Sister trip to southern Spain, need itinerary help please

For Andalusia, the three main cities are Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla. They are wonderful, exciting and historic cities. My favorite cities were Sevilla and Cordoba. My favorite sites were the Alhambra and Mesquita. With your number of days, I'd do Granada 2 nights, Sevilla 3 nights, Cordoba 2 nights, in that order, you'd be dropping a night in Madrid. Still, that makes you quite short in Sevilla, and IMO, a bit short in Cordoba and Granada. Some will say to do Cordoba as a day trip from Sevilla. I wouldn't. Basically, you can stop in Cordoba on your way to Madrid from Sevilla. Plus, Cordoba has enough sites to merit more than a day trip, and it is quite nice to be there when day trippers aren't.

There are many, many and many posts on this forum of itinerary planning for Andalusia.

Don't miss Seville, it is special. I would do more days there than Granada and Cordoba.

Do Granada, then Seville, then Cordoba and on the Madrid. Also, don't miss Toledo, just south of Madrid.

Toledo is the old Spanish capitol and almost everything there is at least 400 years old. It is well preserved and the city can be done in a day.

I agree that Toledo is amazing and more than worth a visit. However, please don't cram it into your short itinerary unless you add days or eliminate Mallorca.

I have a long list of places fo go and things to see in Mallorca when I finally get there. I can't imagine going through the hassles of getting there and then flying back to the mainland for one full day and some possibly-jetlagged/sleep-deprived hours on your arrival day. You really need that time in Andalucia and Madrid--though you may encounter some very hot weather in those areas.

Could you clue us in on the Mallorca thing? Why one day?

Thank you all for the great info and ideas. They are greatly appreciated.

Mallorca is not my call but I think you are possibly correct. Are you suggesting skipping it all together or adding days?

Re: Mallorca being one day
Right now the plan was to be there 2 1/2 days, maybe 3 1/2.

Mallorca is high on my list, but I'll be spending at least ten days there when I finally make it. Your first day will likely be a jetlagged blur--I would not count that as a full day, nor the morning before you fly out. I'd split the trip between Mallorca and Madrid, easy peasy--highly appealing!
If you want to trade that for Andalucia, then just split the time among Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada by your interests.

Are you flying both in and out of Madrid from the US? And then from Madrid to Mallorca immediately after your arrival?

According to your twelve day plan above, it looks like your day one and day twelve are your international travel days. So that leaves you with ten nights in Spain and you are trying to fit in Mallorca, Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla and Madrid. It is always difficult to narrow down the scope of a trip. These are all great and desirable destinations but in my opinion that itinerary is too fast paced and why go to a place if you have no real time there to explore and experience it? Spain is a very big country and you are trying to cover large distances. I am assuming this may be your first trip to Spain. If Mallorca is non negotiable, then maybe concentrate this visit in that part of the country. Fly in and out of Barcelona and possibly consider Barcelona, Mallorca and Valencia as your bases. If you can drop Mallorca, then fly in and out of Madrid or possibly Malaga and visit Granada, Sevilla and Córdoba. If this is indeed your first visit to Spain then I suggest you take this Andalucian option. All beautiful, historic cities with lots to see and do, and the Alhambra in Granada is spectacular. I think you want at. least two or three full days in each city. Remember that the distances you travel by rail are great and will eat up a considerable part of your travel days. Use the AVE high speed trains when possible.

What time of year is this trip? The south is really dreadfully hot in the summer, and Madrid can also be miserable then. The risk in Barcelona is usually not extreme heat but rather a combination of rather high temperatures and humidity. The humidity varies, so you can be lucky, or not.