10 days in Spain

I think one key element here is if you are going to Granada, when can you get tickets at this late date? You may want to start there and see if you can build your itinerary from there. I think it will be the hardest ticket for you to schedule around.

I assume you mean tickets for Alhambra? If so, reservations are quite open during that period.

I would not go to northern Spain at this time. LOVE northern Spain, but the weather now would make it less fun.

Option 1 seems like it is too much for 10 days. Would you fly in to BCN and out of Seville? It would be a rushed trip. So I would not do this one, although it would be great f you had more time
Option 3 seems best to me. There are so many places near Seville to visit that 10 days isn't nearly enough, and weather would be better for being outside exploring

Definitely #3 for me. And no car is needed unless you decide to stop off to see one or two of the white villages on the way from Seville to Granada or vice versa. Trains are faster Cordoba-Seville and Cordoba-Granada. (And incredibly much faster should you need to start from Madrid.) Between Seville and Granada there's not a lot of difference, and buses can work, too, if you're willing to just to see the three main cities.

If you can't get a well-priced flight to Seville, try Granada, Malaga or Madrid--though flying into Madrid means a more expensive train or bus down to Andalucia.

The ticket calendar for the Alhambra shows tickets still available for the entire period of your trip, but not many tickets are left on March 25. You'd need to get your Alhambra tickets before you leave home; they used to sell out months ahead of time, though between COVID and the current Russian activity, demand is down at the moment.

Another ticket to take care of before leaving home is the Alcazar in Seville. Rick's guidebook gives instructions for avoiding the long line for the cathedral in Seville; that doesn't require pre-trip action.

Definitely 3. March isn't the best time for 2, and 1 involves a lot of driving for not much besides Valencia.

Yes option three for sure.

Yes, I agree with everyone who says Option #3. March is one of the best months to visit Andalusia. It is unbearably hot during the summer months, typically in the 90's Fahrenheit and can reach 100F or higher in places like Seville and Cordoba.

Some places to visit: Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and Malaga. I suggest 4 nights in Seville, 2 nights each in Cordoba, Granada and Malaga. That's 10 nights. Not sure if you have 10 nights or 9 nights.

Have you consulted a map to comprehend the size scale of Spain? If not, please do so for all your suggestions involves a lot of hours in a vehicle striving to get from point to point. Do not underestimate the hassle of finding parking, protecting your items stored in the van, stress of meandering a vehicle in narrow streets, bathroom and fuel stops, added expense of the rental/fuel/parking and most of all THE VALUE OF THE DRIVERS TIME spent focused solely on safely driving. BTW: we have driven within Spain, our favorite destination, and when at all possible we use their excellent public transport of bus and trains. Far less stressful and more enjoyable to leave the driving to others.

Please consider the following prospective itinerary:

Arrive in Barcelona and take advantage of the HUGE menu of opportunities this locale offers. Stay in an apartment, unpack once, use the excellent and well connected metro subway and train system to increase the range of your travels. Stay in Barcelona for at least five nights and select at least one day trip opportunity (I recommend Montserrat). With the apartment comes a kitchen to reduce eating expense, room to spread out and a "home base" from which to explore this wonderful opportunity to create travel memories.

Next destination is Seville where you spend the remainder of your time. Seville offers a variety of opportunities plus the ability to day trip to Cordoba where a superb site in the Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba is a wonderful alternative to the Alhambra (both have their own stories worth experiencing).
You could also day trip to Ronda or several other nearby locations.

Visiting these two locations is equal to experiencing two totally different countries (and folks from Barcelona will say you are visiting two countries!) plus the differences in terrain, culture, food, climate are so varied.

Please do not judge your journey by the number of stops you make, but set a course where you have ample experiences to enjoy. Leave the driving to others and enjoy a less stressful journey allowing yourself more time to partake in your kids perspectives.

Choose to BE part of the travel experience, not to just SEE the locations.

Lol, Marbleskies, I love this!

Choose to BE part of the travel experience, not to just SEE the locations.

I would not rent a van. Options 1 and 3 (agree with everyone not to do option 2 in Marc) are both doable by train and would probably be more fun for your kids and a lot less stress for the parents. Even driving and parking a tiny car in Spain can be a pain, a van just makes it that much worse. I think teens would like Barcelona the best. If you want to add someplace besides that then train to Valencia is not very long and it's a great city. I've been to both in March and it was wonderful. Have also been to Analucia in March and that is a wonderful time to be there as well. Ten days for Granada, Seville and Cordoba works well. If you really wanted to include some of the small 'white' towns you could rent a van just for a day (or two).

I haven't been to Bilbao and the Basque area, but plan to do so.

I would not drive from Barcelona to Granada and Sevilla. You would waste a lot of time. Not sure the roads are that great.

To pick one, I suggest Seville and visit Cordoba and perhaps Granada.

Yup, I'm with the crowd on this one. Open door #3. Whether to drive the whole trip or use trains for part of it is partly a question of cost, with five people the train fares will add up and you may want the flexibility of a vehicle. Certainly the van is best for the white villages, a few of which will add a lot of value to your trip.

I don't know about air service from Granada but that might be an "open jaw" option for your return flight instead of Sevilla, saving you about a day's ground travel. Or, if you're driving the whole thing, consider dropping the car at Cordoba and the train to Madrid, with added return flight options from that much bigger city. Come to think of it, with the trip a couple of weeks away you're probably locked into the flights you chose.

Ten days is enough to get a good experience of Andalusia without exhausting the possibilities if you (or kids) decide to return one day.