Integrating Solo and Couple Trip

Arrive Madrid (1 night)
Train to Siguenza or around (4 nights)
Rent car in Siguenza
Drive to Salamanca (2 nights)
Drive to Caceres (4 nights)

Meet up with Mr Jen in Cordoba (2 nights)
Drive to Granada (3 nights)
Drive to Ronda (4 nights)
(hiking, hilltown drives, day trips)
Drive to Seville (4 nights)
(day trips to Cadiz & Jerez)
Return car in Seville
Train via Madrid to Toledo (2 nights)
Train to Madrid (4 nights)
(day trips to Segovia, El Escorial)
Depart Madrid

Is Mr flying into Madrid? I guess you could meet him at the airport with the car, then spend your days around Ronda with the car and drop it in Granada. Then train to Sevilla , Cordoba and Toledo/Madrid.

Chani: I was thinking flying into Madrid and out Granada for both of us, but we don't have tickets yet so he could certainly fly into Granada, Seville, or Malaga instead.

David: I like your idea of meeting in Cordoba. Would it be difficult to pick him up at the Seville airport? The trip would go like this:

Madrid 1
Siguenza (rent car) 4
Salamanca 2
Caceres 4
Cadiz or Jerez (pick Mr. Jen up in Seville) 2
Ronda 3
Granada 3 (drop car)
Seville 3
Cordoba 1
Toledo 3
Madrid 4

Jen, would you plan to do all the driving when you travel together? If not, you would at least need to go into a rental car company office to add your husband as an authorized driver, with his license, etc. or would that require a whole new rental contract anyway?

I think just for cost reasons I'd be the only driver.

Hi Jen
I think the Cordoba option would work better for both of you.
1) Mr Jen need only get a train from Madrid to Cordoba, then directly to your chosen hotel, probably for some much needed rest. Seville is further along by train, and you would need to negotiate a meeting point, then drive even further to Jerez/Cadiz.
2) For yourself you would avoid having to navigate in and out of Seville, with a station pick up.
3) Jerez/Cadiz are easy, and perhaps better, by train from Seville, after returning your car.
4) A two night stay in Cordoba, would not only please my friend Chani, but give you time to pause, meet up, and possibly deal with Mr Jen’s jet lag.

I think your plans and the others' suggestions are good. It should be a great trip. I hope you're not planning to travel in the summer, though.

Check pricing for flights. Granada is a small airport, so is Sevilla. I think Malaga's has more options, and Madrid is a major hub. For instance, I just took a quick look at rome2rio.com for flights Granada-Portland (I assumed OR, not ME) and all the flights connect through Madrid, except one through Barcelona.

Once you and your guy are together, the only part of the trip you'll want the car is through the hills around Ronda. Keeping the car in, say, Cordoba just means paying for parking and dealing with a lot of city traffic.

We have tickets for a week in Barcelona late January, but still haven't bought tickets for this trip. The plan is April and early May.

The more I look at, the more it makes sense to fly hubby into Malaga and out Madrid. I could either meet him in Cordoba or pick him up at the airport and take him to Ronda. It would mean one long driving day for me from Caceres to Malaga and then another hour and a half to Ronda.

So I would begin in Madrid, take a ten day car tour of villages in Castille and Extremadura then drive to Malaga. We'd stay in Ronda together five nights and then return the car in either Seville or Granada. We'd finish with Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Toledo, and finally Madrid by train.

Thanks again for the thoughtful replies.