Early June Itinerary - Traveling with 18 year old son - Help please!

I think this sounds pretty good. The only adjustment I'd strongly suggest is adding your Ronda nights to Seville and doing a day trip to Cordoba while you stay in Seville. Seville was our favorite city in southern Spain, with lots more to do than just 2 nights. Also Cordoba is a fascinating stop that was much, much better than Ronda. We weren't that impressed with Ronda and certainly would recommend Cordoba over it if you only have a short time.

This would also allow you to ditch the car rental and just travel by train. Easier and probably cheaper too.

I really hate to see you skip Madrid! It is such a wonderful city to explore. Perhaps skip Ronda.

Distances in Spain can be farther than anticipated.

We took a flight on Vueling Airlines between Barcelona and Granada and it even took a full hour to get there. I suggest flying a budget European airline as it can be cheaper in the long run.

We really enjoyed Spain as the people are exceptionally beautiful and it's relatively inexpensive to travel there.

Driving will be about the same as in the states. The most direct route from Granada to Ronda will take a little over two hours. It will be a combination of interstate and rural roads. If driving from Granada ending in Sevilla, via Ronda, stopping in Ronda for a couple nights makes perfect sense.

With only one full day in Ronda your best bet to see other towns will be en route to it, and then, en route to Sevilla. Close to Ronda are Zahara de la Sierra, Grazalema, Setenil de las Bodegas, and Olvera. Depending on the route you want to take to Sevilla you could add Arcos de la Frontera. Between Granada and Ronda are the Ruins of Acinipo, Reserva Natural de la Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, Castillo de Iznájar, Fuente De Los 100 Caños, Castillo fortaleza de Archidona, and a number of other sights you could stop at if you had the time, which you don’t.

The most direct route from Ronda to Sevilla will take just under two hours along mostly 2-lane roads. If you took the route through Arcos, add 1.25 hours.

I will add that you have a lot planned for the amount of time you have. The time you’ve allocated to Granada (a full day) means you’ll realistically only have time to visit the Alhambra while for Sevilla you could visit the Alcázar and cathedral/Giralda tower.

I would visit
Barcelona
Madrid and skip the rest.
Slow down, enjoy life.

I don't think you're allowing enough time for Barcelona or Seville, and the time in Granada is less than ideal if you take the train there. Ronda and the white villages are attractive, but they're really secondary destinations compared to Barcelona, Granada, Seville, Cordoba and Madrid.

We just did a trip with our 15 year old son. We didn’t do Barcelona on this trip.

We flew into Madrid, took a flight directly to Sevilla, spent four nights there (including a day trip to Ronda and white villages), spent three nights in Granada, one night in Cordoba and one night in Madrid for return flight.

If I were to advise on your plan, I would remove Ronda. Fly to Granada. Take the train to Sevilla. Take the train to Madrid. We would have been happy to have had more time in both Sevilla and Cordoba. Do a cooking class somewhere — that was our son’s favorite part. Get a guide for Alhambra — very much worth it for the detailed knowledge.

Depending on your preferences, I would suggest going to fewer places and staying longer. That is how I am going to try to approach our next trip. There is enough in Barcelona for at least a week, and plenty in Granada. That may be enough, with a flight or train stopover in Cordoba, on the way to Madrid.

Not sure I understand the significance of mentioning your 18 year old son. The itinerary seems to be the main point of your question.

I spent 8 or 9 nights in Madrid alone with my then 22 year old son. We did day trips to Segovia and Toledo. Came home with a lost of other places we wanted see in and around Madrid.

Different people like different things. Your itinerary would be much too much traveling around and seeing too little in the stated timeframe for us - but perhaps not for you and your son. Do you have a list of "must sees" in your cities, or just a list of cities? My preference is "in depth" and fewer places rather than across the surface of many sites - but not everyone likes that style.

If it was me, and it is obviously not, I would focus on just Barcelona perhaps adding a flight to Granada for the Alhambra (get tickets long in advance). But, my interests (and my son's) would be seeing the architecture of Barcelona in depth meaning we would visit multiple modernisme buildings seeing both inside and outside. Plus Montserrat and leisurely walking several different areas of the city. Or, Madrid with day trips as noted above and a 2 night overnight (minimum) to Granada (train from Madrid) for the Alhambra.

I just noticed your "no art museums". We love those, but even without a couple days devoted that way, I think your trip is a bit "full" on travel and not on exploration and discovery. But, this is not my trip! Only you can really answer your question. If you list the highlights you want to see and the time needed to enjoy, the itinerary may become more clear. (at least I find that helpful for my own planning)

Enjoy! Special times for travel with young adults!!

Thank you all very much - there is a lot of valuable advice here that is helping me rethink things. Keep it coming!