Italy and Spain? Or Simply Italy September 2020

I hate to say the obvious -- but it really personal preference. I have a somewhat greater fondness for Italy so I would say, Go to Italy for the entire time. In part, because I prefer the food of Italy especially the variety. Tend to see a lot pork in Spain but tapas can be interesting. The public transit system of Italy is more developed and (IMO) it is easier to get around via train and bus. But Spain does have an excellent bus system. There is no good answer to your question. Italy in 2020, Spain in 2021.

It's not clear to me if you mean Corsica = France or if you've tossed out that idea.

You've got about 3.5 weeks, so have lots of options. You could do a part (of each) of France and Italy, but you could also easily spend 3.5 weeks in either and never come close to running out of things to do.

Corsica without a car would be a challenge. Much of Spain or Italy can be done easily without a car, although in some places (away from the major cities) a car would give you more options.

Have you been to either Spain or Italy before?

If you plan carefully and are selective, then it is no problem to visit three countries over a month.
Grab a Corsica book from the library or book store--it is one of my dream destinations, but more for nature and I'd have someone driving me, so I don't know the logistics. It is best to first determine if you should rule out Corsica or not. Play around with the website Skyscanner for flight info.
It will be a snap to combine Spain and Italy. Cities are super easy with transit, but if there is somewhere you want to go with a car, don't let not driving a manual stop you. I have never had a problem renting an automatic and it is not going to break the bank.
Then, grab some books on Spain and Italy (or peruse web guides, whatever works for you) so you can determine which areas are calling you. You won't be seeing the whole country of either, but you can see one or two areas of each well.
If I was planning Italy solo, no car, I'd do the main cities and then Liguria (great train service). For Spain, Andalucia is fantastic and easy without a car as well. enjoy your planning!

With almost a month’s time I’d say you definitely have a lot of great options and combinations you could choose between. I can’t help you with Corsica as I’ve never been. We’ve traveled in both Spain and Italy using just public transportation and there are a lot of great places you can visit using it.

Have you started making a bucket list of destinations for each country? You could easily fly from Italy to Spain, or vice versa. I would start by piecing together the places you are most interested in. I could offer suggestions but that could be endless and it’s hard without knowing what you’re personally interested in. I’d also recommend looking at what day trip options you have from each base (for example, with Madrid you could go to Segovia and/or Toledo). With this length of trip, I would recommend longer stays at each base so you don’t burn out as easily. Using this method, you can start pulling a rough itinerary together that best fulfills your wants.

Not sure if you have 26 or 28 nights per your dates listed above. But here’s just one example of the many options of how you could allocate your days:

Madrid - 4 nights
Seville - 3 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Barcelona - 5 nights
Venice - 4 nights
Florence - 5 nights
Rome - 5 nights

This fills 28 nights and it hits a lot of the “must-sees” for a lot of visitors to Spain and Italy.

There’s also nothing wrong with just picking one country to visit. With the amount of time you have you could do both countries or just one and be very happy I think. We’ve been to Italy twice now and we are returning to Spain for a second trip next year. And there is so much we have yet to see and do in both countries. :)

Here is a very handy travel site for all countries and cities:

https://wikitravel.org/en/

https://wikitravel.org/en/Italy

https://wikitravel.org/en/Rome

You would have time for both Spain and Italy, but there would be additional flight costs. Italy being a long country is hard to beat for travel by train. You can start up north in Milan or Venice, going all the way down past Rome; probably flying out from there.

Flight planning I like to use www.skyscanner.com.

Fast check from YVR:

Rome FCO round trip: $1,004;

Multi-city into Venice and out of Rome: $1,107

All about trains:

https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm#.V27agihqNg

Tickets:

https://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

https://www.italotreno.it/en

Absolutely do not use Raileurope, a reseller with very high prices.

Re the above post, Spain and Italy: multi city into Venice and out of Madrid [e.g.] $1,136.

Flights from Spain to Italy on skyscanner you would enter ES to IT.

I've spent about a month in each country, but like already mentioned, personal preference is the deciding factor. But if you like ancient history and architecture, Italy. Rome is my favorite place in the entire world. I could spend days wondering the Colosseum and Forum, not to mention Pompeii, Cinque Terra, Amalfi coast or the northern lakes. Of course the Romans built a lot in Spain but not like Italy. Research the particulars of each country.

I’ll tack on to rzolezzi’s notes on flights. I’ve paid for a subscription to Scott’s Cheap Flights and it’s saved us a lot of money on flights. We get alerts whenever there is a deal from the cities I’ve programmed in to get alerts for. You can also follow them for free on Facebook and get some free alerts that way, in addition to Skyscanner. With a bit of luck and diligence, you might be able to score tickets for far less than $1100.

Have you considered the RS "My Way" Tours of Italy and Spain? You get the convenience of bus transportation from town to town, plus the self directed site seeing and free time. My wife and I took the My Way Spain in 2017 and enjoyed it greatly.

How do you feel about the itinerary Julie sketched out? Are you thinking "Great--all the places I've longed to see", or are you thinking "Those are mostly very touristy places; I want to get off the beaten track"? If the latter, I suggest you opt for a single-country trip so you won't end up spending all your time bumping into tour groups. If the former, you may do fine with a combination of two countries. Note that the first-cut itinerary omits Cordoba (unless you'll settle for only one full day in Seville).

There's a sort of middle-ground possibility: Combine one part of Italy with one part of Spain--something like Venice-Padua-Vicenza-Verona-Milan/Torino plus Andalucía. (That's just one example.)

There's no wrong answer here. I would take weather into account, though. I wouldn't start in Andalucía, and if I were including the Dolomites or the Basque Country, I'd hit that area early in the trip.

If you are going to Venice, the Homo Faber exhibition is not to be missed. Examples of fine craftsmanship, and what is more, actual craftspeople doing there thing.
Best, absolutely the best, thing that I have ever seen in Venice, worth a full day on its own.
We are returning to Venice in 2020 for the exhibition.
https://www.homofaberevent.com/pressroom/homo-faber-returns-to-venice-in-2020

Toss out Corsica if you don’t plan to have a car. It’s also hard to reach from anywhere but France (virtually no direct flights from anywhere else).
Italy or Spain is a toss. Up to you.
However without a car you will miss out a lot of Spain (and parts of Italy too).

Since I'm also budget-conscious, I'll point out a couple of considerations. First, your dates are putting you in high season. If you want to lower costs, consider going a month or more later. The weather won't be as hot and while the days are shorter, that just means you'll be able to enjoy cities after dark. I wouldn't rule out November. Second, the more trains and planes you take, the more you spend. I spend more on lodging and "local" transportation than anything else. Reducing those costs by going slower and in off-season stretch my travel budget.

I could (and have) spent 3.5 weeks in Spain more than once and in Italy more than once. Wherever you choose, you will have more than enough to enjoy and you will skip much more. Spending all your time in one area allows you to mix major attractions with low-key experiences. If you try to cover too much ground, you may find that you are heading for the "biggies" and missing some of the joy.

I would probably split the time between Italy and Spain if you have never been to either but I like variety. I have spent way more than 28 days in each country and still have more to see, so if you would rather not move around as much you can certainly just pick one and see it in more depth. Even with a month you won't come close to even the highlights of either of those two countries.

I usually decide where I want to go by looking a pictures - I come across someplace that looks interesting and then start researching it and I end up with an itinerary. I have galleries of lots of places in both countries, maybe one or two place will 'call' to you. https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/

Hello all, I'm so appreciative of your valuable input. This is very helpful and has mapped out a clear path of how I need to focus my time in the coming weeks. As an FYI, I've not been to Spain but had traveled to Italy as a child in 1974 visiting Venice, Florence and Rome. I gravitate toward the road less traveled approach but feel Rome is a must as an adult. I think I'll pass on Venice and Florence having vivid recollections of both. I am a lover of food from the preparation to the consumption so that will undoubtedly play a role as will my love of ancient history and a penchant for immersing myself in the culture of each destination - awe inspiring nature in all her glory is also important. With that in mind, I'll take your suggestions and will do some research. Again, thank you.

Hi Sylvia, glad you’re on the right track to figuring out a plan. FWIW, I absolutely adore Orvieto. I find it magical and recommend you check it out to see if it fits your interests. Also, we found Ostia Antica to be a great day trip from Rome. We didn’t have time to go to Pompeii on our last trip and this allowed us to get a taste of the ruins we had hoped to see. It was a lovely day out.

I've been to Italy several times, starting in 1992. I was also in Spain a couple times in the early and mid-90's. Though I always enjoyed Spain, and made some great friends there, I absolutely fell in love with Italy. Not once have I ever been ready to leave Italy, and I'm always ready to go back!
So personal preference is huge.

With nearly a month of travel, you could definitely do both. If I could go for a month, I'd schedule at least a week for each stop so I could really settle in a bit and explore the area.

Do you expect to go back to Europe? If so, I suggest slow traveling in one country.

I spent over a month in Spain in 2017 and travel to Italy every year for the past few. I'd go back to Spain in a hearbeat too. As a solo traveler, I enjoy the variety of food choices in Spain over Italy. The tapas/small plate culture lets you try a variety of foods at a relatively low cost. Find someone to share paella though! Train and bus trave is easy. Hotels were a bit less expensive than in Italy. Consider hostels, some have private rooms.

Italy is a bit more expensive both in lodging and food.

It really comes down to your personal preference.