we have a 15 day trip planned in spain Arrive April 11 depart april 28. below is itinerary...we are set on everything but day 14 and day 15..what would people recommend we do...coast, desert or mountains...we are looking for adventure, food, fun...also, if you think we should really change trip for a reason i am open to your thoughts...thank you....
day 1 arrive in madrid in morning, tour afternoon (stay madrid)
day 2 day trip toledo (stay madrid)
day 3 rental car to rural finca (between ronda and seville) via cordoba (stay rural finca)
day 4 tour mountain towns (stay rural finca)
day 5 Drive via Antequera (Dolmens UNESCO site) to Granada (stay Granada)
day 6 Granada (stay Granada)
day 7 Fly Barcelona in morning, tour afternoon (stay Barcelona)
day 8 Barcelona (stay Barcelona)
day 9 Rental car Pyrenees..hiking, exploring (stay in mountains)..recommendations for mid April?
day 11 Pyrenees..hiking, exploring (stay in mountains) recommendations?
day 12 Drive to San Sebastian via Pampolona (stay San Sebastian)
day 13 San Sebastian (stay San Sebastian)
day 14 Drive to Aire de Bardenas or up the coast to Getaria/ Hondarribia or to Zaragosa
day 15 second day in either Bardenas, Getaria or Zaragosa
day 16 Drive Rioja
day 17 Rioja
day 18 Drive Madrid--any ideas for a stop returning to Madrid?
Day 19 depart Madrid
My general comment is that this is a very fast-paced trip. In 15 days, you have nine different locations where you're spending the night, and a lot of driving. Make sure your group is ok with that. For example, Madrid to a rural finca between Ronda and Sevilla would be at least six hours. And that's not leaving any time to visit Cordoba. I loved Cordoba, and the Mezquita in particular.
While you say that you like adventure, food, and fun, it doesn't seem like you're as much in to history, culture, or art. Which is totally fine, but if you don't care as much about those things, you can cut down on your time in any of the big cities, such as Madrid or Barcelona. And, really, you could skip Cordoba, which is a small city with a huge amount of history. (Though both Madrid and Barcelona are of course are known for great food, in addition to culture and art of various types.)
I live in the mountains here in the U.S., and the Pyrenees might be different, but staying, hiking and/or exploring the Pyrenees in mid-April, there may still be too much snow to do much of that. You should check into that.
You could easily visit Getaria / Zaragosa / Hondarribia from San Sebastian as day trips - we've done that several times. That is, if you want to be in San Sebastian in the evenings. If you want to be in a smaller place, choose one of those other towns.
Enjoy your planning
Perhaps you haven’t driven in Spain before, but Googlemaps estimates are not accurate. Add about 25-30% for the drive time estimated online. And there will be wrong turns at the roundabouts you need to correct for, taking the wrong highway occasionally, highway sign confusion, plus time out for lunch/restroom breaks.
I’m writing this after doing a Spain driving/train trip for 3 weeks which included Madrid/Toledo, Catalonia and Basque Country. I’ve been to Andalusia on a previous trip. You have only two weeks and are ADDING Andalusia/Granada.
You are not giving yourselves much time in the numerous destinations listed. You have one day in Madrid— the day you arrive jet lagged. Only 1.5 days in Barcelona. Each of those cities requires some time to see.
Try to prioritize what you REALLY want to do on your trip and start reducing the number of destinations.
Otherwise, you’re going to be disappointed and exhausted.
In your previous itinerary posted in August, there were 19 days for a similar itinerary. This attempts to condense the timeframe to 15 days with even more destinations added to the list.
I would recommend after Madrid & Toledo, choosing southern Spain ( Andalusia, Antequera, Granada, Barcelona Catalonia). OR northern Spain ( San Sebastián, Hondarribia, Basque Country, Rioja, Getaria)
That gives you 2-3 nights in Madrid/Toledo to recover from jet lag and then 11 nights in the region you choose to concentrate on. That’s all you realistically have time for.
Personally I think you’ve drastically underestimated the amount of travel time you’re going to need as well has how long it will take to visit the places you want to visit. To specifically answer your question, since you don’t have close to enough time to visit the places I enjoyed between La Rioja and Madrid I’ll limit my suggestion to Burgos.
You mention Rioja, but it covers a large area. One could easily spend two weeks visiting that area. Likewise, the Pyrenees covers a huge area. In April you could still come across some very wintry weather in the mountains.
Finally, you intend to go to San Sebastián via Pamplona, but you’ll need to backtrack through that same area to get to Bardenas (where it would be easy to spend a week in that area).
For me the itinerary is all over the place with too many stops to make it a relaxing trip. If you keep the itinerary have a plan B in the event you want to simplify things. Know beforehand what to eliminate if you have to eliminate some things.