Hello,
We are traveling to Norther Spain in late September 2026 and we need some advice/opinion of some of our itinerary.
We are flying into Madrid and we have 2 weeks, 21st- 6th. We originally were looking at Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada and
maybe add Ronda or Malaga. We won't drive in Madrid, but may rent a car once we head out of Madrid. We have experience driving in other countries and speak Spanish. Having said all of that, we were looking at the town of Zaragoza and it looks like a place we would really like to go see. It seems as though if we add Zaragoza, that it's just going to be too hectic.
My question is of the smaller cities we were looking at, are any worth skipping if we decide to add Zaragoza?
Is Zaragoza not worth going to in place of the other cities? We want to cut down on changing hotels every other day, so also wondering if some of the other cities can be day trips from one spot, so we can still see the towns, but don't have to change hotels so often. Since we will have car will it be easier to move around and not make it such a hectic trip.
Unfortunately, since we have already bought tickets, we can't add more days.
Thank you for your help!! :)
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
8255 posts
None of the places you mentioned except Zaragoza are in northern Spain. It’s the outlier, so if you intend to visit the other places then skip Zaragoza. As you are probably aware, you could probably get by without a car with the places on your list. Zaragoza is worth a 2-3 nights stay.
Assuming this is your first trip to Spain your city selection is pretty typical. If it isn’t your first trip, then there are many smaller towns and villages very much worth visiting in the Zaragoza area. Most seldom see a large influx of foreign tourists and a rental car is essential for optimizing your time in that area.
Posted by
OP
CA
24 posts
Yes, I accidentally put N. Spain, I did mean Southern Spain. It is our first visit and Zaragoza looks amazing, so
trying to see if it's worth trying to squeeze it in and maybe skip a different Southern city.
Posted by
Washington DC
29956 posts
I liked Zaragoza a lot but would not cut any of Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Seville or Granada in order to squeeze it into a 2-week trip. I'd be willing to choose it over Ronda or Malaga, but I'm a great believer in geographically-logical itineraries, and Zaragoza doesn't fit particularly well here. It would be a nice inclusion in a trip to the Basque Country and/or Barcelona, and it has a local-train link to the interesting provincial capital of Teruel.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15926 posts
The only part of your itinerary that would benefit from a rental car is if you want to spend 2-3 days exploring the white hill towns. I've done it twice, using Ronda as a base for 3N. Pick up the car when you leave Sevilla/Cordoba and drop it when you get to Granada. Every other place but Zaragoza is faster by train. Driving in Sevilla, Cordoba and Granada isn't easy and parking is either hard to find or very expensive or both. Trains are very fast. Then use taxis from train stations to hotels and back. The only reasonable day trip would be Cordoba from Sevilla, but Cordoba is lovely and well worth a 2N stay at a minimum.