April 2024 trip to Spain

Please don't try to cover the entire length of Spain and almost all of its most popular (for a reason) cities in ten days. It takes time to get from place to place, and there's all the business of checking in and out of hotels to be considered as well. You'd end up with just a few hours in each city, on average.

Have you dug into a guidebook to see what your sightseeing options are in the cities you list? Rick has top-sight lists for some of those cities you can check right here on this website. Go here, choose a city you're thinking of visiting and then click on "At a Glance": https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain

With the time you have and your desire to spend time with friends in Sotogrande (a fairly isolated coastal town over an hour from Malaga and close to a 90-minute drive from Cadiz), I don't see how you have time to go beyond Andalucia and Madrid.

Spain is very large and offers a lot of great destinations. It's natural to want to see them, but if you aren't reasonably practical about your itinerary, you're going to be seeing the country through the windows of trains, buses and cars. Most of the places you list are connected by very fast trains; doing much of this trip by car will just slow you down.

On a trip beginning in Andalucia, I'd want to include Granada. Although Cadiz and Malaga are interesting places, they don't match Granada. The key stops in that part of Spain are Seville, Cordoba and Granada. Other places are extras, for those who have time. Whether you have time depends on how many hours or days you want to spend in Sotogrande, how quickly you can get six people moving every morning and your arrival and departure airports. You really, really need to cut Valencia and Barcelona. I am doubtful about Toledo and Segovia, but I don't know the precise timing for your trip. Exactly how many nights are you spending in Spain, not counting the night on the plane as you fly in?

Are you flying in and out of Malaga, or will it be Madrid?

Ditto what acraven said. I just want to add that when I'm looking at a new country to visit, I like to watch all the RS episodes related to that country. The episodes are even on this website. There are episodes that cover all of the cities you mention except Cadiz, Valencia and Malaga. If you don't find enough there, there are scads of YouTube videos.

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain

I travel at a faster clip than many on the forum, but looking at your timeframe and list of cities, I was feeling overwhelmed, and I'm not the one going!

A car? As in ONE car? You'll need a van to comfortably seat 6 adults with room for all the luggage. You may need a special license to drive a large vehicle. Maybe someone else here will have that information. I can tell you from experience driving and not driving in Spanish towns and cities that a van will be difficult in city centers and parking will be hard to find, even in public garages.

You're choosing to stay in a relatively remote part of the country. Check driving times to the places you are planning. Google maps shows 1.5 hours to Cadiz, over 2 hours to Seville - and those are the 2 closest places. Beware of the optimism of Google times, which don't take into account traffic delays. Then add time to find parking and then get to the sights.

Thank you for the feedback. We booked our return flight back to the US from Barcelona so that has to be one of our stops. We have a van reserved for the trip. In the past the 6 of us have rented a small van and have toured around Austria and Italy. We love seeing the country by car and going from place to place. We are not opposed to taking trains on part of the trip. Maybe we could travel Cadiz, Seville, Cordoba and Granada, then return the car to Malaga and train to Barcelona - thoughts?? We would be giving up Toledo, Segovia, Madrid and Valencia - maybe doing that on another trip.

Maybe we could travel Cadiz, Seville, Cordoba and Granada, then return
the car to Malaga and train to Barcelona - thoughts??

I don't see any way to do all of that in ten days, short a magic carpet. I would not attempt it with just two people traveling.
Ten days and six people (and all that distance to travel) means three places max, and they will all be shortchanged. If you must use a van, make better use of it and go to villages in rural areas, not cities that are all connected by train.
I strongly suggest changing the flight home if spending time with friends in Sotogrande is a must. You could have a fantastic time with ten days in just that vicinity.

I did look to fly home from Malaga or Madrid but it would cost us an additional $2,000 so I don't think we want to do that. We have 9 full days not counting the visit to Sotogrande and the travel day home.

I think you have the decision then, drop the places close to Madrid. I would look into dropping the car in Sevilla if there are flights to Barcelona from there.

Todos los dias....Every day someone writes in with a proposed itinerary to tour Spain. I am not sure what they think they are going to read in the comments that will change their mind, or reinforce their decisions. Planning a trip takes effort, time, research, and organization.

First, you have listed nine places to visit, and you state you would like to stay in each place two nights, yet you only have ten days total. Logically this does not add up. So, you should get a map of Spain, calculate all the driving distances, and then see what is physically feasible. Next, read a good guidebook to learn about each city and see what there is to see in each locale. What are you priorities and interests? What are you willing to eliminate? Are you traveling light, as packing and unpacking every day is a pain for me.

Travel should not just be a racing checklist--stop a bit and try the tapas, drink some vino, visit a castle, pray in a cathedral, tour a museum, etc.

My first thought would be eliminate Valencia and Barcelona--too out of the way. But, since your flights are booked, I would skip Cadiz, Cordoba and just do Sevilla, to Madrid (day trip to Toledo and/or Segovia), to Barcelona. The car is needed for you visit to friends, but probably not after that, but if you have it, it will allow for a bit more flexibility than the trains. Each city you listed could be a minimum of two days to really enjoy it. Best wishes, y buena suerte!

You have way too much in your agenda, and will spend the majority of your time in transit. A day trip to Madrid makes no sense, as you will not have time to see anything or get a feel for the city. In 10 days I'd limit myself to no more than 3 places, preferably 2, maybe with a few day trips. Is it your goal to just say that you have "been" to a city, or to actually get to see a place and enjoy it? My advice would be to select a few places and slow down. Save the rest for another trip. I can't suggest how to narrow down your list as I don't know anything about your interests. But any of these places would merit more than just one day.

Yes the 6 of us travel often and we do pack a lot in a short amount of time. We like to get the feel for an area and then we know if it's a place we want to go back to and spend more time. After all the great feedback I will definitely take out a few stops and save them for another trip.

Me again - Good news - we were able to change our flight to return back to the US from Madrid. We have removed Valencia and Barcelona from this trip itinerary. In the past our group has always rented a small van to get around. We like the freedom of stopping if we see something along the way. It's also easier than jumping on and off trains with luggage. We have done this in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, etc. We love seeing the countryside. We typically will stay in smaller cities and train in to larger cities for day trips. That being said we are not opposed to using a train for the entire trip if it makes sense. As I said earlier we are flying in to Malaga and going to visit friends in Sotogrande. We need a car for that. From there we are going to Cadiz, Seville, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid (and possibly a day trip to Segovia if there is time). Would you recommend we keep the car or drop it someplace?

For that time frame and those destinations, I would use the train--they are all in a straight line along the train route, with the exception of Toledo, which you have to pass through Madrid to reach via train.
A driving trip might make sense to the small towns of the region, but this is not that--parking would be an inconvenience, and the best places to stay are smack dab in the center of these wondrous cities--not the outskirts.

Since we need a car to visit friends in Sotogrande would you recommend picking it up in Malaga then returning it there and taking a train to Cadiz to start the trip?

Since we need a car to visit friends in Sotogrande would you recommend picking it up in Malaga then returning it there and taking a train to Cadiz to start the trip? Or Drive the car to Cadiz and drop it at any of our other stops.

I would look at dropping in a different location--maybe Sevilla or Cadiz. It should only be a minor fee, well worth it.
If you are departing immediately on arrival, hopefully more than one of you will be doing the driving in case jetlag is an issue!
That drive along the coast should be interesting as you approach Cadiz. Seafood fans might like a stop (there is a mecca for canned seafood somewhere along there), or the Roman ruins at Baelo Claudia near Bolonia. There is a pretty orange sand beach below Vejer de la Frontera. You could really see a lot in this area, then drop the van by Cordoba at latest and hop on fast train to Madrid.

We are actually going to the UK for a wedding first so we won't have jet lag. I will look at dropping the car in Cordoba and see if that makes sense.

I guess you may as well check Toledo for drop-off, too, though that means you'd be locked in to a drop off date/time. I would not want to drive anywhere near Madrid in a van though--in a car it was pretty hectic!
I'd examine where you might use the car and where you will be at a disadvantage in terms of hotel stay, as April can be a very busy time especially if near Easter. It's always the conundrum being cities better w public transport and in between with car.