Itinerary Help - 1st Draft

Madrid headlines with a few major museums, but those who don't look beyond that miss out on a rich, diverse, dynamic city. That said, I won't advocate strongly for making it a higher priority for a late June visit—it'll be sweltering.

We prefer Madrid to Barcelona. There is much more to Madrid than museums.

The number of nights you stay in each place should be determined by what you want to see in each. I don’t think Nerja merits 3 nights. With your limited available time, if it was my trip and first time to Spain, I’d drop Nerja and allocate those nights to the other cities.

I am not an art person either and have only spent 2 1-night stays in Madrid. I, with little experience, am beginning to support what Scudder said - an interesting city that probably deserves time well beyond its art museums. I just have not yet had the trip time to give it - and you may not either, so even 2 nights might be enough on this trip.

There’s quite a bit on the forum about visiting Ronda with and without a car, but the consensus seems to be with is easier - and an overnight isn’t a bad thing. And then you would have to decide where to day trip from. Not Seville if you are already day tripping to Cordoba.

Your trip as is would be fine. But if I were fine-tuning for myself, I would give Seville a 5th night (leaving Madrid with 2) since you are planning a day trip to Cordoba. Many people advise staying overnight in Cordoba (and I enjoyed that) but you have to decide whether moving locations is worth it. Maybe not - trains run early and late. I am no help on the beach.

Hi Nicole, if you’re able to fly into Malaga, I would begin with a location at the beach and then take head to Ronda for a night or two. Then up to Sevilla. Finish with Madrid & fly out of Barcelona.

We stayed in Nerja for four nights and Malaga for one during our last trip to Spain. And we’re heading to Malaga, Estepona & Cadiz early next year. I know that Rick recommends Nerja, but I think there’s probably nicer locations. I did really like Frigiliana for a small white village, and it’s just a 10-minute bus from Nerja.

Outdated info, but we went to Spain in spring of 2014. We rented a car in Sevilla, went to Tarifa (for day trip to Tangier), Granada, Nerja, then Barcelona. Made trips to Ronda and Frigliana as well. Nerja is perfectly cute, and probably more affordable than, say, Marbella, but can be skipped, IMO. Half of England has retired there (which may be the case for much of the coast), which is great if you have a craving for Yorkshire pudding and fish & chips. We were not looking for beach time (it was March I think, and chilly), but if you go, make sure you can access the beaches - not sure how many are public. Also, a suggestion - see if you can somehow fit Granada and the Alhambra in your schedule.

Plenty of great beach destinations very close to Barcelona. Up north you'll find the Costa Brava with nice beach towns like Tossa de Mar. Just south you have the Costa Dorada with equally nice beach towns like Sitges.

I agree with Carlos about Tossa de Mar. it’s a stunning town on an incredible credibly beautiful crescent of white sand beach with azure water. There’s a castle overlooking the town and the Mediterranean. Forbes magazine recently highlighted Tossa de Mar in an article.
Substituting Tossa de Mar for Nerja makes sense for your itinerary because Tossa de Mar is an 80-minute express bus ride from Barcelona, where you already be. Nerja, on the other hand is 4-5 hours by bus/train from Seville.

I agree with Carlos about Tossa de Mar, too! The medieval castle/fortress at the top of the hill is stunning.

And I also recommend Malaga, a much underrated city on the Mediterranean. For some reason Rick treats Malaga like it’s nothing but a transportation hub but trust me, it’s much more than that. There is so much to see and do there. And you have the beach, too, and the wonderful seaside promenade.

Malaga was recently listed in an article in “Travel & Leisure” magazine as being among the top 10 European cities favored by foreigners to live in. Valencia, Alicante and Madrid were also in the Top 10.
Malaga has high-speed trains now connecting it with Madrid in 2.5-3 hours; Cordoba in 1 hour; Seville in less than 2 hours; Granada in 70 minutes.

Those kind of numbers make Malaga a beach city worth visiting.