Hi - We are a family of four (myself, husband, 14 year old, and 4 year old) traveling to Spain for 11 days, 7 of which will be during Holy Week. I'm struggling with the itinerary due to long distances and worry about how busy Andalusia will be during Holy Week. When traveling, we love food, art, history, and not being too jam packed with things to do (need to take it slow especially with the 4 year old in tow!).
We are flying in to Barcelona and out of Madrid. Here's what I have so far for the itinerary:
Days 1-4: Barcelona
Day 5 (Palm Sunday): morning train to Madrid; Madrid (??)
Days 6-9: NEED HELP
Days 10-11 (Friday & Sat of holy week): Madrid
Day 12: Fly home from Madrid
We also want to do a day trip to Segovia from Madrid, and I was hoping to get to Toledo somehow too (either as a day trip or overnight). I am loathe to have a bunch of one night hotel stays and lots of moving about, as it's just a pain and waste of time.
Before we knew about all the processions and intensity of Semana Santa, we had planned to do Seville for 2 days or so, and Cordoba for a day. BUT we don't like big crowds and don't like parades, so I don't know if we will like Seville or Cordoba too much during Holy Week. I would hate to go to Spain and miss these places though. I'm also concerned that we won't be able to sleep at night in these places due to the late processions and loud music. So I've been thinking to do 1 night in Seville and 1 in Cordoba, trying to stay in a nice hotel but not right near Cathedral (in Seville) in the hopes that we can sleep at night. BUT idk if we will have any fun at all with all the processions, or get to see anything with only 1 night, or get to sleep, and 1 night hotel stays are annoying. I'm also concerned about all the 3 hour train rides....
Clearly, I need help. How can we see what we want without being on the trains too much, and without being overwhelmed by crowds? Thanks for any thoughts and advice!!