Two weeks in Spain, itinerary suggestion needed
 

I am planning a trip to Spain at end of April. First time to Spain, don't really know where to go. Get this itinerary from a friend (Madrid-Cordoba-Seville-Granada-Valencia-Barcelona). Is this too much for two weeks? Or anyone have any suggestions? Also, should I book all the hotel ahead of time? Should I travel by train or just rent a car? Thanks in advance!

First of all if you are going in April, then I suggest you book your hotels well in advance. You also need to sit down and decide just how much traveling you intend on doing and how much time you want to spent on the road, or in the train or airline terminal vs seeing something interesting.

If you're actually planning a trip, then do a little more time on basic research on an area you're interested in and then ask questions.

We spent almost two weeks in Spain last year and it still wasn't enough time to see everything. We went to Madrid, Cordoba, Sevilla and Granada. Even if you don't care to see each city in detail, you'll be exhausted from all the traveling!

I agree with <b>Robert2533</b> - do a little research on the places you must visit and then decide how much time you want to spend there. On our trip, we spent about 4 days in Madrid, 2 in Granada, 5 in Sevilla, and 2 in Cordoba. The days spent in Granada and Cordoba were sufficient, but we wished we had more time in Madrid and Sevilla. We booked all hotels in advance.

We traveled mainly by train and bus and flew from Madrid to Granada. Because we stayed in the city, we didn't need a car.

My suggestions for places to visit:
Madrid (Prado, Palacio Real, Retiro Park, and Reina Sofia)
Granada (The Alhambra)
Sevilla (Giralda and Cathedral, Real Alcazar, a flamenco show, go on a buggy ride)
Cordoba (Mezquita)

Hi xibanya,
We go often to Spain and i will suggest 5 nights in Madrid with some day trips like Toledo,Avila and Segovia then take the train to Sevilla stay 3 nights,2 nights in Granada,visit the Alhambra,call the hotel in advance to book you the tour,also visit the cathedral and the tombs of Ferdinand and Isabella and the Cartuja, in Cordova stay 1 night,then spend 4 nights in Barcelona.

I traveled through Spain a couple of years ago with my boyfriend and loved it! Our trip was perfect! We had about 18 days. I can’t find the trip report that I posted so I will try to remember our itinerary.

We landed in Madrid and stayed in a beautiful hotel but I can’t remember the name. We wanted to stay in a nice place to recover from flying all the way from Portland, OR. A restaurant I do remember is Abuela or something like that. You stand at a little bar, peel shrimp and throw the shells in a trough that surrounds the bar near the floor.

The next day we headed to Sevilla via train. I think it was about 4 hrs but don’t quote me on that. Sevilla was beautiful but we didn’t find the people very friendly compared to other places in Spain. We stayed in Seville for 3 nights and took a day trip via train to Cordoba to see the Mezquita. This is a must see! Absolutely beautiful. I think it was a little over an hour away by train.

On our way out of Sevilla we rented a car and drove to Andalusia to explore the Pueblos Blancos. We stayed for 3 nights in Arcos de la Frontera at a great hotel overlooking the valley with a huge deck. This was another splurge but well worth it. We spent three days making day trip around the area to many beautiful towns with white buildings and quaint little squares to people watch. Ronda is also a place you should spend ½ a day.

One of the highlights of this trip was a visit to Cuevas de la Pileta. These are caves set up in the hillside that have 27,000 year old cave drawings in them! I imagined what life was like back then as I looked at the stick figures that were drawn on the walls. The guide said that the caves would soon be closed to the public in order to preserve them so you will want to check into this before you venture out.

From the Pueblos Blancos we headed to Estepona and spent 2 nights there along the coast. Didn’t care much for the coast of Spain but maybe that is because Oregon has such a natural coastline with few large resorts. I prefer natural beauty as opposed to big resort beaches.

We also took a day trip to Morocco and explored Tetuan and Tangier. We love the cultural experience of Tetuan but could have skipped Tangier.

From Estepona we headed to Granada and spent 3 fabulous nights there. We dropped off our car the minute we got into Granada. Tapas are free with every drink you order so we would go out for a couple of beers and basically dinner was complimentary! The people were wonderful and the scenery was amazing.

We then took a bus to Malaga and stayed on the coast for 1 night before we flew up to Barcelona for a few days at the end of our trip.

We loved Barcelona, Granada and the Pueblos Blancos.

Driving was easy but if there is snow in the mountains it can be treacherous.

If you want more details I will search for my trip report.

I may have mixed up the order in which we visited places but it is pretty close to this.

Cheers!

Tamara

We spent 8 days in Andalucia alone, visiting Nerja, Granada, Sevilla and the Pueblos Blancos. We regreted that we did not have time to visit Cordoba. I think your itinerary could be done in 2 weeks but it would be very rushed. I suggest either Barcelona and Andalucia or Madrid, Toledo, Segovia and Andalucia as more managable in 2 weeks. Do some research to figure out what you most want to see. We had a car in Andalucia but if you don't plan to visit the Pueblos Blancos, you could probably manage by train.

Thank you all very much! It's really helpful. I will do some more research. Looks like two weeks might be a little rushed. Since noone mentioned Valencia, I am thinking about drop it, then we could spend more time in Sevilla and Barcelona. We don't want to spend lots of time on the road, but we don't want to just go from airport to airport either. So we will take train from Madrid(5 days) - Cordoba(1/2 day) - Sevilla(3 days) and Granada(2 days), then we will fly from Granada to Barcelona(4 days), and since my friend can't fly out Spain from Barcelona, we will fly back to Madrid then head out.
My friend and I can speak English but not a word of Spanish, is it easy for us to get around in Spain?
Thanks a million!
--&gt; Yes, eurotraveller, I really appreciate if you could email me your trip report. Thanks!

Personally, I would spned less time in Madrid and try to work in the Pueblos Blancos. That area is really amazing! You can fly from Andalusia to Barcelona to save time.

You will have no trouble getting by without knowing how to speak Spanish but I highly recommend you at least learn how to say:

Please - Por favor
Thank you - Gracias
Excuse me - Pardon

A smile and an attempt at the language is much appreciated any where in the world. I always use Pimsleur language tapes to learn the basics for any language I want to learn. It is amazing how much it helps to know some key words.

I spent about two weeks in spain and managed to see 4 cities comfortably, even though I wanted to see more.

I agree with earlier posters, research on various cities and choose 4/5 that you must see.

Remember, you have to factor in travel time. Spanish trains - though nice, tend to be on the slower side.

Also, april is too early for beachy towns - if suntanning on the beach is an activity you want to do, I would cut those cities out (ie Valencia).

Thanks everyone!
We've choose 5 cities to see (Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba-day trip, Granada &amp; Barcelona). Now we are looking for hotels in those cities. If you have any recommendation, please let us know. Our avg. budget is $60-80.
Thanks for your help!