Itinerary help - 12 days Seville to Valencia - where to stay?

Add at least a day to Sevilla, one of Spain’s historic gems, since you are giving a day to Cordoba. Consider staying overnight in Cordoba. These Andalusian cities are very important in Spain’s history.
I’m curious, with eight weeks for Spain and Portugal, how many weeks are you giving to each country? Spain- Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria and the Basque region are wonderful to explore.

The Alcazaba in Almería is pretty impressive and fairly large. We also enjoyed the main market in town. One night should be sufficient. If you can’t get to Mériida from Sevilla to see its Roman ruins, try to get to Italica just outside Sevilla.

I’m curious, with eight weeks for Spain and Portugal, how many weeks are you giving to each country?

We are looking at 3 weeks in Portugal and around 5 weeks in Spain. Plan is to visit northern, central and southern parts of Spain - flying in and out of Madrid. We have previously been to Barcelona and will leave revisiting that for a future trip.

I'm bookmarking this discussion... We just booked eight weeks in Spain and Portugal for May and June next year. Right now we know only our arrival and and departure dates for Barcelona.

Looking at the peninsula, I figured we'd travel clockwise - enjoying the weather in the south and then in the north as it warms. But that's not etched in stone.

We've enjoyed trips where we spent a couple days and nights in a place and then moved on, and others where we spent a week or more in a place as we do day trips. I prefer the latter and that's our general plan for the Iberian Peninsula... That said, I also prefer riding on trains versus driving, as much for the fun of riding trains as staring out the windows at the countrysiden that trains allow. But trains and buses as primary transportation appear to add unwanted complexity and time for traveling between destinations, so maybe rent a car sometimes and take trains others (which isn't always optimal either).

In terms of accomodations, we prefer short-term rentals - a la VRBO and AirBnB - over hotels, and we're not too price sensitive...

As with Aussie Nomad, I'm open to any and all suggestions as we begin planning.

Agree on at least a couple nights in Cordoba. I'd also choose Ronda over Malaga--I enjoyed Malaga, but Ronda just has a special place in my heart and I find the vistas from the gorge really compelling (the sunset got applause there).

gbrennan, you should start a new thread when you are ready with a rough outline of your plan, but you are almost certainly going to want to use train and bus for a portion of the trip and car for portions, as needed. Sometimes one or the other is better. Even with eight weeks (what a luxury!), you'll have to make some hard decisions. I'd sketch out which areas call to you the most and determine how deeply you'll explore them and then refine refine refine with help here. Your plan to start south is spot on--especially after that heat wave this year (I just missed it in late May--we had great weather).

You are significantly short on time for Seville/Cordoba. I'd add two nights there.

The fast trains from Valencia to Madrid stop in Cuenca, though the station is outside town so you'd need to take either a bus or taxi to the center; you might consider one night there in transit.

Have you explored your transportation options between Granada and Valencia? I don't think there's a rail connection between Almeria and Cartagena (there's bus service), and the fastest train from Cartagena to Valencia takes 4-1/2 hours. You're planning to devote quite a lot of time to Almeria-Cartagena-Valencia, which to my mind don't have as much to recommend them as Seville, Cordoba and Granada. (I did find Valencia pleasant; it's just that I wouldn't head in that direction with such limited time available and given the transportation challenges.) I confess I haven't yet mustered enough interest in Almeria or Cartagena to do more than pass through them, despite spending 4-1/2 months in Spain since 2016, so I acknowledge I may be underrating them.

You are significantly short on time for Seville/Cordoba. I'd add two nights there.

We will look at doing this.

The fast trains from Valencia to Madrid stop in Cuenca, though the station is outside town so you'd need to take either a bus or taxi to the center; you might consider one night there in transit.

Thanks acraven this is a great suggestion and we will add an overnight in Cuenca. We had been thinking Cuenca would be an easy day trip from Madrid but the station location makes this difficult.

Have you explored your transportation options between Granada and Valencia?

Yes, we will take the bus. Trains via Madrid are quicker but it seems counter-intuitive to me to backtrack inland when it is the coast we want to see. We may need to rethink this section of our trip.

The other option would be Granada to Murcia for a couple of nights and then on to Cuenca, and skip Valencia entirely.

You're planning to devote quite a lot of time to Almeria-Cartagena-Valencia, which to my mind don't have as much to recommend them as Seville, Cordoba and Granada. (I did find Valencia pleasant; it's just that I wouldn't head in that direction with such limited time available and given the transportation challenges.)

We wanted to see some of the Mediterranean coast and had hoped that Almeria and Cartagena were worth visiting. Those two towns also made sense on the basis of how long we were willing to spend on a bus. We might rethink this section of our trip.

If you stay in Cuenca, look into staying at the Parador there. It is right at the gorge and pedestrian bridge with a great view of the hanging houses. Walking to the historic center is about a 7 minutes walk. It does have some free and paid onsite parking.

I think the buses from the Cuenca AVE station into town don't run as frequently on weekends as they do during the week--or perhaps it's just Sunday that's a problem. If you would be arriving or departing from Cuenca on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, check the bus situation ahead of time so you know whether you'll definitely need to rely on a taxi and will need to have a phone number or two at your fingertips. In 2017 the Cuenca tourist office offered a low-cost walking tour. There are a couple of nice, small modern-art museums in the upper town. The latter is walkable from the lower town (past the parador as I recall), but it's not a super-short walk and it's significantly uphill. I think there may be buses but am not sure about that.

Remember that 2 nights = 1 full day. 2 full days in Sevilla is scratching the surface. Using one of them to go to Cordoba would not be my choice.

I don't understand why you'd go to Malaga if you want to see Ronda. Take the bus to Ronda, then bus or train to Granada.