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Itinerary Advise

Hi all! Just starting to plan our first trip to Spain in the beginning of November 2022. We will have 14 night in country. Here is what I have so far, which is 13 nights, so trying to decide where to put that extra night. Any advise appreciated!

Nights 1-3: Sevilla
Nights 4-5: Granada
Night 6: Cordoba
Nights 7-9: Madrid
Nights 10-13: Barcelona (Barcelona is bucket list for me, so spending the most nights here)

My instinct is to add another night to Cordoba since I am not a big fan of just spending 1 night somewhere, but not sure if that is the best use of time.

Thank you for your help!

Posted by
28083 posts

I assume you're going to be using public transportation. On this itinerary a car would slow you down.

Have you checked flight schedules and airfares? What you've planned is efficient; I certainly hope you can fly into Seville and out of Barcelona. I'd have liked to do that in 2019, but it would have cost me an extra $500 or so to land in Seville rather than Madrid. Since this could affect the order in which you visit the cities, it would be best to pin down the arrival city now (if you haven't already got flights arranged).

Thirteen nights isn't a lot of time to try to cover Spain from Barcelona to Andalucia.

I think you are shortest on time in Seville. Seville is a good-sized city with a lot of sights. If Night 1 is the day you land in Spain after a transatlantic flight, I really wouldn't count that day at all due to jetlag and probable sleep deprivation. To me, your schedule looks like just 2 full days in Seville.

Although I adore Barcelona and think no stay there is too long, unless you want to track down every single modernista building in the city on foot plus go to some museums, you can probably manage with the 4 nights (3 days) you have planned. If you leave Madrid early on Day 10, you can be in Barcelona by noon, giving you about 3-1/2 days there if you are the type to settle in quickly. You will need to research Barcelona sightseeing options carefully, because you'll need to prepurchase entry tickets to quite a few places to avoid long lines.

Two nights in Granada is what a lot of folks plan; I think you can work with that. Don't forget to buy your Alhambra tickets well ahead of time.

I agree that 1 night in Cordoba isn't good. Aside from the whole avoid-one-night-stops rule, there's the fact that there's more to see in Cordoba than just the Mezquita, and one night gives you much less than a full day. If you can't scramble another night there, you might just as well day-trip to Cordoba from Seville (less than 1 hour each way, and no luggage to deal with or hotel to check into). I Iike Cordoba a lot; I spent 3 nights there, giving me a bit over 2 full days, and I didn't run out of things to see. If you need to stick with the one night, you can pick up a bit of extra time in Cordoba by visiting it on your way from Seville to Granada; that's the route at least some of the trains take. Cordoba's a quicker trip from Seville than from Granada. There are also a lot more trains between Seville and Cordoba than between Granada and Cordoba, so you'd have more choice of departure time.

Posted by
16 posts

Thank you! I am definitely leaning towards the second night in Cordoba. We are planning on flying into Seville , but with a layover in Madrid first. It is a bit more $$ looking at the flights right now, but I am willing to spend a bit more to avoid backtracking. We will be traveling by train and don’t anticipate renting a car. Nothing booked yet, just tracking prices :)

I wish we had more time, but this is all we can swing with work. I have a feeling we will be back to explore more!

Posted by
542 posts

You might consider switching around a bit. Cordoba is on the way between Sevilla and Madrid. You can fly between Barcelona and Granada. Going from Sevilla to Granada to Cordoba is backtracking.

Maybe Madrid, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, then fly to Barcelona to end the trip.

Posted by
4262 posts

We’re planning our first trip to Spain for September 2022. I keep adding days as a research because I keep adding cities. So far we have Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Ronda, Cordoba, Sevilla then on to Portugal. I was thinking 4 nights in Barcelona because the first day/night is for jet lag, then 3 nights in each city. We also try not to have 1 night stays, even 2. I figure we will go slow. So, I would add the extra day to Cordoba.