3 week Spain itinerary help

Personally I think 7 nights in Madrid, even with two day trips, is a little long. And you might also consider a day trip to Avail and Segovia. You might consider coming home from Malaga. Easier to get to from Granada than Madrid.

I think the number of nights allocated sounds perfect for your interests.
Not so sure about a day trip to Valencia from Madrid.
A few suggestions with logistics however ...
Fly from Barcelona to Granada - check out cheap fares with Vueling, the low cost subsidiary of Iberia.
Do a one way car rental thru the Pueblos Blancos from Granada to Sevilla.
Finally AVE train Sevilla to Madrid via Cordoba.
Barcelona - 4 nts
Granada - 3 nts
Ronda - 2 nts
Sevilla - 4 nts
Cordoba - 2 nts
Madrid - 7 nts

I like djp's route, but I have an alternative suggestion. I think you are short-changing Barcelona, especially since you have a really long journey to get there.

Fly to Madrid and home from Barcelona, so the longer flight is going home, not starting your trip. I would probably go straight from the airport to Cordoba for 2 nights, one full day, then the rest of Andalusia, then Madrid, train to Barcelona, then home. Then you add that last night in Madrid to Barcelona and you aren't jetlagged there. That also saves one time-consuming hotel change.

I would rent a car to visit the pueblos blancos, driving either from Granada to them before Seville, or from Seville, through them to Granada. It depends on the train and bus schedules.

Or you could start with Madrid, then Andalusia, then fly from Granada to Barcelona.

I'd look at the travel times from point to point and work out what was most efficient. This is a little time-consuming, but that's how you'll get to the best route for your. Pay attention to the train times. If you are considering flying, be sure to add plenty of extra time - longer to get to/from airport than train, time for check-in, security, and luggage collection . . . While a 1 hour flight sounds better than a 4-5 hour train ride, in fact it can take longer.

Check out my trip report, it might help:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/spain-clean-toilets-affordable-lodging

My take:

Consider the first day a "get over jet lag" day. This is a good day for walking (maybe the Ramblas and beaches of Barcelona).

Madrid is my least favorite city in Spain. You don't say when you are going. In summer, Madrid will be more comfortable than Andalucia and the green spaces, such as Retiro Park, will be in full swing. Other than that, the only must see in Madrid is El Prado. I also liked Temple Debod (moved from Egypt) and was interested in the Naval museum, but there is little history in Madrid, no old center, and - apart from various museums - not much else. The Cathedral and nearby Royal Palace are both skippable (the worst I've seen in Europe). There may be good food in Madrid, but we didn't find it - we went far and wide and found overpriced meals that weren't very good. The best food we found was at the Bull Bar in Plaza Mayor - but saying it was the best is damning with faint praise.

Toledo, on the other hand is really nice. I'd give yourself a full day there and stay two nights (you will get a nicer room and better food, all at a lower price).

Valencia IMO is too far for a day trip from Madrid. I'd go to either Segovia (or rent a car and visit both Avila and Segovia in a day). I think your wife would be inspired by the wall in Avila and the aquaduct in Segovia. Again, stay a night away from Madrid. There's no sense paying the highest prices in the country (probably tied with Barcelona) for rooms if you aren't spending the day in Madrid, you will enjoy a night in a smaller city much more.

Two nights in Ronda is fine. I think the sights are worth a half day. If your schedule is tight, Ronda can be reduced to one night (which reduces your sight-seeing time in Ronda from a full day to about a half day). But it's never a bad idea to avoid one nighters in your itinerary.

Sevilla can be either a lot of days or just a couple. I like Sevilla, but we visited during the April Fair and had a packed four days. If you're visiting outside April, you could reduce Sevilla to a full day (two nights) to visit the Cathedral, Alcazar and walk the surrounding quarter. Your two nights should include a flamenco performance. If during the season, and you're interested, a corrida (bull fight) could be another evening activity. The Plaza de Espana are nice enough gardens for a stroll. They're only the sight of an expo - no historical significance at all - and can easily be skipped in favor of better places (including the nearby Roman ruins or a day trip to Jerez).

Cordoba makes a nice day stop using the fast train between Madrid and Sevilla. The sight to see is the Mesquita and surrounding quarter. We skipped the Alcazar (on Rick's advice). We stayed one night which allowed us to stroll the old quarter without the normal daytime crowds.

Two nights in Granada isn't enough. The sight is obviously the Alhambra. It's equal to two major sights and takes nearly a full day to see. There are enough other sights in Granada to justify at least another full day, so plan three nights minimum.

Don't train Granada to Madrid. You are better off to plan Barcelona first, fly to Granada (this stretch is very inconvenient by any other mode). If Valencia is something you really don't want to skip. Rent a car out of Barcelona and stop in Valencia while driving to Granada. Alternatively, take a bus. The buses are cheap and will get you there as fast or faster than the trains. They're like charter buses. Each bus station has an English speaker in an information kiosk that will help you sort out your options and book your ticket. This area isn't well served by train.

continued -

A car is good for visiting Ronda. If you're driving from Granada, stop and see the passage tombs in Antequera. They're 5000 years old. The tombs and museum are free.

Granada, Seville, Cordoba, Madrid, and Barcelona are the only cities I'd considered well served by train - pretty much in a C-shaped route than hits each of them. Once you get off this specific corridor (exception train from Madrid to Toledo and a couple of other spurs), you need to consider other options - rental car or bus. Driving is easy but not the best idea if you are stopping in a city (where you will park it and not drive). When you're going directly from city to city, a bus is a better choice.

That in mind. It makes the most sense to start in Barcelona, fly to Granada, drive to Ronda then Sevilla, drop your car and train to Cordoba and Madrid/Toledo. Alternatively, Barcelona, Madrid/Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, by car to Ronda then Granada, and fly home, or connect by air to your flight home, from there is a good route.

While I don't think it's a great idea to take a ferry to visit Tangiers for a day. I think a stop in Gibraltar, while you have a car is a good choice between Seville and Ronda. Gibraltar can be seen in a day and is a unique, strategic and historic spot (from a Pillar of Hercules to Napoleonic Wars to WWII).

Thanks for all the helpful replies. The detail I had neglected to include was that our trip spans from mid-September to early October. I planned the trip from North to South hoping that it might be a little cooler by the time we got to Andalucia. Do you think this reasoning is valid at that time of year? And I had us flying into and out of Madrid because I could get one-stop connections, but perhaps an open jaw trip using Barcelona and Malaga with two-stop flights might be better overall?

Hi David,
Your proposed itinerary looks fine to me, with one exception - I don't know how I would spend 2 days and 2 nights in Ronda... But for your goals, it all really looks fine. Don't worry about the food in Madrid - there are excellent restaurants in the city and IF you want to find them, you will be able to easily enough. I have spent several Octobers travelling throughout Spain, and personally believe that is the ideal time of year for a Spanish trip. Enjoy!

I appreciate all your excellent and sensible advice and have modified my itinerary:

Fly into Barcelona
4 nights Barcelona
fly to Granada
3 nights Granada
rental car to Ronda for 2 nights, exploring a few of los pueblos blancos from there
4 nights Sevilla
2 nights Cordoba
1 night Toledo
6 nights Madrid
Fly home from Madrid

Any other advice?

David

Looks good to me.
These 3 weeks are when the weather starts to change so leaving the south til later is a sound idea.