37(ish) Days In Spain - Itinerary Help!

That is too much, even for 37 nights. Even if you are Americans, it is preferable to use public transport (trains and buses) whenever you can, as many cities are pedestrianized and it is pretty difficult to park. Also, many cities in spain have good public transport connections, as well that some cities are connected with the superb AVE train, a High Speed train that reaches 300 km/h, so the journey is faster than going by road. Be European for 38 days and use public transport whenever you can. Ah, and if you prebook trains in advance at www.renfe.com you get great fares!

I can comment only few parts of the trip, because I am from Barcelona, but generally it is too much. You won't even scratch the surface of Barcelona and many other cities. Replan your journey using a map of the rail and road connections of Spain, and do not rush. Spain is superb country that deserves to be seen slowly, and if you can't see anything you can always come back again.

Ps: Montserrat from Valencia??? Montserrat is nearby Barcelona, not Valencia.

I agree with Joan. A car in Spain is useful only for places that aren't well served by train. It sounds like the only part of your trip that would be better with a car is the north after Bilbao. I haven't been to the area yet, but I recently had a long conversation with a gentleman who lives in Bilbao (we were on a bus together headed to Hanoi) and he suggested 2 weeks in the area, going by public transportation (bus? train? can't remember) to Bilbao for about 3 days then renting a car and doing a 10-day loop through the north, including santiago de Compostelo,

Going to Tarifa is a long journey which if it is a high priority would be easier by car. It does seem that you are doing some backtracking, maybe not. You are moving around quite a bit. Short stays over several weeks can be very tiring - not just the packing/unpacking and to/from train stations and airports but also the stress of orienting to new surroundings, new neighborhoods, different transportation systems, etc.

Is Montserrat a day trip from Valencia? Most people do it as a day trip from Barcelona.

I wish you could slow down so you can see more and spend less time chewing up the highway miles. You might consider limiting this trip to either northern or southern Spain and going back in 2019 or 2020 to attack the rest of the country.

Check driving times on Via Michelin.com against train times on Renfe.com or the Deutsche Bahn website. Your itinerary doesn't align with key AVE routes (Barcelona-Madrid, Madrid-Valencia, Madrid-Cordoba-Seville), so car may be best.

Your plans to get up and be at your destination by noon are, I suspect, optimistic given that dinner in Spain begins at about 10 PM. Spain is nearly three times the size of the Yucatan Peninsula. I haven't been to the Yucatan, but your plans for Spain (especially in the north) have you bypassing a lot of very interesting places. I'd want to take advantage of the car by seeing those spots, many of which are slow/difficult to reach if you must depend on trains and buses.

The reportedly-optimistic ViaMichelin estimates that the drive from Toledo to Valencia will take over four hours without stops, getting lost or looking for parking. Few people consider Valencia one of the key stops in Spain. If I had a car in that area, there are at least two additional places I'd like to see. They aren't on the direct driving route, but they are great destinations: Cuenca and Teruel. Cuenca is on the Madrid-Valencia AVE line, but Teruel is quite awkward to reach and therefore amazingly non-touristy.

Girona itself can consume more than a full day, plus it has one of Spain's finest restaurants, El Celler de Can Roca. The city has a very atmospheric medieval district, great for dinner and evening wandering. It is a convenient base for a day-trip to Figueres and/or the very picturesque former fishing village of Cadaques. I think there are some good foodie stops along the coast as well. It's a shame to try to hit Figueres/Dali and Girona on a single day-trip from Barcelona.

Barcelona-Girona-Figueres is done easily by train. Cadaques has bus service from Figueres, and the scenery for at least the last part of the route is great. If you stayed in Girona you might, by pushing, be able to get to the Dali Theatre and Museum (advance ticket purchase recommended) and Cadaques in one day.

I don't quite understand what's up with the flight from Barcelona to Santiago de Compostela then Gijon. Santiago has a large historic area. I hope you plan at least one night there. Galicia is a very pretty area, and there are other worthy small cities (A Coruna and Pontevedra), plus many attractive smaller towns (Betanzos, Combarra, Cambados to start).

I enjoyed a short side-trip to Gijon. It has a smallish medieval district as well as some attractive 19C/20C architecture. It would be...odd...to go there without also seeing Oviedo, but I don't know anything about the diving situation.

Also in northern Spain, but south of your direct driving route to Bilbao, are the great cities of Leon (very lively dining/bar district) and Burgos. Burgos is on your way to Aranda de Duero.

The inland city of Vitoria-Gasteiz has a particularly impressive hilltop medieval district. Between V-G and Logrono is the charming hill town of Laguardia. It seemed to be a very wine-oriented town. It's quite near LaRioja.

The Basque Country has lovely scenery. There are also many attractive coastal towns, though they are now touristy: Hondarribia (largish), Zarautz, Getaria and Zumaia are all worth a look.

Your trip from Aranda de Duero to Madrid takes you near Segovia. A stop there is highly recommended.

I adored Toledo and think two nights there is a very good idea. It depends on how you feel about wandering around in a medieval world. It is not a hopping place at night.

I didn't have enough room in my previous post to note that I hope you'll take another look at the train if you end up reconfiguring your itinerary. Your schedule is packed, and I think the driving is going to get old, fast. There's also the expense of parking in the major cities. Plus fuel, of course. The train has the advantage of allowing for picnics-in-motion.

The buses are comfortable, but the schedules can be challenging when you want to venture to smaller places like Laguardia.