My wife and I have 8 days off in early November and are considering traveling to Spain. This would be our first time visiting Spain. We love history, architecture, and great food! Initially, we were thinking about visiting Madrid and Barcelona, but the more I read about the Andalusia region, maybe it would be more appealing.
We would greatly appreciate any feedback or suggestions, including whether going to Spain this time of year is a bad idea.
If you do Andalusia with 8 days you could book the flight into Seville and out of Malaga or vice versa.
Spend 4 Days in Seville include a day trip by train to Cordoba.
Take the bus to Granada spend 3 nights in Granada.
Take the bus to Malaga spend 1 night and fly out the next day.
How many nights will you sleep in Spain?
Nov is a good time to visit Andalucia since it’s further south and the summer heat can be brutal. I also agree that flying open jaw (multi-city) is best. The three places to visit in Andalucia are Granada, Ronda and Sevilla. With that said fly in and out of Granada and Sevilla.
Don’t expect to do much on arrival day if arriving after a trans-Atlantic flight. Use this day as settling in and getting familiar with the neighborhood you are sleeping in. End the day with a nice meal and hopefully you’ll be able to get a good night’s sleep. The next day hit the ground running.
You need a minimum of two nights in each place which is a minimum of six nights. If you have an extra night or two add it to Sevilla. A good day trip option from Sevilla is Tavira, Portugal. There’s a direct bus taking 2h.
To get between Granada and Ronda by train requires a connection and takes 3h 30m. Don’t expect to sight-see on transportation days; it takes time to get oriented. Also, there is a direct bus between Ronda and Sevilla taking 2h 30m.
Congratulations for not trying to do Andalucia AND Madrid AND Barcelona in eight days! If you like Spain, come back again.
I'd pick Andalucia in November for warmer weather. Madrid is at altitude and can be cold. Jazz+ offered a good plan. You might want to consider renting a car between Sevilla and Granada to see some of the "white villages" and/or Ronda. That would be a very scenic way to spend a couple of days.
If Madrid would work better for your long flights, there's good train service between it and Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada. It would take longer than flying direct, but might give you more flexibility in scheduling the big flights before and after.
We love Spain and are returning a third time in September to Madrid/Austurias/Rioja. Our previous trips were to Barcelona-Rioja-Basque Country and, last year, to Andalucia for 15 days. We absolutely loved both regions. Maybe Andalucia, weatherwise, would be better in November. We travelled by car both trips. In Andalucia, highlights for us were the Mezquita in Cordoba, walking the El Caminto del Rey, and the rooftop tour at the Seville Cathedral. Ronda was a tourist congested nightmare. The Alhambra is impressive but Granada was super crowded with tourists. Have fun planning. Whatever you decide you will have an awesome experience.
Going to Spain in November is a GREAT idea. Madrid, Barcelona and Andalucia are all chock-full of history, architecture and great food. Andalucia is a bit harder to reach and it's a large geographical area, so you'd be using more time traveling. "8 days off" sounds to me like you have 7 nights in Spain. That's not much to see Andalucia.
First, can you fly nonstop to Madrid and Barcelona? if so, I'd stick with them. If you have to connect anyway, maybe you can find single-connection routes into and out of Andalucia. There are small airports in Sevilla and Granada, but Malaga is significantly larger, so you're more likely to find flights there. If you fly into Madrid, it's at least 3 hours by train with one train change to Cordoba and nearly an hour more to Sevilla . That alone eats up a good chunk of your first day.
Andalucia has wonderful Moorish architecture, Madrid's more 18th-19th century, and Barcelona has tons of moderisme (akin to art nouveau), as well as a Gothic cathedral and several churches built in the centuries between them. Barcelona's history goes back to Roman times. Andalucia has some vestiges from Roman rule, but its gems are medieval, including a very well preserved Juderia in Cordoba and of course the Alhambra and the Mezquita.
If you only have 7 nights, consider spending it all in Barcelona. You can day trip to Girona to explore its medieval center, day trip to Tarragona for some Roman ruins (and a scenic rail journey along the coast). See the official TI site for all the possibilities.
There are no wrong answers on where to visit in Spain. Lol. But I would begin with how many nights you have and where your flights will be in and out of. For me, Madrid or Barcelona are basically my options. If you decide on Andalusia, it would be lovely if you are able to fly in and out of airports in the south.
Unlike many, I am not a massive fan of Barcelona or Madrid - but you could easily spend 7 nights in either. I could also spend 7 nights in Seville happily (although Granada is my favorite city).
If you decide on Andalusia and need to fly into Madrid, take the train south after you land. It’s a bit of a push, but lets you wake up the next morning where you want to be. You could split nights 3 and 3, with your last (7th?) night where you need to fly out from the next day.
I agree with the posters who recommend Andalucia in November. Summers are brutally hot in Andalucia, and that includes basically May through September. So November is perfect. Depending on the number of nights, I would include Seville, Cordoba, and Granada. Seville has the amazing Alcazar, Cordoba has the magnificent Mezquita, and Granada has the stunning Alhambra. These three cities are the most important cities in Andalucia historically and culturally. And each city is very different from each other, both architecturally, visually, and their character and mood.
