Hi-

My husband and I are planning our trip and would love some help. We have a week.

We will be flying in and out of Madrid (arrive 10 am on sunday june 3, leave 1 pm sunday june 10th).
We are currently planning on staying there 3 nights, seeing the sights of the city and possibly a little town nearby. Then we are thinking of taking the train to Seville and spending 2 nights there. We would then like to see a couple of little towns near there, we have heard Cordoba, Granada, Rhonda are nice, for 2 days/nights.
We then fly back out of Madrid.

Does this sound like a reasonable itinerary? We are thinking of taking a train from Madrid to Seville--is that best, or should we drive? Should we rent a car in Seville for the next few days, and drive back to Madrid, or train the whole way, or drive to the little towns then drop off car and train back to Madrid?

Anything we shouldn't miss? Or should change?

Thank you!!!

You might want to do this backwards. Arrive at MAD, to the train station and right away train down to Seville, or if you can, get a local flight that day from Madrid to Seville, and be there early enough to see swome of Seville.

The train to Seville is much faster than a car, especially if you're short on time. You will not need a car while in Seville.

If you train, you can stop in Cordoba and make it a day trip, storing your luggage at the train station.

Rent the car when you're leaving Seville.

If you're going over to Rhonda, maybe Valencia, depending on your time. Toledo is also a nice overnight stop on the way back to Madrid.

Spend your last days in Madrid without too much hassle of getting back to the airport.

Try www.google.es for many more hits on hotels, etc.... Most of the sites will have English buttons.

valencia is too far to go for such a short time.

Hi

Your itinerary seems fine. 3 nights in Madrid (try to get to Toledo - it's an easy day trip), then AVE to Seville for 2 nights then Granada for one night (the Alhambra is a must see in Spain) then return to Madrid by train. There is no need to hire a car. The train service is excellent. Here's the official site - www.renfe.es.

I would recommend less time in Madrid. Toledo could be a day trip from Madrid, only 30 minutes south by train, and the Synagogues are beautiful. I was more impressed, however, by the Mezquita (Mosque/Cathedral) in Cordoba, 2 hours south of Madrid by train. Spend a day here.

From Cordoba, it's only 45 minutes by train to Seville. Seville needs at least two nights to see the Cathedral of Santa Maria and the Real Alcazar and gardens.

Granada, specifically the Alhambra, is among the most visited historical sites in Europe. Reserve tickets in advance for the Alhambra and gardens. From Seville, this is at least a three hour train. Probably need two nights here, as the Alhambra can take most of a day. You might investigate an inexpensive flight back to Madrid on Vueling Airlines.

To visit Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Seville and Granada at least eight days would be ideal, so you probably need to cut a day somewhere to accomplish it in a week.

You can't really see much in two days anywhere, unless you really want just a very quick look. I just did 10 days split between Seville , Cordoba and Granada and just barely felt I had enough time. I'm planning two whole weeks this summer for Madrid and the surround towns (Toledo, Segovia, Avila, Salamanca). However, if you really want to combine both the Madrid area and Andalucia I'd start with Sevilla. Either get a connecting flight or else take the AVE train. I'd probably go there first. Spend 3 nights, then stop in Cordoba on the way back to Madrid (they have a left luggage area, and it's right on the way, though you do need to buy two seperate tickets - Seville to Cordoba and Cordoba to Madrid). Then spend the rest of the time in Madrid and do a daytrip to either Toledo or Segovia. Everything I've read says they deserve more than a daytrip, but lots of people do it as a daytrip and seem to enjoy themselves.

My trip report for Seville, Cordoba and Granada is at: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34977031

Seville is very enjoyable and I would consider adding another night (at least) to it. I found Cordoba disappointing and would consider skipping it. The Alhambra in Granada is a must-see, so keep Granada on the list.

Cordoba is very special and should be visited for at least a day.

We recently did a quick tour of some of this same territory with 3 generations. You might get some ideas by looking at our trip report in the archives of our blog:

http://www.soultravelers3.com/blog/Archive.html

It starts on March 5th for that trip, lots of pics and details about what we did.

A week is a very short time to do anything in Europe if you are coming from the US and you must also take in jet lag concerns if you are.

Madrid is a big city, so unless you are use to living in one , it might be overwhelming at first. Take the Madrid Vision bus and get a good map to get your bearings. Get a place in central area.Have a fabulous dinner at Botin.Have hot chocolate and churros in the morning.

Seville in the lovely Santa Cruz area is WONDERFUL! 2 days will give you a good taste.SEE flamenco and night and have tapas. Charming small town atmosphere.

Cordoba is just 40 minutes a way by train and the Mezquita is a MUST see.

Alahambra is a must see too , but is a stetch for you. Maybe do it will Barcelona next time and do Ronda or something this time.

Have fun!