Help on # days per city

Greetings Dianne,

1. Does route make sense?

Yes, are you planning to fly from San Sebastian back to Barcelona ?

1. Would you give the extra night to Seville or San Sebastian or Barcelona?

Yes to Seville because you're already spending 3 nights in Barcelona to start. Seville is a large city with plenty to offer the vacationer so more nights need to be given there.

1. Is Montserrat day trip a must see?

Montserrat is must see day trip attraction , no doubt.

1. Thinking of a sunset cruise - is this good in Barcelona in early October?

Yes that will be a good time for cruising

1. Any other glaring things you see or any recommendations? Thank you.

Let me list an itinerary for you and see what you think.

Spain Itinerary:

Barcelona - 4 Nights (Day trip to either Montserrat, Tarragona or Girona Spain)

Granada - 3 Nights (Day trip to Nerja)

Seville - 3 Nights

San Sebastian - 2 Nights

Barcelona - 2 Nights

Leaving aside philosophical comments about trying to see too much (my wife and I are lazy tourists and tend not to move around so much as you are planning, it looks a bit busy to me):

1. Does route make sense? Yes. I suspect between Sevilla and San Sebastian you will need to fly to Bilbao airport instead of SS' own one. But that's not a problem and its easy to get from there to Donostia (aka San Sebastian).

2. Would you give the extra night to Seville or San Sebastian or Barcelona? Certainly Sevilla, both for it's own attractions (it's Spain's best city) and also see 5 below.

3. Is Montserrat day trip a must see? No, its nothing special. And with limited time stick to Barcelona which has so much to see on its own.

4. Thinking of a sunset cruise - is this good in Barcelona in early October? Don't know. But the weather should be nice and sunset isn't too late by October. But what are you hoping to see on the cruise? I can recommend the daytime boat trip around the port. It departs near the Catalan History Museum (or similar name), which is excellent and a must-see (for me anyway).

5. Any other glaring things you see or any recommendations? Since you are so close, I'd add Cordoba if only to see the Mezquita-Catedral (there's much else in the city, but you don't have the time for a full trip and the cathedral is the highlight). With an extra night in Sevilla, that might be practical.

Enjoy your holiday!

This may be obvious, but you don't want to try to get around Barcelona itself with a car.
And I agree with NIck that your proposed itinerary has a lot of lodging changes, every time you change lodging a rule of thumb is it will eat up at least a half day just in non-productive transportation time, obviously not what you're going there to do and see.

Are you foodies? If not, I'm one of those who prefers Bilbao to the much more touristy San Sebastian. However, that part of Spain will probably be quite a bit cooler than your other destinations.

Even if I was guaranteed perfect weather, there's no way I'd consign myself to two flights (or a flight and a long train ride) in order to have just one full day and a few hours in either San Sebastian or Bilbao. The ratio of travel time to sightseeing time would be way too high for me. I wouldn't do that much traveling for three nights in the area, either, given the many opportunities to use those nights in or near your other destinations--in places places like Cordoba and Girona, for example.

Just adding that there's no need to fly between San Sebastián and Barcelona, there are two direct trains a day (bar the odd exception) taking 5.5 hours. A flight will save an hour or two, but add extra hassle and stress.
From Bilbao the train, still direct, takes 6.5 hours so the plane has a stronger case, plus there are more flight options.

Dianne,
Do consider visiting Córdoba, on this trip, and save San Sebastián for another trip.
Consider adding an extra 1-2 nights to Sevilla as well.

Don’t forget to book your Alhambra tickets as soon as your Granada dates are firm. These tickets can be booked 3 months in advance and they sell out fast.

Enjoy your trip!

Alhambra tickets are already on sale for dates through October 31, 2019.

Add Córdoba and add all extra days to Seville.

I am a traveler who likes to move from place to place rather than take day trips. I dont find the transitions take away from the trip, as I get a lot out of seeing the 'backroads' rather than ticking highlights (the phrase "must see" makes me squirm). So I would argue that a train ride form Bilbao to BCN is preferable to a flight (even if all you see is from the train tracks. I have a really good sense of France from having driven through it, and much of that is that one road through that area, or that cafe we stopped at in that random town, or the gas station picnic.

San Sebastian is awesome! However......considering all of your stops are pretty much in the south of Spain, I would suggest saving San Sebastian for another trip. You will "lose" a day just getting there. Cordoba, Ronda, Toledo, or maybe Segovia might fit better within your itinerary......especially Cordoba....or maybe Ronda.

Montserrat......not a must. There is soooo much to do in Barcelona. If you are looking to just get out of Barcelona for a day.....check out Girona. It is medieval. Some of "Game of Thrones" was filmed there. It is an easy daytrip by train from Barcelona.

Hope this helps.

I support Granada, Madrid, Barcelona and Seville on a first trip to Spain. I rock the boat for most posters for the following choice of days..

Barcelona 2 nights 2 1/2 days. Can be split. Check my posts. Your friends will influence your choices. Montserrat requires a very early start. It is not a must see.

We recently spent 3 nights in Roses with a rental car. There is plenty to do outside Roses. Friends will really help. There are good to excellent dining opportunities in Roses. Including those chefs who are out for the Michelin stars or were sous chefs for former Michelin star chefs.

Madrid 2 nights. 1 full day. Quick walking tour and maybe the Prado. Heard ya, skip it. No, No!

Granada 1 night. 1 full day. Alhambra and walking tour.

Seville 2 nights. 1 full day. Alcazar and Cathedral.

Note all 6 days and 6 nights could be spent in Catalunya. You could do no wrong. However, I am a Andulsia and French Pyrenees fan.

I'm with all the others who think you are moving around too much and who advise cutting out San Sebastian because it's the outlier. It's not clear to me how many nights you have in Barcelona. Are the first 4N all in Roses, or are 2 in Barcelona? To be clear, 13N = 12 full days. 9/21 is a non-day. by the time you get through the airport and to Roses, most of that day's gone (according to google maps, it's 2.5 hours to drive there from BCN). Do your friends have a car or are you renting one to go there?

Barcelona needs at least 2 full days in the city (that's 3 consecutive nights). Montserrat is a matter of personal taste. I've been to Barcelona 3 times (for a total of 2.5 weeks) and still haven't gone there.

2N in Granada is fine, but you should allow more than 2N in Sevilla and the only must-see for me in Andalucia is the Mezquita in Cordoba.

You have 6 or 7 nights in Barcelona. We loved Barcelona, but you don't need that much time there. We used Barcelona Day Tours for our city tour, then went back and did Sagrada Familia. Barcelona is still nice in October.

Also, did Monserrat on our own. You can walk around the old city on your own. There are some nice museums to see.

I would stick with four days for Barcelona. Add more for Seville, my favorite city in Spain.

Consider visiting Madrid instead of San Sebastian, due to geographic distance. Toledo is a must see for Spain.