Trish42

Hello all - My husband and I are planning our trip to Spain and Portugal and are hoping for some advice on our tentative itinerary from those who have traveled there before. We have already purchased our airfare, we fly into Barcelona on May 15th and depart from Madrid on June 3rd. We are also looking for suggestions of cities and sites to stop and see along the way, for example Sintra, on our way to Porto.

Any and all advice appreciated!

Barcelona 3 nights
Fly to Granada 3 nights
Drive to Seville 2 nights
Drive to Tavira 2 nights
Drive to Lisbon 3 nights
Drive to Porto 3 nights
Fly to Madrid 2 nights

RonZ

Check driving routes on viamichelin.com. To this add inter-city driving. These 2-night stays only yield a day. I would find this way to rushed. Flights on skyscanner.com. Hotels on booking.com.

Candace

Please note that there will be an expensive drop off fee if you rent a car in Spain and drop it off in Portugal. In 2015, we had a wonderful trip to Spain and Portugal, but discovered, in the planning stage, that traveling between these two countries can be somewhat difficult. We ended up traveling by train from Madrid to Córdoba, then to Granada, Rhonda, and Seville. We considered renting a car in Spain but decided a train might be a better option for accessing these cities. We loved Spain and the cities we visited, although we wished we had eliminated Rhonda to spend more time in Seville, which was wonderful. From Seville, we took a bus to Faro, Portugal, where we spent the night before renting a car at the airport there. Inexplicably, there are few trains between Spain and Portugal. Anyway, we drove from Faro to the little town of Estremoz in the Alentejo region where we rented an apartment for 5 days and explored the region. We dropped the car off at the Lisbon airport. We had 3 days in Lisbon before we flew back to Madrid for a few days before flying home. Portugal is a great place to visit also. We liked it so much we went back in 2016. Don't miss Sintra and try to stay there overnight.

RonZ

We've done pretty much the same thing. Since you are locked in to flights, why not just stay in Spain? Barcelona to Granada you would need to fly. But if you end up in Granada after being down south, the train to Madrid [one change] only takes four and half hours. Also Madrid deserves more time. The city is magnificent, and there are day trips you can take.

MinnBeef

2 nights for Sevilla is not enough. It is quintessential Spain-castanets, sherry, ladies in those lacy black hats, orange trees, etc. Granted, I was there for Semana Santa in 2015 and gave it 5 nights, but 2 nights is not enough. I would add at least one night, so that you have 2 full days on the ground there, plus whatever time you arrive in from your drive from Granada.

kja

While you might see some wonderful things with this plan, I wonder if this plan will actually let you see and experience what you want. For example:

IMO, 3 nights is VERY little for Barcelona, particularly if there is any chance that you will be jet lagged when you get there. (For the sake of comparison, I thought 5 full days in Barcelona very rushed -- and that doesn't include day trips from that city.)

IMO, 2 nights is VERY little for Sevilla – and is unlikely to give you sufficient time to see Cordoba’s Mezquita, which is, IMO (along with Granada’s Alhambra) one of the world’s great treasures. (Again, for the sake of comparison, I thought 3 full days in Sevilla very rushed, and I also had 2 other full days in Cordoba.)

IMO, 2 nights in VERY little for Madrid – and is unlikely to give you any time for Toledo. (I thought 4 full days in Madrid inadequate, and I also had 2 full days in Toledo, a day in Segovia, a day in Avila, etc.)

If you haven’t already done so, I strongly encourage you to consult some good guide books and plot the things you want to see and experience on a calendar. Be sure to block out a chunk of time each time you change locations (to check in/out, un/pack, travel between your hotel and the train/bus station, arriving at the station in advance, the actual transit time, and a bit of time to get oriented / lost). And when planning, note that many things are closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too; and many things will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break.

Good luck!

Tommmo

Agree you should decide on mainly Spain or Portugal. We decided on Portugal and loved it. From Seville we bused to Faro and picked up a car to drive for 2 weeks up to Lisbon and every day was wonderful. So much less crowded than Spain with excellent roads . If you like places less spoiled , Portugal is the place. Coimbra and Lisbon are highlights but small castle towns are frequent and lovely.

RonZ

[Nights] City [Train Time]

[5] Barcelona
[3] Sevilla [5.5]
[2] Cordoba [:45]
[3] Granada [2.5]
[5] Madrid [4.5]

Day trips from Barcelona and Madrid.