Hi all,
Looking for advice on this itinerary for late March (semana santa):
Day 1 (March 23): Arrive in Lisbon, Portugal at 3 p.m. (15-hour flight)
Day 2: Lisbon
Day 3: Lisbon to Malaga (via mid-day stopover flight)
Day 4: Malaga
Day 5: Malaga to Cordoba (via rental car)
Day 6: Cordoba to Seville (via rental car)
Day 7: Seville
Day 8: Seville
Day 9 (March 31): Depart from Seville via return flight around 3 p.m.
Should we add in Granada somewhere? Spend less/no time in Malaga/Lisbon? I hear Malaga is particularly neat during semana santa but have also heard great things about Granada. My only concern there is that Granada may be too cold. We are coming from the Midwest US so are used to cold but would like to have at least some reprieve from it during our vacation. We would prefer not to have to wear winter coats during the daytime.
I am booking flights with miles so have flexibility with regards to our original destination and stopovers. However, if we flew into Malaga or Seville on our original flight we would have to connect in Lisbon regardless, making the original flight longer and pushing our arrival into the late evening. This is the main reason why Lisbon is our first destination. However, we are certainly willing to make changes.
We are getting a rental car in Andalusia so that we can be flexible and don't have to rely on train/bus schedules. Luckily, most of the Andalusia destinations are within a 1-2 hour drive so travel time between those cities is less significant.
Neither of us have been to Spain or Portugal. We're both pretty active and enjoy good food, lively cultures, and exploring attractive cities. Open to any advice. Thank you in advance!