Hello all. My wife and I will be first timers in Spain, arriving in and out of Madrid on Feb 9th and departing early on Feb 19th. So 10 full days, and looking at all the many suggested itineraries on the web, it's a bit overwhelming. We are very adventurous, and would like to spend 2-3 days in the Madrid area, then travel to Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Not sure if the short timeframe will allow time in Barcelona given the roundtrip in/out of Madrid or whether we should spend an extra day or two down at Malaga. We are open to the high speed trains or a car rental or a mixture of both. Thanks in advance for your input.
Posted by
Reston VA
144 posts
The Madrid - Cordoba - Seville - Granada mix seems reasonable to me. We did the Madrid - Cordoba - Seville group in 8 or 9 days last year, and we could have easily added days for other stuff.
A lot depends on what you like to do and how much time it takes to do that. We generally enjoy a mix of cultural stuff, "city" stuff (like walking tours, eating, and people watching), and outdoor stuff like hikes, parks, bike rides, etc. With that in mind, we've settled mostly on a loose rule of "one major cultural" item per day - preferably in the AM and preferably no more than 3 hours. Examples would be the Prado museum, the Seville cathedral w/ tour, or the Cordoba Mezquita. We planned those all for the morning, and were done them by lunch. None needed a full day, but also, hitting something like the Prado and then the Reina Sofia museum the same day would have been OVERLOAD. Better (for us) to do the Prado and then the Retiro park for a picnic and a stroll. Maybe then the stroll up the Gran Via for a city walk.
So, if you want to plot out the time-line and top sights, you'll be able to see how that all plays together. We started in Seville for several days, checked out of the hotel and went to Cordoba just for the day (luggage at the train station), and then ended up at Madrid for several more days. Each day was of the "one big item, several small items" sort, and it was a good mix for us.
One of your "full" days will likely be eaten up by logistics - eg we flew into Madrid (red eye) and immediately high speed trained it to Seville. That meant most of that day was a travel and checking in day, but the late afternoon and evening were open for food and general time-change acclimatization. By starting in Seville, we were able to end in Madrid and flying out of there at lunch time meant no rush to get to the airport for the flight.
If you did want to add Barcelona, it would definitely (to me) mean dropping Granada and/or Cordoba. I really liked Barcelona so wouldn't argue against including it, but I don't know the logistics of getting there from either Madrid or Seville. We flew into BCN so had it easy for our recent visit there.
How do you eliminate one or more of these?
- Granada with the Alhambra (beautiful "must see").
- Cordoba with the Mezquita Mosque-Cathedral (another beautiful "must see").
- Barcelona with Sagrada Familia and other Gaudi architecture (yet another "must see").
Answer, you don't and either add a few days or do what we did - book another trip the next year! We always (not on purpose) leave some things we want to return and see, and when the chance to check those off appears, we take it. We were lucky we could do Spain twice in two years, but likely we're now not going back until some other new and returning places are ticked off, but northern Spain and the Pyrenees and Basque Country or Asturias are still in the queue, so maybe three times in three years is actually gonna happen :)
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Tom
Thanks for your quick and very thoughtful reply. Flying into Madrid and immediately catching the train for Seville really makes a lot of sense. Your description of how you travel lines up quite well with how my wife and I tackle new adventures. But I must admit that my wife will try and throw at least one additional moderate stop into each day ;). I was just checking with the airline and found out that we can change flight plans without charge to arrive via Madrid and depart from Barcelona so we may catch that eastern leg after all.
Posted by
7667 posts
With 10 days, I would not add Barcelona to your itinerary, that would take too much time from:
Madrid, need 3-4 days to do it and perhaps day trips to Toledo and Segovia
Cordoba, min. one day
Seville, wonderful place, need 3 days minimum
Granada 1-2 days minimum
Posted by
Washington DC
27112 posts
I agree with geovagriffith that 10 days is not long enough for Madrid, Cordova, Seville, Granada and Barcelona. It's really not a close call. I'd say the same thing for a summer trip when days would be a lot longer.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Good comments from everyone. Thank you. My wife had also brought up the shorter days which is an excellent point. Just like our Portugal trip a couple of years ago (which was two full weeks) there’s only so much to see in a limited time, and we will just need to make it a point to come back next year and fly into Barcelona and start on that end of the country.
Posted by
413 posts
That’s not really 10 days. I think you’re already jam packed without adding Malaga or Barcelona.
9th: Home-> Madrid travel & jet lagged touring
10-11 Madrid full days
12 Madrid-> Grenada travel
13 Granada full day
14 Granada-> Cordoba travel
15 Cordoba full day
16 Cordoba -> Sevilla travel
17 Sevilla full days
18th Sevilla-> Madrid travel day.
19th get up and fly home
Madrid 2.5 days
Granada 1.5
Cordoba 1.5
Sevilla 1.5
Madrid .5
So 8.5 days for sightseeing/activities and 4 days on planes/trains/checking into hotels. Is there any way you could add 2-3 days?
Posted by
Massachusetts, USA
1603 posts
By my count, you will have 10 nights on the ground in Spain. That gives you 9 full days. I agree with taking the train to Seville (or Granada) the day you land in Madrid, but that will mostly be a travel day with very little time for sightseeing once you arrive in Seville (or Granada). Additionally, you need time to get over jet lag. So I would not add Barcelona or Malaga, as much as I love both places. Save Barcelona for another trip when you can add places like Girona and Costa Brava.
A possible itinerary could be:
Seville - 3 nights
Cordoba - 2 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Madrid - 3 nights
Although many people visit Cordoba as a daytrip from Seville, I think the best way to visit Cordoba is to spend 1 or 2 nights there. Cordoba is a very pretty city; the Juderia is interesting to explore with its narrow lanes, white-washed walls, patios and flower pots. There is also the Alcazar and its lovely gardens, the Roman Bridge, Palacio de Viana, etc.
Another idea is to look for open-jaw (or multi-city) tickets and fly into Madrid and out of Seville. So your order would be Madrid, Cordoba, Granada, and Seville. This way you don't have to backtrack to Madrid, and your arrival day in Madrid will be less stressful if you don't have to continue on to another city.