Spain Itinerary: Yes, for you the expert to comment on! Thanks
 

Fodorite,

Please comment on my Spain April itinerary.

Day 1. Arrive in Madrid
Day 2. City tour and a quick trip to a little village called Chincon (personal reasons) (stay in madrid)
Day 3. Visit Prado Museum, plaza Mayor, and Royal Palace (stay in madrid)
Day 4. Visit Toldeo (stay in Madrid), evening at a bull fight (stay in madrid)
Day 5. Open day in Madrid. Likely Real Madrid Stadium? etc (stay in madrid)
Day 6. Visit Segovia (stay in madrid)
Day 7. Visit Avila (stay in madrid)
Day 8. Visit Salamanca (stay in madrid)
Day 9. AVE to Sevilla (walk neighborhoods, and then dinner at La Juderia restaurant, then attend flamenco at la casa de memoria, stay in Sevilla)
Day 11. Walk, walk, walk in Sevilla! (Cathedral, Alcazar, Plaza de Toro) Stay in Sevilla
Day 12. Visit Jerez (visit Sherry Bodegas, and Andalusian Horse stuff) Stay in Jerez
Day 13. Visit/Drive around Ronda (lunch at Dona Pepa) from Marbella; Stay in Marbella
Day 14. Visit Granada (Alhambra and a little village called pampeneira); Stay in Marbella
Day 15. Open day! What to do? Stuff we couldn't do on other days!; Stay in Marbella
Day 16. Visit Cordoba (Mezquita, Caballo Rojo; on the way back stop at village priego de Cordoba); Stay in Marbella
Day 17. Visit Malaga (Picasso musuem, Parador Giarafor; villages Gaucin, Garaganta del Chorro); Stay in Marbella
Day 18. Visit Costa del Sol; Stay in Marbella
Day 19. Back to Madrid via Aranjuez. Decorate Tapas bar floors with as many droppings as humanly possible.
Day 20. Fly to Home sweet home and likely prevent some bloody meltdown at my employer! Then try to answer why in the world did I take a vacation, anyway!

Thanks (if you don't flame me!) :)

Comfy, do you have a special reason to stay in Marbella all those days ? Cordoba is nearer to Sevilla...and Granada deserves you spend at least one night there, you won't enjoy anything but the Alhambra on a day trip and well...I like Granada more than Seville (as a city ambiance, I mean, not just the highlights thing).
I just don't like Marbella at all !! A couple of days is ok, though, to tour Costa del Sol.

echo comments on Costa del Sol..Why visit there at all? Jerez would not be on my to do list either.

i would not back track from avila to madrid and then go back to salamanca. too much unnecessary tripping.

overnight in salamanca or only go to avila.

Kend, I knew you will come through for me :) Yes, good reason for Marbella. Free accomodation in a fantastic, although Florida-like!, resort at the coast :) I mostly intend to use it to sleep. Can't stay in Granada this time around but I do intend to do couple weeks in Portugal next year, and hopefully, plan to stay in Granada then for couple nights.

Travelbunny, thanks. Jerez was recommended to me by several people! Are you serious? I had one hell of a hard time getting the horse show tickets!

Lincasanova, Thinking of your advice on salamanca/avila.

Comfy ! You have the best of reasons !! Free lodging !! LOL

Jerez is a nice place and the horses show is beautiful, I've never been though , I've seen it on TV :))

And yes, Lincasanova is all right. I didn't notice before but Salamanca and Avila are on the same road, you have to go besides the Avila walls to reach Salamanca, which is farther from Madrid. There's no point on doing the same route twice. Go to Salamanca direct, stay there one night and on the way back to Madrid visit Avila.
I have a rank also for Spanish cities and Salamanca ranks very high..you won't regret to spend a night there :)

Yes,

I agree with all the comments above. IMO , too many day trips. Salamanca is doable as a daytrip but it'll make for one looong day! Much better to stay there overnight. In addition, I liked Salamanca better at night. The Plaza Mayor is magical!

Hey Comfy,
I'm not a big fan of Marbella either but a short drive away for a half day visit is a village called Mijas-really cute with some nice gardens and small bullring. I really loved Sevilla, the friend I traveled with didn't. It's all subjective.

..If you have tickets to a horse show that is a different story!..

Hi Comfy:

You may already know Jerez is one of THE most Flamenco of cities, period. La cuna del flamenco....not just Sevilla. If you have an interest in it, it is there.

Here is a site that belongs to a flamenca friend of mine, Maria Bermudez. I have not seen her in person for 20 years, at that time she left L.A. and ended up staying in Jerez de La Frontera, where she is now a respected dancer, & teacher. Check out her site http://www.mariabermudez.com/

Have a good time

Ams

Good so I am keeping Jerez :)

Cruiseluv, Thanks. Also note several "free" days in my itinerary. I can move Salamanca a bit.

Laartista, I know where Mijascosta is. Will try to visit. Yes, variety is a spice of life which I respect and actually, sample and enjoy.

Amsdon, Thanks for sharing your friend's weblink. She seems to do a lot of travel so likely very good, I will try to check our her studio.

ttt

For that extra day in Madrid, I'm not sure if you are a museum person or not, but the Thyssen museum and the Sorolla museum are on my must-see list when I make recommendations for Madrid now. I was completely overwhelmed by both, perhaps I had lower expectations, but they were both wonderful. Also, seeing Picasso's Guernica and the sketches he did in preparation at the Sofia Reina is also quite impressive.

Amyb, If you had to pick one from Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Thyssen, and Sorolla, which would you pick and why? Having heard of Geurnica's potentil move to Bilbao (well, controversy related to it), Reina Sofia may be it.? Thanks.

Comfy, I am a fan of the Sorolla museum and visit every time I can, but it cannot be compared with the other two.

It is the artist's house, with his studio and a collection of his paintings. It also has a very nice garden. Some people go through it in less than an hour.... not me! I love Sorolla's work.

The RS is impressive and Guernica should be seen at least once in a lifetime (once is enough for me).

The Thysen was a lovely surprise for me, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Don't worry, the Guernica is not going to Bilbao...too risky for the health of the painting and too expensive also :)

I haven't visited any of the three. I love Sorolla's paintings, he was from Valencia and the museum is the house he had in Madrid where he lived his last years. Mari, if you like it come to Valencia and visit the San Pio V museum, they have a good Sorolla collection :)
The Reina Sofia is all about contemporary art..I'm not very much interested and I saw the Guernica(very impressive) when it was at El Prado, before they built the Reina Sofia.
I would visit the Thyssen, I hope to be able to do it next time I visit Madrid :)

Comfy, You are missing day ten. It looks a full itinerary but ok if you move Salamanca and Avila. You can spend one full day in Salamanca and see most everything but the drive to/from Madrid will be too much. Lastly Spanish Primera League game for Real madrid may be on if Day 5 is a sunday.

I think I'd see the Thyssen if you were only going to pick one. And only for the variety, the art truly spans 100s of years and it's a nice collection. But I can't see being in Madrid and NOT seeing Guernica! So it's a tough call. You're going to be in the neighborhood anyway, why not fit in RS as you go to or from the train to Toledo??? It's literally right across the street from Atocha.

I did not even know of Sorolla before I went to Spain, but saw the exhibition that was on at the Thyssen at the time. It actually spurred me to go to his museum, which was wonderful.

Ok, I'm not deciding for you, I'm too torn! ;)

Just some notes.
Chinchon (watch spelling), you'll love that main square, eat at La Iberia, right there.
Jerez: I have read mixed reviews. I like the city, and I recommend it if you already have tickets to the horses. The bodegas, may be tourist-oriented, but you are tourists, aren't you? Parking is hectic, there is a subterranean lot right in the middle of town. Go for it.
Day 14: Unless you run fast, you'll have little time for Alhambra, some Granada walk, and drive to Pampaneira. These towns of Alpujarras region, on the road to Motril, are along winding mountain roads, slow driving. And then you'll have to choose returning to Marbella going back to Granada, or down the coast to Motril, and then Nerja, Malaga, Marbella (all hiway). But a long drive anyway. My suggestion: Change Pampaneira for Alhama de Granada, worth a visit. Then continue to Alfarnate-->Colmenar-->Casabermeja and hiway, or south to Viñuela-->Velez Malaga--> hiway.
Same happens with Cordoba and Priego, which is worth visiting a full day. I'll skip it on behalf of,let's say, a short stop at Antequera on the way back.
Day 17: Malaga Gibralfaro Parador (watch spelling!!), if you go to Picasso Museum, dont miss the El Pimpi, right turning the corner. Then...did you look at a map? El Chorro is Ardales, in the north, and Gaucin is very far away, west of Marbella! Is crazy. Spend the day in Malaga, and use an extra day for going to Gaucin-->Jimena de la Frontera-->Castellar de la Frontera (restaurant el Molino del Conde), and back to the coast.
I have other restaurant recommendation in Ronda, if you are interested.

Kend, Amyb, and Marigross,

I checked Fodors couple times today, between work, before responding now and had my mind made up until Amyb responded and I am all confused now! I can't miss Reina Sofia due to Geurnica. And Sorollo is a special, special "guy" (Kend, isn't he your homeboy? How could you not visit his home/musuem in Madrid!). His stuff jives much more than many other spanish painters, to me. So, I thought I will go to Reina Sofia and then a quickie trip to Sorollo. Then amyb threw in that curveball with Thyssen! So, now I need to sleep on it.

Marisol, I screwed up day 10. The trip is one day shorter. Real Madrid without Beckham? Just kidding :) I will try to see what I can do.

I am told Seville is all torn up due to the new metro construction. Great! As it was, in my last trip to Spain, while driving some 90 or some horsepower little peepsie car I had all the Spanish picador drivers kissing the exhaust of my car! The only grace was I knew many slangs including the one that rhymes with "carbon" (Fodors may ban me if I write it) which I frequently used along with my fist! In addition, without going into personal details, I had a spanish gal next to me who was very happy to help with surprisingly nasty sounding slangs which I couldn't understand at all but I was pretty sure they had something to do with "mother's milk" :) Or may be not :)

Jokes aside, I may lean on you guys for couple specific questions later. Thanks.