Hi all. Will be doing 2 weeks in May arriving on 13 in Madrid early evening and departing from Barcelona on 26. Looking for suggestions on places in between. Some suggestions made to us were Toledo, Valencia, Tarragona, Sitges, Girona. not looking to do all which is why I came here. We are outdoorsy and not huge on art museums so our time in Madrid will likely be the shortest. We are trying to go to a football match if we are able. We will not have a car and will be doing train travel. Any advice on that is welcome as well. Thanks in advance

What are your interests besides being outdoorsy? Do you like history, culture, important sites such as the Alhambra, Mezquita, etc. Do you have 13 nights on the ground?

If it were my trip, I would definitely visit Andalucia which is filled with awesome history and culture. It will be warm but not as hot as during the summer months. I would include the top 3 Andalusian cities of Seville, Cordoba and Granada. All 3 are beautiful cities and they are all very different from each other. Granada has the Alhambra; Cordoba has the Mezquita; and Seville has the Real Alcazar. Seville, IMO is particularly beautiful with its plazas, parks, fountains, and beautiful architecture. You really need to do some research on your own to decide what interests you. I recommend Lonely Planet, Michelin Green Guide and Rough Guides. I believe there is some hiking near Granada. Maybe others can chime in where the hiking is.

Toledo is interesting, too, with a cathedral, mosque and synagoges, and art museums and a medieval center. It once was a Judaic, Christian, and Islamic melting pot. Girona is also a lovely medieval walled city with a river running through it. But you don't have time to see it all.

A possible itinerary could be:
Madrid - 3 nights (normally I would recommend 4 nights but you aren't interested in the art museums)
Seville - 3 nights
Cordoba - 1 - 2 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Barcelona - 4 nights

OR spend 4 nights in Seville with a daytrip to Cordoba to minimize moving around. But I think staying overnight in Cordoba is more rewarding.

If you are really interested in Girona, then you could omit one of the Andalusian cities, but I honestly think it doesn't make sense to do this. If you include Andalusia in your itinerary, you probably wouldn't return to the region to see what you missed, or do you think you would? Maybe save Girona for a trip to the Costa Brava some day.

Have you actually made your airline reservations? If not, another possibility is to fly into Madrid and home from Seville, and make this a Madrid/Toledo/Andalusia trip.

We did do some research and had posted previously and gotten feedback with the posted cities so now trying to narrow down. We are not interested in visiting the Alhambra on this trip but maybe in the future. We are okay with a couple museums and cathedrals and did a lot of that on our last trip to Italy and enjoy culture/history/architecture. We also enjoy food wine scene photography and walking/hiking. We considered Cordoba but it didn’t seem there was much there that warranted us staying over. Seville looks beautiful but as you said it’s a bit out of the way for us and would be a long train journey to Barcelona.

our airfare is set as price wise/layovers just didn’t work out with our dates and home airport. we arrive in Madrid on May 13 so that’s correct we have 13 nights total and leave the morning of May 26.

May 15 is a local holiday in Madrid but bars, restaurants and many shops are open.
https://www.esmadrid.com/en/whats-on/sanisidro-madrid

jkfackler7056, I didn't know you had posted previously on Fodors.

If you do visit Seville, you shouldn't take the train to Barcelona. You should fly. Vueling and Iberia have non-stop flights.

If you want to hike, I don't know if you can do this without a car. But hopefully others with more knowledge than me can give better advice. Hopefully, Maribel will respond. She is our Spain expert.

For hiking, I know there is the Alpujarras region in the Sierra Nevada, not too far from Granada. But I think you would need a car. There are also the white hill towns, such as Ronda. I think there is hiking in this region. And about an hour's drive from Seville is Donana NP. We didn't go to these places so I can't give specific advice but you can research them.

Regarding Cordoba, there is a lot to see there but it might not meet your interests. We visited the Mezquita, the Alcazar and its lovely gardens, Palacio de Viana with its 12 patios (a hidden gem, not crowded when we were there), the Roman Bridge. And we loved exploring the Juderia with its white-washed walls, narrow lanes, patios and flowers.

If you decide to skip Andalucia on this trip, you can spend more time in Barcelona and the environs there. We spent 6 nights in Barcelona and then did a 3-night roadtrip along the Costa Brava, overnighting in Cadaques and Girona. I know you can take a train to Girona, and I think you can take a bus to Figueres, but not sure if there is public transportation to Cadaques. From Cadaques, you can walk to Cap de Creus and do some hiking there. Or if you have a car, you can drive there. I think the walk is 4 hours RT. Cap de Creus is the easternmost point in Spain and gives you awesome views of the Mediterranean and the Pyrenees. There is a lovely walk to the lighthouse.
https://www.timeout.com/girona/thing...t-cap-de-creus

From Girona we spent a day exploring the Eastern Catalan Pyrenees. Spectacular and stunning scenery. There would be lots of hiking opportunities here. Stopped in Besau, Rupit, Vic and Ripoll (the farthest we drove). The only problem is I think you will need a car to do this.

Barcelona, as I am sure you know, has wonderful quirky Gaudi architecture and others, too. Think of the Palau de Musica. And wonderful old neighborhoods to explore. Visit Gracia where the locals live. It's quieter than other parts of Barcelona.

I haven't been to Sitges, Valencia, or Tarragona so can't help you with that.

thanks so much for all these wonderful suggestions. we don’t necessarily have to hike on this trip but if there are accessible walks with lovely views we are always up for that of course. I don’t know that we will rent a car this go so your suggestion of Girona may be a definite possibility since we can get there via train. This is our sixth trip abroad but our first since we’ve had our little one - he won’t be with us - so it’s also our shortest trip. I’ve seen some of Maribel’s comments on other posts and she does seem to be an expert
Valencia was partially on the list as it seemed nice and also in case of the way the days fell for a football match if we couldn’t make Madrid or Barcelona

any advice on where to stay in Madrid or Barcelona?

We stayed at the Mercure Madrid Centro, Calle Lope de Vega 49 when we were in Madrid. We were very happy with the hotel and its proximity to the Prado and Reina Sofia. I realize you might not be interested in visiting the art museums. We also walked to Retiro Park, Plaza del Angel, Plaza Santa Ana, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor and the Mercado San Miguel from here. When we visited the Royal Palace we took a taxi from our hotel. The hotel is also a block away from Calle de Jesus with all its tapas restaurants. If you prefer to be in a different location, I suggest you search form Maribel's posts. She is a wealth of information on where to stay and the best restaurants. She lives in Spain and gives invaluable information. Personally I wouldn't stay in Puerta del Sol. It's very busy, very crowded, and very loud.
https://all.accor.com/hotel/9618/ind...ce=google+Maps

For Barcelona I recommend the Eixample neighborhood. This area contains most of Barcelona's Art Nouveau (Moderniste) architecture, including Gaudi's Sagrada Familia. It's a very convenient location; we walked almost everywhere. Once or twice we took a taxi or public bus depending on where we were going. We stayed at the Hotel Gran Via, Gran Via Corts Catalanes 642.
https://www.hotelgranvia.com/en

Not having a car will limit you. You could travel through Aragon, but trains and buses will mostly leave you still in cities and villages. There are many outdoor adventures that await you, but you'd have to figure out how to get to those.

i recommend the Aragon website if you are looking for ideas:
https://www.turismodearagon.com

Look into the parque natural monasterio de piedra. I also like the idea of walking the Pajazo between Martin del Rio and Las Parras de Martin. It depends on how outdoorsy you want to get.

Girona has the most amazing cycle paths going way out and city lanes with people traveling from all over to cycle. Might be more fun than hiking

Thanks everyone. I guess I should edit my post about the outdoors. We do enjoy hiking and did quite a bit on our last trip but due to our limited time understand that since we are not renting a car we likely won’t be doing much of that. We more meant that we didn’t want to all our time inside doing tours and museums. We are fine with cities and were looking for suggestions on worthwhile visits in between Madrid and Barcelona accessible by train. Some of what I listed in my initial post were places suggested to us previously but were open to others. Thanks again for all suggestions really appreciated