Itinerary Help!!

if you did not buy the airline ticket yet I would drop Madrid fly back out of Seville or Malaga. And you should consult a guide book to see and plan what you want to do in the cities you have chosen; this will help you decide what you should drop based on your own interests.

The admission to the Alhambra in Granada needs to be reserved online well in advance.

When are you planning to take this trip?

The OP says in October.

Sorry, missed that. In that case if you haven't bought tickets yet and can fly home from Seville that would be my first choice, adding one night to each of the other places. If you have to fly out of Madrid then just go there the last day, adding a day each to Granada and Seville. This is assuming you can get Alhambra tickets.

Chelle,

I agree with Jazz + Travels earlier post. Drop Madrid. Instead do 2 nights in Málaga and fly out from there to go back to NY.

Day 1 - Early morning arrival Barcelona

Day 2 - Barcelona

Day 3 - Barcelona (Day trip to Montserrat)

Day 4 - Early morning flight to Granada

Day 5 - Granada - Evening train to Seville

Day 6 - Seville

Day 7 - Seville - Evening train to Málaga

Day 8 - Málaga

Day 9 - Málaga (Day trip to Cordoba)

Day 10 - Málaga - Afternoon flight to NY

One+ days in Barcelona is not nearly enough, especially since you will be jetlagged on your arrival day. I personally would skip the day trip to Montserrat and spend that day in Barcelona. While I loved Malaga, if you are an art lover, maybe you should go to Madrid instead of Malaga, as originally planned. Madrid has some outstanding art museums. It all depends on what your interests are.

Although it has been years since I have been in Spain, I would definitely go to Granada. The Alhambra is so impressive and the Generalife. I have not visited Barcelona yet, but I agree that there is a lot to see there. Seville is an amazing city; although there are great museums in Madrid, I personally would do more in and around Barcelona, Sevilla and I would try to go to Granada (another idea is to spend more time in both Madrid and Barcelona and visit southern Spain another time). If you definitely want to see art, then I would do Barcelona and Madrid with side trips (Toledo is close to Madrid and Monserrat close to Barcelona). Buen viaje!

A day trip to Cordoba is slightly cheaper and slightly closer from Sevilla than Malaga.

If you love European painting, you'll want 2 days in Madrid for the 3 wonderful art museums. If not, it's definitely skippable.

Agree with the others that the decision between Seville and Madrid probably comes down to what you like to see/do. I would prioritize Barcelona and Granada, though. We were just there a few weeks ago, and personally, we liked Madrid more than Seville, but if the art museums and a big city aren't for you, then Seville might be the better choice. Even if you fly out of Seville, I believe you will have to go through Madrid or Barcelona anyway (at least that was the only option to get to/from Seattle). I think you can see the main gist of each city in the times you have above, but for me personally, that's just too much moving/traveling in a short period of time -- but everyone's different, so do what works best for you.