Spain Itinerary & Car Rental Concerns
 

21 days in Spain - how does this Itinerary look?

Which Option looks best.....the last leg(s) of the trip are my concern. Whether to keep the car longer or not. But, open to other tweaks as well.
(We are definitely taking the train from Barcelona to Seville because hubby hates to fly and I promised we would not take an extra flight. Don't want to drive that portion because I don't like long drives and I want to relax.) Already have flights booked to fly into BCN and out of MAD - GREAT price!!!

Option 1:
Barcelona – stay 5 nights
Train to Sevilla - stay 3 nights
Rent a car in Sevilla
Drive to Ronda (through Arcos de la Frontera, Zahara, etc.) stay in Ronda 2 nights
Drive to Granada – stay 3 nights
Drive to Cordoba – stay 3 nights
Drive to Toledo and drop car there? - Stay 2 nights
Train to Madrid -3 nights – fly home

Option 2:
Barcelona – stay 5 nights
Train to Sevilla - stay 3 nights
Rent a car in Sevilla
Drive to Ronda (through Arcos de la Frontera, Zahara, etc.) stay in Ronda 2 nights
Drive to Granada – (drop car) - stay 3 nights
Bus to Cordoba - stay 3 nights
Train to Toledo (via Madrid) – 2 nights
Train to Madrid - 3 nights
Fly home

Three nights in Córdoba may be a bit much, but doable.

So the question is whether to drop the car in Granada or not? Drop it! It won't be much help for any part of this itinerary except the white towns. (And I'm sure you know you don't need a car for Ronda -- so you really are using the car ONLY for the other white towns.)

If you are open to other comments, you might consider
- adding a night to Sevilla (sounds like you have only 2 days there?) and / or
- adding a night or even 2 to Madrid (only 2 days there? If you have any interest in art, you might want more time there).
I, personally, would take the time from the white villages
- 1 night in Ronda was enough for me -- and it would mean that you would not need a car at all, and / or from
- Cordoba, which I loved, but found 2 days (i.e., 48 hours) sufficient.
YMMV.

You should have a wonderful trip no matter what you choose!

Thanks for the advice. I haven't done a lot of research yet on the various towns so tweaking the amount of time in each is definitely something I'm looking at.

Thanks for the input! Now, to read and book my hotels!

Actually, if you want to do any wine touring in the area or visit the caves (Cueva de la Pileta), a car will come in handy in Ronda.

http://www.cuevadelapileta.org/texto...ituacion-2.htm

Bodegas:
http://www.vinosconrad.com
http://www.huertadealbala.com

Robert2533 raises a very good point about the advantage of having a car to see the Cueva de la Pileta just outside of Ronda. I'm not sure how the cost of a car rental would compare to the cost of hiring a taxi in Ronda to take you there and back....