Spain Newbie - starting to plan

How much time are we talking about?
Besides beach and food, what other interests do you have?

Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Sevilla and Cordoba are very interesting towns.

The south of Spain (ES) will be hot but the Basque Country in northern Spain and the south of France is another option. A good base would be San Sebastián. The Euskotren train crosses the ES and FR border: https://www.euskotren.eus/en.
You could fly in or out of Barcelona. Barcelona needs a minimum of three nights (buy tickets for the Sagrada Familia before leaving home. No need to go up the towers since the best views are at eye level). There’s one direct train departing Barcelona at 15:30 arriving in San Sebastián at 21:16: https://www.renfe.com/es/en.
How many nights will you sleep in ES?

You first need to determine how much time you’ll have for the trip and how much time you want to spending transiting between locations. A shorter trip will mean fewer places you could reasonably visit. August is prime tourist season and all the popular destinations will be crowded.

Transportation options are train, bus, and rental car. Which you choose will be determined by where you want to go. If staying with the popular destinations and day trips from them, then train and bus will work well. A rental car works well when you’re going to remote locations or towns with very limited public transportation.

In August, Andalucía (Sevilla, Malaga) will be very hot as will Extremadura, the Zaragoza area and much of the country. Catalonia is in severe drought so to help it out, I’d avoid it. If you decide to visit Barcelona expect restrictions on water usage at hotels.

Having visited the major cities we tend to visit the mid to small-sized cities and small towns. For hotels we like the government run Paradors hotel chain. They tend to be more in smaller towns with many in historic buildings.

I’ll let others recommend day trips from the cities you mentioned since there are popular ones that always get recommended.

Think of Spain as a hub, being Madrid, Then spokes coming off of it, being Barcelona, Valencia area, Andalusia (Seville, Cordoba, Cadiz, Malaga, Granada), The Basque region (Bilbao and San Sebastian), and other Northern area (Asturias and Galicia).

You can certainly start or finish in other areas, but Madrid is a strong hub from the US. The problem is, with August, The South and Madrid will be dreadfully hot, more so with climate change in the last few years. The North (Basque, Asturias, and Galicia) will be much more tolerable, and much more crowded (maybe).

For transport, Trains and busses make the most sense, especially in the South, busses more in the North. If you have the funds for private drivers, fine, but there are more economical ways.

All else not being a problem, I would focus on the South, with some time in Madrid.

That would be Madrid, Seville, Granada, Cadiz, Malaga, Granada, then maybe a coastal town, we like Nerja.

You do not mention an amount of time allowed, if a week, that's a problem, two weeks maybe, three weeks, then you have some options.

Take this as it is intended because I intimately recognize this phase to be sure--you need to flip though some guide books and get focused, then come back once you have some specific ideas.
But in late August, I'd be looking to the north to be sure (and I am from the south and good w heat)!

Hello all Thank you for all your responses. Three of us will be going for at least from about 8/30 to 9/14 - 13 to 14 days the other two 7 days.

We also like museums. I also read about the drought in Barcelona, but hoping that by September the situation somewhat improves. Otherwise, we might have to skip it. I know I still need to do more research. I just wanted to get started on what towns first then plan on hotels, tours, restaurants etc.. Thanks again!

Can you take the heat since you’ll spend most of your time outdoors? If yes then the south of ES might work; if no head north. Three of you should be able to fly on multi-city or one-way tickets in and out of Barcelona and Madrid no matter where you go.
If you go south consider this itinerary:
- Barcelona (or Madrid) three nights. If airfare is the same price from either direction fly to Barcelona and out of Madrid. I prefer flying the furthest distance then working my way back so the flight home is shorter. Also, if you visit the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, it’s best to see Picasso’s earlier work before seeing Guernica his masterpiece in Madrid.
Buy tickets for the Picasso Museum and Sagrada Familia before leaving home. The same with the Alhambra’s Palacios Nazaríes in Granada.
- Fly nonstop or take a direct train from Barcelona to Granada for two nights.
- From Granada take a direct train to Malaga for a couple nights.
- Take a direct train from Malaga to Sevilla’s Santa Justa station for four nights. You can take day trips to Tavira, PT by direct bus (2h) and Cordoba (1h).
Take a direct train from Sevilla’s Santa Justa station to Madrid (3h). Madrid needs a minimum of three nights. If you add day trips add a night per trip.
If you can’t take the heat still fly into Barcelona or Madrid for three nights then take a train to San Sebastián/Donostia and use San Sebastián as a base to explore the Basque Country. Bilbao is the main airport in Basque Country.
From San Sebastián it looks like there might be a direct train to Madrid (5h). Madrid needs a minimum of three nights. If you take day trips add a night per trip.

Thank you MaryPat for the detailed recommendations. I will consider them when coming up with a final itinerary. Will be back with more questions.

Consider…….
More people = more time
Heat eats into time
Spain comes alive at night
Time is your most valuable commodity while on vacation.
Rent apartments for more space, a kitchen, equal in hotel $ and a better group experience.
Train travel in Spain and become more competitive with lower costs and more options.

We love Malaga, but don’t got there for the beaches (pebbles, little sand). What is your motivation for selecting Malaga? If Malaga is a “must” then fly thru Madrid with connecting flight to Malaga. This is what we do, typically on Iberia and find the cost comparable especially recognizing the time savings of transferring within the airport (in lieu of going to catch a train).
If Malaga is not mandatory then recommend flying into Seville (via flight connection in Madrid) then train to Madrid and then train to Barcelona. Depart Barcelona import for home using open jaw flight purchase. Recall, time is your most valuable commodity.

We also like museums.

Definitely include time in Madrid and stay near the Prado to minimize walking in the heat.

Hi thank you for all the great input. We’ll consider renting vs hotels. My husband chose Malaga..I believe he mentioned the beaches ..also mentioned Marbella. We are still working on the itinerary meaning adding or removing town at this point. Then hopefully everything else should fall into place :)

If you stay in Marbella, take a day trip to Ronda by direct bus (1h 15m).

Thanks MaryPat there seems to be so many little gem towns that are nearby. I will add this to my list.

People enjoy visiting the towns that line the coast too.

I love love Andalusia but I would like to caution you about the extreme heat in southern Spain in August and even in September. We visited in September 2017. Temps in Madrid, Cordoba, and Granada were in the 80’s so not too bad but this was mid to late September. Malaga was the coolest. However, Seville, which I love, was in the low to mid 90’s in late September/early October. And I have been reading that lately, because of climate change, September and October have been in the 90 - 100’s. When I was planning our trip, I read trip reports from people who talked about being drenched in sweat after being outdoors for 10 minutes. Make sure you have water and sunscreen with you, and wear hats.

So, if you decide to include southern Spain, find a hotel with a pool, and try to do most of your sightseeing in the early morning hours and evening hours.

Planning some beach time will be a good idea to cool off.

I would also include Cordoba and Granada if you have the time. The Mezquita in Cordoba and Alhambra in Granada are amazing and beautiful historical and cultural sites.

We didn’t do any tours but we used audio guides a lot.

Want to add that I agree with the suggestions to go to northern Spain. Haven’t been to Basque Country but that sounds like a better option than Andalucia in August/September. Or consider Barcelona and Costa Brava and the Pyrenees.

For guidebooks I recommend Lonely Planet, Michelin Green Guide, and Rough Guides in addition to Rick. Keep in mind that Rick notoriously omits places, such as Malaga, which is wonderful. If I use a Rick Steves guidebook, I always supplement with with one of the others I listed.

Thank you Kmkwoo for all the suggestions. Wow about the heat! Will take all precautions and plan accordingly. Any recommendations on hotels in Barcelona, Malaga, Sevilla and Madrid?

I use Booking.com. They have all types of accommodations, from resorts to private apartments, and you can select your own parameters and see what's available for your specific dates. Far more useful than getting random suggestions, but of course come back if you need input on neighborhoods, etc.
I'd still recommend a good book like the Rough Guide.

Thanks Valadelphia. I’ll do my homework and get back once I have a more concrete itinerary.

I do like personal reviews on hotels. And had been lucky getting good ones from this forum a few years back on our trip to Italy. Thank you all.

MMV, I like personal reviews on hotels as well. I have chosen many hotels that I was happy with based on reviews from people on Fodors and Rick Steves.

In Barcelona we were happy with our stay at Granvia in the Eixample neighborhood, which is a beautiful neighborhood with gorgeous architecture and close to many sites.

In Malaga we stayed at Soho Malaga which is very convenient to sightseeing and very close to the pedestrianized calle Marques de Larios. It's a small boutigue hotel (28 rooms).

In Seville we stayed at Apartamentos Suites Santa Cruz which we liked very much, too. Convenient location. However, it is located in Barrio Santa Cruz (pedestrianized) which is very busy and very crowded. Some people might not like this.

In Madrid we stayed at Mercure Madrid Centro which is very close to the Prado, Reina Sofia, Thyssen, Retiro Park.

Thank you kmkwoo great leads. An acquaintance recommended in Barcelona Hotel 1898 facing Ramblas and in Sevilla, Hotel Casa de Indias which is in a central location. I still need to come up with an itinerary to dive into hotels. I’m concerned about the drought in Barcelona, I was thinking on skipping it and do Madrid and towns around Southern Spain. Thanks again for your input.

MMV travelling to Southern Spain to avoid the drought in Barcelona will do you little good as Andalucia has been experiencing a drought for the past 6 years. Reservoirs are currently only at 20% capacity and water restrictions are in place in several areas.
Current predictions are that it is only likely to get worse unless there are rains of biblical proportions.

Thanks Amanda. Gonna keep that in mind too when planning.

Hello - I am still working on fine tuning my itinerary. So far I have:

Arrival Madrid 3 nights a day trip to Toledo
train to Barcelona 3 nights.

Train to Valencia 2 nights - what area to stay?
Granada – 3 nights I was thinking the train but, it seems like a 5+ hour train ride, so it might be better to fly any recommendations on an airline? and area to stay? A day trip to Alhambra –
Train back to Madrid.

Any suggestions on day trips or change a few towns and amount of days would be highly appreciated. Thank you!