Hi there! My husband and I are taking a month-long trip to Spain this summer. After spending a couple of months doing research on this and other sites, I think I'm ready to post our Spain itinerary and get some feedback. Some background: we're in our mid-30s, no children. We're going to Spain for the culture, people, food and wine, flamenco, architecture, and beauty of the country. Our accommodations budget is mid-range (approx. 100Euro/night), and we like to find creative, interesting places to stay. We will try to "plant" ourselves in a few areas and take day trips so we don't spend the whole trip unpacking and packing. By the time we go, I will have a working knowledge of Spanish - enough to get us around, hopefully! With that in mind, here goes...

June 16 - arrive in Madrid (flying from San Francisco)

June 16 - June 20: Madrid. Day trips to Segovia, El Escorial. Accommodations: Hostal Adriano in Madrid.

June 20 - AVE train to Toledo

June 20 - 21: Toledo. Accommodationsa Posada de Manolo "Translators" room.

June 21 - travel from Toledo to Seville. Is there an AVE train to Seville?

June 21 - June 28: Seville. Day trips to Jerez, Carmona, Italica, otherwise just relax, eat, drink, enjoy. Accommodations: I have a few inquiries for apartments in the Barrio de Santa Cruz, but nothing booked.

June 28 - July 5 or 6: Rent a car in Seville and travel in/around Andalusia and pueblos blancos, staying in little places/casas rurales along the way (easier to pack/unpack when there's a car). Ronda, Nerja, Granada, Iznajar.

*From here we need to get to Barcelona. Is it best to go to Cordoba, return the car, take AVE to Madrid, then AVE to Barcelona?**

July 7 - July 13: Barcelona. Spend 3 or 4 days in BCN, and a couple of days in the Costa Brava - Figueres/Girona/Lligat.

July 13 - depart Barcelona.

Any recommendations on places to stay or ways to amend the itinerary would be greatly appreciated! The only thing that's set is our arrival and departure from Spain. Thanks so much for the input.

If I were not at work right now (as if that ever stopped me before, but today I have a presentation to do. . .) I would go nuts on this. Do a few searches on the cities you want to visit, as there is a lot of info on the board. It sounds like a pretty comprehensive itinerary, though, which is refreshing.

Frankly, if you have a rental car, I would return it to Madrid, Barajas and fly to Barcelona. That train ride is hell!

There's no AVE between Madrid and Barcelona..why don't you return the car in Granada or Seville and fly to Barcelona ? Granada would be a bit more expensive but Vueling has very good prices for the route to Barcelona from Seville or Malaga

We have driven more than once between Madrid or Andalucia a Barcelona and it has been a rewarding experience if you are prepared to stop on the way.
I would plan such a route as to East little by little,
like ....Jerez, then Arcos de la Frontera, then Ronda etc
it is not crazy to drive. Cars today are diesel and it is lots of fun to stop as you said in small towns in hostals, Paradores, hotels etc. a good mixture is good.

Some extra considerations regarding driving in Spain:

In many small towns it is ok to leave overnight the car parked on the street, often we have been in hotels who have a garage at a fee, between 12 and 20 euros and they wedre the first to tell us," you can also leave your car in the street is perfectly safe". Paradores have free parking most of the time. Also driving you save a lot in taxis going back and forth to train stations or airports.
What I mean it has been a rewarding experience to drive all over Spain.
I know there is a new Ava going into Toledo, being Toledo so close to Madrid I do not think it makes much of a difference?, on the other hand the Ava to Sevilla and Cordoba is excellent. Only 2 and 1/2 hours between Madrid and Seville. A good choice might be to take an Ava from Madrid to Seville and then rent in Seville the car and return it in Barcelona. I would love to do that , but of course I love to drive in Spain.
( even though in some rutas nacionales you have to be double sure not to speed because the Guardia Civil might be around and tickets not nice...)