Andalusia Itinerary

Hi, I have been to Spain many times over the past 22 years and while I will leave you to figure out the route, I recommend Seville and Granada and Cordoba...highly....don't miss Toledo on a day trip from Madrid...stay after dark for the magical time ( maybe leave later in the day from Madrid, train 1 hour) ....I would not do more than one beach town...you can do that anywhere...

Enjoy!

My 24 year old daughter and I spent 4 nights in Seville and it was not too much (one day was a day trip to Jerez for me). She loved it there more than Córdoba or Granada (although enjoyed them also). Spend 5 nights and you could see Córdoba as a day trip. You might be looking at an apartment as opposed to a hotel, to have more space, and staying in Seville might make that easier instead of changing locations a lot.

With a week I would stick to the classics - Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. If we are talking 7 nights, I'd go from Madrid to Cordoba on the high speed train, spend 1 night there, go to Seville the next day for 3-4 nights then go to Granada by train or bus for the remaining 2-3 nights. Cordoba can easily be done as a day trip from Seville if you don't like one night stops but an overnight is nice to see the town after dark.

Granada is closest to Malaga so is the best end-point. If you can fly home from Granada even better (it's a quick flight to Madrid then connecting to anywhere - Iberia does the route so it can be booked as one ticket Granada to home).

Seville is the biggest and most iconic. Granada has the best Moorish feel and also a unique sense of place. Cordoba has the amazing Mesquita. Nerja is a nice beach town, but nowhere near as interesting as the others. Ronda is very nice, but again - the others are higher priority. I don't really know much about Malaga, I haven't been there for anything other than transit connections. My favorite is Granada, but Seville is a close second. I didn't love Cordoba, but the Mesquita is well worth it. Everyone who has been to the region has their own preferences, though - those are just mine. I do think Granada will appeal to young adults the most - it's exotic, quirky, and bohemian.

If you only have 2 weeks ...

Day
1. Fly in to Barcelona (4N)
2. Barcelona
3. Barcelona
4. Barcelona
5. Train to Madrid (3N)
6. Madrid
7. Madrid / Toledo
8. Train to Seville (3N)
9. Seville
10. Seville / Cordoba-Mezquita
11. Pick up car. Drive via Ronda to Granada (2N)
12. Granada / Alhambra
13. Drive to Nerja (2N)
14. Nerja
15. Drop off car. Depart from Malaga Airport

Forgoing Nerja + Malaga, and departing from Madrid, gives another option over 2 weeks.

1. Fly in to Barcelona (4N)
2. Barcelona
3. Barcelona
4. Barcelona
5. Fly to Granada (2N)
6. Granada - visit Alhambra
7. Pick up car and drive to Ronda (1N)
8. Drive via Arcos to Seville (3N) and drop off car
9. Seville
10. Seville - day trip to Cordoba (Mezquita)
11. Train to Madrid (4N)
12. Madrid
13. Madrid - day trip to Toledo
14. Madrid - day trip to Segovia
15. Depart from Madrid

Thank you to all respondents. Your input is greatly appreciated and has prompted me to reconsider our departing airport (Madrid instead of Malaga). Given that Malaga is not a top tourist destination, it might make sense to end our trip in Madrid and depart from there. Also, I may need to reconsider the coastline (Malaga and Nerja) altogether as we have done countless beach vacations in the US the last 20 years. Thanks again for sharing your expertise!

We just came home from Spain last night with our three kids (15, 12, 10). We chose to skip the beach (were also considering Nerja) and I am glad we did. Stayed in apartments in Barcelona, Granada and Seville and loved them all.

Barcelona - Aspacios Rambla Catalunya Suites - https://www.aspasios.com/apartments-barcelona/rambla-catalunya-suites/

Granada  - Siloe Plaza - http://www.siloeplaza.com/

Seville - Overland Suites Catedral - http://www.overlandsuites.com/

All were found and booked on booking.com.

Can you fly in to Malaga and work your way up and depart from Barcelona

My preference is to fly into Barcelona and depart from Madrid or Malaga for three reasons:

1. I want the longest flight in distance (New York to Barcelona) to be to my flight to Spain to take advantage of it being a red eye;
2. I want the longest flight in distance to be against the rotation of the earth to modestly shorten the flight; and
3. I want the shorter flight in distance (Madrid or Malaga to New York) to be on my return flight to New York as I will be working the next day.
   

I will consider flying out of Barcelona if there is an advantage given my proposed itinerary. Please share why it would be better to fly out of Barcelona.

Thanks1

You're probably only talking about a 30 minute difference in flight time btw Barcelona and Madrid or Malaga. I imagine Malaga would be the most expensive option to fly into or out of from the US.

Wow this is just the topic I wanted to see !!

I've already purchased round-trip tickets arriving and departing from Madrid in May of next year. I would appreciate you folks expert advice.

Does this seems like a good itinerary ? Madrid for 4 nights , going to Toledo on one day , fly train or drive to Granata for three nights. And then have two nights which I haven't decided where we should go....... Then to Sevilla for four nights( day trip to Cordova)and back on the train to Madrid.

It's the two nights between Granata and Sevilla that I haven't figured out what we should do. any suggestions? perhaps stay in Malaga those two nights and check out some of the mountain top villages just like Rhonda?