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Christmas trip -- 8 nights in Madrid, Valencia, Seville?

I've posted a bit before ... trying to work out a winter trip to (mostly) southern Spain. As I work out my flights, flying home through Dublin became an attractive possibility, at which point I started thinking two nights/one day in Dublin could be fun because my son is obsessed. Which definitely means cutting back the Spain portion, which was originally going to include two of Cordoba, Granada, and Ronda. Given that we are city people (LOVED Barcelona), does Madrid, Valencia, and Seville make sense? Can we reasonably do it with eight nights? Given that we are now flying to Dublin instead of home (US), I think we might be able to fly out of Malaga, saving us the doubling back to Madrid that we were originally going to have to do.

Looking at a map, it seems like we'd do Madrid first, then Valencia, then a somewhat lengthy train to Seville, and then fly out of Malaga. How would you portion out the nights per city? Or would you swap out cities? A ninth night is also possible, any and all guidance welcome.

Posted by
1139 posts

I'm a city person, too. I love Madrid. (Barcelona not so much.....)

I have quite happily spent 8 nights in Madrid with day trips to Segovia and Toledo. I would be more tempted to think in those terms rather than traveling all over - but your preference may be different from mine.

Many museums and sites are closed on Mondays in Madrid and Toledo, not sure about other cities/towns. I would be laying my must-sees out on a calendar to check for closings if it was me. Also, not sure how Christmas might impact things.

By the way, the 8 night Madrid stay I referred to above occurred shortly before Christmas - check for special exhibits of Belen, Spanish nativity scenes, if that is an interest. Some are quite old and magnificent.

In addition to the 8 night run, I have had multiple other trips to Madrid and still not seen everything I would like to enjoy......

Posted by
1313 posts

I agree with NYtraveler23. I would want to avoid the long travel between Seville and Valencia. I have been to Valencia and loved it. I have not been to Seville and would love to visit it. You should probably check to see which city has the better/cheaper/available flight to Dublin to help you decide which city to choose.

Posted by
25 posts

Good afternoon:

I would not go to Malaga by plane if your intention is not to see Malaga.

8 nights to see Madrid Valencia, Córdoba, Seville, makes perfect sense. There is a lot to see in all those cities.

Using the AVE (Fast speed train) for the first time is an extraordinary experience. And one begins to understand that Spain becomes a much more attractive country simply by using the high-speed train.

The high-speed train gives you the possibility of claiming your money back if they arrive half an hour late on any route. To get late might happen from time to time but it is something exceptional and it is a message to travelers that traveling through Spain is much better, faster, more punctual than the plane. And in all cases you take it from the city center and you do not have to be at the station two hours in advance.

I would arrive in Madrid, I would spend 2 days, I would go by AVE to Valencia to spend the day and one night and return to Madrid (in reality you don't have to spend the night but that allows you to get to know the city better.

I would go by AVE again to Córdoba which is on the way to Seville. I would also spend a night in Córdoba and come on, I'm on my way to Seville again by AVE train.

What you intend to do can be done in up to 5 nights. But it would be much better having 8 nights. It gives you the possibility of extending your stay in each place. I would extend more time in Seville to go down to Jerez de la Frontera, which is also beautiful.

Summary

Madrid 2/3 days (You can be from Madrid in Toledo in 30 minutes with AVE) (You can go to Segovia in 30 minutes with AVE)
Valencia 1 day and night
Cordoba 1 day and night
Seville 2 days
Jerez 1 day

Enjoy your trip :))))

Posted by
196 posts

@ igsegma3 - hi – the logistical problem I’m having is that I’m arriving on Christmas, and I will be there on New Year’s Day. The day we arrive, I assume we can walk around and get our bearings, but New Year’s Day may be a total loss in terms of getting things done. so in that sense I was thinking of maybe immediately flying out of Madrid to one of the other destinations since we’ll already be at the airport and making that into a complete travel day. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to turn January 1 into a complete travel day. I’m still playing around with things and I’m not at all averse to high-speed trains, but there is no such direct train between Seville and Valencia. I may need to just leave out exploring Dublin at the end and only go to Dublin as late as possible in the trip to make our last flight, or leave out one of the three main cities I wanted to see in in Spain