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Madrid -> (Granada - Sevilla - Andalucia white town in 3 days) -> Lisbon

I will be in Madrid - and plan to travel South and cover Granada, Sevilla, Andalucia white town and possibly Merida - then to Lisbon. I have only 3 days for the South Spain.

Can you please share the best strategy to cover the South Spain given my itinerary, and have only 3 days

Would you recommend to travel by bus from Seville to Lisbon (skip Merida), or getting a bus from Merida to Lisbon? Is Merida worths a day or half-day? Is there any other way to travel from South Spain to Lisbon?

Thank you

Posted by
15791 posts

You absolutely cannot do all that in 3 days. Do you even have 3 full days, which would be 4 nights. Door-to-door from Madrid to Sevilla is at least 4 hours, not including the packing/unpacking. Getting to Lisbon from anywhere but Sevilla will take a lot more time than that. AFAIK the only flights to Lisbon from Andalucia are from Sevilla and Malaga. Any travel other than flying takes much longer. You really need 2 days to see Granada because you'll use one of them just to get to and from there.

Posted by
4656 posts

You won't really 'cover' anything. It is hard to make choices, but you need a priority list of what you want to see (not cities you want to see - sites). Choose the first 2 and visit those cities. You will still be using up numerous hours of each day just in transit.
I don't know how to get to Lisbon from Spain, but it seems that Seville is the common departure town.
When is this? Darkness drops early in November onwards, so things like the Alhambra closes at 6pm. Also, what are the days of the week? Numerous things close early on Sunday and not at all on Monday.
It takes 5 hours by bus or train to Granada from Madrid. If you leave at 7 or 8 a.m. and get a taxi to Alhambra, you could squeeze it in the same day but the best part is the Nasrid Palace and that requires timed entry tickets and they often sell out online.
If the White villages are one of the 2 items on your list, then overnight Granada, rent a car and drive one way to Sevilla visiting Ronda enroute. This leaves one day in Sevilla. Spain seems to have no one-way drop off fees so that is one advantage.
Keep in mind many recommend 2 nights for Granada and 4-5 nights for Seville.
If you want a slightly more sane approach, train Madrid to Cordoba, storing bag at the train station, rush around Cordoba to see the Mesquita and whatever else you can fit in, then continue on to Sevilla until you depart for Lisbon.
It it is of any use, I use Rome2Rio to create a travel plan. It gives times per travel mode (of course, not including all the time required to wait at airports or train stations). Also know it isn't reliable for costs or travel schedules, but it might put things into perspective for you.

Posted by
7175 posts

Only possible if your 3 days does not include travel days to Granada, and from Sevilla.

••Travel from Madrid to Granada (2 nights)
Day 1. Book Alhambra
Day 2. Train to Cordoba for Mezquita, then evening train on to Sevilla (2 nights)
Day 3. Sevilla - Cathedral & Alcazar
••Travel from Sevilla to Lisbon

Posted by
45 posts

Completely agreed from above respond.
I was just in Andalucía region and it took my 6 days to travel from Seville to ----Malaga.
I completely avoid Madrid. There is nothing to see in there.

Posted by
7175 posts

Let me be the one to refute the dismissive comment on Madrid. Of course there is plenty to see and do in Madrid.
•One of Europe's largest Royal Palaces
•The Prado, regarded by many as the world's finest art museum
•Two additional major art museums - Reina Sofia and Thyssen Bornemisza
•A plethora of smaller museums, like the Sorolla, Lazaro Galdiano, Caixa Forum
•Grand civic spaces like Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, Plaza de Espana, Plaza de Oriente, Plaza de Cibeles, Puerta del Alcala
•Wonderful city parks, notably El Retiro
•Two historic royal convents - Las Descalzas Reales & La Encarnacion
•The emblematic Palace of Communications and
Metropolis Buildings
•A real life Egyptian Temple - The Temple of Debod
•The famous El Rastro flea market
•Mercado San Miguel - a fresh food market with very popular tapas bars
•Vibrant historic neighbourhoods with wonderful shopping, bars and restaurants