Request for comments on July itinerary (17 full days)

My suggestion would be as follows...
July
2,3,4,5 Madrid
6 Toledo
7 Cordoba
8,9,10 Sevilla
11,12 Granada
13,14,15,16 Barcelona
17,18 Mallorca or Sitges

Reallocate one of your nights in Toledo to Cordoba. Toledo is only 30mins from Madrid by high speed train.
Cordoba is an easy stop on the AVE high speed route from Madrid to Sevilla.
I would suggest flying Granada to Barcelona - book ahead early on Vueling and its probably cheaper than train.
Mallorca for 2 days at the end is a big effort for not much relaxation. I suggest Sitges, just 30mins from Barcelona by train, as an easier alternative.
July will be hot but I think it adds to the experience because so much of Spanish culture derives from the climate.
Evenings in Madrid are pleasantly cool though with its central position and high altitude.
The amount of time you have for excursions from Madrid really depends on your love of art and how long you plan to spend in the Prado, Reina Sofia and Thyssen.
If you dropped Mallorca you could perhaps spend a night in Ronda (between Sevilla and Granada) and an extra night in Madrid, or Barcelona.

Buen viaje !!

Hi djp_syd,

Thank you so much for your quick response and your very helpful tips! I think your revisions look great, and we'll plan to swap out a Toledo night with Cordoba as you suggested. (I especially appreciate the Granada to Barcelona tip -- we will be much less exhausted taking a 2 hour flight vs a 10 hour train ride, although it might be a bit of wash money-wise since we'll then have an extra night accommodation).

I had debated about Ronda but thought it might be too many day-trips/1-night stays and wanted to limit how much we unpacked/packed, but I'll do a bit more research to see if we can trim some time elsewhere to add that in.

Unfortunately, the Mallorca beach may be easier for our travels back since a flight home from Barcelona takes about 8 hours more with an extra layover (hard to believe!). As lovely as the Stiges area sounds, it might be easier for us to have a bit more hassle up-front, and then an easier transition back home. But I will do a bit more research into this just in case.

Are there any (moderately easy) hiking trails you would recommend? I've read that there could be some good hiking in the Sierra Nevada or perhaps in Catalonia?

Many thanks in advance!

I am befuddled by your comment that flying out of Barcelona will add so much time to your return trip. May I ask from where are you traveling?
Mallorca would need to hold some special meaning to me to spend time there in contrast to spending more time mainland.

Some thoughts:
you are traveling during a time when the temps are really going to start heating up. Please stay hydrated. Also, please accept there is a benefit to taking a siesta during the heat of the day. Most important, please adjust your schedule to stay out late and partake in the Spanish culture. Do not allow your chefule to be dictated by your tummy. Eat tapas early evening, do dinner after 10 p.m. And then stay out late w the locales. So much of experiencing Spain, especially during the summer, is accomplished by adjusting to their schedule!

If you have not purchased your airfare then I suggest flying directly to Granada, via Madrid, to commence tour trip. The connection is ez and reduces stress while being more time efficient. From Granada suggest you take the train to Seville, from Seville train to Madrid then take train to Barcelona. From Barcelona you can depart for home.
I would add the extra days to Barcelona and use for day trips. You mentioned hiking and Monsterrat fits the need pefectly.

Hi Marbleskies,

Thanks so much for your thoughts. We're flying from Montreal, and I just realized if I wanted to have 1 layover from Barcelona, I just needed to pay a little bit more money and attention (ahem, as in I need to skip to the next page or re-sort my expedia results a bit better). Seems well worth it to me! Thanks so much for the gentle nudge.

I like your itinerary plan to arrive in Granada and head to Madrid from there to cut out excess traveling. But I did some preliminary number crunching, and I think flying to Madrid as originally planned and taking a flight from Granada to Barcelona might still be quicker and cheaper, but I'll need to research this a bit more. However, I am completely on board with the idea of dropping Mallorca and using those extra days in Barcelona, instead. It probably was very basic and obvious to you, but it's a huge help to hear from experienced travelers/residents on how our time should be prioritized.

We're really mainly looking to vacation and enjoy ourselves. A nap in the afternoon sounds perfect for that. (believe me, my husband needs no convincing on that!) :)

Thanks again for your help. Sorry for the newbie-ness!

Been there still continuing to do that (re: looking on the next internet page). ;)

Toss money out for the moment (ez for me to say).
Fly to Granada via Madrid and use same mode of transport (plane) on same day to reduce travel stress and increase time efficiency.
Get off plane in Granada, great small friendly airport, and step back in time when you enter Granada old town............
Rest of trip is now via trains (arrive at station 30/45 minutes prior to train, ez check through of security, no worries about weather delays, no worries about luggage limits, bags stay with you, second class AVE train travel is equal to USA airline business class, purchase tickets via RENFE early and save money (but you must be committed to the day and time of the train), train stations are in closer proximity to old town tourist areas..........................) Train stations are far superior to airports; check out http://www.gomadrid.com/transport/atocha.html
to get an idea about the Madrid Atocha train station offerings. the more you are on trains the more countryside you see.

Less stress = a bit more money???????

recommend your train travel be late afternoon/early evening to provide best use of your day and also discipline you to eat later after you arrive and check in at your destination.

Please do not allow your Canadian eating schedule to dictate your dining schedule in Spain. Please immediately change to light tapas early evening, dinner after 10 p.m. and a stroll afterwards so you start living the full culture of Spain. eh!

Our must do experience for every time we are in Barcelona is the Palau Musica Catalana.
http://www.palaumusica.cat/en
Architecture, Music, History and the place is air conditioned! Go beyond taking the tour and strive to attend a concert (don't get finicky about the music, just go and take another step into the culture by participating in the event). We have bought expensive and cheap tickets, but we do buy in advance; sound is great everywhere you sit. I always wear long pants and nice shirt; my wife wears a nice dress and we have noticed a difference in how we are received by the ushers.

I'm glad you're thinking of cutting out Mallorca and adding those days to Barcelona. Having been to both places, I believe you're making the right decision (plus your original itinerary really shortchanged Barcelona). You can always hang out at Barceloneta beach in Barcelona for the day, plus the food in Barcelona is awesome (Tapas 24, Cafe de L'Academia, Tickets). Barraca by the beach is a nice spot as well. San Sebastian also fits in with what you want, but save that for next trip! Doesn't fit in well with this one.

Hi Marbleskies,

OK --you sold me! I finally had a chance to work it all out with my hubby, and we're flying into Granada as you suggested and will make our way up north through the remainder of the trip. With your advice I was leaning away from a mid-Spain flight, and also leaning away from an overnight train and since all options came out very close $$-wise (within about $50-$100) we just decided to go with what 'felt' best. Booked flight tickets last night!

I had received other advice (or perhaps read it somewhere else on a travel forum? can't remember) about taking early train rides so that we can get 'situated' at our next destination as soon as possible each time we relocate, but I think we'll just try to get print-outs of schedules/print out train schedules and will just go with the flow on how we're feeling each day. Will likely book some fast-trains though, as I think those are more variable in prices..? As you can probably tell I tend to over-analyze/over-plan things, so this is something I will have to actively fight while we're on the trip!

Thanks so much for the Barcelona tip --we still have a bunch more planning to do (now comes the fun part with outlining all the potential options for each city!) but any and all tips are of course very much appreciated.

Hi Courtney,

Thanks so much for the feedback and tips on Barcelona restos and the Barcelona beach. I need to look into beaches since I really am itching for some quality laying-out on a beach now that winter is in full force in Canada. We initially wanted to explore San Sebastian as well (I really wanted to do some Picos hiking) but reading through this and other travel forums we realized it was not going to be a quality exploration and would have probably been too exhausting and superficial of a trip to be worth it.

If people don't mind, I would like to reply to this board again as we start to further flesh out our plans.

Hi, wallflowr22, just to point out that any meaningful serious hiking would require to "get more into the wilderness" if you catch my drift, which can't possibly be achieved in a one (or even two) day escapade. In Catalonia indeed we have great places to hike, not only in the Catalan Pyrenees but also in the Serra del Montseny or in Els Ports de Beceit for example both Natural Parks; but you can't possibly do an escapade of one day. Maybe Montseny, which isn't that far from Barcelona, but still. Just in case you're interested in the later: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPm8mbgbvQg and text info here: http://www.turisme-montseny.com/en/