I just booked my plane tickets and am in the early stages of planning my first trip to Spain this April. I would love feedback on my one week solo plan with a focus on Granada, Cordoba, and Sevilla. (I know this makes for a very tight itinerary, but I work in a school so have to travel within the constraints of our one week spring break. I am hoping to use this week as a scouting trip for a longer, more relaxed trip with my elderly mom through Andalusia next December, which would also include Nerja and Jerez de la Frontera.)

I am a 45 year old female, and I speak Spanish. I am most interested in exploring Moorish architecture and history on this visit. I also love delving into regional music and seeing local artisan crafts. Finally, I would love to have some great bites along the way (mostly casual but open to one splurge!) Excited that I will be in Cordoba during snail season!

The only nonstops from San Francisco to Spain were via Barcelona, so I will be starting and ending my trip there. I will be in Spain at the end of Semana Santa—too late for Good Friday processions but hope to catch the Easter morning processions in Malaga before I head to Granada.

In terms of feedback, I am wondering:

1) Any recs for the best bike or e-bike tour in Barcelona? Since I have such a short time there, I’d love to get a feel for the city on bike to help me plan out future return trips.

2) Should I cut a night from Granada and head to Cordoba early so that I can have more time in Sevilla at the end? Currently I have 2 nights in Granada, 1 night in Cordoba, and 2 nights in Sevilla, before flying back to Barcelona for the final 2 nights.

3) Is it worth attending the Sacromonte cave flamenco show in Granada if I am planning to see a flamenco show in Sevilla?

4) Is it worth visiting the Nasrid Palaces and Mezquita at night in addition to touring them in the day?

5) Where are the best places to see and shop for local artisan crafts in Andalusia? I am interested in leather work, jewelry, ceramics, tiles, etc. So far my research suggests Cordoba has many little shops worth checking out.

6) Where are the best local markets to explore for produce and small bites?

7) Finally, this might be an odd question, but I am an avid gardener and would love to try growing the precious teardrop peas (guisante lagrima) from this region. Are there any places along my trip where I could pick up seeds?

Here’s my current draft plan:

FRI 4/3 (Good Friday): Land at 4:45 PM, overnight at Room Mate Pau hotel (3 minute walk to airport bus shuttle in Plaza Catalunya)

SAT 4/4: Morning bike tour of Barcelona,
Afternoon visit to Casa Batllo

8:35 pm Vueling flight to Malaga, overnight at Hotel Boutique Teatro Roman

SUN 4/5 (Easter): Watch Sunday morning processions in Malaga, then take afternoon train to Granada (overnight at Aurea Catedral)

Check out sunset at San Nicolas Viewpoint or night tour of Nasrid Palaces

Dinner at Mirador de Morayma (will this be open on Easter Sunday?)

MON 4/6: Morning visit of Alhambra

Lunch at Los Diamantes

Afternoon wander around Albaicín and/or Cave Museum

Dinner at Bar Aliatar Los Caracoles in Albaicín

Evening flamenco show in Sacromonte caves?

TUES 4/7 Early morning train to Cordoba

Wander around city and visit garden courtyards, followed by lunch at Casa el Pisto

Possible afternoon visit to Hammam al Andalus

Dinner at Mercado de la Victoria or Regadera

See the Roman Bridge illuminated and/or take Soul of Cordoba night tour of Mezquita?

WED 4/8: Morning at Mezquita

Lunch at Casa Pepe de la Juderia or Casa Mazal

Afternoon train to Sevilla

Evening balcony tour

THUR 4/9: Morning bike tour of Sevilla

Afternoon: Wander Plaza de España or visit Palacio de las Duenas or Cathedral

Dinner at La Azotea or Casa Robles

Evening flamenco performance at Tablao Alvarez Quintero or Centro Cultural Casa de la Memoria

FRI 4/10: Visit Alcazar de Sevilla

Evening flight to Barcelona, overnight at Room Mate Pau hotel

SAT 4/11
Visit Sagrada Familia

Evening concert at Palau de la Musica Catalana

SUN 4/12
Morning visit to Park Guell
2 pm direct flight home

Thank you in advance for any feedback! Again, I recognize that it’s a tight schedule, and since I am traveling solo, I can be flexible with cutting out activities as I go if needed.

I also know that I will need to book tickets to the major sights well in advance, especially to the Alhambra on the Monday after Easter Sunday. All of the hotels I have booked are refundable, so if I have any trouble with bookings for the Alhambra or the Mezquita de Cordoba, I can change around the order of my trip if needed.

I think you saw this comment coming… IMO, you are trying to do way way WAY too much in the time you have. You could, perhaps, see the highlights of Andalusia in the time you have. Trying to visit Barcelona in the same time frame just makes it a mad dash – lots of time in transit, comparatively little time on the ground.

The only one of your questions I can meaningfully answer is # 4: Seeing the Nasrid Palace at night was, for me, a highlight of a highlight-filled trip to the area. I spent a FULL day at the Alhambra – literally, from the time it opened until they kicked me out, and still, the nighttime visit was magical. Having been there during the day, I knew what I was seeing, but now, instead of seeing it with hordes of others and with all the noise they made, I saw it with relatively few people, all of whom remained hushed. I could smell the night-blooming shrubs and hear water moving and appreciate the luxury and sensuousness of that palace in ways I couldn’t begin to imagine during the day.

FWIW, I spent the better part of a week in Barcelona, with each day filled from start to finish. I also spent some time in areas easily reached from Barcelona. Since it seems you’ve already committed to flights in and out of that city, I urge you to consider focusing on it.

If it helps you plan: I had 4 nights in Sevilla, 3 nights in Cordoba, and 2 in Granada, and I didn’t have a moment to spare.

Good luck!

P.S. Next time, you might pay less attention to whether flights are nonstop and you would, I think, do well to explore options for open-jaw flights (into one city and out of another).

Friday is a late arrival. Write off that day

Saturday evening you have a flight that will require you to leave the city by 5 or so at the latest

Sunday is Easter. Are you packing a lunch. You might find most restaurants etc closed or booked solid

Tuesday and Wednesday you're on a train. Meaning check out and in

Friday one more flight

Sunday you fly home at 2pm meaning at worst you need to leave the city at 10am. I'd even think of taking the bus before just in case. Not sure how you manage to see anything more than the bus stop.

This doesn't sound like a bad movie?

If you want those stops. See if you can fly out of BCN the day you arrive. Keeping all your Barcelona days at the end. It'll help a bit but it'll still be rushed. Which airline are you flying into Barcelona on?

@kja and @Traveler_Nick thank you for the feedback. I will plan to visit the Nasrid Palaces at night. Thank you! For Easter Sunday, I will plan to have a larger breakfast in my hotel before heading off for the day.

I did spend significant time researching open jaw flights (for instance into Malaga and out of Barcelona, or into Malaga and out of Seville), but they were significantly more expensive, had really tight layovers, or had really long layovers in other random cities. I am flying into and out of Barcelona on Iberia.

Also, having Semana Santa at the start of my trip dates made for more challenging planning. I had originally looked into flying directly into Granada or Sevilla right after landing in Barcelona. But after seeing videos of Granada and Sevilla packed wall to wall with people and the hotel rates sky high during Semana Santa, it made more sense to me to start in Barcelona, where Easter was seemingly less intense than in Andalusia, then head to Malaga to see the very tail end of the processions, and arrive in Granada as festivities in the tighter streets were winding down.

I booked my hotel in Barcelona to be as close to the airport bus shuttle as possible (3 minutes walk from Plaça de Catalunya where there is a direct shuttle to the airport) to try and make it less painful, but I do hear the feedback. I can think about cutting time out of Barcelona at the end for more time in Sevilla.

I also hear the feedback on the short turnaround time of Tuesday/Wednesday in Cordoba, but my sense is that many visitors do this as a day trip from Sevilla, so having one night there is better than none? I am a light packer, so check ins and check outs of hotels won’t be cumbersome with heavy luggage.

I thought about doing this trip in the summer, but the recent intense heat waves made me think summer in southern Spain was not the best idea.
I wish I had more flexibility to slow travel in the shoulder seasons, but as someone who works in a school, I am limited to 2 weeks in December and 1 week over spring break.

It's not the airport bus I'd worry about.

You arrive at roughly 5pm. Immigration. Checked bag? If you have both it might be six before you get to the bus stop at the airport. Okay it's only a minute to buy the ticket from the machine. You then will likely have to wait a bit before departure.

My guess is you could be arriving at the hotel just before 7pm. I admit I blank out on the bus so I'm not 100% sure how long the trip is. But it's not hugely less than an hour.

Easter Monday will likely be busy. Everywhere.

No checked bags. I travel light.

I really do understand it’s not ideal. I am trying to work within the constraints I have.

I can also take a taxi to the hotel if it’s much faster than the shuttle bus.

My understanding is that most restaurants don’t open until 8 anyway, so a late dinner on arrival night didn’t seem out of the realm of possibility.

Not sure you'll have much time for shopping, but for ceramics, Ceramica Leonardos, Calle Puerta de Almodovar 2 in Cordoba has great items. They will ship your purchases if desired.

I think that's the crux of the question about your trip, and not just about Cordoba, but about every place you plan to visit. For me, the answer is no -- I'm not fond of whirlwind visits that mean I can see only the highest of highlights, particularly as they mean I'll be doing so with masses of other people. I'd rather plan my time so that I can see everything I want to see in a place, and see it in different lights (daytime, dusk). But that's just me. It's your trip and I understand there are constraints on your time.

You are visiting 5 places in 7 days, it really doesn’t make sense to do this. Whether or not you only have 7 days is irrelevant.

Although I think Barcelona is a hideously overrated destination it’s built into your trip, else I’d cut it, and also Malaga.

Noting your preference for Moorish stuff. Since something has to go, cut Seville and Malaga. Use the high speed train to visit Granada and Cordoba from Barcelona, or maybe a flight works.

The vaunted "teardrop peas" are grown in the north, I believe, although there are other heirloom varieties.

Go to a nursery and ask, I am so sorry that this is the only advice I can give you.

They are on tables in springtime, as I recall......

I second what Eks has said about the peas. Maybe also enquire with Tourism Boards? Also, AI can sometimes help with such specific queries. Hit and miss, but why not try?
The Libertat Market up in the Gracia residential neighborhood of Barcelona is a nice, more relaxed visit compared to its more hyped, crowded, touristy cousin.
Barceloneta's equivalent market is even more removed from any touristy vibe, plus you could visit the very nearby beach as a 2-fer.

As for crafts, we were once informed long ago that one of the Pueblo Blancos was THE center for those exquisite, inlaid, marquetry boxes. If memory serves it was either Grazalema or maybe instead Zahara?
We went there through driving rain in order to keep a promise I'd earlier made to buy one for a young work colleague.
God's sense of humour. As that work year wore on, that same colleague's um, 'issues' erupted into full-blown assholery and I soon requested a transfer!
No good deed, right?

I am done. the toreador

Yikes, I hope your shoes are well worn in and you stay concentrated and focused for this fast trip. Not for me, but hey if you stay on track it is possible.

Is your Spanish, American Spanish or Spanish Spanish?

Having learned Spanish from teachers originally from Mexico, Argentina, Cuba, Spain, Columbia …doesn’t seem to mater
when I speak the language in Spain.
most people in the tourist industry tend to switch to English 🙂

Way too many destinations. As others have said you could easily spend the entire week in Barcelona and not be bored or run out of things to do. It's been a long time since I visited Granada, Cordoba, Malaga and Sevilla but I have a friend who visited these destinations in March a few years ago. Sevilla was exceptionally crowded for the Easter holidays and in Granada which is in the mountains, their day at the Alhambra was disappointing as it took place in blowing around snow.

I suggest you take the train between Barcelona and Granada, Seville or Cordoba, skipping Malaga. The travel time won’t be that much longer than flying and more relaxing.

Maybe head to Cordoba by train on arrival in Barcelona, avoiding an additional hotel move and travel to Barcelona at the end of your holiday. The time allocated to Malaga could be spent in your other destinations.

We have visited these Andalucina cities several times - you will love them! As it’s a scouting trip with limited time, fair enough.On previous trips we have occasionally had only one day in each but still found that time rewarding.That said, I enjoy a fairly fast paced itinerary.

Personally, I would drop a formal sit down lunch a bit more often and devote the time to sightseeing with a carry out sandwich eaten somewhere with a great view.Mirador San Nicolas comes to mind or in the Alhambra’s grounds for example re Granada with perhaps just a coffee stop instead of a sit down meal.

The view from the Mirador to the Alhamabra IMO is one of the world’s best vistas of a man made site - hopefully, you’ll get the snowy Sierra Nevada rearing behind the red fort itself.

We dined at Mirador Carmen Axia and had a great experience - several restaurants offer Alhambra views from that area.

I’’d be tempted to do the HoHo bus in Barcelona to get your bearings and visit the Sagrada that morning rather than devote more time to it at the end of your trip.Use that time for Seville or more time in Cordoba.I wouldn't cut time from Granada.

We saw a very traditional, non touristy flamenco show in Seville which was stunning though very formal, maybe not as flamboyant as the Granada option.I wished we had experienced the latter too..but do plenty research to pick a good one.

Outside Cordoba given your interests, is Medina Azahara with a bus going out to other site.There is also the superb Christian Castle of Cordoba,beautiful gardens too.

Way, way, way too much on your agenda.

I too am not a fan of Barcelona and would just use it as your airport only. And, if this is truly a scouting trip for Andalucía, why would you even spend time in Barcelona?