A month in Spain

Oh, you are in for a treat! My husband and I spent almost 4 weeks in Spain and Portugal last April. We loved every minute of it! We did all the major tourist sights, but since we were driving, we were able to visit some far-less visited places. I'm happy to share more if you want to e-mail me.

Thanks Hazel!! I don't even know what questions to ask yet, but I will for sure email you- thank you :). What were your favorite small towns? What was the outline of your itinerary?
Thank you!!!

Cat,

Reading Rick Steves Spain book is a great start.
You may also enjoy RS Spain videos here on this forum to see what catches your eye.

I could easily spend a month in Spain & another month in France, but you can also split your time among both of these
beautiful countries!

If you've not booked your flights yet, I'd suggest booking, 'multi-city' tickets, this way you won't waste time backtracking,
especially if you plan to visit Spain & France. So you could fly into Madrid or Barcelona then fly home from Paris.

Spain is a large country, with highlight cities scattered all over. It's hard to know what to suggest until we have an idea of some places you are definitely planning to visit. I'm also not sure how small you want to go. I visited many very nice places far smaller than Barcelona and Madrid, but I'm not sure how many you would consider "small towns". I certainly use that term in a very imprecise way myself.

Over a month this might make a nice framework for you to work around.

Arrive in Nice (Cote d'Azur) - 4 nights
Train to Arles (Provence) - 4 nights
Train to Barcelona - 5 nights
Fly to Granada - 2 nights
Drive to Ronda - 2 nights
Drive to Córdoba - 2 nights
Train to Sevilla - 3 nights
Fly to Bilbao/San Sebastián - 4 nights
Fly or train to Madrid - 4 nights

One thing you should take into account is the calendar. There are lots of festivals in Spain, especially in Andalucia, in the spring. Sevilla's Feria is May 2-7. Jerez has a horse festival (think Spanish caballeros, not rodeo), Cordoba has a patio festival, to name a few that I am aware of. These are very special times to visit, but they are also high season room rates and lots of crowds. Plan around this times - either taking part or avoiding them. Here's a list I found - doesn't sound comprehensive though.

Also read this article on the Spanish trains. It's often the best way to travel.

Lastly, a month sounds like a long time, but it really isn't. Spain is a very large country with very diverse regions. I spent 21 days in Andalucia on my first visit and felt I'd just scratch the surface.

Two big questions for you as you start planning ...
1. Do you want to include the north - Bilbao and San Sebastián ?
2. Do you want to hire a car for the white hill towns ?