kc1

We're going on a cruise from Barcelona which includes 3 days in Barcelona before the cruise. After the cruise we have added a week (which is all we could spare from work), and have a flight arranged departing from Madrid to head back home.
I have been leaning towards visiting Seville and Barcelona, but would appreciate any and all advice from those in the know. I also like discovering gems off the beaten path, but realize we are very limited for time.
Our time frame is in early October.
Thanks for your assistance!

josele

I think you'll have to be a little more specific.

PalenQ

not gems off the beaten path but gems on the beaten path: Toledo, Avila, Segovia all are easy day trips from Madrid and ooze the romantic looks so lacking in modern Madrid.
Toledo especially is a veritable outdoor museum of a medieval looking town.

Seville is great to and only 2 hours by bullet train from Madrid. Cordoba on the same line is equally marvelous iIMO

ekscrunchy

Two suggestions that I would recommend for slightly off the beaten path:

1. La Vera Valley
2. Segovia and the nearby town of Pedraza de la Sierra

Both of these are easily accessible with a car from Madrid; I visited both last spring and found them to be delightful and almost totally free of foreign tourists (in May). If you want more detail, lt me know and I will bring up the report I wrote, or answer questions. This is all assuming that you will be renting a car, by the way.

kc1

Hello,

All towns mentioned in the replies to my original post look good to me, and one more, Salamanca, looks intriguing. Could anyone comment on Salamanca, please,

Also, if "ekscrunchy" could bring up the review on Segovia, I would appreciate it.

Would visiting Seville, then heading to Madrid and the surrounding towns be too much to cover in 7 days?

Thanks for your help!