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Best itinerary for 9 nights in mainland Spain before 3 nights in Ibiza?

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My husband and I are visiting Spain from the US for the first time and must be in Ibiza on the last 3 nights. We can't do it all justice in one trip, so I am prioritizing Barcelona over Madrid this time and want to spend 4 nights in Barcelona, but would really like to see the Andalusia area of Spain. Do we fly into Madrid and make our way via AVE trains down to that area and spend 5 nights total in a mix of these cities: Cordoba, Seville and Grenada before heading to Barcelona for 4 nights OR fly into Barcelona for 4 nights, get acclimated and fly to Andalusia and see the region before flying to Ibiza? We will probably fly between Malaga to Barcelona. Any thoughts on what is a smoother trip and how to split the 5 nights up in sequence in Andalusia? I could make Barcelona 3 nights and Andalusia 6 as an option? But, I think it might be nice to be in one spot for 4 nights. We are open to renting a car, but prefer the trains. Any thoughts are appreciated!

Posted by
7834 posts

Do we fly into Madrid and make our way via AVE trains down to that area and spend 5 nights total in a mix of these cities: Cordoba, Seville and Grenada before heading to Barcelona for 4 nights

Yes but if you could fly into Seville and start there even better.

Posted by
15582 posts

Sevilla/Cordoba/Granada is a good triangle. You need at least 2 nights in Granada so you can devote a day to the Alhambra. You can day-trip to Cordoba from Sevilla. However 9 nights is only 8 days, your first day will be getting through the airport and getting through the jetlag haze. Every time you change locations you use up about 1/2 day. 4 cities in 8 days is too much. 2 cities is best. If Granada is high priority, then fly to Barcelona, then fly to Granada, then fly to Ibiza (assuming there are flights from Granada to Ibiza). Spend 3 nights in Granada, the rest in Barcelona, where there's plenty to fill up a couple of weeks. Without Granada, you could fly into Madrid, then train to Cordoba or Sevilla and day trip from one to the other. Then fly or train to Barcelona.

I'd leave Madrid and Andalucia for another trip and spend the whole time in Barcelona, or if you need some variety, spend 3-4 nights in Valencia.

Posted by
7175 posts
  1. Arrive Madrid. Train to Cordoba (1 nt)
  2. Train to Sevilla (2 nts)
  3. Sevilla
  4. Train to Granada (2 nts)
  5. Alhambra
  6. Fly to Barcelona (4 nts)
  7. Barcelona
  8. Barcelona
  9. Barcelona
  10. Travel to Ibiza from Barcelona

OR

  1. Arrive Madrid, and connecting flight to Sevilla (3 nts)
  2. Sevilla
  3. Sevilla
  4. am. Train to Cordoba for Mezquita (store luggage at bus station) pm. Train to Granada (2 nts)
  5. Alhambra
  6. Fly to Barcelona (4 nts)
  7. Barcelona
  8. Barcelona
  9. Barcelona
  10. Travel to Ibiza from Barcelona

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