Barcelona to Sevilla - Road trip comments

In the vague general area of Cuenca (haven't checked driving times on ViaMichelin) you have the seldom-visited regional capital of Teruel with its Mudejar towers and the hard-to-reach village of Albarracin. I would try to work those in since you will have a car. Even Teruel is a challenge by bus/rail.

Hello, I really like the idea of your road trip driving down the Costa Dorada and del azahar, from Barcelona to Valencia, an unappreciated stretch of Spanish coastline. However once you hit Valencia, I would not continue south to Murcia and Alicante, but rather cut west across La Mancha and go south through Extremadura all the way until Sevilla. The region of Extremadura is often overlooked and really underappreciated, in my opinion, it's one of Spain’s most fascinating regions. It's full of time-warped old towns, castles, monasteries, and beautiful countryside, and was the homeland of many Conquistadors.

Not knowing your total amount of days dispensable, I would do something along these lines:

Fly in to
Barcelona (4 nights) - hire a car at the end of your Barcelona visit
drive south to
Tarragona (1 night)
drive south to
Peñíscola (1 night)
drive south to
Valencia (3 nights) - day trip to Albufera Wetlands bio-reserve (where they grow the Paella rice)
turn west to
Cuenca (1 night)
continue west to
Toledo (2 nights)
drive south-west into Extremadura
Cáceres (2 nights) - day trip to Real Monasterio de Guadalupe and/or Trujillo (birthplace of the infamous Francisco Pizarro)
drive south to
Mérida (2 nights) - day trip to Jerez de los Caballeros
drive south to (make a stop at Zafra castle)
Sevilla (2 nights) -return car once you get to Sevilla
Fly to Lisboa

With this itinerary you basically make a zig-zag route starting in Barcelona and ending in Sevilla, hope this gives some food for thought! :)

Thanks for your through and detailed post.

Sorry, forgot to mention that our previous travels have taken us from Madrid to Toledo, through some of Extremadura including "la Mancha" country, Consuegra, Ciudad Real onto Cordoba and Sevilla.

We may decide to head over to Tangier en route (2 nights??) hence keeping down along that part of the coast, and hubby would like to keep options open if that part of the trip happens.

This will not be our last trip to Spain (G willing) so your suggestions will definitely be added to that next chapter.

Regards,

Lynn

Glad I could help, it seems like you guys have a good idea of what you would like to see, although I should say that Extremadura is a totally distinct region from La Mancha. Extremadura actually sits between Portugal to its west and Castilla-La Mancha to its east.

I should also mention that, although I've not been myself, many on this forum would discourage visiting Tangiers, you can read more about the Tangiers experience in this forum topic among others: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/tangier-for-the-day

Agreeing with the post immediately above, it has been my impression that Rick Steves is lukewarm on visiting Tangiers; and that his comments on Tangiers differ between what he says in his Spain book compared to audio/video comments he makes on this subject.

Rentals of a week or more are usually at a cheaper daily rate than shorter periods. It may end up being cheaper to keep the car even when you don't need it.

Tarragona is okay, especially the medieval center. The amphitheatre is not worth bothering about. Unless you've never seen one before you are probably going to be underwhelmed. Can you train from Barcelona to Peniscola, then to Valencia, then take the car after you've seen the city sights?

You might as well drop the car in Cadiz and train to Sevilla.

I went to Morocco last fall on a 2-week tour. Most tours go for 12-14 days, none go to Tangier. Morocco is a wonderful place to visit, full of varied urban and nature experiences, friendly people, great food, picturesque villages, and more. Don't waste your time with a ferry to a border town. Would you go to Juarez or Tijuana to say you'd been to Mexico?

i) Between leaving Valencia and arriving in Cadiz you appear to have identified eight stops, with three overnights. That seems rushed. Whilst some places, e.g. Murcia and Nerja might not have many sights but you still have to get there, park-up, etc and having done so are worth half a day surely. Others like Malaga have enough to fill a couple of days. Personally, I'd pick fewer places so those you do visit you can at least see them in less of a blur. Almeria, for example, is a poor version of Malaga, so I'd drop it and spend the freed time in Malaga. I also wouldn't bother with Fuengirola.

ii) Of the initial post-Valencia options, I'd choose Xativa/Murcia over Costa Blanca/Alacant. A lot of CB is built up and some is hideous. Alacant is nice enough but it's main claim is being a seaside city with a castle on a hill - you're already seeing quite a few of those. Wheras Xativa & Murcia may not be awash with sights but each have interesting/unique aspects and are worth half a day without feeling you've short-changed them. Murcia food is better than Alacant too. The travel times ending in Murcia also work better for the next day when you go to Cartagena before heading west.

iii) Cartagena, by the way, is somewhere where I don't think a holiday (or indeed a lifetime) is wasted if you never see it. But if you do go, then set aside most of a day to see its main sights - presumably you'll never be back and having made the effort to get there you might as well see it properly and there is a fair bit to see for those who do make it.

Lots of food for thought here from you all...many thanks!

Tangier looks like a scratching, as may well do Cartagena. Gives us more time to play with!

Train from Cadiz to Sevilla...possible option, so will put that in the mix of choices.

What differences do you find in the food Nick?..."Murcia food is better than Alacant too".

Regards,

Lynn

I haven't been to Murcia; hope to see it--however briefly--later this year. But I've been researching, and more than one book has mentioned the high culinary level in Murcia. It's my impression that one difference is that they pay attention to vegetables in that area.

I wasn't very fulsome about Cartagena, but honestly if you're planning to scratch one place in Murcia region, I would make it Murcia city and stick to Cartagena. There is much more to see in the latter. So Valencia- Xativa - Cartagena (overnight).

Climate, geography and Arabic history mean food tends to be based on fresh vegetables, seafood, nuts & spices, pig meat, special rice, fruit and sweet puddings/cakes.