Is it too complicated

Unless you're filming a sequel to Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, that's way too much travel. I'd seriously just focus on one country, both Spain and Italy are huge with plenty to see for they time you'll be there. If you must see both Spain and Italy, then cut back on all the travel withing those countries. Not only are you spending far too much time in transit, you're also checking in and out of hotels, and traveling to and from train stations, airports, and a car rental place, plus the time spent waiting there.

That travel would be brutal for a solo traveler, it is impossible with kids. You'll be facing a mutiny withing the first week.

Going from Genoa to Cinque Terre makes more sense to me and then to Florence and then to Venice.
But I would just skip that leg Genoa To Barcelona and fly one way Venice to Barcelona instead of going all the way back.

Agree with Dale. This itinerary would exhaust a healthy adult. You wouldn't remember a thing you saw. With kids ????

There is a thread about traveling with kids on this site. You should review that for ideas. I personally think Florence is a better town for kids than Venice. I Also, suggest you find hotel(s) with a park very near. We had one in Florence with a park across the street. Very handy.

Don't forget time to do laundry :)

The main problem is the number of different times you touch Barcelona. And you're spending the most time in the place you've already been. Are you sure that you need to stop in Barcelona again before Girona? Girona is served by train and the transfer point when coming from Seville is not normally at Barcelona. The major rental car agencies would allow you to pick up a car in Girona and drop it back at Barcelona airport, if you need the car.

Cinque Terre naturally fits in between Genoa and Florence, not Florence and Venice.

Even if you already bought tickets from Genoa back to Barcelona, I'd throw those away and buy new flight tickets from Venice to Barcelona on Vueling for about $43 per person. That gives you another night in Venice and saves at least $100 in Italian train tickets.

This is madness. You will die (or you will want to). You're planning to put your kids through this? Prepare for a lifetime of therapy...

OK, stop, put down whatever you're consuming. Start over. Begin by sharing what your actual arrival and departure dates are, and where you're flying in from. If that's from far away (like North America or other place similarly distant), don't count your arrival or departure days, because you and/or at least one member of your group will be exhausted, cranky, jetlagged, and only interested in going to sleep on your arrival day. You should try to stay awake until after (early) dinner that day, but otherwise write it off as a usable day. Same with departure day. OK, so how many full days in Europe does that leave you? Then consider that every time you pick up and move to a new location, that will consume pretty much the whole day. If you're flying someplace, that whole day is used. If you are taking a train from city-center-to-city-center, and if you are all efficient, experienced travelers, then that's going to take 1/2 day (at best) but usually more like 3/4 of a day. So subtract each relocation day. How many full days are you left with? When you do the math like that - and when you're honest with yourself - you can see how your usable days quickly dwindle.

I'm guessing that, not including arrival/departure days, you will have around 20 full days. With that, I'd suggest you can do this two ways: A) Pick one country - Italy or Spain, not both - and go to all the places you want to see (on your preliminary list); or B) Do a portion of both countries, but not all of what you list.

Keep the following in mind:

1) You will have kids in tow. Kids generally are not "road warriors" who get up at the crack of dawn and go go go through museums, trains, strange food, and all the other things one goes through on foreign adventure, quickly and efficiently, good-naturedly toughing it out at every challenge. You will need to calibrate your expectations for the little ones. Are they ever picky, demanding, moody? Calibrate again.

2) Any group only moves as fast (or slowly) and as efficiently (or not) as it's slowest/grumpiest member. That might be one of your kids or it might be an adult. In any case, you need to take that into account.

Bottom line: your initial proposal looks unrealistic to me. IMHO you need to dial it down significantly just to be able to pull it off at all, to make it enjoyable for all (and not to turn your kids off from traveling with you ever again) I'd suggest you slow it down a lot and focus on fewer places so you can enjoy it.

Personally, I'd pick either Spain or Italy, not both. Either offers way more than you could possibly do in 20 days.

Good luck.

The fact that you've asked the question suggests that you already know the answer.

I understand that for visitors from outside Europe there is a desire to try and see as much as possible but for me that means setting yourself up for a miserable trip.

As a family with two boys now aged 13 and 11 we've always based our holidays in one location, even our annual two week summer holiday. In my opinion there is nothing worse than checking in and out of hotels every couple of days and moving somewhere else, and that's without kids! Our most enjoyable holidays have been those where we can relax, soak up the surroundings, enjoy leisurely lunches and dinners, take in a few sights, enjoy the beach or pool. Rushing around trying to cram in must see after must see is going to be frustratingly miserable, you can't see everything, no-one can so pick your highlights and sliw the pace.

How does this look.. Started again from SCRATCH No GENOA flight as I am trying to cancel it.

9/19-9/21 – Barcelona

9/21-9/24 – Madrid

9/24-9/27 – Seville

Fly from Seville to Venice

9/27-9/29 – Venice

Train from Venice to Santa Margherita (cinque terre area)

9/29-10/2- Cinque Terre area

Train from Santa Margherita to Florence

10/2- 10/7 – Florence and day trips

Fly from Florence to Barcelona

10/7-10/11- Barcelona ( you can do a day trip to Girona)

I don't travel with kids, so what do I know? But I think Venice is one of the most distinctive places in Europe. You're giving yourself just one full day there, yet traveling quite some distance to get there. I'd give Venice more time or drop it. Super-short trips to Venice tend to result in travelers who don't like the city very much, because they spend nearly all their too-limited time moving betwern the train station, the Rialto Bridge and San Marco. That's where all the other tourists are. You need time in Venice to wander the back canals and lose yourselves in an utterly foreign environment.

A general tip: Listing your itinerary as you have, with your travel days shown against both your starting point and destination, tends to give a false idea of your pace. At a glance it looks as if you have three days in Venice, less the time to travel in on the first day, but you really have just one day plus a few hours. That holds true for your entire itinerary. You have only two days in Seville.

I still think you're allocating too much time for Barcelona, considering you've been there twice already. If you have to see Girona, do it the day after you first arrive. Take those extra days from Barcelona at the end of your stay, adding one to Venice and one to CT (the kids will probably REALLY need a down day on the beach by then). Return to Barcelona the day before you fly home.

Not a bad itinerary, but you might consider more time in Madrid, since a day trip to Toledo and another to Segovia is almost a must see.

We have two kids. After three trips to Europe, We MUST take a down day every five or six days. It allows everyone to relax. Everyone sleeps in and gets as much sleep as possible. Writes in journals. Washes clothes.

I think you need to cut Barcelona down since you have been there before and use it on you new cities. I understand trying to see as much new stuff as possible but this is tough.

Also, are your kids physically prepared to pack light and carry their luggage. Before our first trip, my wife and oldest daughter packed everything. I had all of us pack our luggage and then go on a three mile walk in the middle of the day. I included several sets of stairs to duplicate getting on and off trains and metros. They were complaining after the first set of stairs. When we got home, they each lost a almost half of the weight in their suitcases too much junk. I am not a superlight packer but everyone carries their own luggage.

It would be far more practical to fly into Madrid and fly home from Barcelona, or vice versa. Use a multi-city search function to see the prices.
Girona is a short train ride from Barcelona on a main line. If you are coming from Seville you can surely make a connection so it's just one trip. You don't need a car unless you want to drive over to the Costa Brava. While I like Girona, I think a single day would be enough for your children.

My suggestion would be to put all your Barcelona days at the end to limit your packing days. Go to Madrid the same day you land in Barcelona with your bags already packed. I'm sure the kids will be excited about their first train travel. Maybe take a day from Barcelona and use it for Venice.

That does sound great however we are taking an overnight flight and might really need some rest.. But going straight to Madrid does sound like fun!

This is my newest and HOPEFULLY LAST IDEA
We leave the US on an overnight flight from Miami to Barcelona 9/19
9/19-9/22 Barcelona and Day trip to Girona
9/22 - 9/26 Madrid (4 nights)
9/26 - 9/29 Seville (4 nights)
Fly from Seville to Venice
9/29 - 10/2 Venice
Train from Venice to Santa Margherita (cinque Terra area)
10/2 - 10/5 Cinque Terre area
Train from St Margherita to Florence
10/5 - 10 /11 Florence

10/11 - 10/13 Barcelona to depart home on 10/13

OR

9/19-from Airport straight to the train to Madrid
9/19 - 9/24 Madrid

9/24 - 9/27 Seville (4 nights)
Fly from Seville to Venice
9/27 - 9/31 Venice
Train from Venice to Santa Margherita (cinque Terra area)
9/31 - 10/4 Cinque Terre area
Train from St Margherita to Florence
10/4 - 10 /9 Florence

10/9 - 10/13 Barcelona to depart home on 10/13

Which one?

About the suitcase GREAT idea and yes we are packing light and having washer everywhere I book.. One luggage per person and each carry its own.!

Also we arrive at 3.40 if we take a train around 6 we would arrive around 8 in Madrid its a lost day anyway so Im liking the idea of going to Madrid on our first day. Unfortunately I cannot change these flights.. They have been paid for since 8 months ago and the penalty would not be worth it. :(

Also what site do you use for the tickets in Spain. The trip from Barcelona to Madrid for 4 is showing for over 300.00 anyplace cheaper?

TY in advance and Happy Friday!

Here's the info for train travel in Spain. https://www.seat61.com/Spain-trains.htm

You mentioned having washers everywhere, are you using Air BNB? Be sure to factor in time for key pick up and drop off if you are.

Your revised itinerary still has too much traveling around for my taste, especially with kids. You know your kids, but I'd think long and hard about how bored they're likely to be with all that travel, on top of the time spent waiting for trains and flights.

I have booked through booking.com Some have info on the keys and some Im waiting..

Also we arrive at 3.40 if we take a train around 6 we would arrive around 8 in Madrid its a lost day anyway so Im liking the idea of going to Madrid on our first day.

Either one looks feasible, but your thought to go directly to Madrid is meritorious

Hope all goes well going forward after all you have had to deal with.

Having traveled with slightly older children (12 & 15) to Europe having fewer stops and making sure you have time to relax makes everyone’s life easier. Time zone changes, different languages, and lots of transfers between sites is stressful.

A couple of specific comments on your iteniary as we were in Spain the same time last year (without kids). My comments below are related to activities that might appeal to children

• Barcelona: you are going to Barcelona at the time of the La Mercè festival. It is so much fun, parades, light shows, fireworks (see link for event details https://www.barcelona.cat/lamerce/en). We had plans to do some tourist things and actually dumped them to attend the parade and the fireworks. Lots of kid specific activities.
• Madrid: time your visit to the royal palace to see the changing of the guards. It is quite the procession with soldiers and horses. Make sure you see the armory as well. Madrid is also a great place to relax in the plazas (Puerto del Sol & Plaza Mayor) in the evening and people watch. Kids will also love getting churros and chocolate in Madrid. Finally, if you want a very upscale food court where the adults can get great Spanish food the kids pizza, El Corte Engles department store has a wide variety of food choices, really good bar.
• Sevilla: if you are going to see Flamenco, this is the place to see it. You can go to a place with just the performance and sit up close to the dancers.

We just got back from Italy in mid-June, this time with college-aged girls. So I only referenced some of the things we did that I thought would specifically appeal to children your age.

Venice: much like Barcelona, Venice is inundated with tourists and it can get crowded. If you have a chance, wander away from the tourist areas, it is more relaxing.

Cinque Terre: the highlight of our trip was the boat tour. We were traveling with 6 of us, 2 college-aged girls. We reserved a boat through Fish & Chill: http://www.cinqueterreboat.com/index_eng.html. This trip takes you on water through the Cinque Terre with time for swimming & exploring.

Have a great trip.
Sandy

I usually keep my trips to a smaller geographic area, just to keep travel time from eating up my vacation. I also have very nearly a phobia of backtracking on vacation.

That said, you can do it. Best advice (as has already been said) is to fly home out of Venice. For your Italy portion go west to east: Genoa, Cinque Terra, Florence then Venice. Those two modifications will give you back at least two days that would have otherwise been lost to traveling (and backtracking).

If it's too steep flying from Venice, consider a train from Venice to Milan and fly from there. My neighbor just moved from Vicenza, he still has two apartments there and he prefers flying in and out of Milan to get there.

For beaches, there's a little beach at Monterosso (the best in Cinque Terra, but that's damning with faint praise), there are beaches near Venice (one is just called the Lido di Venezia but I haven't been), Barcelona has a beach (but it's man made and has more of a dirt look than sand). Probably the best for your trip will be the Costa Brava between Girona and Barcelona. There are alternating cliffs and little inlets with beaches all along that stretch, those would be my choice without going too far out of your way.

Sandy TY so much.. I actually want to stay in barcelona for the festival it looks like SO MUCH fun!
Also wanted to do the boat tour in Cinque de Terre we dont have accomodations there yet so will try to book that with them also ! TY so much!

The train to Madrid is 2 1/2 hours and starts around 47 euros and drops you in the center.
The flight to Madrid is about 1 1/2 hours but you have to then go from the airport to the city center.
Have fun!

Hello We will be in Barcelona for La Merce and Im not sure now if thats a good thing as they say it will be very crowded. We are staying at Eric Vokel Apartments Grassot 4 Gracia Barcelona...

Regardless this is the latest itinerary

9-19 through 9-23 (Barcelona 3 nights) Day trip to Girona maybe on the 21st and on the 22nd my husband must see the stadium and we shall see La Sagrada Familia and take notice if anything has changed in the last 3 years!
We will then end up in Las Ramblas for dinner and coffee and maybe catch some of La Merce!

9-23 through 9-27 (Madrid 4 nights) Day trip to Toledo and maybe Segovia)

9-27 through 10 -2 (Sevile 5 nights) Day trip to Granada/Cordoba Jerez or Cadiz. I have no idea which day tours to book...

Fly from Seville to Venice 10-2 10-6 Venice (staying on island 4 nights ) wondering around. I have been wanting to go to Venice since I was a child and I am finally going to go!

10-6 through 10-11 Florence (5 nights) Day trip to Cinque de Terre, Day trip to Tuscany and we will probably relax a bit..

Train from Florence to Barcelona 10-11 through 10-13 Barcelona and on the 13th back to reality!

I hope I made a wise choice by removing Cinque de Terre, instead of staying there we will go on a tour from Florence making it easier on our travels and giving us some xtra days at other cities.

Please let me know if this is more doable. I am forever grateful!
Martha

Train from Florence to Barcelona

Really? A 15 (+) hour train ride vs 1 3/4hr plane ride

Not my choice, but it is your trip

Sorry Florence to Barcelona is a flight NOT a train.