My wife and I just found out we are expecting our first child at the end of the summer, so we are trying to rush and put together a trip to Spain for mid-late March (tentatively arriving 3/18 and departing 3/28- 10 days/11 nights total). Open jaws in/out of Madrid/Barcelona look to be relatively inexpensive, so we would likely arrive at one and depart the other. My general plan is 3 days each in Madrid and Barcelona with the remaining days in Andalucia sandwiched in between, but your comments on this are appreciated. I'd also like to hear everyone's suggestions with respect to cities/towns within Andalucia, hotels, transit options etc. I've done a fair amount of reading in the forums at this point, but as a first timer to Spain, some times you just need to ask the questions yourself. Thanks very much in advance!!

In Andalucia we really enjoyed Seville and stayed there for three nights in May 2007. From Seville we drove through Grazalema and Zahara to Ronda and stayed in a wonderful inn called Los Castanos in the white village of Cartajima near Ronda. The drive alone was breathtaking. Then we went on to Nerja to enjoy the beach for a few days where we did a daytrip to Granada. Andalucia is wonderful and Seville is probably my favourite town anywhere.

If you plan on arriving in Madrid and departing from Barcelona, you can take the AVE from Madrid to Sevilla and then fly from Sevilla to Barcelona on Iberia (1hr 25 min, about $75/person for the late afternoon flight).

The AVE takes about 5-1/2 hours with the a tourist class ticket costing about $180/person.

Since you are traveling off-season and pregnant, could I suggest playing it more by ear? With only 10 days, and with your tickets set in stone for Madrid/Barcelona, I would split my time evenly between those two cities, and do day trips. Save Andalucia for another trip, with the baby, who will surely adore the castles and horses.

Hi, biker2679 -

Congratulations!

If you are determined to visit Madrid, Barcelona, and Andalucia, Robert's suggestion makes sense. But I tend to agree with zeppole - it would make sense to save Andalucia (or at least one of these 3 destinations) for another trip. Of course, it depends on what you want to see and experience. . . .

Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone for the replies so far- this forum is the best! A couple of responses that might help clarify things a bit:

1) As much as I'd like to think about returning to Spain at some point down the road, I'd really like to pack a good amount into this trip in the event we never get back. I realize that this doesn't leave a lot of time for exploration/immersion, but if I could do Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Granada and possibly one other place without straining too much, I think we would be content. Is this doable, or am I nuts?

2) I haven't purchased my tickets yet, so I am not restricted as to flying in and out of any particular place. If it makes more sense to fly into Barcelona, then go to Madrid and fly out of Malaga for example, that is certainly an option. I also read about an overnight train between Barcelona and Grenada- any thoughts?

3) It seems flying between cities is relatively cheap compared with the AVE. How much hassle is check in/security compared with here in the US?

4) To throw a wrench into the works, if Barcelona is too much of a hike, would substituting Lisbon make sense (e.g., Madrid, Andalucia, Lisbon)?

I'm happy to hear about inns/restaurants and experiences as well. Thanks very much once again.

Pick 2 of 3 but not all.
Barcelona is the odd man out imho.

I'm Jealous! We have done this trip and I guess you can call it the "greatest" hits tour of Spain. Not detailed, but with 10 days, you can do a lot of damage. Fly into Barcelona, spend 3 full days and then take the AVE (or fly) to Madrid. Spend 3 full days and the take the AVE to Sevilla. Spend the rest of your time there. You can do daytrips from Sevilla and Madrid easily. And you can fly out of Sevilla. Or start in Madrid, train to Barcelona and then train or fly to Granada. Same amount of time in each place. And Congrats on the baby.

On our trip in 2007, we flew to Barcelona and spent four nights there then flew to Seville on Vueling for 20 Euros (left around 9:30 and arrived before lunch). We then went on to the White Villages and Nerja for a few days. But we had 18 days to spend in Spain.

I would suggest you could do the same trip but maybe with three nights in Barcelona, fly to Seville for two nights, then head towards Madrid via Cordoba. Or you could go through the 'White Villages to Granada (one good day's drive) then to the coast (about two hours from Granada) and fly out from Malaga. Too hard to see it all in ten days unless you are rushing around the whole time. We didn't get to see Madrid or northern Spain so we'll just have to hope we get back someday.

Congrats Biker! Coincidentally, I did the same trip when I was pregnant but we did 5 days in Madrid, took the AVE to Seville and stayed for 3 days and then flew Vueling to Barcelona (very cheap) for 5 days and home from Barcelona. I generally felt well during my pregnancy and was not overly tired by that pace (although I did need a nap each day). I think the three places are doable if you stay in one place in Andalucia and don't try to see too much. We spent our three full days in Seville which we loved and could easily have spent more time there. I have never been to Granada so I can't comment on it but we also considered going there but it wasn't particularly close to Seville and opted to just relax in the one place.

I think a more relaxing pace would be go just go to Madrid and Andalucia and do a couple day trips out of Madrid (we went to Toledo, there are plenty of other options). My husband and I liked Barcelona the least of the three places.

We stayed at the Hotel Mario (a roommate hotel) in Madrid and liked it. It was pretty inexpensive and the room was comfortable - seemed like it was decorated from Ikea. The location near the opera was great. I didn't like the hotel we stayed at in Seville and I don't remember the name.

Hey, congratulations on the baby. March should be a good time to go. Sevilla gets very hot in the summer. Make sure you look at a rail map before you plan your itinerary. Recommend going to www.ricksteves.com and looking at his rail advice. The AVE is the bomb but is a bit spendy. Barcelona and Sevilla are on opposite ends of the AVE line so if you insist on doing both without flying between, recommend flying to Barcelona from the US, then so Sevilla and fly home from Madrid. Check out my Alcazar review here if you like: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...Andalusia.html
Have a great time.

I continue to think you are putting more of a starin on yourself than you realize by trying to visit 3 destinations. I hesitate to advise about which one to eliminate since I think Barcelona in March is really only worth it if you are mad for Gaudi and other Catalonia artists (Picasso, etc), but I've never cared for the city, period, and would much prefer to spend all my time in Madrid and Granada or Cordoba.

People could probably help you decide if you talked more about your interests. Madrid, Barcelona and Andalucia are all very different places, each with their own feel, food and attractions.

In general, not much is happening in Spain in March EXCEPT San José in Comunitat de Valencia. That's March 19th. Festivals and Corridas continue as far south as Alicante until Semana Santa.
It's not Andalucia; but when I travel I like to go where things are happening.

Just returned from Spain. We did 3 nights Madrid, 2 nights Granada, 3 nights Seville, 2 nights Segovia. LOVED IT. We decided not to do Barcelona because it was on the opposite end of the country. Will post a trip report with hotel info soon. You'll LOVE Spain.

AJ....we're looking forward to your report!

We love Spain and I lived in Santander during college.

That said, I've seen much of Spain and honestly think that if you only have 10 days, 3 days in Barcelona is too long. I'd arrange more time in Andalucia and try to stay on property at the Alhambra. It's magical in the evening and your preggers wife will love it!

If you're not locked into Barcelona, check Madrid and Malaga. It's often treated as a round trip, or you can book the Malaga to Madrid separately from your Madrid round trip and save some $.

We love Spain and have returned with our children several times. They were 2, 4 and 6 on their first trip there and loved it!

I don't mean to horn in on another person's question, but I have a similar plan. My daughter is living with a family in Madrid, and my husband and I have flights in and out of Madrid in late March-early April, for only 9 nights. We were trying to figure out how to do Madrid, Barcelona, and Andalucia, knowing that it's probably just too much. Should we save Barcelona for another trip? We would love to see the architecture there, but I think we would enjoy the history and landscape of Andalusia even more.

If we do Madrid and Andalucia does it make sense to rent a car? Which town in Andalusia is the best base, or should we stay in more than one? I'm also interested in Segovia. Is it best to stay there or just day trip from Madrid?

Thanks in advance for your advice!