Hello everyone:

My wife and I are planning to spend 2 weeks in Spain this coming September, and are hoping for some guidance.

I don't believe I saw a similar post but apologies if this is somewhat duplicative of an earlier thread.

Our tentative plan is to see Madrid and then travel north for the scenery, hiking/nature, food and wine. We're fond of art but to be candid we're more into architecture than museums (but I love Goya and Picasso). We're a younger couple but not into partying too much. In our experience, we've found the best parts of our trips to be when we venture off the beaten path instead of hitting major cities. We've been very fortunate to be able to travel to Europe a few times in the past decade in order to hone our preferences.

When we went to France for our honeymoon, we fell in love with the Dordogne region. A big and far too delayed shout out to Stu Dudley here at the Fodors forums, who provided an incredible itinerary.

We also understand that sometimes less is more, and it can be unpleasant to jump around too much.

With the above in mind, my tentative hope is to see Madrid, Bilbao, San Sebastian, and the Rioja wine region. We intend to rent a car.

We're early in our planning, and the options can be overwhelming, so any general direction or focus would be so appreciated.

Some immediate questions that spring to mind:

1. Does this itinerary work for our preferences, or do you have different suggestions? We're open-minded as we have not booked anything just yet);
2. If so, what towns and villages would you recommend as part of the northern adventure?
3. How would you structure the # of days?
4. Anything we should book in advance besides the obvious (transport, accommodations, restaurants)? I'm currently researching accommodations / restaurants but happy to receive any recommendations there.

Thank you!

Your plan looks fine, and I'm sure if you stick to the destinations you list, it will be a great trip. As for the art -- you may already know this, but I did want to point out that if you were willing to divert yourself north-east, you could see Zaragoza, something of a Goya city. My Zaragoza visit was in 2009, so I'm not up-to-date, but I recall at least two Goya museums, possibly three; plus a quaint historic center, several ancient Roman sites, a millennium-old moorish castle (somewhat redone after the reconquest), and a generally pleasant city. For nature activities, you could head north, from Zaragoza, into the Pyrenees (though I didn't make it into that part of Aragon myself). Also, Zaragoza, and points north, would probably take you farther off the "beaten path" than your selected destinations.
Also on Picasso: I'm sure you know this already, but on the very slim chance you don't, be sure to see his Guernica in the Reina Sofia Museum while you're in Madrid.