We are in our early 60's travelling to Spain and Portugal in September 2019. We will have 35 days on the ground and would like your expert input on our schedule. Interests include; history, architecture, culture, good food and wine. We are fit and find walking up to 10 miles per day no problem.
We depart Canada on September 10 and arrive early AM in Barcelona on the 11th. This is what I have planned so far.
6 nights Barcelona
4 nights Granada-fly from Barcelona to Granada
2 nights Zahara de la Sierra-rent vehicle in Granada touring the White towns
4 nights Cordoba-driving from Zahara via Osuna to Cordoba
4 nights Seville-driving from Cordoba dropping rental on arrival
4 nights Lisbon-flying out of Seville to Lisbon
4 nights Porto-train from Lisbon to Porto
6 nights Madrid-flying from Porto to Madrid
1 night Barcelona-train from Madrid before next day flight home.
Thank you for your input.

Book the few long-distance trains you have far in advance for deep discounted tickets - Renfe for booking own tickets - www.seat61.com has lots on doing that - general info trains - BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com. There is also an overnight train to Madrid from Portugal if interested in that unique experience.

Personally, I would allocate more time to Portugal and reduce some of your stays in Spain. Too much time in Granada. Madrid, no more than 4 days. Maybe go up the coast a little while in Barcelona. Have you considered going into Douro Valley or maybe go to Sintra while in Portugal?
If you do open jaw flight, you could avoid some backtracking.
Maybe Seville to Madrid to Lisbon or Porto. Take the train between Porto and Lisbon and then fly from that destination back to Canada.

I assume you have made your airline reservations since you know you are arriving in Barcelona in the early morning. However, if you haven't made your reservations yet, you should look into a multi-city or open-jaw ticket. That is, fly into Barcelona and fly home from Madrid so that you avoid backtracking to Barcelona. But if you have made your reservations, no worries; your itinerary is doable.

Are you planning on going to Toledo? If so, I recommend spending 4 or 5 nights in Madrid and 1 or 2 nights in Toledo. Toledo is beautiful but very, very crowded during the day with day trippers and tour buses. At night Toledo is much quieter, there are more locals out, and it is beautifully lit at night. I am so happy we stayed one night in Toledo. Otherwise, if we went for the day, i think I would have left there feeling "What's all the fuss?"

6 nights is good for Barcelona, and 4 nights is good for Seville. 4 nights for Granada and 4 nights for Cordoba are good but maybe not necessary? We stayed 2 nights in each place, but wish we had a 3rd night in each place.

Four nights in Lisbon is good if that does not include a day trip to Sintra. We spent 5 nights in Lisbon (didn't see everything) and that included a day trip to Sintra. If you are interested in Sintra, perhaps you could take a night from Cordoba and/or Granada and stay in Sintra for a night or two. I do wish we had the time to spend a night in Sintra but we were in Lisbon at the end of a 3-week trip and I just wanted to stay put in Lisbon at that point.

I haven't been to the white towns or Porto so can't comment on those.

Overall, you have a nice itinerary planned, and 4 nights in a lot of places is good because you are not rushing around. You will feel more relaxed, I think, and perhaps this is what you want and why you planned the 4-night stops.

Thank you for your thoughtful responses.
Yes we have made our flight reservations so are stuck to beginning and ending in Barcelona.
We are planning day trips to Sintra and Toledo, however with the recommendations to decrease days in Cordoba and Madrid perhaps we could do overnights.
How soon would discount train tickets be available?

Should be nice! Just a few possible tweaks:

If you are already committed to flying in and out of Barcelona, then consider moving on to another destination, perhaps Granada, ASAP. You’ll be tired, but you’ll be tired in any case, and if you move on, then you won’t need that extra night in Barcelona – and one more change of hotels -- at the end of your trip.

Consider dropping your rental car ASAP in Cordoba. It is unlikely to prove of benefit while there and could, instead, prove an encumbrance. Trains between Cordoba and Sevilla are frequent and comfortable.

Like KarenWoo, I strongly urge that you consider staying in Toledo. Not only is it much more interesting and evocative after daytrippers leave, but moreover, it holds such a wealth of treasures that 2 full days were barely suficient for me – I could easily have used more time there!

While timing is very personal and reflects one’s interests and priorities, for what it’s worth, I thought Barcelona itself worth at least 6 nights, Granada 3 nights, Cordoba 2 or 3 nights, Sevilla 4 nights, Madrid 4 or 5 nights, Toledo 2 or 3 nights. I haven’t been to Portugal yet, nor have I been to some of the other places you hope to visit. I didn't write a trip report on my time in central or southern Spain, but you might find some useful information about Barcelona (and surrounds) towards the end of this trip report:
Four Awesome Weeks in the North of Spain and Catalunya

Hope that helps!

Instead of spending your last night in Barcelona, you may want to consider staying in Sitges. It is a lovely seaside beach town located outside of Barcelona. There is more than enough to see in a day and/or you can spend some time on the beach as it will still be beach weather when you leave.

You can easily take a private transfer from there to BCN airport on your day of departure. I still had my rental car so I drove to the airport.

While in Barcelona, try to make time to see the Castellers! Lots of fun! Check the schedule: September calendar of performances cccc There may be other schedules in addition to this one.

Here are my pics from my trip. Barcelona is the first set of pics and Sitges is the last set of pics (obviously, at the end).

Northeastern Spain - A TR in Pictures

I'm another who votes for at least 2 nights in Toledo! I spent 3 nights and loved it after the day trippers left. Toledo pics are not in the above TR as I went there on a previous trip.

I agree with putting the Barcelona stay at the end. Connect to either Madrid or Seville both I think will be easier than Granada.La Merce festival is the end of the month in Barcelona. If you put your Barcelona stay at the end it'll not only make the flight home easier but hopefully mean you'll be there for the festival