My husband and I are planning our first trip to Spain during the first two weeks of May. After realizing that we simply cannot see everything we always wanted to see on this trip (specifically Seville, Andalucia, Southern Coast), we have narrowed our itinerary down to Madrid, Northern Coast/Basque Country, and Barcelona. We will not be renting a car and plan on using the trains, buses, and intercity flights. Here is our itinerary so far:

Day 1 (Monday) - Fly into Madrid (early AM) - explore city & Reina Sofia
Day 2 - Prado & City Sights
Day 3 - Day Trip to Toledo
Day 4 - Day Trip to Segovia
Day 5 - Train to Santander (to possibly visit my husband's family)
Day 6 - Santander
Day 7 - Train to Bilbao - Guggenheim & Explore City
Day 8 - Bus to San Sebastian
Day 9 - San Sebastian
Day 10 - Bus back to Bilbao - Fly to Barcelona
Day 11 - Barcelona
Day 12 - Barcelona (possible day trip to Sitges or Figures)
Day 13 (Saturday) - Fly home early AM from Barcelona

Does this itinerary sound reasonable to you? Do you think it's necessary or worth it to spend the night in Bilbao? Or should we just head straight to San Sebastian and do a separate day trip into Bilbao to visit the Guggenheim and explore the older sections of the city? If we cut out sleeping in Bilbao, would you suggest we add another day/night onto San Sebastian or Barcelona?

Thank you for any suggestions or comments you may have.

Sounds reasonable, even though it is a lot of moving.

Just check if there are direct trains to Santander from Madrid and the flights that would be more convient.

Personally I would stay In San Sebastian and take the bus over to Bilbao. You can fly from SS to Barcelona.

Your first few days sound too busy for me even if you
are not influenced by jet-lag. You might wish to spend the first day just exploring the city , museums can be hard to take right off the flight.
Day trips to Toledo and Segovia involve getting to train stations in Madrid (the station to Segovia is about 12 Metro stops from Sol), then taking a bus ( short ride) to the town center ( same going back).
I don't see any reason to spend a night in Bilbao unless you have to. Barcelona is a great city worth much more than a day IMO.

I´d take the bus from Santander to Bilbao instead of the train...much faster.

Some very valuable ideas on the Basque area on www.maribelsguides.com and on my blog http://mugalari.wordpress.com.

Personally I would cut out Barcelona and spend 4 nights in San Sebastian and one in Bilbao or 5 nights in San Sebastian.

I'd also take the bus from Santander to Bilbao. Buses from Santander to Bilbao:
http://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa/...t.locale=en_GB
Trains from Madrid to Santander
http://www.renfe.es/horarios/english/index.html