Rome - Italy Trip

For the best advice on what to do between the tours, you need to tell us where your tours will take you.

II'd fly from Rome to Madrid if I were heading straight to Cordoba. There's excellent, fast rail service from Madrid to Cordoba. However, Madrid might not be the best place to fly to if you want to spend your six days elsewhere in Spain. And if you decide to spend part or all of your six days seeing more of Italy, Rome might not be the best departure point.

Welcome to the forums, Karen.
When you say "tour", do you mean an escorted tour, with everything planned for you, or just as a descriptor for sightseeing time on your own?

And how long much time are you planning on spending in Rome? What sorts of things are you interested in doing/seeing on this trip, and have you ever been to Europe before? As well, what are your approx. ages, and are there any physical constrains we need to be aware of? LOL, not being nosy but the more you can tell us about yourselves, the better we might be able to help. :O)

Our tour is an escorted one with 7 days in Rome and 10 in Spain. I have never been to Rome or Spain, but we have been to England/Scotland.

I would fly from Rome to the island of Mallorca spend two days in the main city of Palma then 3 days at Port de Soller, beautiful beaches and laid back environment with great restaurants. On the 6th Day Fly on to Madrid and take a train to Cordoba. This would be a relaxing vacation from your Vacation for 6 days!

Or how about Florence, Italy? Lots to see there, and it's a good base for quite a number of day trips you can easily take on your own: Siena, Pisa, Lucca, Fiesole, Bologna, Pistoia... Fly from there to Madrid and then onward by train as suggested above.

Venice might be another choice. Again, lots to see, and posters who've done so say there's good day tripping from there as well; Padua, Verona, Vicenza some of the Venetian islands... Fly from Marco Polo airport (Aeroporto di Venezia) to Madrid.

Fly from Rome to Seville, then go from Seville to Cordoba.

Or fly from Florence to Seville, then train to Cordoba.

Florence would make a great visit after Rome, especially in the spring.

Both Vueling and Ryanair have nonstop flights between Rome and Sevilla. From the airport take a taxi to the Sevilla-Santa Justa station and hop on a 45-minute direct train to Cordoba.
What will you have seen in IT and where will your tour take you in ES?

First, when exactly are your tours? It could make a difference. Where does the tour go in Spain?

As others have said, the best way to get from Italy to Spain is a cheap flight. Note that budget airlines often have stricter baggage allowances and there can be added costs that may make those flights more expensive than they look initially.

After a week in Rome, you could take the train to Florence for a few days. Vueling and Iberia fly from there to Madrid. You could go to Orvieto for a couple nights, then fly from Rome to Seville or Madrid or even Barcelona. You could even take the train from Florence back to Rome to fly to Spain.

There is plenty to see and do in Spain that a 10-day tour won't include.