I think I have figured out that for our family of 4 (2 adults, 2 teens) it will be cheaper to rent a car than to travel by train "in country." Plus, we will have more flexibility in our daily schedule and can stop "along the way" at interesting places. I do not, however, want to take the rental car into any cities, I just want to use it to get from place to place. What can I do (cheaply) with the car while we travel into the city for a couple of days? We fly in and out of Madrid and will visit Segovia, Granada and Sevilla. Thanks for your help!

You don't mention how long you're planning on renting the car, but most rental agencies require a 3-day minimum rental, although a couple of rental companies, including Avis, will rent you a vehicle for only one day at a time, but the cost tends to be ridiculous, if you're interested in saving money. About the only option you have if you don’t want to turn the car in whenever you arrive in a new city is to find a parking garage and leave the car while you're enjoying in the city. Parking on the street is difficult and unwise in most cities/villages. Blue zones are paid parking, usually with a two-hour limit. Parking tickets aren’t too bad, but towing charges are expensive. Luckily, most hotels have parking on-site, or agreements with nearby parking garages for their guests.

Segovia isn't that bad, depending on where you are staying. Sevilla is a bit more difficult unless your hotel is located along one of the major avenues. Granada can be a challenge, but again, it depends on where you're staying, and Madrid can be interesting if you are not familiar with the city.

Talk to the hotel you would be staying. They may be able to suggest a long-term rate parking garage/storage.

AJMelheim,
In what cities will you need to store the car for several days?

I would, of course, pick up the rental car upon leaving Madrid on your way south (?)

It's very easy and not all that expensive to travel by high speed train to Segovia, only €14.40 p.p. round trip on the Avant trains. (The Avant train fare is €9 one way with a 20% discount for round trip.) I would recommend that you do Segovia from Madrid by high speed (30 min.) train, since it's so convenient.
Will you overnight in Segovia?
And do you plan to explore other parts of the Segovia province?

The Madrid-Sevilla AVE tourist class WEB fares give a 60% discount and can be purchased 62 days in advance (in theory-in practice it's a bit less).
One way Web fare is €29.80 p.p., but since you'll need to purchase 4 tickets, you may find it cheaper to do the Madrid-Seville segment by car. But... with a caveat: you'll need to factor in the daily parking charge in a Sevilla underground garage, which can be costly for a 3+ night stay.

Your Sevilla hotel can give you the 24 hour rate at the nearest garage. If you're staying in the Santa Cruz quarter, there's a garage at Calle Cano y Cueto. How many days will you be in Sevilla?

From Sevilla to Granada the bus fare (company is Alsina Graells Sur) is €19.17. Garage parking rates vary in Granada, from a low of about €12 to a high of €20+. Again, your Granada hotel can advise you of their recommended parking garage and daily rates. The Hotel Guadalupe on the Alhambra hill gives a discount to their guests for parking in the Alhambra lots-final cost: €13 per day.

if you do hire a car, use it to give yourself a drive around tour of the cities and then dump it near/at your hotel. (but about 15-22 euros/night most places.)

i also suggest the train, at least madrid-segovia-sevilla,(get those cheap fares in advance) and then perhaps a one-way rental getting yourself to granada and back, so you do your "stopping " only one direction.

it is usually not a big difference for one way rentals.

AJMelheim,
I think lincasanova has given you good advice.

As she suggests, I'd do the Madrid-Segovia, Madrid-Sevilla portion by high speed train, purchasing those tickets online in advance not only to secure the discount fares but also to be able to print out your tickets and save time at the stations.

(This is provided you don't plan to tour the Segovia province, for which you'd need a car.)

If you wanted to make a detour south with an overnight to tour the white towns on the transition from Sevilla to Granada, you would need a car. But in downtown Granada, parking garages are few and far between, and lots of downtown is closed now to vehicles without permits, so maneuvering your way to a downtown garage can be tricky. If you want to keep that car in Granada for your drive back to Madrid (don't know how many nights you have planned for Granada), you might want to stay on the Alhambra hill since driving up there is a snap on the Ronda Sur, circumventing the downtown maze entirely.

And as lin says, there's no drop off fee with a one way rental.

Thank you so much for your help! Our trip is December 17-29. Our itinerary is 3 nights Madrid, 2 nights Sevilla, 3 nights Granada, 2 nights Segovia (our daughter is currently in Segovia studying abroad), final night near Madrid airport for an early morning flight. OR we could flip Sevilla/Granada portion of the trip: 3 nights Madrid, 3 nights Granada, 2 nights Sevilla, 2 nights Segovia, final night Madrid airport.

It's lookin' like there might not be that much difference between rental car and train transportation once gas and parking is factored in and if I can get discounted train tickets.

Any additional suggestions? I truly appreciate your help!

AJ,
I might do Granada before Sevilla and do only 2 nights in Granada, 3 nights in Sevilla, simply because it takes longer to cover all there is of tourist merit in Sevilla than it does in Granada.

Hello AJMelheim,
May I ask what you ended up doing as far as car rental and towns in which you stayed? My husband and I are visiting our daughter in Madrid, and have a similar itinerary. (I think we have given up on Barcelona--not enough time.)
Thanks

As it turned out, we did NOT rent a car at all and I'm glad we made that decision. We planned to bus it between cities. The buses are cheaper than the trains and we figured the time on the buses would be relaxing and allow us to catch up on sleeping, reading or conversation.

The bus from Madrid to Granada was just over 5 hours. We arrived at the bus station in Madrid (Estacion Sur de Autobuses near Metro station Mendez Alvaro). Got tickets and were on the bus within an hour.

Bus from Granada to Seville is 3-4 hours, depending if you take directo or ruta. Again, we simply purchased tickets and were on the bus within an hour.

Seville to Madrid didn't go quite as I had planned. We arrived at the Seville bus station mid-morning. It was December 26 and apparently a LOT of people were traveling by bus that day and the next bus we could get on was 4 pm. So we took a city bus to the train station. My husband and daughter (speaks Spanish) stood in line to get the tickets. With tickets in hand they said, "Well, the good news is we get a meal on our train trip." I knew immediately that meant we were in First Class. This was NOT in our budget. So instead of 20 euro bus tickets we had 90 euro First Class train tickets. So we made the best of it and enjoyed the meal, the complimentary wine, the movie, the shorter transit time, the roomy seats, etc. Moral of the story is to check ahead if you plan to travel by bus on traditionally busy travel days.

I agree with you, mhutch196, about not doing Barcelona this time around. If we had tried to fit it in our trip, I think it would have felt WAY to rushed and like we were spending way too much time on buses or trains. Now our daughter talks about teaching in Spain for a year when she's done with college, so that might be our "excuse" for going back and including Barcelona in our itinerary.

Enjoy your trip!

Besides the above, if you want to save money on European car rentals know how to drive a shift.