Need help with Northern Spain, Mallorca, Alicante, Madrid itinerary

About Logroño and Pamplona. The 8th to the 12 are the fiestas of the patron of Logroño. The old town turns into a medieval village. I highly recommend it.
Between Logroño and Pamplona there is no train service but the bus connection is quite good. Instead of 2 and 2 nights I would do 3 or 4 in Logroño with a day trip to Pamplona. From Logroño you can easily get to Haro to visit the wineries or to Laguardia which is a great place for a visit.

I need a holiday just from reading your itinerary!

Sorry, way too many short stays with no down days in 6 weeks means an exhausting pace.

Two nights somewhere means one day plus whatever’s left of the day you move on, particularly where you are flying, which will take at least half a day.

Pick Tenerife or Gran Canaria.

Lisbon can be seen in 5 nights, so drop Coimbra and head straight to Porto, which is compact and can be seen in a day and a half.

Porto to Santiago de Compostela is about 6 hours door to door by 2 trains and a bus/walk in the middle. You then have 2 day trips planned in opposite directions which doesn’t leave much time for Santiago de Compostela itself.

The Picos deserve 2 days to explore. They will be cold at that time of year.

Drop Alicante. If you haven’t booked your flights to Mallorca, then I would consider dropping that, as it’s a lot of travel for 3 days there.

I think you need to prioritise what you want to see and cull at least a third of your destinations and accept that you want a pleasant holiday, not a tiring whirlwind that you cannot remember where you have been.

The Picos de Europa area is difficult without a car (or a private driver). In 2016 there was a once-a-week bus tour from Santander (I think on Wednesday). However, they didn't start running the tours until July, after your trip ends. There may also have been something similar from Oviedo. It might have been possible to go just to Potes (which is a charming stone town) by a regular bus, but I'm not sure that was running during your travel period, either.

I'd say Oviedo is more historic and Gijon is livelier. I suspect Oviedo may be more convenient for reaching the Picos de Europa by any form of transportation, but I haven't checked driving times.

You don't appear to be allowing for the time it takes to travel from point to point or change hotels. ViaMichelin.com will give you driving times. They don't include any stops, getting lost, searching for parking, or walking from your (possibly inconvenient) parking spot to the part of town you want to see.

I agree with the others above, this is definitely a "scattershot" itinerary that misses the marks. For me, there is inadequate time in Picos de Europa, Bilbao, Valencia, and I'm not seeing Toledo and the Pyrenees. Also, unless it's San Fermin, I would not use up two nights in Pamplona.

Since you have the luxury of time with your holiday, I would take a step back and really add some depth, consider two areas at a time:

Portugal + Northern Spain
Or
Eastern Spain + Castilla
Or
Balearic and Canary Islands + Valencia

Hope this adds some clarity :)

I think you are right to be concerned that there are too many two night stops.

Just for starters, I'd consider:

• four or five days isn't enough to see both Tenerife and Gran Canaria, so choose one. Even with eight or nine nights I wouldn't try to see the three different islands you mention, so perhaps focus on either one of the Canary Islands or one of the Balearic Islands; personally, I'd avoid Mallorca which is famously overrun with tubby, drunken German tourists;
• stay in Logrono and make Pamplona a day-trip. Or vice versa. Neither place is "sight-heavy", so better to see one as a trip from the other and then relax more in your chosen base;
• I like Alacant (Alicante) and it's got a magnificent castle and small, but attractive old quarter. But for us its just a 90 minute drive away. I wouldn't normally consider it a "must see" of Spain and would have suggested dropping it. But it looks like you'll be there during San Juan hogueras festivals which would be great to see. Perhaps check what is happening in 2019 on 23 June and days around and then pick either Valencia city or Alacant city but not both? Alacant's bonfires are a big thing, broadcast by the TV people like Cadiz' carnival was last week. So you can see previous year's events on YouTube to see if it appeals.

Edit - extra thought: there are trains between Valencia and Alacant. No AVE service, but the quite fast Euromed trains do the journey in 90 minutes, so it is feasible to see one as a day-trip from the other. Ignoring the bonfire festival mentioned above, I'd usually recommend staying in Valencia and making Alacant the day trip, since there is more to see in the former - and, I suspect, better flight connections from Mallorca (or as we Brits say "Majorca", where the water don't taste like what it oughta).

Wow, you are really trying to cover considerable territory here. You will spend hours on transport. I know you are relying on trains between your major stops but then you mention all of your planned daytrips which will be more difficult to do without a car. I, personally, would eleminate the Canary Islands and suggest you use those five days elsewhere. Can you just start in Lisbon? You need more time in Santiago de Compostela for sure if you intend to also do two daytrips. Also if you choose Oviedo or Gijon you will need to research how to get to your desired daytrip destinations. A private driver may be your best solution. And again you have little time to explore your destination city if you do all three daytrips. If you get a driver combine Covadonga and Cangas de Onis and maybe Picos de Europa into one daytrip, unless you are interested in hiking or kayaking or other outdoor cativities in the mountains. I would also hate to backtrack from that area to return overnight to Oviedo or Gijón, and then the next day travel again in the direction to Santander. I like to keep moving in one direction without backtracking. Maybe a driver could then drop you off in Santander. But it would not be cheap. Maybe make Cangas de Onis your last stop for the day, sleep there and head from there to Santander. If you are looking for beach time in the Canaries and Mallorca then maybe eliminate Alicante and allocate those days elsewhere. I notice that you have excluded Barcelona. Have you been there before? Reason? Could you consider visiting Alcala de Henares as a daytrip from Madrid? If you are committed to the Canary Islands could you eliminate Mallorca? Just seems like a fast pace to me. Only you can decide your preferred destinations but look closely at how you will get from one place to another and the pace and see if you can eliminate something to give yourselves a few extra days to work with.

If it was a choice between the Canary Islands or Mallorca I would opt for Mallorca, far more variety and sights of interest.

Hi, I am from Alicante and I recommend to visit the city and all the places around it. Maybe two days is not enough. If you come in summer it's a good place to be because you have mountains and you have see too.
It's a mix between mallorca, barcelona and valencia. Murcia is ver quite.

Let's see... as others have said there are too many sights here. Taking things in order:
1. Drop the Canary Islands. It is a lot of travel time. And if you want to see volcanic islands... I guess that from LA going to Hawaii is easier and cheaper? Never been, but the thought crossed my mind.
2. Drop Pamplona, there is not that much to see vs. other places
3. Drop Alcalá de Henares
4. Alicante is your call, but I would day trip from Valencia (adding a night in Valencia)

Now that you've "saved" 9 nights, you can add some breathing room to your itinerary. I would suggest something like that:
- 20-25 May Lisbon (daytrip Sintra)
- 25-27 May Porto (skip Coimbra)
- 27-31 May Santiago (skip La Coruña)
- 31 May-3 June Oviedo (might be hard to arrange Picos de Europa day trip. However Cudillero is close)
- 3-6 June Santillana del Mar (instead of Santander. Very close to Altamira caves and Comillas, and a beautiful village in itself)
- 6-9 June Bilbao
- 9-11 June San Sebastián
- 11-13 June Logroño (never been, but I hear good things)
- 13-15 June Zaragoza
- 15-20 June Mallorca (can split your stay between Palma and Soller)
- 20-23 June Valencia
- 23-28 June Madrid & Toledo (spend 1 night there instead of Alcalá)

I have a few days left over with this: did you skip Barcelona intentionally? If not you can add it. If so, you can sprinkle days here and there.
Transportation on the North coast is frustratingly slow, but combinations of trains and buses will get you there...eventually.

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions.