Spain Itinerary Help - 14 days

With so many city changes I would actually dissuade renting a car unless you are a pro at driving in European cities. You will need to stay at hotels with parking and often it is not free and not on site. Places like Granada old town have traffic restrictions and you might be hoofing your luggage up some small alley to your apartment. It could be a nightmare added to an already tight schedule. Trains (or bus) can be just as scenic and much less stressful. All your locations are on excellent train accesses....however, the distance from Granada to Barcelona is not as train friendly. Many people just fly. 3 hours vs over 8 hour drive. If you drive, there isn't a lot of time for Valencia, but there are some pretty coastal towns that might be a fun lunch or pee break.
I rarely take an apartment for less than 3 nights, but I can understand with 2 of you it might be feasible. If budget is of concern, Spain has 'hostals' not 'hostEls' that are 2 star locally owned accommodations. When I didn't have an apartment, I would just bring in food for breakfast or a picnic dinner. There are numerous Carrefour Express or Mercadona shops for picking up supplies or ready made salads - and of course, there are the stalls for Spanish Omelets which are a meal in themselves....thick 'pies' of thin sliced potato covered and bound with egg. Simple and so tasty.
You are going to want to buy your Alhambra tickets as soon as possible as May is already pretty much sold out.

First - Don't fly round-trip into/out of Madrid. Fly open jaws into Madrid and out of Barcelona (or vice versa), it saves you a day (or "buys" you and extra vacation day).

Next...yikes, your trip is coming up quickly, you need to get cracking.

Once you have your itinerary nailed down, book your Alhambra tickets ASAP if you can...they sell out well in advance.

Don't do Toledo as a day trip, that guarantees you see it at it's worst: jam-packed with day trippers. Instead, arrive mid-afternoon, watch the city empty out, spend the night, enjoy it blissfuly free of crowds, then leave late morning as it fills up again.

On a quick trip, I'd take that night from Cordoba. Cordoba's great but its top sights can be easily seen in a day (or even a rushed stop between Madrid and Seville).

Forget the car - nothing but a headache where you're going. One caveat: I'd only get a car if you wanted to add the white hill towns. But to do that, you would need to shave off at least a couple days elsewhere, so probably not in keeping with your hope to be "not too hurried".

Valencia would not make the cut for me, given your limited time and long list of must-see places.

I'm guessing you have your airline tickets or else I'd agree it'd be best into Madrid and out of Barcelona. I think you are really short days in Barcelona. I haven't been to Valencia, but I don't see a lot of time left for it. If it were me I'd take a day from Granada and perhaps Madrid and give it to Barcelona. I also agree that Toledo is best with a overnight stay. What you are doing is well served by train (bus for Granada). Parking might be an issue in your cities and might force you to stay in less ideal areas of the city. I try to stay in the city center/convenient location.

Is this for this year or next?

First- Can you possibly fly into Madrid and out from Barcelona or vice-versa. Having to double back invokes costs that make it worth it to fly open jaw.

All your stops are in big cities so I wouldn't drive a car. Spain has wonderful trains and I would go ahead and buy my tickets as early as possible. While train tickets aren't cheap you also have to release the cost of gas, any accidents or break-ins and spending your trip driving instead of relaxing. Plus they go from city center to city center and you can relax and enjoy the scenery.

With your amount of days, I think a day trip to Toledo is fine. I've done it and while there are a lot of tourists, if you get off the main streets and into the smaller back streets around the cathedral, you can see everyday Spanish life.

Three days in Granada seems like one too many, I'd use that extra day to have in Barcelona as there is more to see.

Finally, with your short hops in each city, I would find hotels instead of AirBnB. Keep in mind that Spain is really cracking down on holiday flats and many "illegal" lets are cancelling on people or taking their apartment off the market for now. As a semi-vegetarian, you do have options as almost every restaurant has at least one or two non-meat dishes-and there are many vegetarian restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona.

You're short on time at most of your destinations, so definitely don't add Valencia. It depends on what you want to see, of course, but I think you're going to have great deal of difficulty squeezing Barcelona into the time you have allotted. Many of the top sights require pre-purchased, timed tickets, so the traveler must guess--before even arriving in the city (most likely)--how much time leave between Sight A and Sight B. It is not easy. I'd be tempted to transfer one of your Granada days to Barcelona--not because Granada doesn't have enough to do to fill that time, but because I'm pretty sure you're going to need the time in Barcelona more. However, if you have already done a lot of research about Barcelona sights and are comfortable with your time allocation, ignore my advice!

Spain has very fast trains connecting Barcelona-Madrid-Cordoba-Seville. Those trains will be much, much faster than driving, and you won't have the worry of where to park the car. Granada is the monkey-wrench because the AVE line to that city isn't yet fully tested. Flying Granada to Barcelona is one good option. There's good bus service to Granada, or you can buy a train ticket that will give you rail service as far as Antequera, then seamlessly transfer you to a bus for the rest of the trip.

I would try very hard not to have nights in Madrid at both the beginning and the end of the trip. Changing hotels is time-consuming. In addition, your arrival day is likely to be almost totally unproductive as a result of sleep-deprivation and jetlag. That's a good time to get to one of your most distant destinations. The difficulty is that train tickets (except to Toledo) will probably be quite a bit cheaper now than if you wait until you arrive to buy them, but you won't be sure what is a safe departure time until after your plane arrives in Madrid. Even then, you may run into a long wait at Immigration. And buying tickets on the day of travel may mean some trains are sold out. So it's not an easy to decision to head right out of Madrid on your arrival day--unless you decide to take the advice above to spend a night in Toledo. Although the occasional train to Toledo may sell out, there are many of them, so I wouldn't expect that to be a problem unless you are traveling during a holiday period.

The next-best option for getting out of Madrid on Day 1 would be Cordoba, I think. I believe last-minute rail tickets to Cordoba would be less expensive than tickets to Barcelona.

You can explore rail fares an schedules on the Renfe website.

Spain is not the easiest country in which to be a vegetarian. Ham crops up in a lot of pre-prepared salads and sandwiches. It may not always be immediately visible, so ask. Vegetables may be seasoned with ham. I assume you'll be able to get the information you need by asking; I'm not a vegetarian myself, but I observed ham in places I wasn't expecting it.

Valencia is delightful, but I wouldn't try to squeeze it in this trip.

Since you're covering big cities, I don't think a car makes sense. Madrid to Cordoba is around 5 hours drive (more in practice, given the picking-up, parking, comfort breaks, etc). The fastest trains are 2 hours, centre to centre. Hire a car if you plan to spend a couple of days travelling between Granada and Barcelona (e.g. stopping in Murcia!). But not to just do the journey as a straight shot, when flying makes more sense.

As already mentioned, start researching Alhambra tickets now. You might already be too late for general sale tickets, so need to consider alternatives.

Looks like a great trip, enjoy your time. For what it's worth, your split of days looks fine to me - but then I much prefer Andalucia to northern Spain. i guess you might consider taking a day from Granada and adding to Barcelona.

I forgot to address the Alhambra ticket situation. You may still be able to buy basic (14-euro) ticket on the official website. It depends on your timing. As of this moment, there are limited tickets available for May 31 and for every day in June except June 2 and June 7. However, those "available" days could sell out very soon. If you don't manage to buy the 14-euro tickets, these are your options:

• Dobla de Oro ticket (same website; covers more and costs more)
• Granada Card; you can verify your date is available before paying (covers more and costs more)
• Tickets supplied by your Granada hotel (always worth checking; not guaranteed)
• Commercial tour--but be sure it covers the Nasrid Palaces

I agree with acraven on many points, but specifically, using Day 1 to get to a farther away destination. When we went to Spain in November, we flew into Madrid and then took the train to Sevilla. Train tickets were something like 75euro/each, and we would have saved to prepurchase, but that is risky, and I rather not guess on time and end up sitting in a train station when I could already be en route. Now she makes the suggestion to travel to Cordoba the first day because the day of ticket will be cheaper since its not as far as Sevilla, which is what I wished we had done in restrospect. It would have saved some euro, but not the biggest deal, at all.

I would not do Cordoba as a day trip. I recommend spending 1 or 2 nights in Cordoba. The Mezquita is amazing, but there is more to Cordoba than the Mezquita, such as the Alcazar's gorgeous gardens, Palacio de Viana, Roman Bridge, wandering the Juderia, and the Victoria Mercado. We loved Cordoba; it was one of favorite places with its white-washed buildings, narrow lanes, patios, and flower pots.

While I agree that it is better to spend 1 or 2 nights in Toledo, I wouldn't do so at the expense of Cordoba. We liked Toledo and enjoyed spending a night there, but we LOVED Cordoba.

Definitely make your reservations open jaw (or multi-city). Fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona, or vice versa. You waste time and money by backtracking.

I wouldn't rent a car. I would travel by train and/or bus. Use ALSA bus to go to Granada and to leave Granada.

DO NOT ADD ANOTHER DESTINATION!

Thank you all for the wonderful input.

Sadly, an open jaw ticket is no longer possible. My niece is flying in from India and I am flying from the US so coordinating our arrivals and departures took away some of the flexibility for us.

• I was able to book 2 Alhambra tickets at 28.00 € so I think I have that covered.
• I did book a hotel for Toledo so we will have 2 nights in Madrid and one in Toledo before we move on to Cordoba.
• From Granada to Barcelona, I think we will fly, so that gives us 2.5 days in Barcelona which may be tight, but will have to do for now.
• Car idea dropped, will book trains for each city to city travel.

One question for the group, I will now have roughly 1.5 days in Cordoba. Should I remove one day from Granada and spend it in Cordoba instead or maybe shave off a day from Seville (I have 3 days now?)

Thanks again. This has been so helpful.

It depends on what time you arrive in Cordoba, Seville and Granada. And what time you depart from each place. It looks like you will have 2.5 days in Seville, not 3 full days, right? IMO, there is more to see and do in Seville than in Granada and Cordoba so I wouldn't shave off any days from Seville. Seville is a gorgeous city architecturally with lots of important sites and neighborhoods, such as the Alcazar, Cathedral, Casa de Pilatos, Plaza de Espagna, Triana, wandering through Santa Cruz, Maria Luisa park, and more. We loved the horse and buggy ride.

Regarding Granada and Cordoba, I think you should buy some guidebooks to learn what is there and what you are interested in. We loved both cities. We spent 2 nights in each city, and I would have enjoyed a 3rd night in each city. Since you now have only 1 night in Cordoba, perhaps shave a night from Granada and add it to Cordoba so you have 2 nights in each city. To give you an example of what we did in Cordoba, on the day we arrived, after checking into our hotel, we visited the Mezquita, then wandered around the Juderia a bit. After dinner, we walked across the Roman Bridge, and the bridge and Mezquita were gorgeous lit up at night. It was actually quite festive, with lots of families strolling across the bridge and socializing with friends. This was a Saturday night. Then the next day, our only full day in Cordoba, we visited the Alcazar and its gardens, then took a taxi to Palacio de Viana. Took a taxi back to Juderia where our hotel was and wandered around the Juderia a little bit, did some souvenir shopping, and then walked to Mercado Victoria for dinner. We checked out of hotel the next morning, and took the morning bus to Granada. So 2 nights really gave us 1.5 days in Cordoba.

Our 2 nights in Granada gave us time to visit the Cathedral and wander the Albacin a little bit on the day we arrived. We didn't see enough of the Albacin. The next day, our only full day, we spent almost the whole day at the Alhambra. This is an amazing place, and we didn't want to rush through it. We had time for lunch, a drink & snack, leisurely wandering and taking tons of photos. Then we returned at night for the night tour. And we left the next day in the morning for our next destination.

Hope this helps you decide.

I love Granada but some say 2 nights is enough. Ask I think Cordoba is your third stop and would be your third one nighter, I would move one night from Granada to Cordoba. However, it really depends on what day of the week you are on places. I found Sunday/Monday in Cordoba a tough combo as things closed early on Sunday and a lot of things were closed Monday. It would require careful timing.

As I understand it, you have 3N in Granada and 3N in Barcelona. In that case, I would change it to 2 in Granada and 4 in Barcelona.