Hi all, I'm planning a 7 night trip to Spain in May. Let's say May 6-14 (landing on May 7).

My first question is about getting to Seville. The flight to Madrid supposedly lands at 0830. I was thinking the easiest way to get to Seville would be to just stay in the airport and take the 11:30 Iberia Express flight to Seville. Does this sound like a good idea?

My biggest question is how to split up the cities. We want relaxation, food and wine, and some sight seeing.

I was thinking the following

May 7 - Land in Seville at 12:45 PM.

May 8 - Seville

May 9 - Seville

May 10 - Train from Seville to Granada

May 11 - Granada

May 12 - Flight from Granada to Barcelona

May 13 - Barcelona

May 14 - Fly back to US

Any thoughts on the spread?

Four flight in one week, three cities.
Not my idea of relaxing.

Maybe just do Sevilla/Granada or just Barcelona/Madrid? That sounds way too hectic and you’ll be spending a lot of time in transit and packing and unpacking.

I was initially planning just Seville and Granada, but I need to fly out of either Madrid or Barcelona the last morning, necessitating at least a 1 night stay. Which then led to 2 nights in Barcelona, but I agree not ideal.

Too many flights for my taste - stressful, time wasting and environmentally dodgy. Is there a reason for flying into Madrid if you're not spending time there? Perhaps consider flying into Seville directly or Malaga, and then using trains and buses until you fly home.

I agree that you're doing too much in the time you have available but if you want to fit it all in, then perhaps a route of home - Malaga (flight) - Granada (bus) - Seville (train or bus) - Barcelona (train) - home (flight). If it were me, I'd stick to Andalusia and skip Barcelona (just because of distance and time) and skip Madrid if you can fly in more locally. There is heaps more to see in Andalusia if you have time. You have only 6 full days in Spain and part of the pleasure of being on holidays - and especially in Spain - is being able to relax while seeing beautiful places.

I heartily agree with the wise thoughts of macdogmom and dreamon. I would fly directly to Sevilla, then train to Granada, then if necessary, AVE train from Granada back to Madrid for your final night before your flight the next morning if you can't fly home from Malaga or Sevilla (probably not if you're headed to the US). Then save Madrid and Barcelona for 7-night future trip.

If you cannot fly into Seville directly, I would RT Madrid rather than fly to Barcelona for only a day. I would reverse the itinerary and go directly to Granada by train.
1. Arrive Madrid, Train to Granada,
2. Granada.
3. Train to Seville
4. Seville
5. Seville
(6/7 extra day in Seville or Madrid
train to Madrid)
8. Depart Madrid

If you added a day to Seville, you could do a day trip to Cordoba, could be a last minute decision, depending on what you do in Seville.
You could also add it to Granada. That might be my first choice because I love Granada and May in Granada will be beautiful. Of course Cordoba will be beautiful too and including it would be lovely..
You could add it to Madrid, but much as I like Madrid, I would take the train to Madrid the day before my flight and just have an afternoon and evening there.

If you decide to do as Sassafrass suggests, you could take an early train from Seville to Cordoba, stash your luggage somewhere and enjoy the day in Cordoba before taking an onward train to Madrid for dinner before flying home from there the next day. Of course you could reverse Granada and Seville if you wished, depending a bit on train schedules.

I agree you have too much planned in such a short time. If you can't fly in and out of Barcelona, I would leave that for another time. There is actually quite a bit to see and do in Madrid. Your first plan does not sound relaxing.