mbono

My Wife and I are traveling to Spain in Feb for 12 nights. Arriving Barcelona and departing from Madrid. We plan in 3 nights in Barcelona, Taking flight or train ??? to Seville for 6 night stay. I am thinking of a Airbnb for our stay in Seville and taking day trips. Should we rent car or take trains and tours to Cordoba Grenada ??? Then taking train to Madrid for our last 3 nights. We have not booked any of the Lodging yet so suggestions are welcome. Also do we need to book train tickets ahead of time Thanks

indyhiker

I think Granada is too far from Sevilla to make for a pleasant day trip. Cordoba works as a day trip from Sevilla but since it’s more or less on the way to/from Granada, I’d suggest an overnight. So my proposal would be to fly from Barcelona to Granada for two nights. Take the ALSA bus from Granada to Cordoba for one night. Train to Sevilla for three nights. Train to Madrid.

Note that I put Granada at the start because there’s no (it’s under construction) high speed line between Granada and Madrid. But you could put Sevilla first if you want. The trip from Granada to Madrid isn’t bad. You can either take the ALSA bus or book with Renfe; they arrange a bus/train combo.

All that said, I’d drop Barcelona if you haven’t booked you flight and spread those nights across Andalucia to avoid feeling rushed.

Whatever you do, book your train tickets soon. You may have already missed the cheapest fares.

kja

Are you sure that you can see and experience what you want with this plan in this time frame? This plan sounds unpleasantly ambitious to me – too much time in transit for far too little time to actually see or do anything while in any of these fascinating places.

Here's what I recommend: Get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Each time you propose to change locations, pencil in transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting lost/oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. Note that many things in Spain are closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too; and many things in Spain will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break.

nraff

This summer we traveled to Spain & Portugal. We flew from Lisbon to Malaga, taxied to Marbella. From Marbella we rented a car to drive to Seville (and enjoyed a short stop in picturesque Ronda along the way). From Seville, we took a train to Madrid and from Madrid, we took a train to Barcelona.

To answer your questions....I would stick with trains for doing day trips from Seville and/or Madrid. And if you are set on staying in those 3 cities and in that order...I would suggest flying from Barcelona to Seville if you can get a direct, relatively inexpensive flight. Granada is too far away to do as a day trip. Yes, you will want to secure train tickets as soon as your plans are set.

We considered dropping Barcelona bc it is just so far away...but so glad we didn’t. Absolutely loved Barcelona, while we weren’t nearly as crazy about Madrid. Highly recommend day trip to Toledo from Madrid (by train). Would also suggest adding a night to Barcelona. So much to see and can lose that first day recouping from a long flight.

neckervd

Book a direct flight from Barcelona to Granada (BCN dp 7.20, 10.30, 17.10, 20.30, fares start at 50 EUR without luggage) and go then by train to Sevilla - Cordoba - Madrid.
Sleep 1 night in a hotel at Cordoba, close to the railway station, in order to avoid luggage storage problems.

BigRuss

<<Book a direct flight from Barcelona to Granada (BCN dp 7.20, 10.30, 17.10, 20.30, fares start at 50 EUR without luggage) and go then by train to Sevilla - Cordoba - Madrid.
Sleep 1 night in a hotel at Cordoba, close to the railway station, in order to avoid luggage storage problems.>>

I'd consider this but with a change to go from Granada to Seville after you do the obligatory Granada visit to the Alhambra and the church where Ferdinand and Isabella are rotting. From Seville, you can day trip to Cordoba with ease.

ribeirasacra

Your Airbnb has to registered, because if not you could loose the reservation as the property could be forced to de-list by the Spanish inspectors of licences.

yeshekathy

"From Seville, you can day trip to Cordoba with ease."
But it is so lovely to stay there and to go to the magnificent Alcazar early in the morning (when it is free for the first hour). If you do it as a day trip you're there with all the crowds and groups.
We just did a trip for nearly four weeks in 2017 starting in Jerez and ending in Barcelona... leaving out major cities because we'd been there before and there was not nearly enough time and we left out a huge chunk. We are heading back in about 6 weeks, coming in from Morocco and driving from Marbella to Valencia stopping all along the way.
Our favourite places were: Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, and the beautiful little town of Segovia! It is a gem! My advice would be to go to less places well and know that you WILL want to go back.