Madrid, Andalusia & Paris

I presume you've already booked your flights?

If not, you should reconsider your itinerary.

I count 14 nights, which gives you 13 full days. I'd suggest visiting one country, either France or Spain, but not both.

Keep in mind that Andalucía is very HOT in August.

Initially we were hoping to squeeze Barcelona into the trip as well but it doesn't seem doable and we would like to experience the place we visit rather than rush through them so decided to drop it.

You could add Barcelona... But only if you drop Paris...

Land in Madrid, catch flight to Granada Is that a connecting flight on the same ticket? If not, and you miss the flight to Granada, neither airline will be liable to help you. You'll be out-of-pocket for the flights (toss those tickets in the recycle bin) and you'll be scrounging to find 6 seats at full price on another flight to Granada. How could you miss your flight? Well, there could be any number of reasons for a delayed landing in Madrid, even a delayed disembarkation from the plane. There may be long lines at passport control. You may have to wait a long time for your checked bags. It may take a long time to get to the terminal where your next flight is, or a long line to check in, or a long time to get through security.

Starting in Granada means your first full day will be the Alhambra visit. Nothing there is air conditioned. Most of this quite large site is hilly and there's hardly any shade except inside parts of the buildings you'll be visiting. You'll have a lot of walking between the bits you want to visit. All this when some of you may still be jetlagged and tired after the long flight.

Pick up rental car in Granada . . . you will need a large car to accommodate 4 adults, 2 kids, and all your luggage. You will have to store all the luggage out of sight if you park the car to do any sightseeing before Sevilla. viamichelin.com estimates the net driving time at 5 hours. That's optimistic, and doesn't include the time to pick up the car, return the car, buy gas, or getting stuck behind slow-moving traffic on the 2-lane roads in the hills. If you want to stop to see Ronda, you'll also need time to find parking.

Edit: I just looked at Priscilla's link for August temps. Those are average highs. Temps of 40 are not uncommon in August.

I'd flip your first 9 days in Spain, and take a connecting flight to Paris from Granada.

August
7. Arrive Madrid (3N)
8. Madrid
9. Day to Toledo
10. Train to Seville (3N)
11. Seville
12. Day to Cordoba
13. Pick up hire car. Drive to Ronda (1N)
14. Drive to Granada (2N). Return car
15. Alhambra
16. Fly via Barcelona to Paris (5N)
Vueling VY2011 dep GRX 09:25
Vueling VY2030 arr ORY 14:30
17.18.19. Paris
20. Day to Versailles
21. Depart Paris

I like David's suggestion

The car on the 9th in your plan is a concern. You are only using it to get to Seville and a car for that many people will be big and expensive. Yes, you can stop in Ronda, but I don't think that makes the probably super-high cost worth it. I have not parked in Ronda, but with a car that big there may be issues. Take a train or bus to Seville.

Priscilla, Chani, David & Mira:
Thank you so much for the suggestions and your frank opinions about our plans. We have reconsidered and decided to just visit Spain on this trip, focusing on spending some quality time and enjoying Madrid, Andalucia and Barcelona. Based on what we’ve read, here’s the itinerary we are considering:

MON AUG07 ARRIVE MADRID
TUE AUG08 MADRID (SEE PALACE, MUSEUMS)
WED AUG09 TOLEDO
THU AUG10 MADRID (RELAX, ENJOY CITY)
FRI AUG11 AVE TO SEVILLA (THINKING WE EITHER GET TO SEVILLA BY NOON OR STOP IN CORDOBA ON THE WAY)
SAT AUG12 SEVILLA
SUN AUG13 DRIVE TO RONDA, SEEING ARCOS & GRAZALEMA ON THE WAY (CAN WE ALSO SEE ZAHARA?)
MON AUG14 RONDA
TUE AUG15 GRANADA & DROP OFF CAR, REACHING BY EARLY EVENING (THINKING OF DRIVING ALONG THE COAST)
WED AUG16 GRANADA
THU AUG17 TRAIN TO BARCELONA
FRI AUG18 BARCELONA
SAT AUG19 BARCELONA
SUN AUG20 BARCELONA (DAY TRIP TO MONTSERRAT/CADAQUES, NOT SURE IF WE CAN DO BOTH)
MON AUG21 BARCELONA
TUE AUG22 DEPART

It has been very helpful to have your suggestions, so appreciate any inputs you can provide. Thank you so much,
Anar

Have you booked Alhambra tickets? How about the train from Granada to Barcelona? You realize this is an 8+ hour trip, right?

I think Montserrat and Cadaques on the same day would be pushing it. Cadaques has no rail station, so you must go to Figueres and switch to a bus (beautiful ride). Or you can take the bus the entire way, but I imagine you would have to change buses in Figueres. I think it would be prudent to plan the two out-of-town trips on separate days unless that seriously interferes with your other plans. Personally, I hate taking the time to do a day-trip, being rushed, and leaving with the feeling that I needed another 30 to 60 minutes to see all that I wanted to see.

NP,
Haven't booked Alhambra - mainly waiting to finalize the itinerary in the next couple of days before booking. Thank you for asking. Re. the Granada - Barcelona, yes looked like it is ~8 hours. Currently, flights are much more expensive compared to the train, so our thought was we would that the train & see some country side (hopefully). Will still monitor flights and may switch to flying.

acraven,
Based on what you described, looks like we will probably move Montserrat to a different day or skip and spend time in Barcelona. Thank you for the information.

I would shift a night from Barcelona to Sevilla. Flight at 12.25pm from Granada to Barcelona with Vueling is about US$100.
MADRID -4
SEVILLA -3
RONDA -2
GRANADA -2
BARCELONA -4