Spain in December
 

I'd like to visit Barcelona, Madrid, Granada and Seville, most likely in that order. And with the travel dates I have in mind, this would mean a Christmas in Barcelona and a New Year's eve in Seville.
1. What is the most convenient mode of transportation between these cities? AVE? Buses?
2. Are there things to do on or around Christmas in Barcelona? Or are most restaurants etc closed? And what about Seville on New Year's eve?
3. I plan on spending 3 nights in Barcelona, 1 in Madrid, 1 in Granada, 3-4 nights in Seville. Is this a fair breakdown? I'm limited on the total number of days (9-10 days at most) I have in Spain.

Any critique/advice would be much appreciated!

We too are going to Spain in December - Seville for Christmas and Barcelona for New Year. We are getting from Barcelona to Granada and Seville back to Barcelona with Spanair. Try http://www.skyscanner.com.au/

From Granada to Barcelona we have decided on using the train - seems we can only book 60 days before travel. I understand a bus is also an option.

The way you're proposing to split your trip doesn't really do much justice to anywhere, except maybe Granada if you only want to see the Alhambra.

3 nights in Barcelona is not enough, one in Madrid is pointless given the trip across from Barca, three in Seville is too many in this context. With nine to ten days, then start in Barcelona if that's where your flight lands and spend 4 nights (not enough because you could simply spend the whole of your time there). Then 3 nights in Madrid, fly to Granada-one night finishing in Seville. Train between Barca and Madrid and Granada to Seville.

But where do you fly back from and to where? This would make a big difference to the order that you do things. can you do "open jaw" in to Barca and out of Malaga?

Dont forget that things will be closed for Christmas day and in BCN the following day and then on the 1st Jan too.
Somethings start to close early on the 24th and 31st Dec in preparation for the public holidays.

Basically, I would drop Madrid. SInce you only plan to be there one day, (or less if you count the time required to get there), you won't have time to see or do much of anything. Spend 4 days in Barcelona, one in Granada and 3 in Seville.

AVE is the most convenient way to travel between BBarcelona and Madrid and Seville. The plane is cheaper though. Sounds like most of the trip will be spent traveling. with 10 days I would cut out Barcelona, it's too far from Seville. If you must squeeze all of theat into 10 days fly BCN to Granada, bus to seville and AVE back to Madrid.

I was planning on flying into BCN on the 24th of Dec and flying back to the US, out of Madrid, on Jan 2nd.

Lifeman, I can "open jaw" it but not sure if Malaga is going to offer many flight options. I'll check it out anyway.

I thought AVE takes under 3 hours from BCN (aka Barca??) to Madrid......

If you're flying home from Madrid, then that puts a slightly different twist on it. Your OP put Madrid second on your list, even though you were planning to fly back from there. That doesn't make sense. However, how important is it to you to see Granada or Seville? You will have some problems with public transport, trains, buses etc. during the Christmas and New Year holidays, as services will be curtailed. Your travel time will be increased and there won't be a full timetable in operation.

I'd stick with dividing my time between Barcelona (yes, aka Barca)and Madrid. Bear in mind that some of the must see sights in both places will be closed during that time, cutting down your opportunities.

And you have not accounted for actual travel time.

seat61.com/spain AVEs are fine not too cheap econoair cheaper.

Usually fly the long legs with them to save skyscanner.net.

Eurocheapo.com great city guides tips

your route WAY too crammed for me pare back to more southern

coastal locations like Ronda and Andalucia simply beautiful

warmer and less frontal rain...

Happy Planning!

Compromise is not one of my strongest suits but I'll try. I've been looking forward to visiting Barcelona and Seville, so I think I may leave Madrid for another time. I was planning on flying back to the US out of Seville (with a 2 hour layover in Madrid).

Thanks qwovadis for suggesting some of the southern coastal locations instead. I'll look into that.

More questions to follow in a couple of days......:)

Boiling it down to Barcelona and Sevilla (plus maybe a daytrip to one of the towns at/near the Costa de la Luz) sounds reasonable.
Bear in mind that the whole time between Christmas and Jan 6 is peak holiday time, with many people traveling around the country to visit relatives.
So if you can find reasonably priced airfares between Barcelona and Sevilla and hotels, you should book asap.

Ronda is not on the coast, and Andalucía is the whole region. Málaga though is on the coast and a fabulous city. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ci...-treasure.html
http://www.andalucia.com/magazine/en...ed2/malaga.htm

All the updated info you could want about Sevilla:
http://www.exploreseville.com/

We will also be doing a similar trip at that time flying into Barcelona on 12/27 and out of Madrid on 1/8. We will be going from BCN staying 3 days to Seville, staying 2 days, for New Years as well, still sorting out how to get there as we are four people. We are going from Seville to an Inn between Cordoba and Granada for 3 days and then on to Madrid for four days. We will have a car from Seville until Madrid to go to Granada and Cordoba as well, are there any other sites not to miss?