Ideas for my late december portugal - spain trip

"A bit rushed" doesn't begin to cover it.

It is not a good idea to treat Granada as a day-trip from Seville. It just takes too long to get there. The Alhambra is quite large, and it's far from the only thing to see in Granada. Seville is a large city with a lot of sights of its own.

Since it appears you've already bought an airline ticket into Lisbon and out of Barcelona, I'd just fly straight from Porto to Barcelona, assuming that is possible. There's plenty in Barcelona to keep you busy for 4-1/2 days.

If I've misunderstood and you don't yet have the airline ticket, you could drop Barcelona and split you Spain time between Seville and Granada or (with less time wasted in transit back and forth) between Seville and Cordoba.

@acraven - Well yeah gotta admit it is rushed. I travel solo, and I have done some rapid fire trips before. But I had to hit Spain just because I'm so close. I'm imagining a 3+2 day split between Seville and Barcelona. It'd be hard to let go of Alhambra, but I'll sleep on it. You guessed right, I have my inbound and outbound booked already!

I travel at a pretty fast pace and this is WAY to much for me. The Alhambra is not a great day trip from Sevilla, for one. Off the top of my head, its at least 2 1/2 hrs to Granada by car and more via train or bus. The way I see your itinerary is that you are spending a lot of time and money getting to your destinations and not very much time experiencing

Assuming you've already purchased your air, if so I'd do Portugal and Barcelona. Otherwise, I do Portugal and Sevilla and fly out of Madrid.

@jules m: If I understood correctly, my Spain itinerary is the rushed one, correct? Is the Portugal one rushed too? I feel like I've budgeted decent amount time around lisbon and from what I've read, a couple of days around Porto is good (not great, may be not rushed?)

I will plan to spend more time in Seville then, explore it at length.

The Portugal piece may be fine, tho you may not have enough time in Porto. My opinion related more to Spain, and you are correct, I was unclear. Doing Spain and Portugal together is not as easy as one would think. I've done a fair bit time analyzing possible itineraries for further travel. The transportation does not link together all that well.

First of all, find out about holiday closures and possible curtailed train service. Keep in mind that you will have limited daylight hours. In Lisbon sunrise about 8 am, sunset's around 5.15 and Barcelona is similar.

Are you planning to stay overnight in Sintra or do it as a day trip from Lisbon? Coimbra is the best stop on the main train line. See train schedules and prices here. The AP trains are newer and more comfortable than the IC's. Skip the Douro valley, days are too short and it may not be very scenic in winter. Besides, you need more than one day there. You can tour wineries with tastings (or maybe just tastings) in Porto.

Barcelona deserves much more than 2 days. The city is so rich in sights and activities as well as several excellent day trips.

I'm not sure there are any direct flight between Porto and Seville in winter. At least not daily. You might have to change planes in Lisbon, making the journey a long one. To me that's one more reason to head straight to Barcelona from Porto

@Chani - thanks for the feedback and links. I will check on train services.
About Sintra - I'm not sure if I should go stay there or just do a day trip. I'm open to either really.
I do plan on stopping by at Coimbra on my way. Should I spend the night there or head straight to Porto?
Per your suggestion, I will drop Douro valley and spend that time either in Coimbra or head to Porto.

@balso - Fair point on curtailed travel. Ryanair has direct flights, but you are right, they're not daily.

Based on feedback from everyone, I'm considering going to Barcelona from Porto and experiencing it in full for 4.5 days.

For your itinerary, I'd probably make it a day trip to Sintra. Overnight means all the hassle and time to change hotels and you'd have to change trains in Lisbon anyway to get to Coimbra. Dropping the Douro valley gives you an added day in Porto, so I'd keep Coimbra if you don't mind the added hotel change and like the pace of the trip.

I'm curious - where are you that you need to apply for a visa?