Madrid, Andalusia, Lisbon public transport and itinerary suggestions
 

I have a trip on hold where I land in MAD at 7:20 PM on December 25 (yes, Christmas Day) and depart out of LIS at 10:20 AM on January 10. For a variety of reasons, flying in or out of SVQ (Seville) does not work well for this trip.

I've been to Madrid a couple times, and although I would not consider myself an expert, I would be happy with an overnight before proceeding to Seville on December 26 (probably in the evening) by train. I do like Madrid and Toledo, but I am eager to get on to spots I have not been before. I am thinking Seville is the best spot to start with, but open to suggestions there too.

Then I want to see Andalusia for X days. Maybe December 26-January 4? If I am doing this by public transport, how should I base myself?

Then I have to transport myself from here to Lisbon. I see two options: overnight bus from Seville OR from Seville, train to Faro + bus to Lisbon. So let's assume an overnight bus arriving January 5 (but open to opinions).

Then I want to see Lisbon for Y days, perhaps January 5-10 (leaving early on the 10th as described above). I am open to a suggested time reallocation, of course.

I want to do all of this by public transport. I sort of speak Spanish. I do not speak Portuguese, but I have been told that the level of English is much higher in Portugal than it is in Spain, so that does not worry me.

Any suggestions about this itinerary are welcome. Thanks for your help.

It also looks like Madrid to Cordoba might be a good starting point for the Andalusia part of the trip.

There's also an 88-Euro flight on TAP Portugal for Seville - Lisbon, which might be worth it in total, although I'm not sure how much transport to/from the airport costs.

In addition to Sevilla, consider visits to Granada and Cordoba while in Andalusia.

Yes, kja, I definitely would plan to go to Granada and Cordoba as well. I'm trying to figure out the best way to divide up 9 days between the main places in Andalusia and what to use as a base, given public transport.

If you want to see Sevilla, Granada, and Cordoba you need at least 2 bases -- you can see Cordoba from Sevilla (or en route), although I thought Cordoba worth 2 days. Granada is too far from either to be a convenient day trip IMO. You can use trains for these locations.

As for how to divide up your time, well, you need to decide what YOU want to see and experience. 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, note their opening/closing times, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). And remember that many (but not all!) things in Spain are closed on Sunday afternoons, all day on Monday, and for a long siesta on any day.