So nice to read about the offbeat places like Almeria. Ekscrunchy I have been following your adventures and like you I plan my trips around food and wine.

I was in south of spain, a month ago. Drove from Madrid to Almeria with stops in Valdepenas. Stayed there there night and had a wonderful lunch at La Aguzadera and then tapas at La Venta del Comendador .This was followed by stops in Jaen and Almeria. Jaen is also underrated. Years ago, I had lunch at Casa Antonio and am glad to say it is as good as ever. Almeria is fabulous for tapas.
From Almeria, we drove to Murchia - that was a great discovery. The tapas in La Zigalas were awesome and I cant wait to return. Some great Michelin rated restaurants at awesome prices and if you are into wine, a great discovery into Monastrell and Jumilla.
The best thing is I cannot find Murcia in Frommers or Fodors guides. Lets keep it this way.
I am already in the midst of planning a return to this region in February. I read about some wineries with great restaurants which I need to research.

"The best thing is I cannot find Murcia in Frommers or Fodors guides. Lets keep it this way."
Too late now.....
Hopefully, most will stick to the Madrid, train to Seville, day trip to Cordoba, day trip to Toledo routine

PS. Thanks for the tip about Valdepenas.

For various reasons , some travellers don’t like driving on unfamiliar roads .
From Madrid, one can certainly visit a number of interesting places by public transit ,(day trips or several days stay.)
Within an hour and 40 minutes max:
Segovia, Salamanca, Aranjuez, Alcala de Henares, Escorial, Zaragoza, Valencia , Chinchon , Cuenca ….come to mind.
Of course, Toledo is the most popular, but it doesn’t diminish its beauty and historical importance.
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Thanks for all the info. I guess we'll need to plan an additional trip to visit Cadiz and the area. We bought our tickets, arrange a car rental and am working on the hotels. We'll be starting in Valencia where we'll pick up the car at the end of our stay there.
At the moment, the road trip looks like this:
Day 1: pick up car in Valencia, drive to Alicante. Don't know if to go the coastal route or through Alcoi (nature). I'd be glad to hear some thoughts about that. Night in Alicante.
Day 2: Alicante to Almeria through Elche and Lorca. Any other places to stop by? Night in Almeria.
Day 3: Almeria and Cabo de Gata. Night in Almeria.
Day 4: Almeria to Estepona. Visit Frigiliana on the way and maybe some more places. Night in Estepona (or nearby).
Day 5: Estepona to Gibraltar. Night in Estepona.
Day 6: Estepona to Malaga through Ronda. Return car in Malaga.
A couple of days in Malaga and fly home.