Post booking remorse

You only have 9 days and you can't see everything, so you must plan to return. If you've already bought train tickets from Madrid to Barcelona, they may not be refundable. If I were going to trim something, it would probably be Sitges, but then you'd be left with all big cities. Train from Madrid to Seville takes 2.5 hours and Seville to Barcelona 5.5 hours (a couple of departures are direct but most have connection in Madrid).

1. Cut Madrid to a lunch stop.

2. Chunk the train tickets then drop Stiges.

3. Wait until next time.

Haha, obviously choice 3 as it stands, unless a travel contortionist has a better idea!

Return again to see Sevillai, and even more of beautiful Spain and its hidden gems....that is what I have done for five or six years and plan for that many more....and there will still be new areas and new people to see!!!

Don't beat yourself up too much.... if you had thought about Sevilla earlier, then you'd want to add Cordoba and Granada! Just think of southern Spain as an entirely different trip. The one you have planned now sounds great!!

We were in Spain for 2 1/2 weeks this past November and only had 2 nights in Barcelona. Savor that 3rd night! :-)

Seville and the rest of Andalusia will still be there, waiting for your next trip to Spain.

Thanks all, I do hope to get back and am really looking forward to the trip as planned. Don't want to sound gloomy; after all, how lucky can one be if one is planning a trip like this at all?!!

That part of Spain is best left to its own trip. As noted, you'll also want to add at least Granada and Cordoba.

While in Stiges, if you want a nice daytrip, consider Tarragona. Very close by on the train line and filled with Roman ruins: it was the oldest Roman city in Iberia.

I don't think there's been a trip I've planned in the last 20 years that I haven't had to leave off places that sounded really great, and hardly anywhere I've been that I got to see everything I wanted to. Don't think about whether somewhere else might have been a better choice, just do what you can and enjoy it all.

If you are going this summer it is too hot in Seville anyway. No cause for remorse. You will love Spain and want to go back. Plan to go in April or early May next time and enjoy Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and white towns.

Just to agree with what everyone else has said. If you only have 9 nights, you are doing the right thing by NOT trying to include Seville with your other places; you'll be busy enough as it is.

Thanks all! No remorse, busy planning must sees, love the day trip from Sitges suggestion and will do.

I'm joining this conversation a bit late, but will echo the suggestion not to worry about Seville. You can easily fill up three days each in Madrid and Sitges/Barcelona. However, if you really want to see it, you do have one option to see Seville. On my first trip to Spain many years ago my wife was in Madrid on business and we took the AVE for a very long day trip from Madrid to Seville. It was a fun trip, but we'd already had plenty of time in Madrid and had already taken several shorter day trips (e.g. Segovia, Toledo, El Escorial). In your case there will be enough to see without trying to add one more city, but it is possible.

Have fun!

I absolutely LOVED Madrid! much better than Seville, so don't worry, your trip sounds great!

you are already giving short shrift to the places you are stopping; save Sevilla for another trip. Three nights is two full days -- really short for Madrid and Barcelona if you want to really see the art heritage of Madrid and the architectural heritage of Barcelona. Less is more. Plan to come back and spend time in Andalucia and see Cordoba, Sevilla, Ronda etc.