Madrid, Barcelona and Seville??

You don't say if the 10 days is including travel days or 10 actual nights on the ground in Spain. But - either way, I would just do the big two. You lose most of a day every time you change cities so that really leaves you with less than three days in each place. Both Madrid and Barcelona are great cities and would easily fill 10 days. There are also easy day trips from both. Toledo from Madrid and a number of smaller towns on the coast north of Barcelona.
Sevilla is lovely but I think your trip would be much more enjoyable to wait until your next trip - then do Andalucía - as there are more than enough sites in southern Spain to fill another 10 days plus.
Another advantage of staying 5 nights in Madrid and Barcelona is you could stay in apartments instead of hotels - which really increases your comfort and decreases the cost of the trip.

Hi Nina,

I have to agree with Kathryn, sticking to Madrid and Barcelona sounds like the better option. Seville is indeed beautiful, but splitting your time between the three of them would do justice to none. If I were you, I'd skip it and focus on the many activity options that Madrid and Barcelona have to offer, day-tours included.

Good luck and I hope this helps!

Thank you for the quick responses, I guess I'll just have to go back to Spain! ;-)

If you sleep in just two cities, you'll have time to daytrip to smaller towns for a change of atmosphere, such as to Toledo and Segovia from Madrid. I would say that there really is not much to see from the Barcelona-Sevilla train ride itself (5.5 hours), especially not compared to quality time at any of your destinations, and part of that would be repeated if you later backtracked to Madrid. None of this means that you could not fit in Sevilla, if it's a high priority.

I agree - pick 2. Either Barcelona and Madrid or Madrid and Seville. You could even do Seville/Barcelona, if those are the top priorities, but geographically the other 2 combos make more sense. Leaves room for day trips from each (Toledo from Madrid, Cordoba from Seville), and plenty of time to get comfortable and dig in.

That said, 10 days on the ground and 3 cities isn't undoable. It's a bit rushed, but I've seen worse. If you have your heart set on it, plan it out carefully including travel time and what you feel you need to do in each, and see what you think.

A leisurely trip would see your time split between Madrid and Barcelona.
A fair paced trip and you could add Sevilla into the mix.
A rushed trip over 10 days is possible to include Granada as well.

Day 1 Arrive Barcelona
Day 2 Sagrada Familia
Day 3 Fly to Granada
Day 4 Alhambra
Day 5 Train to Sevilla
Day 6 Cathedral, Alcazar
Day 7 Train to Madrid via Cordoba & Mezquita
Day 8 Royal Palace, Prado Museum
Day 9 Toledo & El Escorial
Day 10 Depart Madrid

It's up to you to decide how you prefer to travel.

What are your main interests? I would lean toward dropping Madrid! If you and your daughter are interested in spending a couple of days in art museums, Madrid is THE place to be. But if that's not a priority, Madrid is the least interesting city. Seville will give you a good Andalusian experience - the Alcazar is beautiful, the tapas are great, there's flamenco and a bull ring (no bull fights, but quite a place to see). You could day trip to Cordoba to see the Mezquita. Feria in Seville will be April 12-17. It's a wonderful thing to see and experience, but it will be crowded and expensive then.

I am actually working on the same vacation but in May :) I was getting worried that it was possibly rushed but I wasn't sure what to drop. After reading these comments I'm even more torn.

What does Seville offer that Madrid doesn't?

A little about us: We're looking to explore by foot, eat great food, people watch, shop and view a few museums (not a lot).

If you have only 10 days or so I would stick to Madrid, Sevilla, Granada.
Leave Barcelona for another time - it can be used as a gateway into Provence and southern France.
Madrid is a city of the Bourbons and Hapsburgs, mostly 18th century, like the step sister of beautiful Paris and refined Vienna. Don't get me wrong, Madrid is wonderful, with its fantastic museums and an earthy feel. I love it.
Sevilla in Andalusia is the evocative Spain of flamenco and bullfighting with architecture heavily influenced by the Moors (Arabs).

Unlike many posters here husband and I liked Madrid a lot. I wasn't expecting to, based on the opinions of posters here. We do like museums, and we did see those (cool on hot days--yay!), but there are other attractions there, too (Retiro Park, for example). I much preferred walking around in Madrid as compared to Barcelona. I found people to be particularly courteous and helpful in Madrid. Barcelona has some gorgeous sights (the Sagrada Familia brought me to tears), but it was so overrun with tourists, I felt like I could hardly look at anything or breathe, and that was in May.

Just throwing that out there.

We spent 5 nights in Madrid and 5 nights in Barcelona, and we had plenty to keep us busy, with day trips to Toledo and Montserrat. (Montserrat was an absolute highlight for us!) I agree with those who say that two major cities in 10 days, with day trips, is plenty. Adding Seville could be doable if you cut out day trips from Madrid and Barcelona, though.

Don't get me wrong, Madrid is wonderful, with its fantastic museums and an earthy feel. I love it too.

Kat - I suggest you start a new thread. Then you'll be notified by email every time there's a response and it will be less confusing for others.

Give us more details - how long is your trip, what are your options for flights. What are your interests? For instance, you mentioned museums - do you mean art museums? There are other interesting ones.

Chani- Will do!

I'd skip Madrid entirely and enjoy Barcelona and Seville.