Order of itinerary??

Posted by Terry (St Louis) on 01/19/23 06:46 PM

My husband and I will arrive in Madrid March 8th and leave March 21. We want to visit Madrid, Cordoba, Granada and Seville, but not sure we have the most efficient order and time needed in each city. We are also not sure if there will be issues getting trains from city to city but will explore that while awaiting advice from this wonderful forum. Thanks.

Land in Madrid and take train to Seville (march 8-13)
Train to Cordoba (13 -15)
Train to Granada (15-17)
Train to Madrid (17-20)
Home (21rst)

Posted by Carlos

Barcelona + Sweden

01/19/23 06:54 PM

4180 posts

Looks fine to me, have a great trip!

Posted by ChristineH

Gettysburg PA

01/19/23 06:59 PM

7167 posts

Haven’t been yet but changed our itinerary due to better connections from Granada to Cordoba to Madrid as opposed to Granada to Madrid

We also ended up giving a Granada 4 nights

You’ll want to book your Alhambra tix as soon as you can

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

01/19/23 10:00 PM

28082 posts

Because of the way the trains run, you can position Cordoba between Madrid and Seville, between Seville and Granada or between Granada and Madrid. There are a lot more trains running between Madrid and Seville than into and out of Granada, so I'd look at the schedules for Granada to see which way things seems to work best for you. You have only one full day in Cordoba and one full day in Granada, so you may want to play with your train departure times to optimize your sightseeing time.

Some of those trains are subject to sellouts--probably not two months in advance, but you may save some money if you're in a position to buy tickets soon.

Posted by RafaFan

Texas

01/20/23 02:52 AM

375 posts

Also planning April trip to Spain and Portugal, please keep us up to date.

I had 3 nights for Barcelona,Madrid, 2 nights in Granada, Sevilla, and Tarfia (Morocco day trip) and 1 night in Toledo, Acros. Still in planning stages with Cordoba and Ronda.

Posted by Priscilla

California 🦋

01/20/23 06:03 AM

5294 posts

I’d suggest switching the order of travel, if possible.

As Christine has pointed out, there are more trains traveling from Córdoba (or Sevilla) to Madrid, than there are from Granada to Madrid.

On our last trip to Spain we took this route: Flew to Madrid >> train to Córdoba >> bus to Granada >> bus to Sevilla >> AVE train to Madrid (stayed in Toledo)

Given your time frame (13 nights), I’d suggest 3 nights in Córdoba, Granada, and Madrid, and 4 nights in Sevilla.

Do book you Alhambra tickets soon if you haven’t yet.

Wishing you a wonderful trip!

Posted by Terry OP

St Louis

01/20/23 09:43 PM

35 posts

Thanks to all of you for your advice. We have rearranged our trip with your help:

Land in Madrid and hop train to Cordoba. We added on another night there too. (March 8-10)
Train (or bus) to Granada where we added one more night (March 11-13). (Alhambra on the 12th - tickets bought)
Train to Seville (March 14-17)
Train to Madrid (March 18-20)
Leave March 21 in late afternoon

All hotels are booked. We just need to finish our transportation and then breathe a little easier. Thank you all for your help. The transportation part has been the hardest, I think. A little confusing, so if anyone has tips there, please share. We still have to finish them. Thanks.