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15 day itinerary - suggestions/feedback please

Posted by (San Jose, CA, USA) on

Hi,

Traveling during Christmas with family (wife and 2 teenage sons). Flying into Barcelona (Saturday Dec 21 evening) , flying out Madrid (Monday Jan 6 noon). I am planning the following:

Day 1 (Sun, Dec 22): Barcelona
Day 2 (Mon): Barcelona
Day 3 (Tue): Barcelona
Day 4 (Wed, Dec 25/Christmas): Travel to Cordoba early morning by direct train & see Cordoba outdoors as everything closed
Day 5 (Th): Scan Mezquita in the morning & take early afternoon train to Seville
Day 6 (F): Seville
Day 7 (Sat): Pick up Rental Car in Sevilla & Travel to Arcos
Day 8 (Sun): Ronda / villages
Day 9 (Mon): Drive to Granada
Day 10 (Tue Dec 31): Granada
Day 11 (Wed, New Years Day): Travel to Toledo
Day 12 (Thu): Toledo
Day 13 (Fri Jan 3): Travel to Madrid early morning & drop rental car. Madrid rest of the day
Day 14 (Sat Jan 4): Madrid
Day 15 (Sun Jan 5): Madrid

I believe this is more or less do-able itinerary - as this is more or less the 14-day itinerary from Rick Steves book "Best of Spain" & modified slightly at places. Only real changes are:

  • The 15th day is added as Cordoba. I can use it to explore Cordoba outdoors on Christmas day.
  • His itinerary goes in a nice straight line starting Barcelona and ending Seville (flying out from there) - but I had already booked flying out Madrid (looking at his other Spain book). However my itinerary is also fine as I plan to take a direct train from Barcelona to Cordoba - which does save some time.
  • Rick Steves "Best of Spain" has 3 days in the Andalucian White Hill Towns (Arcos 1 day and Ronda 2 days). I would have loved to have had 3 days there similar to the book. I will likely use the 3rd day driving to towns like Casares, Mijas and Frigiliana near Malaga (and stayed in Frigiliana).
  • Rick Steves "Best of Spain" has one day less at Madrid. I would have been fine with that. I have been to Madrid once alone & from that experience (and from other places like Versailles, France) I know the family will want to skip museums/Royal Palace.
  • I cannot do the above 2 points (1 day more in White Hill Towns, 1 less day in Madrid) like "Best of Spain" as that would mean I am in Granada Dec 31 & Jan 1 - the Alhambra is closed on Jan 1.

Having said the above (wanting an extra day in the White Hill Towns), the particular feedback I am interested in:

  • The extra day can be brought in by taking it from Barcelona instead of Madrid. Is that extra day in the White Hill Towns worth reducing Barcelona to 2 full days instead of 3 full days? We are not particularly interested in Barcelona museums (at least the indoors) as the kids get bored. So if it is only seeing insides of museums that we miss by reducing a day - I am OK with that.
  • Reducing a day in Barcelona has another benefit - I reach Cordoba on December 24 while the Mezquita is open - and I can start the next morning right away to Seville without needing to spend the morning in Mezquita. So will get a bit more time in Seville.

Please let me know your thoughts / suggestions - probably even rearranging some of the itinerary if it may help. I have done the hotel and rental car bookings - but they all have free cancellations.

I know one of the suggestions might be to cut down on destinations - however there are 1-2 items at each spot I would definitely like to cover. At individual destinations (Barcelona, etc.) - we will cover only those 1-2 spots & spend more time on the experience instead of covering everything. We may come to Spain again in future - but it is more likely as a family we will visit some other destination instead.

Thanks in advance.

Posted by
27062 posts

I would not take a day from Barcelona; you only have two full, non-jetlagged days there as it is.

I'm one of many here who thinks Rick's itineraries move too fast. I look at your plan and feel stressed, but if you really only want to see one or two things in each place, it may be enough time for you.

If you have no interest in art museums or the Royal Palace, you could cut one day from Madrid, which, along with Toledo, is likely to be your coldest stop. However, the aqueduct in Segovia is a "wow", and that's a viable day-trip from Madrid.

Posted by
6113 posts

You can’t travel yourselves at the same pace as a tour using local drivers who know their way around and I think this is a punishing schedule, particularly over the holiday period.

Is it really worth going to Cordoba on a day when everything is closed to spend just a morning there? You are really short changing Seville, so I would head straight there.

The weather may not be great at that time of year and you may want to reconsider spending time in the White Villages.

Posted by
134 posts

I agree that you are shortchanging Seville. We took Rick's Spain Tour in 2014 and Seville was one of the highlights with so much to see and do. We have a scrapbook linked with Rick's website if you care to look at it. It might give you more of an idea of each place. It is under 2014 Spain William and Theresa Barr. We've taken 9 of Rick's Tours and Spain was one of our favorites, so no matter what you decide, you will enjoy it.

Posted by
11131 posts

More time in Sevilla and go to Cordoba from Sevilla on a day when La Mezquita is open.

Posted by
87 posts

Thanks for the feedback folks. Jennifer's suggestion to skip the White Towns / Villages (Arcos and Ronda) as it may not be the best time to visit there has merit. If I decided to take those two days from Arcos & Ronda - how would you distribute them? I assume 1 day more to Seville. What about the other day? If I add it to Madrid - is Segovia doable as a day trip from Madrid?

One side benefit of removing the White Towns - I may be able to do the entire journey without using cars with the fast AVE trains. Especially since the AVE service has started from Granada to Madrid.

Posted by
87 posts

Thanks for the feedback folks. Jennifer's suggestion to skip the White Towns / Villages (Arcos and Ronda) as it may not be the best time to visit there has merit. If I decided to take those two days from Arcos & Ronda - how would you distribute them? I assume 1 day more to Seville. What about the other day? If I add it to Madrid - is Segovia doable as a day trip from Madrid?

One side benefit of removing the White Towns - I may be able to do the entire journey without using cars with the fast AVE trains. Especially since the AVE service has started from Granada to Madrid. In that case - I could do Barcelona -> Seville by AVE. Then Seville->Cordoba also by AVE/AVANT. Followed by Cordoba->Granada (AVE) - and Granada->Toledo (via Madrid) AVE. And then Toledo->Madrid. Of course, instead it might be just more convenient to use a rental car from Seville->Madrid all the way.

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