Madrid and Sevilla

Sevilla works, but research other cities too. Select a city because there’s something there that you want to see, not just picking it at random. Other popular cities include Bilbao, Barcelona, San Sebastián, Santander, Granada, Cádiz, Burgos, León, Cáceres, Valencia, and others. Only you can decide which would be worth a four day stay.

Jaime's answer is very good, and I would only add, "when is your trip?". I would try to avoid Sevilla in the summer.

To add to @jaimeelsabio’s list:
Cordoba
La Rioja
Segovia

Agree about Seville, it's wonderful. Also, don't miss a day trip to Toledo.

We are doing the same thing this fall: Sevilla for 4 nights and Madrid for 3 nights. I'm a bit behind on my planning but we will be taking a food tour in each city of the first afternoon/evening. With Sevilla we are considering a day trip to Cordoba via the train as we will not be renting a car. As we will only have 7 nights, we liked the points of interest as well as the access between these two cities.

When you say 4 days, you really do need 5 nights to give you 4 full days. Or do you mean 4 nights? Which will give you 3 full days. Either way is fine; just wanted to clarify.

I like your combination of Madrid and Sevilla for several reasons. It is a very logical choice regarding getting to Sevilla from Madrid via train. You won't waste a lot of precious time traveling there. Sevilla is beautiful with lots of important historical and cultural sights. 4 or 5 nights is perfect for Seville and the same for Madrid.

Madrid and Sevilla are two very different cities regarding architecture, ambiance and sights so this will give you a nice, varied experience.

I also love Cordoba and Granada but with your time frame, I think Sevilla works best. You could take a daytrip from Sevilla to Cordoba; however, I personally think spending a night or two in Cordoba is better than seeing it as a daytrip.

Thank you for all your replies thus far.

We are traveling mid October and need to be in Madrid for 4 nights for a birthday party. After that we only have 3 more night, so we are choosing between Granada or Sevilla. For those who have been to both, which would you choose and why? And traveling from Madrid, would you fly or take a train?

Thank you!

Our last time in the region we took the train from Madrid to Sevilla and stopped over in Cordoba on the way to have lunch and visit La Mezquita. It was a perfect day weather wise, we really enjoyed the overall ambience of Cordoba, and would like to return for a longer visit someday. Mentioning it in case you decide to take the train to Sevilla. The direct train from Madrid to Sevilla usually takes less than 3 hours.

For Sevilla vs Granada, Sevilla is a bigger city and there is generally more to do, but the Alhambra in Granada is stunning. Having been in both, I would be more likely to do a repeat visit to Sevilla vs Granada, due to my liking the overall atmosphere of Sevilla a little better.

I will disagree with some of the advice, you really do not want to spend more than 4 hours or so getting someplace with your limited time. Seville would be great, Cordova works, Granada about the limit, especially with a direct train. Others would be Toledo, Avila, Cuenca, Segovia. Barcelona would be fine, but another metropolis, Bilbao or San Sebastian a bit far, maybe Zaragoza a nice option.