13 nights in Spain in Mid to late 2020

I recommend thinking of this as the first of two trips to Spain, because all the places you mention are very worthwhile, but they won't all fit in the time you probably have available. I'm confused about that, because you said you could probably get 14 weekdays off work (which would free you up for 18 calendar days if you work a standard 5-day week), but your thread title refers to 13 nights in Spain.

I imagine you've long since uncovered this webpage: http://www.totallyspaintravel.com/2015/10/30/jewish-heritage-sights-in-spain/. As you can see, there's plenty to fill two trips.

I'm not remotely religious but still find many religious buildings beautiful. La Sagrada Familia is unique (an understatement). I'm not sure anyone here has ever expressed disappointment with La Sagrada Familia, though ascending a tower sometimes turns out to underwhelm.

Hi Mike, you know, Spain has a multifaceted multi-religious past, so I would not shun some of our incredible cultural sights just because they are a different religion, else you won't get the full historical picture, only a narrow minded view. I am not a Muslim, but I can still appreciate the Alhambra or Mezquita, it doesn't have to be "spiritually meaningful". I am also non-religious myself, but I am still in awe of the Sagrada Familia or the Cathedral of Toledo.

Going to Spain and not wanting to see anything remotely related to Christianity is like going to Rome and not wanting to see anything Ancient Roman! It's part of our collective history and culture.

Correction: I get ten paid days off of work, starting in the 3rd week in June. 6 addition days are paid holidays. 7 or more of those ten paid days days off are eaten up due to my company being closed on certain days we could have been open, leaving only 3 or less paid vacation days left, but every calendar year I ask for and get permission to take enough extra unpaid time off so I can take a 13 night trip, anyway. In theory I could try asking for more days off but. Older family members have suggest that I should not be doing this and I hope I never retire or quit working at paying jobs.

I want to visit Spain when the temperatures are mild and manageable, probably in the fall; but traveling at the end of December has the problems of everything being close don Christmas and New Years day.

There is so much to see and you can't go wrong whatever you choose.

Here is the routing we did as an example:
3 nights Palma, Mallorca ( I wanted to experience an island)
3 nights Barcelona, so much to see even without Sagrada Familia, even though it is highly recommended
1 night Granada (fly from Barcelona) to see Alhambra
3 nights Seville (hardly enough time there)
3 nights Madrid (lots of smaller museums and the Prado)

Like you, I enjoy visiting grocery stores, enjoying local food

Realize you can't see it all. Pick a few cities and settle in for a few days. Catalonia is different from Southern Spain, and each is unique.

Hi Mike, I'm so glad to see you are embracing European travel. I know it's been a personal struggle for you at times.

Can you take advantage of Presidents' weekend in February? I've been to Spain twice in February and weather's been mostly good. I've had a very few days of light rain, a couple cold days (temps in the 40's), the rest was sunny and temps in the 50s and 60s. It's low season so rooms are cheaper and there aren't crowds of tourists. March was somewhat better weather on my two visits in that month, rarely needed my fleece jacket.

The top sights for Jewish heritage are Cordoba, Toledo and Girona in that order.

If you decide to include Barcelona, Girona is an easy day trip by train. But don't go to Barcelona if your main interest is Girona - too little bang for your bucks. There is a small medieval Jewish quarter and an excellent Jewish museum, detailing the daily life and practices of Jews in medieval times. Barcelona is famous for its moderisme architecture, especially Gaudi, but there is much more. The Sagrada Familia is visited for its architecture. Take a look at pictures of his most famous buildings in Barcelona and decide if you think you'd like to see them.

Toledo is on a spur line from Madrid. If you are coming from or going to another place, you'll change trains at Atocha station. You can visit as a day trip from Madrid, but it's much better as a 1 or 2 night stay. There are two syngagogs, El Transito and Santa Maria La Blanca, from the Moorish era. Both were subsequently converted to churches but retain some of their Jewish identity.

Cordoba is my favorite Spanish city. People who visit as a day trip will tell you a few hours is all you need. Everyone who spends a night or two doesn't regret it and most want to return. The Mezquita is unique and beautiful in spite of the church built in the middle of it. The story goes that the king wanted to emphasize Christianity's conquests by building a cathedral in the middle of the largest and most beautiful mosque in Andalucia. Well before the cathedral was finished, he rued his decision as he saw the mosque's beauty defiled. In retrospect, the existence of the cathedral could be why the mosque was never destroyed. Anyway, I think every visitor to Spain should put it on their list alongside the Alhambra. The medieval Juderia is well-preserved. There's a small synagogue (just the walls remain) that was never repurposed. I believe it's closed for repairs. Across the street from it is La Casa de Sefarad, an excellent museum on Jewish life back in the day. There's even a statue of Maimonides in one of the plazas.

As a city, Madrid is the least interesting on your list. However it's art museums are among the best in the world. The Prado covers (mostly) European painting roughly through the mid-19th c. Then the Thyssen-Bornemisza continues through the Impressionists, followed by the collections at the Reina Sofia. Many works in the Prado have religious subjects (a lot are "old testament") but the themes and emotions are universal. There's plenty of non-religious art as well. For maritime history, the Naval Museum is top-notch.

If you include Barcelona, your route would be Barcelona > Granada > Sevilla > Cordoba > Madrid or vice versa, probably flying between Barcelona and Granada which will save an hour or two and may cost less. You could squeeze in a day trip to Toledo from Madrid, possibly an overnight.

Without Barcelona, you'll do a loop around Andalucia by train/bus. If you land in the morning, take a local train to Atocha (Madrid), then a fast train (33 minutes) to Toledo 2N. Then train via Atocha to Cordoba 2N minimum, then Sevilla 3N minimum, then bus or train to Granada 2-3N, and bus or train to Madrid. The buses are very comfortable, prices and journey times to/from Granada are about the same, so choose depending on which schedule suits you better. If you buy train tickets when they go on sale, you'll get huge discounts. Since there's a big risk of missing your train on your arrival day, going to Toledo first will save you money. Tickets are only about €12-14 and there are no discounts. Tickets to Cordoba are much more expensive so making that your second stop allows you to buy prepaid tickets.

You need 2 nights in Granada to have a full day at the Alhambra. Another half day or so will allow you to see the other highlights.

Most of the churches and cathedrals are worth seeing for their architecture, especially the exteriors. Most have very charming cloisters.

Does this look managable, reasonable, or doable?
Supposed itinerary. Spain, probably in late summer or fall 2020.
Saturday night, night 0: flight from Detroit to Madrid
Sunday: Arrive in Madrid. Train or bus to Toledo. If time, walk past various sights or monuments. Sleep in Toledo. 1st night.

Monday: Sinagoga de Santa María, possibly museo Victorio Macho, museo de Santa Cruz; if time, Toledo Cathedral, Mezquita del Cristo de la Luz. Walk past various monuments. 2nd night.

Tuesday: Synagoga del Tránsito y Museo Sefardí, Museo del Ejército (army museum). Sleep in Toledo. 3rd night

Wednesday: Train and/or bus to Granada. If time, House of los Tiros, Andalusian legacy Andalusian Public Foundation, or other small historic house or museums; possibly Capilla Real and/or Catedral de Granada (churches), and/or walk past old city walls, various monuments, and so on. Sleep in Granada. 4th night.

Thursday: Alhambra. If extra time, walk past Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte and/or walk past various landmarks and/or a show or place to sit, and so on. Sleep in Granada. 5th night. 2nd night in Granada

Friday: Train or bus to Sevilla. If time, Museo Arqueológico, Museo de Costumbres Populares, Museo Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija (manstion from 1700’s), walk past various monuments, and so on. Sleep in Seville. 6th night

Saturday: Seville. The Alcázar. Above sites if not seen yet, walk past various monuments, and so on. 7th night. 2nd night sleeping in Seville. 7th night. 2nd night in Seville.

Sunday: Bus or train to Córdoba. Mezquita. Synagoga, possibly Casa de Sefarad; museum of Al-Andalus life; if time possibly Palacio de Viana; walk past other monuments, and so on. Sleep in Cordova. 8th night.

Monday: If not seen yet, Mezquita and/or above sites. Train to Madrid. Sleep in Madrid. 9th night.

Tuesday: Museo nacional del Prado, if time: Centro de arte Reina Sofia, museo del arte Thyssen-Bornemisza. 10th night. 2nd night in Madrid.

Wednesday: Royal palace; if time, if not seen yet, Thyssen-Bornemisza, Museo Arqueológico Nacional. 11th night. 3rd night in Madrid

Thursday: If not seen yet, Museo Arqueológico Nacional; if time, possibly other museums. 12th night. 4th night in Madrid

Friday: more museums or possibly day or part day trip to Segovia. 13th night. 5th night in Madrid
Saturday: Fly back to Detroit.

I like the overall pace. Seville is probably the tightest at just 1-1/2 days. Madrid is fairly generous at 4 full days plus an evening. But of course it depends on how much time you spend inside all those sights. The day-trip to Segovia will help balance things a bit, and Segovia is definitely worth seeing.

I agree with ACRAVEN about perhaps beefing up Seville a bit. Segovia does have a jewish focus for tourism in that it marks its old Jewish quarter and has blue plaques in the sidewalk denoting jewish buildings. Take the lower road that branches to the left from the main plaza enroute to the fortress.

Want to add, consider a multi city flight and shift Toledo to later. If your airline codeshares with Iberia, consider flying to Granada or Seville on your inbound ticket and save half the train trips. Depends on whether it messes up dates for Cordoba and Toledo as Saturdays there will be less rewarding.
I found that tactic saved me from trying to get to a train station in a new city with jetlag

There is a small Jewish history museum in Seville, it's in Santa Cruz or "Juderia" neighbourhood which was (centuries ago), the Jewish district and the museum has information on other traces of Jewish heritage around there.

Even if you're not very interested in the rest of Sevilla's catedral, you might find the Giralda interesting which began life as a minaret.

I'd consider adding a night to Sevilla and taking one from Madrid or Toledo.

On my last two trips to Europe I took America Airlines. On my 3rd to last trip, I took Delta. A lot of available flight plans from Detroit to Seville involve changing planes in Madrid. If I would have to change planes in Madrid, is it really objectively better, cheaper, and/or faster to buy a ticket from Detroit to Seville than flying to Madrid and taking trains or buses the rest of the way? I am not complaining. I don't have a judgment about this yet. I realize that in theory they let you buy train tickets at the last minute, but train tickets cost more at the last minute and they are likely to be sold out. And there is the well known problem with buying tickets in advance for a train on the same day your plane arrives; you would be screwed if the plane arrives late or it takes too long to get out of the airport.

Edit: I am not worried about jet lag inhibiting my ability to go from the airport to a bus or train station, and I can see how buying a ticket from Detroit to Seville avoids the problem of worrying that all the trains from Madrid to Seville or Toledo will be sold out when I get to the train station. And a train ticket can't be purchased in advance if it leaves too soon after the plane is supposed to arrive or after i am supposed to get out of the airport.

On two previous trips to other parts of Europe, I have taken a bus or train to a town far away from the airport right after leaving the airport. It worked but this doesn't mean the same thing is right for Spain.

Mike, I think you have a good grasp of the possible challenges of starting the trip in Seville. From some origins, it may be financially viable to buy an airline ticket into or out of Seville. That's easiest, probably fastest, and offers protection in the event your transatlantic flight is delayed. Clearly the top choice, all things being equal. But things are rarely equal. How much extra does it cost to fly into or out of Seville rather than round-trip to Madrid? It would be worth something to me to do that--at least $100 extra, maybe $200 extra, probably depending on how good the connection was.

For my trip this year (beginning in Andalucia) the extra cost of flying into one of the airports in Andalucia rather than Madrid would have been at least $500. That was too much for me, so I spent my first night in Madrid and moved on to Ubeda the next day by bus. Buses on that route are infrequent, and I was heading to a small hotel with a limited check-in window; it seemed risky to commit to making it to that Ubeda hotel on Day 1.

Have you priced out DTW/Seville, Madrid/DTW flights and DTW/Madrid, Seville/DTW flights as well as plain DTW/Madrid roundtrips? What's the current difference in fares?

If you aren't finding decent airfares into (or out of) Seville, the round-trip to Madrid is not a disaster. As you note, counting on buying a day-of ticket on a reservation-required train is a bit risky, because sellouts can occur. Many Seville trains for this afternoon (Friday) are sold out or (if I understand Renfe's website correctly) full except for wheelchair places (perhaps with flip-down seats?). It's not out of the question that you might have to wait around for some time for the next train with a seat available. And you'd almost certainly be paying full price (76.30 euros) for that ticket.

The good thing about starting the trip in Toledo is that there's no up-charge on last-minute train tickets, unlike traveling to Seville. Unless there's some sort of special event going on, it's quite unlikely all the trains to Toledo would be sold out when you land in Madrid. If by some freaky chance they are, you could take a bus. Buses are very frequent. They take longer than the train, but still often just 50 minutes or an hour. (A bus to Seville would take nearly 6-1/2 hours, a very different thing.) Train tickets to Toledo are so cheap (13.90 euros) that if you were nervous about a sellout (you can watch the Renfe website to see which trains are full), you could buy a ticket on a train you were pretty sure you could make, figuring that if you missed that train, you weren't out that much money.

What does it cost you, time-wise, to start the trip in Toledo and end it in Seville rather than reversing the trip? At the end of the trip you have to scurry back to Madrid from Seville (2-1/2 hours by train) rather than from Toledo (1/2 hour by train). It costs you 2 hours.

There are travel questions here - how to get from A to B, and destination questions - What to visit or look at.

I agree, skip Barcelona for this trip. Too far away.

On travel - You should check out Renfe for train times/travel times/fares. You should use the RS guidebook to make sure you are picking the right station in each town... Madrid Puerta Atocha for example.

http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html

Toledo is only 30 minutes from Madrid by train. To get the train the Andalucia you will go back through Madrid anyway.... Cordoba is on the way to both Sevilla and Granada so it is an easy place to pause either on the way out or the way back to Madrid. On our two weeks we did Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, Ronda, Granada, Cordoba in that order, which is pretty similar to your plan (except the Ronda/Hill towns part which required a car). Everything else can be done by train, or bus depending on whether the AVE trains now connect Cordoba and Granada (they didn't when we went, although they were supposed to).

What to see - Every culture tells us its history through what they showcase and what they avoid dwelling upon - that alone is a wonderful aspect of travel. As far as spiritual meaning, to me, El Greco expresses something spiritual in terms of one religion, but in artistic forms that are more universal. AND, being rich like the Hapsburg emperors, meant that they got to buy (obtain?) some of the best stuff. The Prado for example, has magnificent collections of German and Northern European Art (particularly Dutch and German) of the Renaissance and Reformation periods, better than most German museums.

Have a great time!