CEK

Hi everyone. We are very fortunate to have 15 full days in Spain in September and really need to get a wriggle on in finalising our plans which is proving slightly overwhelming! Going through our battle of wanting to do too many things but conscious that we need some relaxation and time to immerse ourselves in the places we are visiting. Only firm travel plans are flying into Madrid & flying out of Barcelona. On Madrid, we know we don't have enough time to explore it, but it was the only appropriate city in terms of arrival time from our previous destination. Our interests: a little bit of art & culture, food (particularly authentic local spots) want a balance of big cities & getting off the beaten track & exploring nature and small towns (we won't have a car though)

Keen to get your thoughts on the below draft itinerary?

Fly into Madrid, spend one night then train from Madrid to Seville
5 nights Seville, then train from Seville to Granada
2 nights Granada, then train from Granada to Cordoba
2 nights Cordoba, then fly from Cordoba to Barcelona
6 nights Barcelona

None of these are locked in so can play around with durations, destinations & keen to do a couple of day trips. We had Valencia highly recommended, but not sure if we can fit it in. Similarly, we love swimming, beach & pool time and would have loved to do an island, but again...not enough time so hoping Barcelona beaches will do the trick. Open to a beach destination if we could fit it in, but not keen on Malaga.

Any feedback or recommendations welcome!

Thank you so much!!!

Madam397

It would be a shame to visit Madrid but not have time to visit the Prado, one of the world's great museums

KarenWoo

I think you have a great itinerary planned with a good amount of nights in each place. And very happy to see that you are spending 2 nights in Cordoba. So many people visit Cordoba as a daytrip from Seville, and I think they are missing out on a lot. Cordoba is a lovely city with many things to do there in addition to the amazing Mezquita.

I do agree with Madam397 that it's a shame to spend only one night in Madrid. Madrid has some outstanding art museums. The Prado is one of my favorites along with the Reina Sofia. We also enjoyed walking around Retiro Park and drinking sangria by the lake. You could take one night from Seville and/or one night from Barcelona and add it to Madrid so that you can have 2 or 3 nights in Madrid.

I don't think you can fly from Cordoba to Barcelona, so a better routing would be:

After Madrid, take the train to Cordoba
Spend 2 nights in Cordoba
Train to Seville
Spend 4 or 5 nights in Seville
Train or bus to Granada
Spend 2 nights in Granada
Fly to Barcelona from Granada
Spend 5 or 6 nights in Barcelona

I think Malaga is a wonderful destination. There is so much to see and do there. But I think including Malaga would make your trip more hectic, and you would have to take nights away from somewhere else.

Maribel

You can't fly from Córdoba to Barcelona, as KarenWoo notes. Hers is a much better routing.

Revulgo

As often happens, Madrid seems underrated.

hetismij2

Take at least one night, preferably 2, from Barcelona and add to Madrid.
I am not a fan of Barcelona I admit.

neckervd

Barcelona is a sympathic and interesting city. But 6 nights there are way too much.

If you want to fly to Barcelona, do it from Sevilla.

You planned:
Madrid - Cordoba - Sevilla
Sevilla - Cordoba - Granada
Granada - Cordoba
Cordoba - Barcelona.

You can do so, but then you must reach Barcelona from Cordoba by direct train.
for example Cordoba dp 17.10 - Barcelona ar 21.54

Maribel

As to flying from Seville to Barcelona or from Granada to Barcelona, you'll have more daily non-stop options from Sevilla (8 daily) than from Granada (4 daily).

So, you may want to consider this alternate routing,
Madrid-Córdoba by Renfe´s AVE or the snazzy Italian IRYO, which ever departure fits best into your itinerary
Córdoba-Granada (on the high speed AVE or AVANT)
Granada-Sevilla by Renfe train or by Alsa bus, whichever fits best with your itinerary, both are comfortable, I've done both--bus is less expensive and just a tad longer ride.
Sevilla-Barcelona (by plane)

Sevilla-Barcelona by train: one daily morning direct train, circumventing Madrid's Puerta de Atocha. Takes about 5 hours 40 min.

Beach day: rather than Barcelona's urban beaches, take the Rodalies commuter train R2 from Barcelona's Sants station out to Sitges for a nice beach day. 37 minute ride

debinthepeg

We did a similar trip a few years back. I think you have a great itinerary to allow you to experience each destination. I leave how to schedule each destination to the advice others have provided.

We loved Cordoba and were so glad we didn’t just do it as a day trip - good choice to overnight there. We did 5 nights in Barcelona with one day trip and we saw everything we wanted to. We did 3 nights in Seville, no day trips, again seeing everything we wanted to. If you want an extra day or two in Madrid, I believe you could drop a day from Seville and/or Barcelona. We also went to Toledo from Madrid and overnighted for 1 quick night. We really enjoy the cities after all of the day trippers leave and are always happy we stayed overnight.

You are right, there is so much to see in Spain. So much so, we did another trip a year later to see some of what we couldn’t fit into our first trip. We still haven’t seen Alhambra, so we may have to return again!

Enjoy your trip. It will be great with wherever you’re able to visit!

kja

CEK: I think your allocation of nights makes a lot of sense, particularly if re-ordered as others have suggested.

I guess it depends on one's interests. For me, 6 nights was just right for Barcelona. If interested, you can check my trip report to see what I did with my time there.

susanring6411

No

HappyTrvlr

Please remove!