Spain and Morroco - Itinerary help

Casablanca is a modern city. Skip it unless you need it for purposes of transportation. I also don't think there's much reason to spend time in Tangier if you have the opportunity to deeper into Morocco, unless there's something like a museum that sounds especially appealing to you.

How much time do you have? Are you traveling alone? Are you male or female?

Thanks. We're traveling as a family with 2 teenagers. I agree about Tangier. Wondering if adding Morocco in 14-15 day trip is wise or just stick with Spain + Gibraltar.

Wondering if adding Morocco in 14-15 day trip is wise or just stick with Spain + Gibraltar.

Depends on how many days you really have, have you been to Spain before, etc.

Will the beach be cold in December? Yeah, probably - although I suppose it depends what you're used to. I would not expect heat and fun playing in the water - you're not going swimming in December.

How to get to Morocco from Spain? Fly - do NOT take a ferry. Flying is dirt cheap, if you plan ahead. Search the low-cost carriers. Then you can skip the manufactured-for-tourists (and tout-filled) ferry ports (including Tangier - better stuff further inland). Fly from Spain to to Marrakech or Fes. Then take the train from one to the other (long train, but comfortable and perfectly fine). Fly back to Spain from there. Skip Casblanca, nothing much to see there (one large, modern mosque). Spend a couple days each in Marrakech and Fes, both are worth it.

I can't help with Morocco too much other than to agree with the suggestions to fly.
Madrid will have the most choices of airlines and times, I think.

Beach - I would skip in December. Yes, you could see some scenery and walk around, but it will be too cold for actually laying on the beach or swimming. The beach towns will be quiet, which could be nice - in summer they are packed - but other places are more interesting.

Honestly, I would do Madrid (day trip to Toledo or Segovia?), Seville, Córdoba (day trip from Seville?), Granada, and Morocco. Barcelona is wonderful but it is a totally different feel.

In Barcelona you can take the subway to the beach. Probably pretty lonely in December.

14-15 days is really tight for Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, and Fes/Marrakech, and that's omitting the beach. Morocco is fabulous, you'll be comfortable traveling as a family (for a woman alone it's not unsafe, but...different), and it will be quite an experience. But you have so little time. You will be giving up some wonderful sights/cities in Spain to spend time in Morocco, but every trip is a matter of making tough decisions.

Madrid's average December high temperature is 50F; Barcelona's is about 9 degrees higher, so odds are that the weather will be more pleasant in Barcelona.

I always like some architectural variety on my vacations, so the one thing I would try to avoid here is a trip spent entirely in Andalucía and Morocco. Although Cordoba, Granada, Ronda, etc. are lovely and pair well with Seville, geographically speaking, it would not be my preference to try to squeeze in all of them in lieu of Madrid or Barcelona. So I'd try for Madrid or Barcelona (probably not time for both), Seville, and Fes/Marrakech. You can research side-trips from each of the Spanish cities and leave the final decision until you arrive and see how much time you want for sightseeing in the base cities. Be aware that you will be jet-lagged (and at least some of you probably zombie-like) on your arrival day, so you probably won't be very productive then.

You should consider flying into or home from Morocco (that would likely be Casablanca, unfortunately). That way, you'd just have a one-way flight to Spain as you continued your trip.

There are great shopping opportunities in Morocco for crafts. Fes seems to be the craft capital, but the market in Marrakech is also excellent. That might argue for ending your trip in Morocco so you don't have to cart ceramics, copper, woodwork, carpets, etc., through Spain.

acraven, that is a super interesting point to me. I prefer keeping my trips unified in style as much as reasonable - I would enjoy the immersion in the style of Andalucia/Morocco (not the same but interesting similarities) and feel jarred by something as different as Barcelona in the same few week stretch. So interesting how we all travel differently!

Count nights and figure that 2 nights = 1 day; 3 nights = 2 days. It takes time to get from place to place, a 2 hour train ride or a 2 hour flight is in fact a 4-6 hour trip, door-to-door. Also, your group will only move as fast as its slowest member at any given time. Getting up, washed, dressed, packed and " breakfasted" take time. You're likely to be jetlagged and sleep-deprived on arrival and your first and likely second days, you won't be at full speed or able to absorb/enjoy much of what you see and do.

Mira, I do think it's a matter of personality. I always choose the box of mixed chocolates rather than the one that contains nothing except my very favorite flavor!

On a shorter trip I would be all about what fits, based on the map. Two weeks is roughly the point at which I start thinking, "enough coastline; I want to see some mountains" or "What--another medieval stone village? How about something colorful for a change?" It's something I think it's useful for a traveler to consider as the itinerary is coming together, though I'm not sure whether a first-timer is going to know how he'll feel about that question before he gets into the trip.

Would avoid Morocco to be honest if only going for 14 days to much to squeeze in such a short time. Depending on where you are flying to the best way to get from city to city is by train which you can by tickets for in advance if you have schedule. Try Grenada instead of going over to Morocco its beautiful and the Alhambra Palace is quite simply stunning. best way to Grenada is by bus from Seville as Train takes to long and is irregular, as for beaches Costa del sol is the best but will not be very warm and may also be wet in december. Hope you have a good trip whatever you decide to do

I would stick to Spain if you only have 2 weeks.
December is cold in the interior, but you can be rewarded with clear skies and sunshine. However, there is no point considering any beach time.

Start in Barcelona. 4 nights
Fly to Granada. 2 nights
Train to Córdoba. 2 nights
Train to Sevilla. 3 nights
Train to Madrid. 3 nights