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Seville and Madrid 8 Day Itinerary - please review and comment

Posted by on

Hey all I have a trip planned first week of May. Can you please review my itinerary? Trying to balance seeing the highlights and not overloading ourselves. Does this generally seem like a good pace? Definitely open to suggestions and restaurant/tapas recommendations.

Day 1 (Sevilla)

  • Arrive Madrid at 9am, renfe ticket 11:53am (booked a flexible ticket in case of delays), arrive Seville 2:45pm.
  • Check into hotel (Hotel Dona Maria), small lunch, walk around Barrio Santa Cruz.
  • Tapas Tour (Booked) - 7:30pm, 3.5 hours tour. This will be our dinner

Day 2 (Seville)

  • Royal Alcazar 9:30am (booked)
  • lunch (unsure where)
  • Cathedral de Seville & Giralda / Church of El Salvado (planning to book at 2:30pm when tickets get released).
  • Siesta/Relax
  • Flamenco Show (Booked) for 7:30pm at Casa de la Memoria. Dinner after, maybe at Petra?

Day 3 (Cordoba day trip)

  • Trains booked, arrive in Cordoba 10:20am, depart at 6:32pm
  • Mezquita at 11:30 am (need to book still)
  • Lunch (unsure where)
  • Walk around to see: Calleja de las Flores, Jewish Quarter, Roman Bridge, Calahorra
  • Rest of time exploring Feria de los Patios (flower patio festival)
  • Back to Sevilla, rest and get ready for dinner.
  • Unsure where for dinner?

Day 4 (Sevilla)

  • Still figuring this day out
  • Potentially visit one or two of these places (Hospital De Los Venerables, Palacio De Las Dueñas, Casa De Pilatos).
  • Triana Market (for lunch) / explore Triana
  • Torre del Oro
  • Plaza de Espana (possibly do row boats?)
  • End night at La Carboneria for free flamenco? (more of a local experience)

Day 5 (Madrid)

  • IRYO ticket (booked) from Seville 10:20am, arrive in Madrid 1:02pm
  • Check into Hotel (Pestana Plaza Mayor) or drop bags if too early to check in
  • Lunch at Anciano Rey de los Vinos
  • Royal Palace (planning to book for 3:30pm)
  • Catedral de la Almudena after
  • Parque Templo Debod - maybe for sunset?
  • Siesta/relax then dinner in La Latina / Calle de la Cava Baja area
  • Possibly Café Central (jazz club) after?

Day 6 (Toledo day trip)

  • Depart Madrid either 9:15am or 10:15am, return train either 5:11pm or 6:38pm (still deciding on exact times, need to book still)
  • Still working out itinerary but general thoughts include visiting some or all (Puente de Alcántara (bridge), Cathedral Primada, Termas Romanas, Cristo de la Luz, Alcázar de Toledo, Museo de Greco, Cuevas de Hércules, Museo De Santa Cruz, Santa Maria La Blanca Synagogue)
  • Walk around Jewish Quarter – maybe lunch around this area?
  • Mirador del Valle
  • Back to Madrid, relax then get ready for dinner
  • Evening out for dinner/drinks, find a place with live music? Unsure where to go this evening

Day 7 (Segovia day trip)

  • 10:14am train from Madrid, 6:27 train back (need to book still) - good amount of time? earlier train leaves at 3:57pm, seemed too early
  • Plan to see Aqueduct, Alcazar and climb Torre de Juan II, Cathedra, walk on La Muralla, walk through Puerta de San Andres
  • Lunch at Jose Maria (will make a reservation)
  • Return to Madrid, back to hotel to relax, get ready for dinner
  • Tapas at Mercado San Miguel vs sit down dinner

Day 8 (Madrid)

  • Leisurely walk around El Reitro Park in the morning
  • Prado around 11am? (will pre-book a ticket)
  • La Sanabresa for lunch (open 1-4:30, doesn’t take reservations)
  • Reina Sofia around 3pm? (will pre-book a ticket)
  • Back to hotel to rest / get ready for evening
  • Flamenco Show 7pm at Tablao Torres Bermejas? Could include dinner (not booked yet, still deciding what to do with our last night)

DAY 9 (Fly Home)

  • Flight at 10:50am so no time to do anything this morning
Posted by
7157 posts

Way too structured for my style of travel. I see very little down time to just relax and enjoy where you’re at. Hopefully you can stay awake for the tapas tour on your arrival day. That’s a long day after an overnight flight. In Segovia you’d have to be blind to not see the aqueduct since it’s in the center of town. You seem to have scheduled every main tourist destination in the places you plan to visit.

When you have a somewhat firm itinerary go through it and pick out your must see places and those you could live without seeing if need be. Once over there you may decide you don’t want to be on the go all the time. A problem with pre booking tickets is few are refundable and you are locked in even if you change your mind. Book those places you absolutely don’t want to miss and hold off on some lesser sites. Look for the free entrance hours at places you want to visit (e.g., Prado, Reina Sofía). You could save yourself some money. Finally, don’t underestimate the amount of time you’ll spend visiting a site and the time it will take getting from one site to the next.

Posted by
7803 posts

I agree with the previous comments.

Can you contact your Tapas Tour and see if you could move it to Day 4? Yes, it is nice to do a food tour early in the trip to know if there are restaurants where you want to return, but unless you’re coming from a local flight, you will be exhausted to fully experience the tapas tour.

On Day 8, I would go into the Prado when it opens. You will appreciate the break in between museums to stroll through the park and have lunch.

Check out the Mercado San Miguel on one of your earlier days. You might find you would rather just stop in for a quick snack here vs. dinner.

The Plaza de Espana had some flamenco dancers performing for tips when we were there again two months ago. And yes, rowing a boat around the ring of water is part of the fun!

Unless you a serious foodies, I wouldn’t book any lunches. Enjoy the chance for flexibility to walk along the streets and see what peaks your interest. I usually have a few restaurants in mind for each of these cities, but we just go with what is appealing in the moment. The food is wonderful.

Posted by
28082 posts

I don't plan like that either. My main thought, other than the late plans on a possibly-zombified arrival day, are that 4 hours isn't a great deal of time for the Prado, getting from the Prado to a restaurant, waiting for a table, eating lunch, and getting from the restaurant to the Reina Sofia

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