Need help making decisions on Spain itinerary

So, just so you are aware, I haven't been to Valencia, Malaga or Cadiz. I think the times you have are very generous and you should be able to do plenty and still relax, with the possible exception of your time in Barcelona. Seeing that you are generous with your length of stay, I would suggest you absolutely do Granada and for 3 nights(I found for myself, 2 was plenty), add the night to Barcelona. I would also do some research on the pueblos blancos. We found them delightful and a calm break from the busy cities. We especially like Zahara, Sentinel, and Grazelema. We also visited Arcos and Ronda. Cordoba is wonderful but if you want to add the white villages, consider robbing a day from Cordoba and /or think about whether you want to go to Cadiz or if you'd like to take days from there for white villages. I wouldn't want a car for any of what you listed.It honestly, would be a hindrance restricting where you can stay and increasing your cost. Train travel is super easy in Spain. If you decide to go to the pueblos blancos, that would be a good time for a car, and you could drive from Granada to Sevilla. There is probably a better order to do your Andalusia visits, but I leave that to some of the local contributors who know the trains better.

Taken as a whole, I think you have relatively too much time in Andalucía and too little in Catalunya. Barcelona can easily suck up all the time you have allotted (or more if you like modernista architecture and art museums), leaving no time for Girona, Cadaques, or other side-trips.

I don't know whether you realize that Cuenca is on the AVE rail line between Madrid and Valencia. That's the fastest way to get there if you are traveling to or from those cities, but to make a rail trip affordable you'll probably need to buy the non-refundable/non-changeable tickets shortly after they go on sale.

If your route takes you near Toledo, I'd recommend 2 or 3 nights in that very historic city. Some of the train itineraries between Valencia and Cordoba route you through Madrid, and Toledo is on a (dead-end) spur line from Madrid.

There's considerable tourist interest in Andalucía during Holy Week. You may find somewhat elevated hotel rates during that period. You may want to take Holy Week festivities into account when laying out your itinerary.

Some of the Valencia-Madrid AVEs stop in Cuenca. The 8 AM weekday departure reaches Cuenca at 8:55 AM. However, the AVE station for Cuenca is a bus or taxi ride from town; it's not walkable.

I agree with the person who said you are shortchanging Catalyuna, especially given the amount of time for the entire trip. You might consider 5 nights Barcelona with no day trips, then rent the car and loop north to see Besalu, Cadaques, Girona, etc. before going south to Valencia.

I think 5 nights is too much (even on a slow trip) for Cordoba so I 'd take a few nights from there and include stays in both Malaga and Granada (maybe 3 each). Between Malaga and Ronda consider day trips to Antequera, Zahara and Grazelema.

Also, if it's not too much of a detour depending on the route you end up with, Toledo is well worth a few days.

Here's my photos of Spain - https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f855477163

Unless you plan on visiting a lot of small towns, you don’t need a car in the places you listed. One is almost a must for visiting the white towns and Ronda. In my opinion you have too many nights planned for Valencia, Cordoba, Granada, and Cadiz. To me, the first three are worthy of 2 nights at most. You could easily add Madrid, with day trips to Segovia and Toledo, by cutting some from the other cities. I’m not a Cadiz fan and feel it is only worth a few hours sightseeing, but it does have ferry service to Rota and Puerto de Santa Maria. Jerez de la Frontera could also be a day trip from Cadiz. The suggestions about adding time to Catalonia are good ones, or even Castile and La Mancha.

Not sure about your specific dates, but be aware that you may be traveling during Semana Santa (holy week) April 14-22. The majority of Spain's cities, towns and villages, (especially in Andalucía) will put on processions and celebrations combining music, art, and color. Semana Santa is the biggest religious celebration of the year in Spain, even bigger than Christmas. So there may be some slowdown attributed to Holy Week in the more popular cities.

Personally, I think that you should embrace the fact that you will be in Spain during Semana Santa, and make a point to see some of these processions. It will definitely add some cultural depth to your travels.

If you go that route I would recommend you start first in Andalucía (where the Semana Santa passion is the strongest) and then work your way north to Barcelona. Some of the cites with the most impressive processions are Sevilla, Malaga, Granada, Cordoba, Cuenca, Salamanca, and Zamora (the oldest one).

Also note that Easter Monday (April 22) is a public holiday in Spain, so the large majority of shops and restaurants will be closed.

Firstly, I have not been to Valencia or Cadiz, but I have been to all your other destinations.

Cordoba - I think 5 nights is too much. We stayed there for 2 nights, but we would have liked an extra night. So I think 3 nights in Cordoba would be perfect and relaxing.

Because of the length of your trip, you should stay in both Granada (for 2 or 3 nights) and Malaga (for 2 or 3 nights). I think staying in Granada or Malaga and doing day trips to the other would be stressful and time consuming (at least 3 hours RT), definitely not relaxing. And it's also so much nicer staying in Granada to see the Alhambra. The Alhambra is magnificent! Don't rush through it!! We spent all day there soaking in this beautiful place, had lunch, took lots of photos, and then stopped for drinks and snacks. Then we returned for the night tour, which is also wonderful and worth it.

I also agree with acraven and isabel that you are short changing Catalunya. Barcelona is a large city with lots of important sights, so your 6 nights (which gives you 5 full days) is good to see just Barcelona. Cadaques is beautiful, but it is not a day trip from Barcelona. I agree with isabel about renting a car when you leave Barcelona and driving to see Girona, Cadaques, and Besalu. Costa Brava is beautiful!!!

Seville - 6 nights might be too much unless you plan day trips.

So, perhaps you could take a night or two from Seville, a night or two from Cadiz (even though I haven't been there), and a night or 2 from Cordoba and add it Costa Brava.

I should have mentioned earlier that, in addition to being fascinating in itself, Girona is a great base for seeing Cadaques, Figueres (Dali Theatre and Museum) and Besalu. All those places can be reached much more quickly from Girona than from Barcelona itself. And Girona, though popular and touristy, is nowhere near as hectic as Barcelona.

Wow, such great responses and advice. Thank you all!

Regarding everyone's wonderful comments: We will be in Barcelona for Easter week and are aware of that. We have to start in Barcelona and am now bummed we will not be starting in Andalusia for holy week! :- ( lol

I understand what everyone is saying about how much time we have and that we can add/see more but my point was was that we did not want to be in a car, or train, every 2-3 days. It's just so much harder moving, packing, unpacking, re packing, catching cabs to train stations etc. if you know what I mean. Quite frankly, I'm lucky my husband will give me this amount of time, I can't push him.

That being said, and the fact that we were going to do a day trip to Cadaque is making me think I will take off a few days from Barcelona and do the round trip to Girona, Cadaque and Besalu and visit more of Catalonia. I'm convinced! :- )

As far as adding Peniscola and Cuenca on the way to Valencia from Barcelona: again, it all boils down to too much time moving in and out of homes, trains etc. Will be good with day visits to both places, from Valencia either on a train or car or both but like the idea of not moving out of lodging every 3 days. Actually might have to add a day to Valencia in order to do those 2 day trips! Or maybe we will switch Valencia for Peniscola and just do a day trip to Valencia and then Cuenca?

I do love the idea of staying in the white villages and getting some respite from the larger cities and will probably take the advice of taking more time off Cadiz (or altogether) and or Cordoba to fit in a stay at one of the quieter white villages. We could always go have lunch in Cadiz and look around...... So, which one would you all suggest (okay, I might do 2 of them) Arcos de la Frontera, Ronda, Antequera, Zahara or Grazelema? Want to be able to stay right in the heart in order to walk to restaurants.

I keep reading about Toledo and would love to check it out as well but will just have to do it, Madrid and the Basque country next time! I also forgot to tell y'all that we would be leaving Seville for Lisbon to visit Portugal for about 8-9 days as well.

Look forward to any replies to my other questions.

Tissa

Acraven,

Thanks again! I am taking your advice and now you have even helped me further by letting me know which one I should base out of.

Tissa

Kmkwoo,

Thank you as well for your comments. As you can see, I am taking Acraven's advice (and the other person!) and spending more time in Catalonia. I think this is great advice. I do love a city but also like small, quaint charming villages to counter balance the hectic pace of large/medium cities.

Keep all those great ideas coming. Thanks! :- )

tissa

Isabel,

Am taking you and Acraven's advice. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

tissa

Tissa, I think you will probably regret moving days from Barcelona to Girona. I was thinking more of taking them from one of your other stops. There is just so much to do in Barcelona.

The reason Cuenca works so well as a day-trip from Valencia is the existence of the extremely fast AVE train. If you base in Peniscola instead, a day-trip to Cuenca will not be practical. The driving distance is over 200 miles one-way. By public transportation you would first need to take a bus to the Benicarlo train station, then a regional (slow) train to Valencia, then a second train (which might or might not be a fast AVE) to Cuenca.

Edited to add: You wouldn't want to use a car for a day-trip to Cuenca even from Valencia. It's about 120 miles one way, and ViaMichelin estimates the one-way driving time at about 2-1/2 hours (vs. less than an hour by train). The Cuenca day-trip really pretty much requires use of the AVE. And that means buying the tickets early, because the fare escalates sharply as you get close to your travel date.

Especially when you plan to make two or more day-trips from a single base, you need to be very careful about the availability of efficient transportation options. I love visiting smaller cities and towns, but I usually stay in the largest place I want to visit in the area and fan out from there, rather than staying in a small town and trying to make a day-trip to another small town.

I wouldn't stay in Antequera if the goal is the white villages. Arcos and Ronda are the biggest however, Arcos is in the very west of the region and Ronda more east. We stayed in Grazelema and loved it. It was pretty quiet, but we were there in November. I'm not sure how many restaurants are in Zahara but it was a stunning city.

Jules, thank you for that info!

There's never enough time in Barcelona. The good news is that it's easy to add it to another trip. That's what I'm doing next month, flying from Nice for a few days there after a week and a half on the French Riviera. I haven't been to any of the small towns in Catalonia, except for day trips to Figueres and Girona by train. In April you could probably do both in one day.

Valencia - 3N, perfect.
Cordoba - 5N, too many for most people, but it's my favorite Spanish city so it would work for me.
Granada - 4N, definitely Granada and day trip to Malaga by bus. I spent 4N in Granada and it was one too many, but I didn't think to go to Malaga.
Cadiz - I'm in the "day trip" camp. I stayed in Jerez and day tripped to Cadiz by train and Arcos by bus. There's another full day of things to do in Jerez - horse show (check the dates - the shows are only 2-3 times a week), tour a couple sherry bodegas (Tio Pepe is the most fun). 4N would work in Jerez.

Rent a car as you leave Granada, spend 3-4N in Ronda and explore the hill towns. Ronda has a couple of major sights and a good number of lesser ones that are fun and interesting. Drive to Jerez and drop the car there. I'd take 1N from Cordoba and 2N from Sevilla for Ronda. I'd pull a 4th night from Jerez, stopping for 1/2 day (or more) in Arcos on the way. Visiting the hill towns means a lot of driving every day, but the roads are good, the scenery is beautiful and the villages are charming.

Sevilla vs. Cordoba. Sevilla has more sights and a lively vibe, especially in the evenings. Cordoba has a lot of small museums that are interesting. It's quiet and romantic in the evenings. The medieval center, the Juderia, is much better preserved. It's also smaller, you can easily walk everywhere. Take a day trip out to M'dinat al-Zahara.

tisntom,
I agree with acraven that you should not delete some days from Barcelona. Barcelona is a large city with many, many major sites that are very popular. Apparently, tourism has increased greatly since I was there in 2010. When I was in Barcelona, we did not purchase any tickets in advance. I have been reading on this forum and another forum that the Gaudi sites are so popular that you must purchase tickets in advance, or else wait in very long lines. And even with purchasing tickets in advance, depending on what's available, you may not be able to see as much as you want to see in one day. I would be very frustrated if i was running around Barcelona trying to see everything in a short amount of time, and that would not be relaxing or enjoyable.

I was thinking you could delete a day from Cordoba, a day from Seville, and a day from Cadiz to add to a nice roadtrip along the Costa Brava.

Since you don't want to move around too much, the poster who suggested spending 4 nights in Granada and doing a day trip to Malaga has a good suggestion. The ALSA bus take 1.5 hours from Granada to Malaga, so that would be 3 hours roundtrip. We took a 9;00AM bus to Malaga and arrived by 10;30AM. I think there are lots of buses back and forth from Malaga and Granada, so hopefully you could take a bus in the early evening from Malaga back to Granada. That would give you a whole day of sightseeing.

Hello to All Great Advisers!

Have taken everyone's advice and am still working on details. I started with 6 moves in 28 days and am now up to 8 moves! Grrrr for all the great advice, LOL. And y'all are right, I didn't leave enough time for poor little ole Catalonia! Tentatively I have:

Girona 4 nights (good base for Costa Brava and might split that up to stay in Cadaques as well)
Barcelona 5 nights
Valencia 2-3 nights
Cordoba 3 nights
Granada 3
Ronda 3
Arcos de la Frontera 3 (will def go to Jerez 1 day for horses)
Sevilla 4

I decided to get rid of Cadiz and Malaga as too many people, and the www, don't think it's so hot. We can always take a bus into Malaga for a day should we want and can always do a day trip to Cadiz as well. At the end of our stay in Granada we will get a car and turn it in when we arrive in Sevilla.

I am using the white villages in order to be able to do some day trips (Carmenita del Rey hike) to see more white villages.

Any thoughts on this new schedule?

Thanks, tissa

I think you may have allocated too much to the white villages, but they are very nice. If you run out of stuff to do, look at Grazelema, it is within a national park and there are lots of hikes in that area. If you wanted to take a day from Arcos or Ronda, you could add one to Sevilla. I love Girona and I'm glad to see that you are spending time there. I can't recall if anyone mentioned Besalu which is also a great day trip from Girona. It's gorgeous.

Hi Jules,

Glad you like it that we are taking in more of Catalunya. I listened to everyones advice! Yes, I think Acraven mentioned Besalu and we are def going there.

I understand what you are saying about the white villages having too much time but I just don't think that will be the case. I don't think we will never run out of things to do. LOL.

As you can see, one day will be devoted to hiking the Carmenita del Rey, from our stay in Ronda, and one day will be spent in Jerez on the Arcos end.

And yes, we will def look at Grazelema (someone mentioned it earlier, might have been you) and are currently checking out hikes as well which we love to do!

Thanks again Jules! Really appreciate all the help. :- )

Agree with the suggestions to spend more time in Catalunya.

I spent 2 nights in Granada but wish I'd had an extra one or two nights there--the tapas culture there is truly extraordinary (definitely check out Anthony Bourdain's Granada episode if you haven't already!), the Alhambra is amazing, flamenco is wonderful, etc. It has a mystical quality to it that I wish I'd spent more time with.

I personally wouldn't spend 5 nights in Cordoba--it's not that big of a town, and you can cover the Mezquita (which I wasn't a huge fan of, it creeped me out) in half a day. You might want to look into whether or not you'll be there for the flower festival, in which case it might be worth spending an extra day there. But 5 nights seems like a long time to me.

Just my two cents!

Just caught the time of year you are going. Don't know where you live and how used to heat you are, but southern Spain is starting to get hot that time of year. Would anyone suggest they start in Andalusia and end in Catalunya? I know there was also discussion of certain festivals, so perhaps the itinerary was designed with those in mind. Regardless, I think this is a fabulous trip you've planned. I'm quite jealous, actually!

Hello thechenster1,

I love AB so will def check out that episode before we go! Great to hear about the tapas there. Am going to do a food tour once I find one. We LOVE good food. Any restaurant suggestions for Granada?

Regarding Cordoba: I had originally had 5 nights but if you look lower in the postings, and due to everyone's advice, I changed it to 3 nights.

Am muddling through the confusing Alhambra tickets but think I now understand, thanks to the www and the internet! Makes traveling a WHOLE lot easier.

tissa

Hello Jules,

We live in Mobile, AL so we really know heat AND humidity. Nobody does heat and humidity like the deep south! I checked average temps in Andalucia in May before doing all of this and 81 degrees, mas o menos, is a walk in the park. I'll need a sweater LOL. Brrr, I get shivers just thinking about MN right now!

Someone did in fact suggest starting in the south first but that's not possible. We fly into Barcelona and out of Lisbon. I'm realizing I need to post better details next time.......

Thanks for the vote of confidence on my trip plan! If my husband leaves me, do you want to join me? :- )

tissa

Just so you know, Arcos is very steep. Most visitors park in the big lot at the base of the town and walk or take the minishuttle up. If your hotel doesn't have parking, it may be somewhat inconvenient for day-tripping.

Thank you for heads up on that Chani. I will have to keep that in mind while working on lodging.

How about not visiting Arcos by car, maybe staying 1-2 night in another pueblo blanco like Ubrique and then stay in Jerez for 2-3 nights. Drop the car when you get to Jerez. Day trip by bus to Arcos and to Cadiz by train - it is worth a day trip. Then train to Sevilla.