Drive or Train, Tangiers or Not

I agree with Nick. 9 days isn't enough time for a meandering road trip, and trains between cities are easy. A car has ancillary expenses as well as hassles and headaches.

In November the coast is not at all interesting. You need to count nights in Spain. Day 1 is your arrival day, jetlagged, sleep-deprived, with at least a couple hours to get through the airport and to your hotel for the first night. Your last day, you probably have a morning flight, so you should not count that as a day, since all you'll do is pack, breakfast and go to the airport. Even if the flight is early afternoon, you won't have time to do anything - you have to be at the airport at least 2 hours ahead, more if you're checking luggage.

A car will not be faster than the train. Trains travel at speeds often over 100 mph and don't stop for traffic. Take taxis to/from train stations. And you don't lose time looking for parking or trying to navigate narrow streets in a big city. On a train everyone can stretch out, even walk around, eat, drink, use the toilet, use electronics and you never get lost or make a wrong turn. Two teenagers cramped in the back seat of a car for hours on end is not a recipe for happy campers. Even if you have 8 full days in Spain (9 nights on the ground), you only have time to briefly see Sevilla, Granada, Madrid, and (hopefully) Cordoba (the Mezquita is second only to the Alhambra as a wow sight). So forget about tootling around in a car or wasting 2 days going to Tangiers.

Take into account that you lose about 1/2 day every time you change locations. Even if everybody is efficient in their packing and move quickly together without any lingering, you need time to get to the train station and find your train, then get to your next hotel to drop your luggage before you can do any sightseeing.

You will want to spend your last night in Madrid so you don't risk problems getting to the airport in time for your flight home. So it's best to take the train from the airport (transferring in Madrid) to either Cordoba or Sevilla. If you don't spend the first night in Cordoba, then allow enough days in Sevilla (at least 3 nights) for a day trip there by train. Then train to Granada for at least 2 nights - you need a full day to see the Alhambra and one or two other top sights - usually the cathedral and wandering in the Albaicin. That's 5 nights, with only 3 days of sightseeing. So try to add time to either (Sevilla would be my recommendation), and your last nights in Madrid. Since it takes more time to get from Granada to Madrid, 3nights in Madrid gives you 2 full days and maybe one afternoon there.

I love the idea of taking the ferry over to Tangiers for the day, having a nice meal, walking around a market (no camels or rugs), stepping into Africa however breifly and seeing a different culture from Spain. Is that worth it?

The Straits of Gibraltar is notoriously windy and ferries across the strait are often cancelled due to strong winds, this will be a risk in November. There is a large market in Tangier comprising of endless alleyways and occupied by lots of greengrocers, butchers and clothes shops (amongst the obligatory tourist tat). We weren't hassled by anyone when we went however we were with a local guide which may have been the reason we weren't approached by many however he did whisk us straight to his friend's/relative's tat shops in the hope of us buying something. The market really wasn't that interesting. As for food, I had a very disappointing meal in what is regarded as one of the best restaurants in Tangier, you'll eat far better in Spain.

Thank you all for your input! I think we have a plan.

FORGET Tangier, not worth it.

Hobbes: I've made several trips to Spain, though not yet to Tangier, but I would advise being wary of comments like the one which precedes this one ("Forget Tangier, not worth it."). After many years of travel I've learned to reject, immediately, pseudo-authroitative comments like "not worth it" or "nothing there." I've had many great trips to cities and towns that some people had dismissed as "not worth it," and I no longer listen to those who imagine themselves to be divinely authorized to deliver final definitive judgment on the world's cities. Maybe Tangier is not for everyone, but as your goal -- a commendable one, in my opinion -- was to see a different culture, you may end up be being one of those, even if they are a minority, who do find a Tangier visit to be worth it. And one of the things I've learned is that I don't necessarily have to like a place to consider a visit to have been "worth it." (By the way, the only reason I haven't yet seen Tangier is that none of my Spain trips so far has taken me far enough south to catch a ferry.)
I do agree with a lot of what Chani wrote farther above (though I've found November to be a great tine to visit the interior); and his, or her, pragmatic reason for skipping Tangier is more reasonable: you have only nine days, and Spain itself has plenty to offer.

Morocco has many wonderful destinations; Tangier is not one of them. Places like Fes and Marrakech have non-stop flights from a lot of major cities in Europe. It is not hard to visit them in conjunction with a trip to Europe. There is no need to settle for Tangier just because you happen to be in Spain this year. It is a much lesser destination, and it is not easy to reach, because the ferries do not depart from cities tourists care to visit.

Sorry if what I wrote was unclear. The OP suggested car from Sevilla circling down to the south and up the coast to Granada

My comment was directed to that idea of driving from Gibraltar/Tarifa to Malaga (?) and then north to Granada, which would entail very slow driving along the coastal road was not a good idea. I've driven it in February and I assume November would be no different.

November in Andalucia sounds quite reasonable.