8 days in Spain- Mother/daughter trip. flying into Barcelona, then Madrid, & Marbella area.

Your Sunday plans are way beyond aggressive. Are you sure you and your daughter will be up for a full day of sightseeing after the overnight flight? Some lucky people are capable of that, but most of us are sleep-deprived zombies. I would never pre-book an attraction for my arrival day, because for me it would almost certainly be wasted money. I think each of the three places you list are $20 - $30 per person, and you almost certainly would need to pre-purchase tickets to avoid standing in a long line (and possibly not getting in at all). That's not a financial commitment I'd be prepared to make on Day 1.

I think your first three targets for Sunday are fine (and I'd be thrilled if I were capable of that much). The usual advice is to be outside in the sunshine on your arrival day, and that part of your plans fits.

As for the rest of that day: Do you want to climb a tower at La Sagrada Familia? That takes more time than just seeing the interior of the church and the small museum. I did not do a tower but still spent about 90 minutes there. La Pedrera will probably take at least as long. The Picasso Museum can be packed to the gills (have you seen pictures of the crowds in the Vatican Museums? The Picasso can look like that). Unless you and your daughter are big Picasso fans, I'd skip it since you don't have much time in Barcelona. If you choose to go, your visit will probably be significantly slowed down due to the crowds; I'd figure on at least 2 hours.

What I suggest is that you not pre-book any of those sights for Sunday. Plan on La Sagrada Familia first thing on Monday or Tuesday morning (pre-purchase the ticket). If by chance you are still raring to go by mid-afternoon on Sunday, head to the Sant Pau Modernista Site. It's a wonderful, multi-building former hospital complex. So far, no one has reported having trouble just walking up and buying a ticket. You'll spend some time indoors and some time outdoors.

Your Monday plans are doable (except I'm suggesting that the 3 indoor Sunday sites be moved to other days), and Parc Guell is definitely worth seeing, but unless you hop in a taxi, it takes a good bit of time to get there and get back to the city, so think carefully about whether you'd rather use the time elsewhere. Again, you'll need to buy your ticket in advance to avoid a long line. Assuming you do manage to get through the walking you plan to do on your arrival day, I'm not sure you'll get much benefit from that half-day city tour, other than Parc Guell itself. I think you could skip that to save a bit of time and money.

I haven't been to Montserrat, so I don't know how adequate a half-day visit will be, nor do I know whether you'll be missing out on part of the fun by taking a bus (I assume) all the way to the top instead of the little train or the lift.

I loved Girona, which is actually worth a full day if not longer. The Dali Theatre and Museum gets good reviews, too. The latter needs to be pre-booked, and you'll save money on the train tickets if you buy them way ahead of time as well--but the super-cheap fast-train tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable. However, you really only have two sightseeing days in Barcelona (I don't count the arrival day), so I would tend to stay in the city rather than spending time on a train to go elsewhere. If you're mad about Dali, that's a different story.

Avila is absolutely, totally skippable. I wouldn't shorten my time in Barcelona in order to see Avila. Segovia, on the other hand, is very nice. I spent nine too-short days in Barcelona, so I have a hard time telling you to use that day for a trip to Segovia, but it wouldn't be a bad decision. Buy a round-trip train ticket to save money. You'll save even more if you buy the (non-refundable/non-changeable) ticket really early.

Buy the (non-refundable/non-changeable) Barcelona-Madrid AVE ticket as soon as your schedule is fixed, to save much money.

Ran out of space before addressing your side-trip possibilities from Marbella:

The Alhambra is magnificent and for that reason sells out very early. A few days ago the official ticket site had no tickets available for June 1-3 and limited availability for the rest of the month. I'm sure it's worse now. If you can't get tickets from the official site, you'll need to pay extra in one way or another. Others have said they were able to buy the Granada Card and get Alhambra tickets for days not available on the official site, but I'm not sure how that works. There are, of course, also tours available. Be very careful if you opt for a tour. Be sure it includes the Nasrid Palaces.

Ronda is also very nice. Gibraltar sounds much less interesting to me, but some people have enjoyed it.

I'm not sure how you plan to travel from Marbella to any of those places. Marbella doesn't seem to have rail service. You can check driving times on ViaMichelin.com, though recently the accuracy of its driving directions has been called into question here. The driving times are thought to be more accurate than what you'd get from Google Maps, but still optimistic. I'm getting 2 hr. 10 min. one way to Granada, which is a lot of driving for a day-trip. Ronda's estimated at more like 1-1/4 hr. and Gibraltar is a few minutes faster. In all cases public buses would take considerable longer.

I should have mentioned that I don't think a tour is necessary for Segovia, though there is value in having someone give you the historical background of what you are seeing. I enjoyed just wandering around there. Also, I believe the city has some restaurants known for suckling pig. That's something you probably wouldn't be able to take advantage of if you were on a tour.

Great Advice- thank you! I think we will skip the Picasso Museum and see how far we get on Sunday. I will find out exactly what is in the 1/2 day city tour to make sure we dont repeat things- i know entrance to Park Guell is one part of it. Thank you for advice on Avila and Segovia. I think we will stay the three days in Barcelona before heading to Madrid. I will have to find out more about Alhambra and whether it is worth it to travel for the day? Thinking a small customized group tour that will pick up and drop off in Marbella might be a better solution than trying to drive there ourselves?