Please help with Portugal and Spain itinerary!
 

My wife and I will be travelling to Portugal and Spain in October for 18 days. We are in our early 30's and enjoy learning about foreign culture, exploring cities and seeing the country side. After doing some research my itinerary is as follows:

Lisbon - 3 days (side trip to Sintra or Evora?)
Salema - 2 days
Sevilla - 3 days (side trip to Cordoba)
Ronda - 2 days (explore white hill towns)
Granada - 1 day
Madrid - 3 days (side trip to Segovia or Toledo?)
Barcelona - 3 days

I plan to use a combination of driving, train and flying. Am I trying to do too much? Am I cutting anything too short (or too long)?

I appreciate any feedback!

Adam

When you say 3 days in Barcelona, do you mean 3 nights? We are leaving on the 8th for Barcelona so I've never been there before. But based on my research & what most people have to say, I don't think 3 days or 3 nights is enough. We will have 4 1/2 to 5 full days in Barcelona. Can you add a day or two to Barcelona? I guess it all depends on what you want to do. With your current itinerary, seems like you are doing a lot of moving around & will only get a taste of what each place is like.

Also seems like you are spending a lot of time traveling to these different places, too. So part of your days will be taken up with getting from one place to the other.

Where are the days you are taveling from one place to another? If that is included in the days listed - you are cutting everything short. (3 days in a city means spending 4 nights there - the night you arrive, then the 3 following nights, then depart the next day).

Yes, when I said 3 days in Barcelona (and each destination) I actually meant "nights." I was concerned that I was spending too few nights at each destination but I do not mind traveling and I was hoping to get a taste of many different places. The travel days were included in my itinerary.

Any recommendations on what to cut and where to stack the nights?

Hi, Magic. Do you mean this month or next October? Did you already buy your airline tickets - into Lisbon and out of Barcelona? If not, I'd be tempted to skip Portugal and stay in Spain. Too much running around for me. Add another day in Granada and Seville, for sure. I can't speak for Portugal, as I've never been.

In your calculations -- deduct from 1/2 to most of 1 full day from each city and decide if you still think you have enough time.

It basically eats up 1/2 to a full day every time you move from one city to the next,

Plus your arrival day in Lisbon will be pretty jet lagged. So will you be happy w/:

Lisbon - 2+ days (inc. trip to Sintra or Evora)
Salema - 1.5 days
Sevilla - 2 days (inc trip to Cordoba)
Ronda - 1.5 days (+ white hill towns)
Granada - .5 day
Madrid - 2.5 days (trip to Segovia or Toledo)
Barcelona - 2.5 days

@NanBug - I mean this mid October, I have obligations in Lisbon and already have my plane ticket out of Barcelona.

@janisj - when you put it like that it seems even more rushed! Perhaps I should remove Madrid from my itinerary so that I only have one long transfer (from Granada to Barcelona) and distribute the days between Sevilla, Granada and Barcelona:

Lisbon - 3 nights
Salema - 2 nights
Sevilla - 4 nights
Ronda - 2 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Barcelona - 4 nights

without commenting on Portugal (never been there), the Spain portion sounds ok to me. But I do tend to like seeing as much as I can wherever I go, and do not mind packing and unpacking every other night.

your side trip to Cordoba - IMO is a must. I loved old Cordoba, stayed only half a day and wished I'd stayed the night.

Book your Alhambra tickets NOW, if you have any intentions of visiting.

Have a wonderful trip!

sorry, forgot ... Segovia or Toledo?
I personally liked both, but if forced to choose, I would go with Segovia. The Alcazar in and of itself is beautiful (think Disney castle ;)), the aqueduct, the old center, cobblestone streets, just charming!

That looks good now, much less rushed.

Maybe you can get a cheap budget flight from Granada to Barcelona?

try spanair.com; advance purchase should be 20-40 euro at the most