Itinerary Advice - Segovia, Madrid, or Cordoba?

Go straight to Toledo on your arrival since that is a priority. You then have to back track north to Madrid to get to Seville. There is no train from Toledo to Seville or Cordoba. You don't really have time for Cordoba which is a shame without giving Seville short shrift.

I’d head straight to Toledo. After a long flight staying awake and energetic could be an issue so don’t expect much out of that first day. I’d drop Granada due to time constraints. As already stated, to get to Sevilla from Toledo you’ll need to go back through Madrid, so much of the Toledo-Sevilla day will be travel thereby cutting Sevilla short. I’d add another night to Sevilla. You have another travel day that will shortchange Barcelona, so I’d add the other Granada day to Barcelona.

You should be able to find closing days listed on each tourist attraction's website. It's my impression the Gaudi sites (major cash cows) seldom close, so you can start by checking La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Mila/La Pedrera and Casa Batllo. A holiday weekend may well bring a lot of folks from elsewhere in Spain to the city, so I doubt you'll have any trouble finding places open with some advance research.

Thank you all for the replies! I think we are for sure going to to go straight to Toledo the first day. Still up in the air about what to do after that. We might do a little more research before deciding. But thank you for pointing out the public holiday, I had not realized that! I really appreciate all the responses!

You have too many places for the short amount of time. You'll waste too much time changing locations. Using taxis, you'll want about 1/2 hour to check out, get to the station, find your train and board. Most stations have security checks and if the train is nearly full there may be a bit of a line. Trains close their doors 2 minutes before departure. On arrival you may have a wait for a taxi and you may get into heavy city traffic esp. in Barcelona. Then you have to drop your luggage and check in before you can go out sightseeing. As a rule of thumb, add about 2 hours to the train travel time. 2 nights in a city gives you just one full day there.

Looks like your only good option to Barcelona is the 8.15 train arriving at 2.25 pm. That doesn't leave you much time on Sunday, so you only have 2 full days there.

Toledo to Seville. Looking at the schedule, your earliest options are:
6.50 Toledo, arrives Atocha 7.23. The next train to Seville is at 8.00, arrives 10.32
7.55 Toledo, arrives Atocha 8.28. The next train to Seville is at 9.05, arrives 11.26

Even without Segovia, you'll only have part of the 29th (jetlagged?) in Toledo and one full day. Then you'll have 1.5 days in Seville, 1.5 days in Granada and 2 days and a bit in Barcelona. And you'll spend a lot of money on trains. Use the Renfe site to check schedules and prices.

Looking at your posting history, you had planned a trip to Italy in April 2019 at a similar pace. How did that go? You also planned a trip for Oct. 3 this year - I'm guessing you scrapped that since you're obviously not spending all your time out sightseeing right now :-) Most of us find such whirlwind trips both tiring and unsatisfying, but that style does suit some people.

Even so, with only 9 full days on the ground and long distances between destinations, I'd recommend paring it down to 3 locations. From the airport you need to get to the Madrid Atocha train station and that's after passport control - hopefully you're only taking cabin baggage so you don't have big cases to check, wait for at the airport, and lug on the trains. AT the airport, you'll need to buy train tickets and then take a train to Atocha. Even if you opt for a (possibly) faster taxi ride (traffic can be a bear), you should probably still buy your tickets onward to Toledo at the Renfe office at the airport. It is not advisable to buy tickets at Atocha, the lines are notoriously long at the ticket offices and the machines are not always easy to use.

I agree with Chani, too many places in your given amount of time. You only have 9 nights. You are covering a large territory and will lose so much time in travelling from place to place that you will have very little time to see your actual destinations. I recommend rethinking and prioritizing your wish list of destinations and eliminating something. As beautiful as Toledo is, you will have to backtrack to Madrid to get to Sevilla as there is no direct bus nor train from there. You know you have to enter thru Madrid and exit from Barcelona so those places are in place. Both Sevilla and Granada are lovely destinations but I think one or both will need to be saved for a future trip.

Maybe three bases: Madrid, Sevilla, Barcelona or Madrid, Granada, Barcelona
The choice between Sevilla and Granada is a hard one and would come down to personal preference/interests.

Maybe two bases: Madrid and Barcelona. Both have lots to see and do. With this option you obviously lose Granada or Sevilla but there are excellent daytrips available from Madrid (and give Madrid itself a chance). Segovia, Avila, Toledo, El Escorial, Alacala de Henares are all great possibilities as daytrips. Barcelona has multiple sites and experiences. Possible daytrips from there are Montserrat, Girona, etc.

This is your first trip to Spain. You will fall in love with it and want to go back and see more. Your original pace can be done (and by all means if that is what you like and are comfortable with, then go for it) but it seems too fast and crowded to those of us here offering advice.

Thank you for the responses!

Yeah we were supposed to be in Prague and Austria right now but my wife broke her wrist and needed surgery a few days before we were supposed to leave, and long story short we were able to reschedule but it needed to be to France later in December. So I might post about that trip for advice shortly as well haha.

We did have a similarly paced trip in Italy 2019 and really enjoyed it. It may have been a little rushed but honestly, even with hindsight, I don’t know what I would’ve cut. We travel with only backpacks, so changing locations isn’t as difficult for us.

What we’re considering is Toledo - 1 night, Cordoba (1 night), Seville (2 nights), Granada (2 nights), and fly to Barcelona (3 nights).

Eww, tough luck - bad break, pun intended. I hope the pain is abating quickly. Cordoba is my favorite Spanish town, Toledo isn't far behind. And I never get enough time in Barcelona (3 trips to date, over 2 weeks total time). Happy trails!

Can't believe you are going to Madrid and don't plan to visit that city. Also, two days in Seville is not enough. Your short visit to Spain should have focused on fewer cities. Seville and Toledo are my favorite cities in Spain. Perhaps you aren't interested in art, because the Prado Museum is a must see. Segovia is great from Madrid on a day trip.

Still, since you are stuck with flying into Madrid and out of Barcelona, I would skip going to Seville for only two days and Granada for two days since you will spend a lot of time traveling. Plan another trip and visit Seville for 4 days, Cordoba, Granada and Costa Del Sol.

You've said that you did a trip at this pace before. And I agree with a common reply on Trip Advisor, "To visit New York City, stay in New York City." But no one says, "To visit Sturbridge/Mystic Seaport/Greenwich/Storm King Art Center/Giants Stadium .... stay there ...." Yes, I put Toledo and Segovia in the same category. I suspect that you spent the night on Mont St. Michel. We did not.

If you enjoy self-reliance, maybe you want to get to (for example) the Alcazar or the Valley of the Fallen on your own, have at it! But I found a group bus tour from Madrid to be a better use of our time and money.

I don't know if it's still true that Rick says, "The pain in Spain is mainly on the Train." But you have a lot of big jumps.

My recent trip I as well skipped Madrid. Madrid lacks charm to me despite a worthy museum or two, whereas I loved Barcelona previously.

Just home Monday from 17 days in Andalucia. Sevilla was fantastic and well worth our first 3 nights (overseas flight landed in Madrid and we flew from there to Sevilla straight off). We enjoyed Toledo, but based on your timelines I think I would skip Toledo and hit Sevilla straight off, then a night in Ronda which I believe is easier logistically to do than Toledo (& kind of similar to Toledo in a way), then to Grandada. Only other consideration is Cordoba which originally was not on my itinerary until forum feedback added that. Cordoba at night was so-so (few/no tapas bars), but I really enjoyed the Mosque-Cathedral (almost more than the LaHambra). Since you appear well suited to fast paced travel, maybe consider a day visit there as RS mentions in his guidebook as you may pass through anyway by train.

You must visit Segovia! I recommend you Meson de Jose María, they have a great Lechón and Lechazo

Madrid is cold on this part of the year, espect for a little of snow arround

Well, I don't think Ronda (though I like it) can hold a candle to Toledo. For a tourist who's going to be in Madrid (even if only for the airport), I'd 100% of the time recommend Toledo over Ronda. Ronda takes considerable time to reach from Seville, Cordoba or Granada, and the transportation doesn't run as frequently as it does between Madrid and Toledo.

Pat’s suggestion of two bases-Barcelona and Madrid is a good one. One fast train ride connects these cities. It’s a fun fast ride. This gives you time to spend the night in Toledo and/or Segovia. We really like Segovia best. Head directly to one of these smaller towns for a couple of nights to unwind, then spend a few days in Madrid before catching your train. Barcelona is loaded with parks, architecture, food, all kinds of activities to fill many days. Save Andalusia for a proper visit. It is worth more time than a quick visit with half your time on trains, planes and buses.

Since you're traveling light and are comfortable with the pace, I say go for it, but [1] make sure you have tickets to the Alhambra before you commit to Granada and [2] compare flying vs train to Barcelona - including time to get to/from airports and lead time at the airport. Also leave a little lead time for trains. Madrid Atocha is very big and some find it confusing. I would allow at least 30 minutes to traverse the station to and from Toledo. Also on the high speed trains there is a security check before accessing the platform, it usually goes quickly but there can be a line, especially at Atocha where the check is for multiple trains/platforms. Trains are usually on time and they close the doors 2 minutes before departure.

I’m with those who advise leaving Andalusia for another trip. However, here’s a different suggestion. As I recall, Zaragoza is about an hour train ride from Madrid. You could get a feel for the Moorish past of Spain, as well as the Roman. Many layers of history there.

Re Madrid: If art museums are important to you, you must go to the Prado. I liked the Royal Palace in Madrid much better than Versailles. If these two attractions don't interest you, it would make sense to skip Madrid.

Hey everyone, I wanted to share how our trip went. Due to a flight delay, we were able to fly into Seville instead of Madrid, which worked out because we were planning on taking a train to Seville as soon as we landed. We had 3 nights in Seville, 1 in Cordoba, 2 in Granada, and 3 in Barcelona. We loved every place but Seville and Cordoba might've been our favorites! We felt like it was a pretty good distribution of time and I don’t think we would’ve changed anything. The weather was great (although a little chilly in Granada) and not a lot of crowds except for Barcelona (because Constitution Day was while we were there). I just wanted to say thanks for all the input and let you know we had an awesome trip!

I'm so glad you enjoyed your trip. And thank you for reporting back.