Andulusia via Valencia - Need help with Itinerary

You have 10 nights, so 11 days, counting arrival day and last day . In 9 days, you want to visit at a minimum Granada, Barcelona and somewhere in France for "a few days." Let's give it a test drive:
Day 1 - Valencia in a jetlagged haze
Day 2 - Train to Granada, 1/2 day for sightseeing
Day 3 - Granada, Alhambra
Day 4 - fly to France
Day 5-7 France (3 full days)
Day 8 - train to Barcelona
Day 9 - full day in Barcelona
Day 10 - full day in Barcelona
Day 11 - probably just time to the airport for a morning flight home

Unless you cut short your time in France, you don't have time for more than what I've listed. Even then, the best you could probably manage is 1-2 nights in Sevilla. You'll use 1/2 day in transfer from Granada, but Sevilla has an airport so you might find flights to your French destination.

Thank you for the quick reply.
That’s what I’m afraid of. Very tight.
The hubs wants the kids to see another country (southern France) for a couple days. Flight is fairly quick and cheap. And the train ride from there to Barcelona is short. Thought since we are departing from Barcelona that would tag it at the end. Should I cut 1 day from Barcelona?
Unfortunately I do not see direct trains into Granada from Val. I believe I have to go through Cordoba?

Looks like a lot of ground to cover in a short time.

How did your 2015 trip work out? It looked as busy as this one. If that is how you like to travel, then go for it.

Why not do all your 'wish list' cities in Spain and save France for another trip?

Our 2015 trip was amazing. We are lucky that jet lag does not affect us until we return home. We squeezed a lot in 10 days but still had an amazing trip. Keep in mind when we travel - we aren’t doing tours and visiting a lot of museums. Our trip to Italy was the two of us and we just wanted to soak up the local towns, walk, eat and drink our way through Tuscany. Lol
In 10 days including travel : we saw
Florence (Markets and Duomo, Ponte Vecchio) then took train to Cinque Terre, rented a car in La Spieza, then stayed at an agriturismo and did Sienna and day trips to San Gimignano, Chianti, Cortona, Pienza, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Civita di Bagnoregio, returned the car in Orvieto and took a train into Rome. Spent 2 nights in Rome (basically Rome in a day but saw the Collisseum, Ruins and Vatican in 1 day. Lol
We actually enjoyed driving to all of the towns.
I feel that Spain is a little more spread out. So having a hard time planning this one.
I should add that I have not booked the flights yet to France. It all depends on this itinerary.

I would suggest skipping France on this trip, for several reasons:

• Barcelona and Andalucia feel like two different countries. Believe me, you won't lack variety.

• There are many grest places in southern France, but you won't have time to see them. You'll likely be limited to one place with a major airport. The charm of southern France is in the small towns, especially if you don't care about the art museums in Nice.

• The places you're likely to reach by non-stop flights from southern Spain will probably not be all that short a train ride from Barcelona.

• Barcelona has many interesting sights. Spending just two nights there could be very painful.

Edited to add: If France is truly non-negotiable, I suggest making it a side-trip from Barcelona. Another thread has reminded me that Collioure is not terribly far from Spain. It will be a good bit of train time and not all that much time in Colloure, but it's a small town. This would mean flying from Andalucia to Barcelona rather than to France, and there might be more flight options available. One less hotel change will be helpful in this very condensed trip. I still say, though, that you'd do better to hold off on France this time around.

If it were me, and I already had my tickets into Valencia and out of Barcelona, I'd bag France (this time) and add in some days just lounging along the coast of Spain. It'll be later so the beach-towns won't be as busy, and if your plan is Valencia --> Granada do it by car and check out the coast.

That's just my opinion. Have a great trip either way!

You are indeed lucky that you aren't affected by jetlag. But you don't know how it will affect your kids. Another thing to consider is that 2 adults can move a lot faster than 4 adults. Teens may be slower than adults at getting out of bed, out of the shower, packed, walking without getting distracted by every shop display . . .

As mentioned above - Jet lag affects us. Just lucky that it usually affects us on our return. ;)
We have traveled internationally with our kids and they are great travelers. This is just their first trip to Europe. They will be fine.

We talked about the schedule last night and have come up with three options that we need to decide.

Option 1
Only Spain. Valencia to the Andalucia area then to fly to Barcelona from Seville

Option 2
Valencia to Barcelona and the very southern part of France. Ex Collioure, Carcassonne.
And cross Andalucía out.

Option 3.
Option 1 + Tangier

Valencia is not that well connected to Andalucia. An AVE to Cordoba might be your best bet. There is likely a bus from Valencia to Granada - you'll have to check the schedules to see if that is preferred. You could AVE to Cordoba, then Sevilla and finish in Granada. Then fly to Barcelona. Or rent a car and do the reverse (maybe dropping off in Sevilla and just taking a daytrip by train to Cordoba).

Also, consider an extra night in Valencia. It's a very nice city, but you won't see it with only one night and an early departure the next day. I agree with the others, drop France on this trip. Barcelona will be very similar in culture to southern France near the Spanish border and the culture will vary from Valencia, Andalucia and Barcelona (if you are paying close attention).

If we just do Spain... would it be worth to travel south and take a ferry to Tangier? Or go to the beach? Which beach town would you recommend?

Also any recs on what area to stay in?

Andalusia?
Valencia?
Barcelona?

I’m not happy to be recommending a couple of one night stays first up, however you are a little restricted with your Valencia arrival and your limited time frame.

September
30. Arrive Valencia (1N)
October
1. Train to Cordoba (1N)
2. Train to Granada
3. Alhambra
4. Train to Sevilla (2N)
5. Sevilla
6. Late flight to Barcelona (4N)
7. Barcelona
8. Barcelona
9. Barcelona
10. Depart Barcelona

UPDATED BELOW ...

ps. Looks like we share a surname. Best regards. David.

I really, really encourage you to do some thinking and discussion with your family about what you want to do, how much time you want to spend in transit versus actually seeing/doing things, and what are your priorities. None of our advice will be very helpful until you do that. Spain is actually a quite large country, and travel times between regions can be quite long (especially in context of a short trip). I would also try and be as efficient as you can in your travels - for example in David's post he has you going to Granada from Cordoba, then back to Sevilla (3 hours each way).

I know that is not easy, there are far more things you'd like to do then you have time for. But narrow down the most important, then build an itinerary around that, fitting in whatever you can that is nearby and more flexible.

Would it be better to rent a car once in Andalusia?
My husband is ok with driving. We have enjoyed driving through different parts of other countries. Sometimes the journey can be as exciting as the destination.
Thanks David for your suggestion. I do like your itinerary. I know 1 night in Valencia isn’t that long. Should we stay another night there? I’ve heard mix things about Valencia.
And I agree. Wish we could have flown in somewhere differently but still excited. And my husband is excited about some authentic paella! :)

On further consideration I think this would be a better option to maximise your time.

September
30. Arrive Valencia (2N)
October
1. Valencia
2. Early train (3hr 12min) to Cordoba for the Mezquita, then a late train (45min) on to Sevilla (2N)
3. Sevilla
4. Late train (3hr 19min) to Granada (2N)
5. Alhambra
6. Late flight (1hr 25min) to Barcelona (4N)
7. Barcelona
8. Barcelona
9. Barcelona
10. Depart Barcelona

Suggested trains/flight on current timetable ...

Oct 2 - AVE 3982
Dep 08:07 VALENCIA JOAQUIN SOROLLA
Arr 11:19 CORDOBA-CENTRAL

Oct 4 - TRN13926
Dep 17:56 SEVILLA-SANTA JUSTA
Arr 21:15 GRANADA

Oct 6 - Vueling VY2015
Dep 19:15 GRANADA
Arr 20:40 BARCELONA

In Córdoba, store your luggage in lockers st the bus station, opposite the train station, while you visit the Mezquita. Book your Alhambra visit as soon as you lock in an itinerary.