Hi,
Planning a holiday in Spain during end December.

Here's my itinerary - please comment:

20th Dec - Arrive in Barcelona
21st Dec - Barcelona (night train from Barcelona)
22nd Dec - Madrid
23rd Dec - Madrid - Toledo - Madrid
24th Dec - Madrid - Segovia - Madrid
25th Dec - Madrid - Granada (bus from Madrid)
26th Dec - Granada – Antequera - Granada
27th Dec - Granada
28th Dec - Granada- Seville (Train from Granada)
29th Dec - Seville - Jerez - Seville
30th Dec - Seville – Carmona - Seville
31st Dec - Seville
1st Jan - Sevilla - Barcelona (flight from Sevilla)
2nd Jan - Barcelona – Sant Sadurni d’Anoia - Barcelona
3rd Jan - Start for home.

Other queries:
a) Should I buy train tickets online beforehand, or should wait till I reach Spain.
b) If we travel on a budget (no fancy restaurants), how much do you think the daily expenses should be (apart from stay & travel)
c) Is it a good idea to spend NYE in Seville, instead of Barcelona?

Will shoot more questions as & when I get them - for the time being please help me with these queries.

thanks.

i recommend you to buy tickets in advance for the long distance trips as there will be many people travelling for christmas.

For daytrips, as they are with regional buses or local trains you can buy them in the last minute, adding also some flexibility to your travel, so if you choose to skip a daytrip or move it to other day in the last minute you can do.

I have read that many people hava found trainss fully booked for toledo, i recommend to buy these tickets as soon as you arrive to madrid if you have a fixed date for that trip. (considre buses as a backup if the train option is not possible).

From seville i recommend a seville-cordoba-seville daytrip.
Seems you won't spend much time in Barna, have you already visit this city? if not remove a couple of daytrips and add them to barcelona.

A typical menu of the day for having lunch is between 8 and 9 euros in madrid. There are always cheaper places and buying food on supermarkets and eat in a park is always an option (i normally do it in my daytrips from madrid).
Try also 100 montaditos chain of tapas bars, are not expensive.

I don't know if there is much difference between Barna and Sevilla for nye, this is spain, eveyrwhere will be parties.

Sevilla-Carmona-Sevilla is a overkill for a whole day. Spend a few hours at Carmona and then return to Sevilla and look more in this interesting city.

Of course you could decide to eat lunch at Carmona, it's a good choice.

Blackduff

it seems really rushed to me and you are almost skipping the most interesting city in Spain ( IMO) - Barcelona!
I would give Madrid one more day ( rather than going to Segovia), cut a day in Granada ( Antequera) and try for more time in Barcelona.
One can see Alhambra ( we liked it better at night) and the rest of town in a day!

Thanks guys. well, I am in the midst of finalising my trip, will get to know about the leave scene by next weekend, hopefully, & keeping my fingers crossed that things work out in a positive way.

I have one more question.
I am looking at cheap flights to Barcelona from KL (where i live) & came across this site called lessno.com that is giving a real good deal on tickets. Has anyone used this site before - is it a good idea to provide my credit card details & book tickets online this site? any suggestions??

Thanks again & pray that my trip works out - really really want to spend christmas & new year in Spain.

yes, tickets for Toledo sell out early.
Also keep in mind closers of most places on the 25th and the 1st.
We found the food in Spain (especially in the markets)cheap and
delicious!

Sasha you may know this but Madrid is at about 800m above sea level in the centre of a land mass while the rest of the cities are either on or close to the sea. So more likely to be pretty cold in Madrid

I am assuming you have a strong interest in seeing Madrid. If so, here is what "my" breakdown would be: Barcelona (first two days), Madrid (4 days with side trips to Segovia/Toledo), Granada (2), Sevilla (3), back to Barcelona (3 nights? whatever is remaining). "I" would drop Antequera and Jerez trips because there is a ton to do as is. Here is a link with some help:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34954915

and MUST google and then read Maribel Guides.