Suggestions on 3 week Spain/Portugal itinerary
 

Hello everyone,

I was hoping to ask for some feedback on our 3 week spain/portugal itinerary (predominantly spain, a bit of portugal). We are a group (four of us) of university students (20-25) travelling in May/June of this year. In terms of the type of trip, we would like a mix of architecture/history/food. We are really trying to add on a few days in portugal (Lisbon) after much deliberation - despite knowing it may take a large portion of one day to travel there. We prefer train as a means of transportation and not too keen on renting out a car.

Our itinerary so far:
1. Barcelona (5 days, possible day trip somewhere)
2. Madrid (4 days, with a day trip to either Toledo or Segovia)
3. Sevilla (5 days, with a day trip to Cordoba and a day trip to Ronda)
4. Grenada (2 days)
5. Travel day (Grenada -> Madrid -> Lisbon) (1 day)
6. Lisbon (4 days)

Any feedback is appreciated.

Oops, I obviously meant Granada not Grenada.
And any considerations of a day trip from Barcelona would be helpful :)

Thanks

You're covering alot of ground in 3 weeks but the # of days are allocated well - it's a moderate on the side of fast pace.

The travel day from Granada to Lisbon will be grueling. A 5 hour train ride from Granada to Madrid and then an overnight train to Lisbon.

I'd consider a few alternatives:

*Visit Granada after Madrid, then Sevilla. Fly from Sevilla to Lisbon - this is my preference for time and comfort. When you consider your original plan with 2 trains and a lost day to travel this would be well worth it IMHO.

*Overnight bus from Granada to Lisbon. Leaves at 8:15 pm and arrives at 6 a.m. Alternatively this same bus leaves from Sevilla around 11:30 so you could visit Madrid, Granada, then Sevilla and take the overnight bus

Day trip from Barcelona Girona,Figueres(Dali Museum) Costa Brava(Begur or other)
Madrid day trips both Segovia and Toledo are very interesting and different from each other. Can't you include both?
Fly to Lisbon if possible.
Well thought out plan.

Thank you so much for the wonderful suggestions, especially because I did not consider flying or an overnight bus to Lisbon. Definitely will modify the itinerary accordingly!

I agree, looks like a good plan with a good amount of days in each location. I agree with CathyM about going from Madrid to Granada and then Seville, I think it will make it much easier to get to Lisbon. Look at low cost airlines like Ryanair and Easy Jet for flight Seville to Lisbon.

We were in Andalucia (Granada, Cordoba, Seville) last March with our 20 year old daughter. Particularly, in Granada and Seville, we noticed lots of University students around so it should be fun for you.

Here are links to my blog with my trip reports from our trip last March as well as our trip to Barcelona in 2007. They also incl pics.

http://www.fromhometoroam.com/catego...ope/andalucia/
http://www.fromhometoroam.com/catego...ope/barcelona/

I have updated my itinerary after all of your helpful advice and just rummaging through the forums a bit more. Does this look better? I am also trying to find the best way to incorporate Ronda to this trip... and any help would be appreciated.

So far it is:
1. Barcelona (5 days, day trip to Montserrat)
2. Madrid (4 days, with a day trip to either Toledo or Segovia)
3. Granada (2 days)
4. Take the early train from Granada to Ronda, spend night in Ronda (1 day)
5. Take the early train from Ronda to Cordoba, spend afternoon in Cordoba, take evening train to Sevilla (1 day)
6. Sevilla (3 days, with last day overnight bus from Sevilla to Lisbon)
7. Lisbon (5 days, with one day trip to Sintra and possibly one more day trip to Cascais)