YNPgirl

Hi all,
I am just getting around to finalizing our 25th anniversary trip itinerary to Spain. Fodors forum has been my go to for taking travel advice and I always check in with you all before I book anything . Here is the itinerary we are thinking with tentative travel dates in early March.

Total 14 nights ( Madrid - 5 nights, Seville - 3 nights( day trip to Cardoba), Granada - 2 nights, Barcelona - 4 nights)
Day 1: Arrive in Madrid from California
Days 2-5 : Explore Madrid with a day trip to Toledo
Day 6 : Madrid to Seville by train
Day 6-8 : Explore Seville and a day trip to Cordoba
Day 7-9: Seville to Granada by train and explore Granada
Day 10 : fly to Barcelona from Granda
Day 11-13: Barcelona with a day trip to Girona
Day 14: Depart Barcelona to CA

Does this seem doable ? Anything I need to adjust before booking the flights ? I will start looking at other threads for hotel recommendation. But you have any, please throw it in here and I will gladly take it .

Thanks again for your help.

KarenWoo

I think this is a very rushed trip with too many daytrips. Is Barcelona an absolute necessity for the trip? Do you like fast paced travel to see a few major sites? Or do you prefer to see some major sites, some hidden gems, and have time for walking and exploring each place? To get a better sense of a place? And what are your interests? For example, while I like Madrid, for me the big draw is its outstanding art museums. If you don't plan on spending a lot of time in the art museums, then I would take away one night from Madrid and add it to Seville. Seville is the largest city in Andalusia with lots of important cultural and historical sites, and it's a beautiful city for exploring. I would spend a minimum of 4 nights in Seville, especially with a daytrip to Cordoba. Better yet, I would spend a night or two in Cordoba, which is lovely at night when the Mezquita is illuminated and the daytrippers have left. If you absolutely can't fit it an overnight or two in Cordoba, then by all means visit Cordoba as a daytrip from Seville. It's not ideal but it's better to see Cordoba as a daytrip than not at all.

A possible itinerary could be:
OPTION 1:
Madrid - 4 nights (with a daytrip to Toledo)
Seville - 4 nights (with a daytrip to Cordoba)
Granada - 2 nights
Barcelona - 4 nights (Barcelona is a huge city with many interesting sites. I really don't think you have time to visit Girona, which I love, unless you aren't interested in some of the Gaudi sites in Barcelona)

OR you could omit Barcelona - the outlier - from this trip and visit another time and include Girona and Costa Brava at that time.
OPTION 2:
Madrid - 4 nights
Toledo - 2 nights
Cordoba - 2 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Seville - 4 nights
fly home from Seville

If Barcelona is an absolute must for you, and if you don't think you will visit Spain again, then by all means keep it in your itinerary.

Maribel

Agree with KarenWoo about both Options and especially regarding Option 2, saving Barcelona + Girona + Costa Brava for another trip.

But...about flying home from Sevilla to California.... If it's to LAX, the quickest route, total travel time of 16 hrs, 50 min, would be to depart on the Iberia 9:45 am flight and connect through Barcelona (strangely enough). Connecting through Madrid would be a far longer journey home to the West Coast.
See matrix.itasoftware.com for connections.

Just note that Holy Week in 2024 runs from March 24-March 31. Hotel rates during that week in Sevilla, especially, will be very expensive and crowds very, very large. I already have my reservations for Córdoba and Sevilla during that time.

YNPgirl

KarenWoo Thank you so much for the suggestions. I don't know when we will be able to make another trip to Spain, so we would still like to keep Barcelona in the itinerary. I however added a day in Seville and considering adding a day in Barcelona. So the revised itinerary looks something like this
Madrid - 5 nights (with a daytrip to Toledo)
Seville - 4 nights (with a daytrip to Cordoba)
Granada - 2 nights
Barcelona - 4 -5 nights (with a day trip to Girona) ,
I am an artist and usually spend hours at art museums ( have visited quite a few in Europe) . But my husband not so much. He is a history buff, GOT fan and a foodie. So trying to balance both of our interests this time . Planning to skip Prado and go to Reina Sofia in Madrid which hosts work different from my traditional landscape style.This trip is going to be just major sites focused on cuture/history and of course food
Another reason for staying put in one place and doing day trip, we don't want to constantly keep changing hotels every two days. That's why I have added Toledo, Cordoba and Girona as day trip. I may add a day to Barcelona to accommodate day trip to Girona. Hoping this is somewhat of a happy medium for managing the pace and site seeing. Will start looking at flights and hotels next.

Maribel Thank you ! We are flying from SFO. Targeting first two weeks of March. We will have to be back before the Holy week

TDudette

YNPgirl, here's my TR for Madrid:

Madrid and London

I'm a fan of art so this might give you ideas for that wonderful city.

TDudette

Scroll down to #96 for the actual TR....shared a lot of planning discussion first.

KarenWoo

Hi YNPgirl, I certainly understand your desire to visit Barcelona and Girona on this trip. If you can, I highly recommend spending 5 nights in Barcelona (instead of 4) so that you can visit Girona as a daytrip. Barcelona is a large city that has so many wonderful, exciting sites, such as all the Gaudi sites, museums, cathedrals, etc. And you are definitely wise in spending 4 nights in Seville, especially since you will be visiting Cordoba as a daytrip from Seville.

Here is the link to my TR from 2017 that includes Madrid, Toledo, and Andalucia, in case you are interested.
OUR 2-WEEK SPANISH JOURNEY: MADRID, TOLEDO, AND ANDALUCIA!

If you haven't done so already, I suggest reading studenttobe's very recent TR for Andalucia and Madrid. And lrice is currently in Seville. Her post is not designated as a TR, but she is writing about restaurants they are dining at and sightseeing. All these might help with hotels, restaurants, sightseeing, etc.

And hopefully Maribel will post again. She is a wealth of information regarding restaurant suggestions, accommodations, and sightseeing.

Sassafrass

IMHO, you should not skip the Prado. It is, IMHO, one of the greatest museums in Europe. My husband is not as into art as me, but he loved the Prado. He thinks it is one of the most exciting, interesting Art museums we have seen. He usually wanders ahead of me and waits, but in the Prado, he kept coming back to find me to show me paintings he had “discovered.”

Maribel

Since you'll be back in California before Holy Week you'll miss the tremendous crowds in the south.

I would do the following (because there's so very, very much to see in both Madrid and Barcelona and day trips will take up, well, most of the day):

Madrid - 5 nights (with a daytrip to Toledo)
Seville - 4 nights (with a daytrip to Cordoba)
Granada - 2 nights
Barcelona - 5 nights (with a day trip to Girona)

danon

Ditto!🇪🇸

Maribel

We think alike, danon! 🇪🇸

When are you going to join me here? Christmas is magical in Madrid

danon

Muchas gracias..I would love to be in Madrid most of the year….but there is my husband and our cat who keep me in Toronto😺
I have already booked Icon Casona and bought tickets for Mutua Madrid Open !

mjs

i like Maribel's itinerary

Revulgo

or the Gallery of Royal Collections
https://www.spottedbylocals.com/madr...ciones-reales/

Maribel

YNPgirl,
For your day trip to Toledo, if possible, you may want to avoid a Sunday or Monday? Why?
On Sundays the cathedral doesn't open for tourist visits until 2:00 pm but closes at 6:30 pm.
On Mondays note that the El Greco Museum, the Alcázar Military Museum and the Synagogue of the Transit and its Sephardic Museum are closed.Monuments remain open in the winter season until 5:45-6 pm and in spring/summer/fall until 6:00- 7:30 pm. depending on the site. Pre-Easter March will be winter season still.

And for your day trip, you should take the high-speed AVANT train from Puerta de Atocha-Almudena Grandes rail station. The ride takes 30+ minutes to Toledo's pretty neo-mudéjar train station. Although you don't need to purchase these tickets well in advance, you should do so a couple of days ahead of time if possible. Despite what you might read, these AVANT trains DO sell out at busy times, especially the most popular departure times (8:30 and 9:15) and return times (5:10). Thanks to this high-speed line, Toledo-Madrid has become a commuter route.
Just look a few days ahead to see if any of the next day's trains have sold out. Today, for tomorrow, there are plenty of tickets, but you never know. The AVANT fares are static; they don't increase closer to your departure date. And there's a round-trip discount of 20%.

From the Toledo train station you can take multiple city buses to the center, the Plaza Zocodover. Bus fare for 2023 is 1.40, but notes over 5 euros aren't accepted, so make sure to have change. You can't pay your bus fare by c.c.

A museum “gem” in Toledo that some visitors miss because it isn’t located with the other famous monuments/museums in the Jewish Quarter: the Hospital Museo de Santa Cruz, considered one of the finest provincial museums in Spain. It has a magnificent marble staircase and elaborate Plateresque coffered ceilings. It’s housed in a beautiful 16th century Renaissance hospital built by Cardenal Mendoza and has a fine and vast collection from Neolithic, to Visigoth to Roman mosaics to 16th century masterpieces (12 by El Greco, including his Annunciation) to Flemish tapestries, to the 20th century. On the first floor ceramics enthusiastic (like me) find one of Spain’s finest collection of ceramics from all regions of Spain and from Portugal. This museum is also affiliated with the Prado so you may find some special exhibits from the Prado’s collection there. And it’s open on Mondays.

YNPgirl

Thanks you all so much for sharing the trip reports and suggestions on the itinerary. KarenWoo TDudette Sassafrass danon mjs Revulgo . I will definitely keep this mind while planning.

Maribel Huge thank you to you for the suggestions and tips. Also saw your responses to others questions while researching the forums for hotels and itinerary suggestions here. You are such wealth of information and I really appreciate your contribution. I am keeping the itinerary you have suggested. The only issue I am trying to resolve now is the pet sitter situation for my two small dogs which seems to be more challenging than flights and hotels . Hoping to book the flights tonight.
One question - Should I switch the order of Seville and Granada ? i.e Take train from Madrid to Granada, stay the two nights and then head to Seville. Reason being, I saw there is a high speed train from Seville to Barcelona (~5.30 hrs), which may not be a bad idea instead of flying to Barcelona if I count the drive to/fro airports, security checks etc. What would you recommend ? Depending on that I will book hotels.
Also I initial hotel shortlist are below
Madrid - Catalonia Las Cortes
Granada - Hotel Casa 1800 Granada
Seville - Hotel Alfanso X111 or Hotel 1800 Seville
Barcelona - Hotel H10 Madison ? Still looking

Excited to start building my detailed itinerary next . Thanks again !

Maribel

Yes, you can switch the order, and yes, there's a high speed train from Sevilla to Barcelona. In fact, there is one daily AVE that doesn't require a train change in Madrid. It parts at 8:37 and arrives Barcelona Sants at 14:19. It goes around Madrid without stopping. I would book Elige Confort seats for a larger seat and more leg room. If you want to be able to use the Sala Club lounge at Santa Justa and have a meal at your seat during the ride, you could book Premium tickets, but there's usually a big difference in price.

About your hotels,
the Alfonso XIII is indeed Seville's Grande Dame hotel (many Latin Grammy nominees stayed there recently)
but since it came under the Marriott umbrella, I've noted some slippage in service. Perhaps not in the rooms but in the service in the dining areas, if that matters. The Casa 1800 in Seville is about as close to the Cathedral and Alcázar as a hotel can get (as is the Mercer EME), which means you'll have lots of crowds when you step out the door, if that matters.

Of all the Barcelona H10s, I like the Metropolitan and the Casa Mimosa but have no experience with the Madison only because I prefer to stay away from the heavy crowds in the Gothic Quarter and not to have to use extra vigilance against pickpockets. I stay in the Eixample instead....just a personal preference. But also because my favorite dining spots are located in the Eixample..

Sassafrass

[QUOTE=YNPgirl;17518633]Thanks you all so much for sharing the trip reports and suggestions on the itinerary. KarenWoo TDudette Sassafrass danon mjs Revulgo . I will definitely keep this mind while planning.

The only issue I am trying to resolve now is the pet sitter situation for my two small dogs which seems to be more challenging than flights and hotels .

I really feel for you with finding pet care. I love to travel, but have cancelled plans when I didn’t feel my pets were in great care. I have had some great sitters, but it took a lot of work and interviews to find them.

Maribel

About a Girona day trip,
RENFE (the Spanish Rail Network) runs very handy high-speed AVANT trains between Barcelona and Girona that get you there in just 39 minutes, which is my preferred way to go on a day trip. Like the AVANT trains between Sevilla and Córdoba and those between Madrid Atocha and Toledo, the fares are static and don´t increase closer to departure. They're now priced at €27.80 round trip, one class of service.

There is a very handy, large tourist office at the beginning of Rambla Libertat 1, after crossing the bridge over the Onyar into the Old Town, whose employees are very helpful and will point out the most important sites, including GOT and their opening hours on a map.

What I enjoy visiting---the Cathedral, with the widest nave in the world, its museum housing the Tapestry of the Creation (the combo ticket also allows entrance to the Basilica of Sant Feliú), the Arab baths (that are actually Christian), the Museum of Art, wandering through the Call, the evocative, labryinth-like ancient Jewish quarter with its Jewish History museum, and walking some of the walls of the Passeig Arqueoògic. There' just lots and lots of things to see in Girona that may take up the entire day. That's why I take the fast train rather than the slower regional or MD trains.

This is a great trip about this beautiful city with lovely photos
Girona - yesss!

For your husband the food lover, there's the Michelin-starred Roca brothers' ice cream shop, Rocambalesc, their new sandwich shop, Rocambolesc Bikineria, that serves bikinis (that are ham and cheese sandwiches plus pastrami, burrata and truffle, Iberian ham and vegetarian), their restaurant Normal and their chocolate shop, Casa Cacao.
And for a locally produced vermouth (vermut is the very popular aperitif in Catalunya), the La Malabarista Vermutería at Plaça Bell-Lloc.

YNPgirl

Sassafrass Yes ! We have a retired couple who we love and they take good care of the pups. But all my vacation plan revolves around their vacation