Barcelona and Andalucia

Andalucía is a beautiful area of Spain. I really enjoyed spending time there on my last trip to Spain. Granada's Alhambra is popular for a reason. Looks like flights from Barcelona to Seville are pretty reasonably-priced, too, from what I could find on skyscanner.com. Under $150 round-trip for random dates in April and only 1.5 hrs each way.

There's some recommended day trips in Rick's 2016 Spain book, starting on pg. 155: Montserrat, Figueres, Cadaqués, and Sitges. I haven't been yet, but as a big Salvador Dalí fan, the Dalí museum in Figueres is a place I definitely plan to visit in the future.

No matter what you choose, you won't go wrong. Enjoy your trip to Spain!

You don't mention Madrid, so I am wondering if you have been there previously.

With 2 weeks I would do something like ...
Fly in to Barcelona (6 nts)
Fly to Granada (2 nts)
Train to Cordoba (2 nts)
Train to Sevilla (4 nts)

Spain is a big country, and travel can be time consuming, but unfortunately its unavoidable.

Yes, it is doable, but you may want to fly from Barcelona to Andalucia. Malaga, Sevilla, and Granada all have airports receiving flights from Barcelona. There are trains from Barcelona to these places, this will take a bit more time, but if you prefer it, it is possible. I think Barcelona to Seville is about 6 hours? Either way, you will loose a good part of a day in transit, but not several days. I would do it - I love Barcelona and Andalucia. There are great places in the north, as well, but the Andalucian cities are some of the best parts of Spain.

Here's what I'd do:
fly into Barcelona - 5 nights
train to Seville - 3 nights
train to Cordoba, either 1 night or a day trip on the way to Granada
bus or train to Granada - 3 nights
fly home from Granada or Malaga (about 2 hours from Granada, has more flight options).

There are two Spains: 1. the area around Barcelona and 2. Madrid and south. Both are not to be missed. After taking a few trips, here's what I would do.
1. Madrid-3 nights, use FlipKey for an apartment around the Pl. de Sol. Most of the areas of interest are within walking distance. Rent a small car and drive to
2. Toledo--one night
3. Cordoba--one night
4. Seville--one night
5. Aros de la Fronterra--one night
6. Granada--one night, then fly to Barcelona (driving will take 2 days and you won't need a car when you get there)
7. Barcelona--stay as long as you like in this area. Cadeques and the choir at Montserrat are worth the trip.
Obviously you could spend a week or more at any one of these towns/cities. There is far too much to see in just a limited amount of tiime (10 days to 2 weeks), but it will give you a good overview. Do your research and make alternative decisions. The distances are fairly short so your drive time will be minimal. That said, flying to Barcelona is a MUST. Driving from Granada takes two days and is pretty much without merit relatively speaking.

April 12-17 are the dates for Feria in Seville. It will be very crowded, and highest prices, but a very special experience, if you can fit it in to your schedule. Now is the time to book hotels if you want to visit Seville then.

I'd suggest starting in Andalusia and ending in Barcelona.

• Madrid arrive in the morning and take the train (2 hours from Atocha station) to
• Cordoba (2 nights), visit the Mezquita, enjoy the evenings, get over jetlag, then morning train (less than 1 hour) to
• Seville (3-4 nights), train/bus (3 hours) to
• Granada (2 nights), fly to
• Barcelona

The main advantage is that you'll have more flight options using Madrid than Seville or Granada, which are small airports. Most flights arrive early in the day so it's easy to continue on to Cordoba (or even Seville) on arrival. If you don't stay in Cordoba, you should plan a day trip from Seville to see the Mezquita. I think Cordoba is much the nicest Andalusian town in the evenings and not as intense (or expensive ;-) as Seville, so a good place to start your trip while getting over the jetlag.

You'll use about 2.5 days to go to Granada and have 1.5 days there (1/2 day each in and out). It's worth it. That gives you plenty of time to visit the Alhambra and see the other major sights.

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. We don't plan to include Madrid because it's another large city like Barcelona, and more friends who have been to Spain previously like Barcelona better. I prefer staying in a location at least 3 nights and do more day trips, rather than moving every day. One idea was to spend the day in Cordoba on our way from Seville to Granada, but if we take the train or bus is there a safe place to store our luggage?

Cordoba - right across the street from the train station is the bus station. It has lockers for luggage. Last visit I took an early train from Seville, arrived in Cordoba before 10, stashed my luggage, walked to the Mesquita, spent 3 hours there, had lunch, walked the Roman bridge, wandered town a bit, returned to the bus station, got luggage, and caught a late afternoon bus to Granada. Worked well. More time in Cordoba is nice (a night would be ideal!), but this is an easy way to squeeze in a major sight with limited time.

Re: Madrid. I agree with your friend that it is less interesting than Barcelona or any of the main areas of Andalucia. I do like it, and If you love art, it is wonderful. But you need to cut somewhere and Madrid makes sense as the one to cut.

To clarify, I was not suggesting you stay in Madrid, only that you fly into Madrid's airport.

If you want to eliminate Cordoba as an overnight stay, then I'd visit as a day trip from Seville instead of a stop en route to Granada. That way you can spend a leisurely evening in this lovely town and not have to schlep your luggage

If you prefer less hotels and minimum 3 night stays ...

Fly in to Barcelona (6 nts)
Fly to Granada (3 nts)
Train to Sevilla (5 nts) with day trips to Cordoba and Jerez/Arcos de la Frontera.