Where should I go in Spain for 2 weeks? Add Lisbon?
 

I would like to visit Spain this October. My SO is restricted to dates of October 15-30. I have more flexibility and could stay on to explore a little more, but I'd be on my own.

Is there a recommended itinerary of where to go/how many days to stay each place in a two week trip? I know it's certainly not an ideal amount of time to see a ton. What is the recommended mode of cost-effective transport around the country - train or drive?

Does Lisbon - Seville - Granada - Madrid - Barcelona sound reasonable for 2 weeks?

Maybe this isn't relevant....but the last time we went to Italy, it was also a 2 week trip and we did the following: flew into Rome; couple days in Rome; train to Naples and spent a couple of days seeing Naples, Pompeii, and Positano; train back to Rome and a few more days there; drove to central Tuscany and did little day trips to different areas for several days; drove to Parma and Bologna and spent a couple of days there; drove to Venice and spent the last couple of days there, then flew home from Venice. We certainly weren't expecting to see everything in any one place and of course more time would have been terrific, but it was fun to experience a number of different places and it was one of our very favorite trips.

Does Lisbon - Seville - Granada - Madrid - Barcelona sound reasonable for 2 weeks?>

Possible but not reasonable for many - travel between most of those places will take most of a day.

I'd skip Lisbon and Portugal and make that a separate trip later - then it is doable.

Fly into Seville area
Granada
Madrid
Barcelona

still a bit rushed but tolerable.

Trains - book early for sweet discount deals - www.renfe.com the Spanish Railways official site (tough to use for many however) - for lots of info on Spanish trains check www.seat61.com - great info on discounted tickets; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

Fair enough, thanks. Looking into it further I realize the distances are a little more than I'd initially thought.

Here is our 2015 trip to Spain (in words and photos)...Five days longer than you have planned (but you could skip the one day we visited Ronda and White Towns). Loved Spain! Not counting that one day, we visited Barcelona, Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba (you could do a daytrip to see Mezqita from Sevilla), Toledo (people say to make a day trip, we spent three nights and loved it) and Madrid. Hopefully this will give you some ideas. Don't forget the Spanish GinTonics!!

<B>http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/spain-2015/</B>

((H))

I might be a little biased here as I am from Lisbon... ;)
But if you don't have the opportunity to come back soon to this area, I would suggest you to include Lisbon in your route. It's definitely a city that is worth to visit! ;)

Still I agree with PalenQ that the full Lisbon - Seville - Granada - Madrid - Barcelona route for 2 weeks will be too much.
I would recommend you to focus on Lisbon - Madrid - Barcelona. These are the greatest cities, and you have direct 1 hour flights between each city.

If you decide to come to Lisbon you can have a look at my blog with some nice tips I've been collecting this past years that I give to foreign friends coming to visit: www.allaboutlisbon.com

Enjoy your trip!

For me, the trip you describe would be WAY too rushed -- but that's irrelevant, as what matters is what will work for <u>you</u>, and the only way to determine that is for you to do a bit of research. I recommend that you get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting oriented, etc.). Only then can you see how things fit together.

Definitely consider the trains, but for more transportation information, check rome2rio.com

Spain is delightful, and your time frame could work exceptionally well for southern Spain (Andalusia). Enjoy!

Lisbon is easily reached from Barcelona ( by Vueling) or Madrid ( by Easyjet)
Perhaps, 4-5 days in each city with some day trips?
There is much to see in Spain, but Lisbon is also very interesting .

I would recommend you to focus on Lisbon - Madrid - Barcelona. These are the greatest cities, and you have direct 1 hour flights between each city.>

agree with manelima on those three great cities making a neat trip - from Madrid do a day trip to Toledo - one of the most dreamy old-world cities I've seen in all of Europe - just an hour or so away from frequent cheap trains.

flying Lisbon to Madrid makes sense since it is virtually impossible to go between them in the day though there is an overnight train that would be the ultimate time-saver and you also save on the cost of a hotel.

Barcelona to Madrid is now about 3-4 hours I believe with high-speed trains so a viable option to flying.

Barcelona, Madrid and Sevilla are on the high speed AVE train line. From Madrid to Barcelona in 2h 30 mins and from Madrid to Sevilla also in only 2h 30 mins, city center to city center. Departures all the time (renfe.com).

Sevilla is the undisputed queen of the cities in the South of Spain, one of the most important cities in the world in the century following the "discovery" of America. History, tradition and modernity hand in hand all over town. http://www.andalucia.com/cities/sevilla.htm
Typical tapas tour in the lovely and local atmosphere Triana district in Sevilla: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mFE9k0E-2Y

I haven't been to Lisbon but also would not include it in this trip. We were in Southern Spain (loved it!) and Madrid last year, Barcelona a number of years earlier. I would do Sevilla-Granada-Madrid-Barcelona, and in 2 weeks, that's barely enough time, but doable. As kimhe says, Sevilla is the "queen" of Southern Spain, and rightly deserves time, while each of the other cities.

I'm not sure how many nights you actually have, and how you divide them up will be determined by what your interests are - for me, I so loved Sevilla, I would put as many nights there as you can spare! Madrid is the museum capital, and rightly deserves several days to explore them as well as other sights. Granada is not just the Alhambra -- I'd give it 3 nights, and the other cities, 4 (or more) nights. Lots to see in each of these cities, so the challenge will be on prioritizing your interests.

And here's a fine "top ten" intro to Sevilla: http://www.andalucia.com/top10s/seville.htm

Great theaters, cultural scene, nightlife, tapas bars and restaurants, and a cradle of the flamenco culture so important for the region. You are a little late for the huge Bienal de Flamenco from September 8 to October 2, but plenty of places in Sevilla to experience top of the shelf flamenco also in late October: http://www.sevillaflamenco.com/

And here's a great guide to tapas bars in Sevilla. Azahar lives here and knows everything there is to know about the food scene. http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/tapas-101/
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/restaurants/

I agree with kimhe about Seville being super - few cities this romantically old worldish.

Thanks so much for all the great advice everyone!! Having thought more about it, I agree it's too much for a short trip. Especially after more research and realizing it's not as easy as I thought it would be to get from Lisbon to Seville. Now the tough part of deciding what to cut out!! Thanks again.

Hello. I came to get some wisdom from Fodors on a Portugal trip I am in early stages of planning and found this thread on Spain. Having spent 5 weeks in Spain last Nov-Dec, I thought I'd give some input...had I only had 2 weeks.
I personally am not a 2-3 nite in a city kind of traveller... Not at my age (66).
Just for reference I spent 3 nites in Gerona (one day trip is easily doable from BCN and I'd rec'd it,
Barcelona is so rich that it really deserves at least 4nts just to get a fraction of what it offers in. From BCN I flew Veuling to Granada which was cheap and 90 min flight. Granada 2 nts (3 better) but be very sure you get Alhambra tickets for your specific dates (I had to rearrange my own itinerary as I was shut out even planning to purchase 60 days out ). To miss strolling the streets and alleys of the old quarter would be a shame which is why I really would not stay less than two full days there. I also rec'd getting a tix for a nite visit to the Alhambra Nasrid Palace.
From Granada I spent 3 nts in Rhonda. Two would have been enough. Train to Sevilla for one week.
Ahhhh Sevilla. This is a must and I suggest 3/4 nts here with an easy day trip to Córdoba for the Mezquita. Madrid was my last week in Spain and I personally left my heart there. This was a personal attraction though and I know there are many who view Madrid as "if you are into art" but for me I found it unique in that it still felt old worldly and not as slick and cosmopolitan as BCN. From Madrid Toledo is very quick 40 min bus trip. For the sake of the op question now having re-thought how I would condense it...
Fly into BCN - 4 nts
Fly to Granada - 2 nts
Train to Sevilla - 4 nts
Train to Madrid -3 nts
Fly out of MAD
If you in fact have 14 nts? I'd add it to BCN.

There is also an overnight train between Barcelona and Granada/Seville I believe vs flying - the overnight train saves money perhaps and time for sure over flying as you save on the cost of a hotel room and travel at night thru scenery that is very mundane.

doloresb121 - Thanks so much for your input! Appreciate the condensed trip breakdown and the day trip suggestions. Sounds like you had an amazing time! I really look forward to being able to take longer trips someday!

PalenQ - Thanks for the tip on the overnight train! I think someone else mentioned it as well and it sounds like a great idea to save money and time! Plus a neat experience.

We have been to Spain and Portugal many times. I would concentrate on Spain. When you visit Barcelona, Madrid, and Sevilla, in essence you are visiting three different countries as the culture, architecture, art, food, and history are all very different. Even the languages are different. While they speak Castilian in all three, Catalan is the dominant language in Barcelona and in the south they speak with an accent far different than the middle of the country.

Krikopal...You're very welcome. I did not take the trip up to Montserrat whilst in BCN, but if you have a day trip option that is certainly another one I'd consider.
Yes, we all hope we make it to this stage in life with our health allowing us to pursue these travel dreams.... And Spain was just that! So much more to see and explore there and I was only able to scratch the surface on all it has to offer. It's a beautiful country with a unique and beautiful spirit.
Btw, I also had wanted to include Lisbon on that trip, but then what about Porto.....and the list kept growing. I decided I had to draw boundary lines and save Portugal for another trip. I suggest the same to you.

Enjoy!