Looking for suggestions for road trip between Barcelona and Granada.

Personally, I'd choose an easy visit to Toledo (stay overnight) by rail over driving down the coast.

I haven't been to Tarragona, but it has some Roman ruins.

Valencia's nice, though large; I suspect you could burn a good bit of time just navigating into the center. I really liked seeing the modernista buildings in Reus, which is just inland from Valencia.

I'm not at all familiar with the coast farther south.

Looks like Tarragona might be an easy day trip from Barcelona. Maybe I should keep it simple and stick to my original train plan. I would hate to miss Toledo. Before covid restrictions started easing I planned a west coast road trip from Seattle to San Franscisco, but it's right smack in the middle of my prime-time favorite time to be in Europe. So we are taking our chances with travel through Nov. 20 or so. So many places to see, but we are getting up in years and my husband says "time's awasting!"

Hi Carole, have you considered flying into one place and out another, or have you already purchased your plane ticket? For example, fly into Barcelona and drive to Granada and drop off your car. You can then take a train from Granada to Madrid-Puerta de Atocha (3h 30m) and switch lines to get to Toledo (45m). In Toledo hop on the bus that’ll drop you off in the old town and fly home from Madrid (or vice vs.).
Rough Guides Spain is the guide book I would purchase because they cover the Valencia region. Rick Steves’ and Lonely Planet do not. You could do something like this:
Barcelona to Tarragona (1h 15m)
Tarragona to Peniscola (1h 30m)
Peniscola to Valencia (1h 45m)
Valencia to Benidorm (1h 45m)
Benidorm to Granada (4h 15m)

I think that a road trip down the eastern coast of Spain is a great idea, you'll find the stretch of coastline from Barcelona to Valencia and beyond to be especially interesting. This area has sandy beaches, Templar castles, Roman ruins, posh beach towns, and relatively less tourists as one would find at the Costa del Sol or the French Rivera. Some places of interest I would recommend, along your route (north to south):

Garraf - laid back beach community just south of Barcelona. Popular with locals and with good seafood restaurants. There is also here a beach house designed by none other than Antoni Gaudí!

Poblet Royal Monastery - a UNESCO World Heritage Site and still active 12th-century Cistercian monastery. It was a fortified medieval royal residence and contains the unique hanging tombs of the old Kings of Aragon.

Tarragona - ancient seaside town with very good Roman ruins, including an amphitheater, intact aqueduct, and Praetorium Tower, was once the capital of Roman Hispania (modern-day Spain). Tarragona's medieval old town is a delight to explore too.

Les Ferreres Aqueduct - Roman Aqueduct you can walk on top of, a few km from Tarragona.

Castillo de Miravet - A large riverside stronghold built by the Knights Templar with commanding views of the countryside. The adjacent medieval village spills down the cliff towards the rivers. A great place to bicycle, kayak, or take a leisurely boat down the Ebro river.

Peñíscola - With its cobbled streets and whitewashed houses, the old town of Peñíscola sits on a big rock that juts out into the sea. The town is dominated by a large Knights Templar castle that looks like something out of the Crusades. Recently, Peñíscola was used as a filming location in the T.V. series Game of Thrones.

Sagunto Castle (Saguntum) - settlement sacked by Hannibal that led to the Second Punic War. Now an eclectic mix of Roman, Moorish, and Christian fortifications.

Valencia - 3rd largest city in Spain, hometown of the Paella. Known for its futuristic structures of its City of Arts and Sciences. You will find also Modernista architecture, great museums, and long stretches of beaches.

Albarracín - voted the most beautiful village in Spain, picturesque Moorish fortifications surround this medieval pink-hued village. Was once the capital of it's Berber taifa kingdom, currently in the works of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A good option for an inland day trip from Valencia.

Palmeral de Elche - one of the largest historic palm groves in the world, dating back to the Moorish times, designated a UNESCO Site. The Palm forest is surrounded by the town of Elche, one of the oldest in Spain, with much Iberian and Hellenistic archaeology.

Of course, you may not have enough time to see all these places, so you will have to pick and choose depending on your interests. I have not been south of Cartagena (good Roman ruins there too), but I have heard that the coastline of Cabo de Gata National Park is quite impressive.

Wow Carlos, those are exactly the kinds of things that interest us. I want to print up your suggestions and look at them on a map. None of my plans are made yet, but I want to end up in Seville, and then fly to Lisbon. Great suggestions, all.

Happy to help! 😀 One place I forgot to mention was La Albufera National Park, an expansive wetland area with many lagoons and islets, located just an hour south of Valencia. It's the original birthplace of Paella and has some of the best birding in Europe. I recall there were a number of Kayaking and Paella tours that explored this unique biosphere.

You do need to plot it on a map. Barcelona to Granada if you roughly follow the coast so far as Almeria and then cut inland for the final section is nearly 1000km. The previously mentioned Elche is only about the half-way point. So even with four days, you are going to have to limit your stops. Also, if you undertake this road-trip you are sort of "committed" to the full journey by car since public transport going West to Granada is poor so you can't really do part by car and the rest by railway.

After Elche, you could cut off some of the coast drive by staying inland via Murcia city (not much to see, nice cathedral and old town streets, but famous for Spain's best food), Lorca (decent enough castle, but hardly the Alhambra) and a series of national parks, perhaps the most well known being Sierra de Baza.

The only thing I’ll add to what Nick and Carlos said is if you enjoy castles, there is also the Castle of Biar, in Biar, a few kilometers north of El Palmerar, Elche. I agree with what Nick said about Murcia city. Lorca castle was ok, but there are much nicer ones throughout the country. I did enjoy Almeria, but if headed to Granada, I’d cut inland at Murcia city, through Lorca, and on the Granada. Again, if you enjoy castles, on the route towards Granada coming from Lorca is another castle a few kilometers south of Guadix, Castillo de la Calahorra. For anyplace you intend on stopping at, check websites for opening times since many castle don’t have regular hours.

If you end up going to Albarracin, you'll be quite close to Teruel, possibly the least-visited regional capital in Spain. I really like Teruel with its mudejar towers. Cuenca (atmospheric hill town with a couple of nice art museums) is in that general area as well, but farther from the coast. It's territory that's challenging to visit if you don't have a car. The once-a-day bus to Albarracin arrives in the afternoon; the return bus departs in the morning. I don't think there is any public transportation link between Albarracin/Teruel and Cuenca.

Unfortunately, to see all three places would take just about all the time you've got, so it would probably make more sense to use the AVE as much as possible, just picking up a car in Valencia and perhaps returning it in Madrid. I doubt that's a practical idea, but I can't pass up an opportunity to recommend Teruel and Cuenca to go along with Albarracin.

so much food for thought. Fortunately, I have time to digest!