I am trying to organize the most efficient circuit to visit the following cities: Toledo, Granada, Seville, Valencia, Cordoba (obviously not in that order). The amount of time spent in each city is to be determined. We would be arriving from the U.S. (probably flying from SFO) and returning via NYC. What would be the most efficient order of visit by means of public transportation? I have abandoned the idea of renting a car, recalling the difficulties parking in Seville in 1985.

[QUOTE=Michael;17589880]I am trying to organize the most efficient circuit to visit the following cities: Toledo, Granada, Seville, Valencia, Cordoba (obviously not in that order). The amount of time spent in each city is to be determined. We would be arriving from the U.S. (probably flying from SFO) and returning via NYC. What would be the most efficient order of visit by means of public transportation? I have abandoned the idea of renting a car, recalling the difficulties parking in Seville in 1985.[/
Are you flying into Madrid or Barcelona or …?
Spanish site RENFE will give you some ideas on train connections .
ALSA is a very good bus company.

I think that Madrid makes more sense geographically.

Toledo is 1/2 hour train trip from Madrid…not connected directly to other cities on your list.
Valencia is under two hours from Madrid , not on the same line with Seville and Cordova.
Most posters have done Cordoba, Granada , Seville ..in various combinations train, bus, day trip…etc

A brief search gives a flight from Valencia to JFK with a stop-over in Lisbon, which would be ideal since we would already be in that city. Land in Madrid and go to Toledo on the same day to get over the time change while spending two days in that city?

I'm glad I had two full days in Toledo -- and I travel HARD!

You might look at options for flying out of Seville. So something like: Fly into Madrid, go straight to Toledo. When ready, back to Madrid and on to Valencia. Then back to Madrid, on to Granada. From there to Cordoba, and finally to Seville.

OR if you decide to vly into Valencia: Velencia, on to Madrid, Toledo from there, on to Andalusia....

NOTE
the trains to and from Valencia now depart / arrive at the northern train station in Madrid, Chamartin.
Trains to/ from Toledo and Seville depart from Atocha station in central Madrid.

Thanks, danon! I obviously didn't pay attention to the specifics, trusting the Michael would figure it out if that routing seemed reasonable.

Actually , I learned about it here . Maribel who lives in Madrid mentioned it to someone not long ago.
I don’t know when the change from Atocha to Chamartin was initiated, somehow it seems strange considering the direction.

Interesting! I trust Maribel ... but wonder if it was temporary?

It seems to stand. Looks like a couple of trains to Valencia still leave from Atocha.
In any case , the rapid suburban train Cercania connects the two stations.

This was the order of our trip in September 2017. We did not visit Valencia but instead we spent 4 nights in Madrid. I hope this helps. And we also visited Malaga.

Flew to Madrid from Marseille where we were visiting our daughter and her family.
Madrid - 4 nights
Train to Toledo
Toledo - 1 night
Train to Cordoba - as Danon says, Toledo is not connected directly to Cordoba or other cities on your itinerary, so we changed trains in Madrid
Cordoba - 2 nights
ALSA bus to Granada
Granada - 2 nights
ALSA bus to Malaga
Malaga - 2 nights
Train to Seville
Seville - 4 nights
Flew home from Seville

Andalusia is understandably a draw for the first time visitors to Spain ( and second time, third…..etc)
Valencia , partly because of its location, is often “ skipped”. It is a lovely city .
We stayed in Valencia for 4 days.

From what I read and looking at a map it looks like my itinerary should begin in Valencia, bus to Toledo (I am unsure about transferring from one train station to the next), and from there go to Granada, Cordoba and Seville, returning to the U.S. from Seville.

That sequence makes sense to me ... except that I'd probably opt for trains rather than buses to get from Valencia to Toledo. I think you'd have to change buses in Cuenca and going by bus would take much longer. If unsure about the transfer in Madrid, I would think you could just take a taxi.

Valencia to start the trip is a good option.
Taxi from one station to the next should be no more than 20 euros.
Buses to Toledo leave from bus stations in couple of locations in town.Train is better .imo.
As mentioned , you have to return to Madrid from Toledo to catch the train going south.

NOTE

there are several trains that go to Atocha from Valencia….only a couple are fast trains.( I found one early in the morning, one in mid afternoon…I picked a random date )
If you check RENFE you just might be able to find the right train FROM Valencia TO Atocha , from there take
another train to Toledo.( frequent and popular)

there are several trains that go to Atocha from Valencia….only a couple are fast trains.( I found one early in the morning, one in mid afternoon…I picked a random date )

I have not seen any. They all seem to originate from the other station.

I am now looking at another option which involves returning from Seville. But I am unsure about some transfers. Here's the screen shot of the issue:




Is the train going from XQA to XOC or is it the transportation for the transfer from XOC to MAD?

My new thought is to start the trip in Toledo, getting there on the arrival date from SFO. Then Valencia, Granada, Cordoba, Seville to JFK via XOC and MAD.

Trains from Seville go to Atocha…from there you can take a bus, taxi or metro to the airport.

XQA and XOC are IATA designations for two train stations.

Perhaps there is some advantage in purchasing the train ticket from Iberia as connection to the flight ..
(in case of delays ? )
I usually buy train tickets from RENFE.

So what is the "change of airport" line in the screen shot?

Early train from Valencia to Madrid

Afternoon