Post Rick Steves Spain tour ideas

If your flight back to the US departs from Madrid, you will need to be in Madrid the night before, so plan accordingly

If you haven't been to Barcelona previously, you certainly need extra time there; I hope you're planning to arrive more than one day before the tour begins. If that isn't possible, I'd seriously consider heading there from Seville at the end of the tour. The train takes 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 hours. You could spend the time in Barcelona with a side-trip to Girona. One day in Zaragoza as you head back toward Madrid would be another possibility. It's right on the AVE line between Barcelona and Madrid. Note that March is likely to be warmer in Barcelona than in Madrid.

Post-tour you have several options between Seville and Madrid, all gems and none getting enough time on the tour:

• Cordoba (a major omission from the tour itinerary unless I overlooked it)
• More time in Seville, mainly for the city itself, but Carmona makes a nice side-trip
• More time in Toledo.
• Although I liked both Ubeda and Baeza in northern Andalucia, I am doubtful about the March weather in that area.

South of Seville you have:

• Cadiz
• Malaga

Either of those could be combined with Cordoba due to its location more or less on the way back to Madrid, though some of the trains from Malaga don't stop in Cordoba.

Possible side-trips from Madrid:

• Alcala de Henares (quite close and with frequent rail service)
• Cuenca (requires fast AVE train to be viable as a day-trip; buy ticket early to avoid paying too much). Especially if you like art, Cuenca is worth an overnight stay. In addition to its very atmospheric hilltop medieval district it has a couple of modern-art museums.
  

If you're willing to over-shoot Madrid and then return, you could go to Zaragoza. It's less than 1-1/2 hours beyond Madrid.

When I did this tour in 2010 I regret not stopping in Cordoba, so I'd suggest maybe an overnight there. Easy high speed train connection from Sevilla and then on to Madrid. I spent an extra day in Madrid before going home because I wanted to see more art and the tour didn't have enough time for what I wanted to see (Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofía). Also if you haven't considered adding days to the front of your trip, I also suggest more time in Barcelona before the tour starts.

As was mentioned above you'll need to be in Madrid the night before your flight home. I stayed in city center and took a very early taxi to airport, in hindsight I might have chosen a hotel closer to the airport for an easier morning (but that's just me).

I suggest you look into Extremadura, and step back in time, in that region which is not covered on your tour. Cáceres, Mérida, Badajoz, Trujillo, Guadalupe and more are all lovely destinations. Carlos, a frequent and very knowledgeable forum contributor, wrote great suggestions and descriptions for Extremadura destinations here in this forum reply recs for Extremadura . (I hope I attached that correctly.) Scroll down to find the reply from Carlos. I have been there three times and would gladly go back to revisit and explore further. Cáceres amazed me. Trujillo and Guadalupe do not have train service so look into bus or alternate transportation but both are must sees in that area. I thought Trujillo was especially impressive and almost eerie, at night. The Mérida ruins are impressive but I would do that as a daytrip and not stay overnight there.

Believe acraven and Pat covered all the places I was going to mention.

Thanks to acraven and Pat and CL for the suggestions!! I was in Barcelona years ago but going early to show my friend some sights not on the Rick Steves tour. I will research further but think I have some great suggestions for spending time in Spain after the tour.