Recommendation for places

With only 1 week, you have a lot of destinations. I would seriously consider limiting my time to a couple of places at most. Do you arrive on the 22nd and depart on the 29th? Will you be going through immigration? That could add a bit of time but I haven't spent more than 20 minutes going through it in Madrid. I would expect to be able to arrive at Atocha in about 2 hours with public transportation, maybe less. You can take a taxi, bus or train. At that time of day, a taxi would probably be quickest. If budget allows, I'd taxi it. One option is:

April 22. Arrive Madrid, get to accommodation
April 23. Morning train to Seville, stop over in Córdoba on the way for a few hours
April 24. Sevillle
April 25. Seville or Day trip to Cadiz (coastal town) via bus
April 26. Morning train to Madrid
April 27. Madrid
April 28. Madrid
April 29. Fly home

Do you need an apartment or will a hotel work? How many people are traveling? Try VRBO.com and booking.com.

There's both train service and bus service from the airport to Atocha. What I normally do is carry with me information about both options (from my guidebook), then check to see what is timed best as I am ready to leave the airport. This summer I ended up taking the bus, which dropped me off in or near Atocha.

The Spanish dinner hour starts at about 10 PM, so the streets are full of people till well after midnight. The denizens of Madrid are serious night owls. I spent several nights in a hotel near the Reina Sofia and felt totally comfortable. I don't think you need be concerned about safety in that area, but I will admit that the end of Calle de Atocha near the station has its share of down-market restaurants and doesn't feel upscale at all.

I found it a bit difficulty to get oriented as I left the station and determine the precise direction I needed to walk--and I arrived in full daylight. I strongly encourage you to have an electronic map on your smartphone or tablet so you can figure out how to walk to your hotel.

I believe Madrid-Toledo-Seville-Ronda-Granada is way too many destinations for a 7-day trip. Madrid-Toledo-Seville would be more practical, though still rushed by my standards. Or you could do Madrid-Cordoba-Seville.

Barcelona shouldn't be terribly cold in late April, but other parts of northern Spain could be both cool and wet. You can take a look at historical weather for Bilbao and San Sebastian (or other cities in Spain) on wunderground.com. I love Barcelona, but I, personally, wouldn't consider going to any other northern Spanish city on a first trip that was only seven days. Other destinations are more distinctive. Madrid + Barcelona would be fine, but in April I like the idea of heading south to Seville. Do check for special events, though, to be sure you aren't going to run into an overheated hotel market.

I think the rail fare from Madrid to Toledo is always the same, so that's one thing you don't have to worry about until you get to Spain. At the moment I only see long-distance tickets being sold for trips through February 28. I'm not sure exactly when the late-April tickets should be expected to go on sale. I'd monitor the Renfe website daily to keep tabs on the situation since, as you know, you can save a lot of money by jumping on those tickets right away. And I see that there's one train from Madrid to Seville on Feb. 28 that's already sold out.

Hi thanks

Actually, I'm travelling with my wife. Would prefer an apartment. Also, wish to spend more days at southern spain than Madrid. Probably 1-2 nights max at Madrid. Atocha is the only station where I can get the train to Sevilla? Yes, we will have to pass through immigration. and how much would the travelling time from airport to Atocha (especially at night traffic would be lesser?)
Our flight is at 10 PM local time on 29th , so might be ok to travel from sevilla on that day?

Also, instead of Sevilla, is it ok to travel to barcelona/nearby places? Any recommendation on which one would be better weather wise?
Regards
Nitin

Thanks it seems I didn't see your post while posting again.

any recommendation of grocery chains that we can go in the evenings at refill with milk, juices, snacks etc to be kept at our apartments. I'm sure there will be a lot but anything particular?

I believe all the AVE trains from Madrid depart from Puerta de Atocha Station. Which, incidentally is rather large and confusing. Allow plenty of time to find your platform and have your baggage scanned.

The ticket-buying lines can be very long, which--come to think of it--would be one reason to buy tickets before heading to Spain. Sometimes they stop handing out numbers to customers before the ticket office actually closes. There are ticket-vending machines, but you never really know whether your personal credit card will work, so you might need to be well-supplied with small bills so you could pay cash. There's often a uniformed Renfe staffer floating around trying to help people figure where to go, which machine to use, etc.

The April weather should be quite a bit better in southern Spain than in Madrid and Barcelona, but there is AVE service between Madrid and Barcelona, so you can certain pair those two cities for an interesting trip.

I found the following list of Spanish grocery chains online, but the two I remember seeing most often were Dia and Carrefour (including Carrefour Express):

Aldi
Auchan
Carrefour
Caprabo
Consum
Dia
E Leclerc
Froiz

In extensive travels around Spain this summer, I didn't have any problem bumping into small supermarkets and more specialized food shops multiple times per day. I didn't necessarily find one at the precise moment I started looking, however.

1. No one knows how long you'll wait in line at immigration. If you are concerned about safety, you could take a taxi from Atocha. The problem with an apartment is that it may be difficult to arrange to enter late at night. Will you have a phone with you so you can contact the owner/agent?

2. Ronda is in the middle of scenice hills. Granada is near mountains. Neither is near a beach, and in April the water will be very cold.

3. Trains usually go on sale 2 months in advance, but Renfe is erratic. Some trains may only show up a week or so ahead, others may come online 3 months or more beforehand.

You have time on the 29th to spend in Sevilla or Cordoba before heading for Madrid. You could also plan to be in Madrid early in the day, store your bags at Atocha in a locker, and enjoy the city, or a day in Toledo.

Hi
Thanks for your replies.
Sevilla is showing three stations at renfe website. Which one is centrally locate?. I will search for accommodation and any daily trip from Sevilla using that station.

Santa Justa (pron Hoosta) is the main train station in Seville.

To cram the most in to one week ...
April 22. Arrive Madrid. AVE Train to Cordoba - 1 night
April 23. Morning visit to Mezquita. Afternoon train to Seville - 2 nights
April 24. Sevillle sights - Cathedral, Alcazar
April 25. Bus/train to Granada - 2 nights
April 26. Visit Alhambra
April 27. Bus/train to Madrid - 2 nights
April 28. Madrid sights - Royal Palace, Prado
April 29. Fly home

hi can any suggest nearby areas (walking distance) where I can search on the sites for apartments

1) Madrid:- Areas near to puerta de sol.
2) Sevilla:- Near Santa justa station

Thanks

In Madrid look around Anton Martin metro - walking one way to Atocha and the other to Pta del Sol.
In Seville you want to be as close as possible to the cathedral, and NOT to Santa Justa station, it's a dead area.

I am considering an itinerary similar to the one David has posted for a week in March. On arriving in Madrid, is there any reason to schedule Sevilla, Córdoba, and Granada in any particular order? I was thinking to get the AVE train to Granada first, stay there 2 nights, then Sevilla 2 nights, then Córdoba 1 night, then back to Madrid. Is the Granada train line construction situation a significant factor to take into account when scheduling? Thanks so much to any and all for advice.