive to Seville / Seville
Day 16 - 18: Seville
Day 19: Drive to Andalucia Stop #1
Day 20: Andalucia Stop #1
Day 21: Drive to Andalucia Stop #2
Day 22: Andalucia Stop #2
Day 23: Drive to Andalucia Stop #3
Day 24: Andalucia Stop #3
Day 25: Drive to Granada (return car here?)
Day 26 - 27: Granada
Day 28: Drive to Malaga
Day 29 - 30: Malaga
Day 31: WILD - where to add?
Day 32: Travel Home Malaga > Chicago (or would it be better to flip Granada and Malaga and fly home from Granada?)


I realize all travelers are different but looking for an opinion based on your travel experiences. All of these places are of interest to us for different reasons. We recently did a 32-day trip (34 w/ travel days) that had 13 stops and I will say that was too much / too fast. Option 1 has 9 stops and Option 2 has 10-ish stops, so I think the pass is looking good? But if you have feedback, I welcome it wholeheartedly!

So, hit me with your best edits/opinions/feedback.


Thanks Fodorites!

Either should be great! I would want more time in Portugal; on the other hand, I wouldn't want so many stops in/around Andalusia's White Towns. So, I'll throw out the option of adding a bit more time in Catalunya., or perhaps adding a few days in Salamanca.

a few notes:. You don't need a high speed train to get from Madrid to Toledo. And you couldn't pay me to drive from Toledo to Córdoba -- I'd go back to Madrid and take the high speed train. You don't need a car for Andalusia unless you spend a lot of time roaming around the White Towns. if you want to see Segovia (the aqueduct is amazing!), you might want to add a day to Madrid. I like that you are planning overnights in Toledo and Córdoba.

I like both of your itineraries, but I might slightly prefer Option 1 because you will visit 2 countries. Because your trip is for a month, you do have the time to visit 2 countries and this will give you more diversity. I also like that you are staying overnight in both Toledo and Córdoba.

Regarding driving from Seville to the Algarve, you need to find out how long this drive will be. And will it be worth it to drive that far for 3 days in the Algarve. Also, what is the drop off fee to rent a car in Spain and drop it off in Portugal? It could be quite high. If you find out it is not worth it to visit the Algarve because of the long drive and high drop off fee, you could add a day to Lisbon, stay overnight in Sintra, and also visit Cascais.

Regarding option 2 and where to fly home from, it depends on which airport has the most flights. I think you will find that Malaga has more flights than Granada.

I love Option #1 - that's about the pace we have when we travel. We have been to all of the places you mentioned (Spain as a 2-week trip, and Portugal as an 8-day trip). Andalucia is beautiful, but you don't need to stay in multiple towns. You can stop in a couple of towns for an hour or two on your way to Seville. We loved Ronda! We loved all of the places you mentioned!

Driving from Seville to Portugal is not a good idea, imo. Besides the drop of fee, cars rented in Spain don't have the transponder for the toll roads, wich you cannot avoid (at least not entirely) in Algarve.

I'm back! Ok, so for a variety of reasons — including but not limited to the hurdles around driving from Spain into Portugal — we have decided on SPAIN ONLY. My logic here is that it will allow us to really cover the regions we are visiting and “check them off the list” more completely while having less travel time between destinations. I’m already mentally drafting future trip itineraries for Northern Spain and Portugal! Anyway, that brings me to our current draft.

High-level
5 Nights Barcelona
4 Nights Madrid
2 Nights Toledo
2 Nights Cordoba
4 Nights Seville
4 Nights Cadiz
2 Nights Arcos de La Frontera (day one we would stop in Jerez to explore, do a sherry tasting; second day to actual see Arcos de la Frontera)
2 Nights Ronda (first day we would spend the whole day getting, leisurely exploring the National Park and white hill towns. Second day to actually see Ronda)
3 Nights Granada (via Antequera)
3 Nights Malaga

A few notes:

• We would be departing Chicago on September 3 and returning October 6.
• We would fly into Barcelona / out of Malaga.
• Some of the two-night stays may seem odd but I despise one night stays. Would much rather relax upon arriving, enjoy a long dinner, and see all the sights the next day without rushing. In most cases, I would rather skip a town than squeeze in a one night stay.
• Husband’s non-negotiable were: (1) having some beach time on this trip (Cadiz) and (2) being able to drive for at least a portion of it. Thinking we will get a car as we are leaving Seville and return upon arriving in Granada.

My questions here:

• Where do I have too much / too little time? I’m currently unsure if we should do 4 nights Madrid / 5 nights Seville or flip that?
• Do I have the stops in the right order on the 2nd half of the trip?
• Am I missing something big? Again, because we narrowed down our geographical region, I want to make this as complete as possible.

Thanks, as always, for all the help!

Tera

Hi Tera,
I think you have an awesome itinerary! You have obviously done a lot of research and put a lot of thought into your revised itinerary. I think all of your two-night stays are fine. I haven't been to the white hill towns, but as you say, you want to have time for relaxing meals and see the sights without rushing. This way you will enjoy the ambience of each destination.

Right now you have 4 nights in Madrid (which is good) and 4 nights in Seville. So where would you take the extra night from to add to Seville to make 5 nights (or was that a typo)? If you currently have 5 nights in Seville, then I would leave it that way. I love Madrid, and it has some outstanding art museums, but I would prefer to spend 5 nights in Seville instead of Madrid because Seville is a more interesting and beautiful city than Madrid, IMO. If the 4 nights in Seville is correct, and you can't take a night from somewhere else, 4 nights in Seville is still good. That's what we did, and we had time to visit the Alcazar, Cathedral, Casa di Pilatos, Plaza de Espagna, Triana, and two markets. We also saw a flamenco show and took a carriage ride.

I haven't been to Cadiz so I don't know if that is too much time, but your husband wants to have some beach time, so that is probably fine. Also, you will be gone a long time. When we are away for 2 - 4 weeks, I like to have several 4-night stays because constantly moving from place to place is tiring and time-consuming. Cadiz might be a good place to catch up on laundry! Two nights each in Toledo and Cordoba are perfect, as is 3 nights each in Granada and Malaga. We loved Malaga! I think it's an under-rated city. We had 2 nights there, and could have used an extra night.

I looked at a map of Spain, and it looks like you have the stops in the right order.

Thank you KarenWoo! Yes, that was a type -- should read 5 nights in Seville.

Appreciate the second look, it's so helpful to get the green light from people who have traveled the region already!

Thanks again!

IMO -- better!

Just a few tweaks to consider:

Because you are giving Cordoba 2 nights (I loved my 2 nights there -- close to 49 hours total!), I would call 5 nights in Sevilla quite generous, particularly in comparison to the time you are giving Barcelona, where you will have jet lag. I didn't write a trip report on my time in central or southern Spain, but I did write one that included my time in Barcelona and other parts of Catalunya. if you haven't seen it, you might find some useful information in it:
Four Awesome Weeks in the North of Spain and Catalunya

I like to take full advantage of the opportunities that interest me that are near parts of my chosen itinerary rather than skipping lots so that I can fit in something that is a distance away. From that perspective, I'd suggest skipping Barcelona entirely on this trip, waiting until you have time to include the Costa Brava and other parts of delightful Catalunya. As suggested above, I'd instead put that time into things closer to Madrid -- maybe 3 nights in glorious Salamanca and time for Segovia and maybe Avila and maybe Cuenca (given your preference for stays of at least 2 nights, I'd recommend include them as day trips from Madrid). Just an idea to consider.

As for your sequence, one thing to take into consideration is day of week: Many things in Spain are closed for part of Sunday and all of Monday, and many things will close for long mid-day siestas. I'd want to check whether my priorities will be open when I'm there before committing to any itinerary.