Spain & Portugal in 32 days, travel itinerary feedback appreciated.

I have been to 6 of the places you are planning on visiting. I think you have a good itinerary planned.

One change I would make is that I would add a night or two to Cordoba instead of visiting Cordoba as a daytrip from Seville. One reason is that I really think you will enjoy Seville more is if you spend all your days in Seville. Seville is a gorgeous city with many important historical and cultural sights. It's a wonderful city for exploring neighborhoods, admiring the architecture, and doing things like a carriage ride or seeing a flamenco show. Additionally, Cordoba is a wonderful city, too, and I don't think you will appreciate Cordoba be seeing it as a daytrip. The Mezquita is wonderful but there other interesting things to see, too, such as the Alcazar, Roman Bridge, Palacio de Viana with its dozen patios, and so on. Cordoba is beautiful at night when it is illuminated. So I would definitely add that extra night you mention, and even take a night from Ronda or Nerja to add to Cordoba so you could spend 2 nights there.

Full disclosure: I haven't been to Ronda or Nerja but based on my research, Cordoba is a more important city. It's one of the jewels of Andalucia.

4 nights is the barest minimum I would spend in Barcelona.

Regarding Portugal, I've only been to Lisbon. We spent 5 nights there with a daytrip to Sintra. I've read other people's trip reports, and it seems that many people spend 2 nights in Coimbra so that sounds about right. Not sure about Porto or Nazare.

Some people might suggest spending the whole month in Spain, but I think if you really want to see some of Portugal that you have enough time on this trip to include it.

I feel you have selected a good number of nights in each place. If you decided to add nights to places on the list then two places that I feel could be dropped are Nazaré and Nerja, but that’s just my opinion.

In May, there will be no huge waves in Nazaré, so if that was why you were going there, then reconsider. It’s a typical beach town but worth spending a day in.

The unknown to me since I always get a rental car is the amount of time needed to get between the places on the list and the ease of getting to them. Others who have used public transportation in those areas will definitely know better than me. The itinerary may need some adjustments based on the transportation schedules.

Would love to take a month long trip! In the meantime I’ll live vicariously through your itinerary! I’ve been to Spain four times and once to Portugal. Feedback on your plan may come down to personal preference - for example we don’t like to make too many accommodation changes in a trip ( about 4 for a three week trip) and trying to see multiple countries on one trip no longer appeals to us as we’ve gotten older. Spending more time in one place, taking our time, having space for rest days, just wandering, a sick day or bad weather is more our style but it may not be yours.

Here are some considerations as you’re playing around with your plans and seeing what feels right to you:

Toledo can be done as a day trip from Madrid . There are also a ton of interesting day trips from Madrid if you wanted to extend your stay there since this is your first trip to Spain.

When researching Nerja it seems like a mixed bag- presume you’ve done your research and Nerja appeals to you. Alternatively consider dropping one “seaside stop” either Nerja or Nazare . You can get to the coast from Lisbon if you want to be by the water for a day. I also noticed that you’re from the Bay Area as we are. I chose to drop seaside locations since that’s not as a * unique * experience for us and with limited time needed to make some choices.

You might consider an extra day in Porto to accommodate a day trip to Duoro Valley which can be a long day. Porto is a beautiful city to wander and for the latter part of your month long trip you might enjoy taking a slower pace - particularly after just dealing with a flight/ airport time coming from Barcelona- but again personal preference.

We loved Evora in Portugal . We took the train there from Coimbra and spent three nights. Magical place with an interesting history.

Look forward to hearing what you decide! We just booked our tickets to Spain for October 2026!

Thank you so much for the feedback and considerations! You've helped us feel fairly confident with our plans. Our thoughts are that Nerja and Nazare will be good breaks for us from heavier sightseeing, and yes, we do appreciate seeing coasts if we're near them. We'll keep our itinerary for the most part, but are now torn between Toledo and Cordoba for overnight stays. We really can't do both, and agree that 2-nt stays can be rough. So if anyone would like to weigh in? Do we make Toledo a day trip out of Madrid? Adding a day to Madrid and creating a 2-nt stay in Cordoba? or make them both day trips and cut down our stays by adding nights to Madrid and Seville?

You're all wonderful to have around!

What an amazing trip this will be. Having done day trips to both Nerja and Toledo, I’d love to go back to Nerja for several slow days. I also like your idea of coastal days to break up bigger city days. Honestly, having visited most of the places on your itinerary, I’d copy your trip if I could.

Hello!
As we are also currently planning a May trip to Spain (I'm sure we'll see each other lol!) I am very curiously watching your replies Having already been to Madrid, we did a daytrip to Toledo and it was wonderful! I don't think any of us were wishing we spent the night there. It's an easy train ride. We will also be going to Cordoba and are planning to spend many nights there. Best of luck! If you can, have dinner in Madrid at Angelita's!!! A family favorite.
Peggy

If you have a chance go to Toledo first thing upon landing (unless you land late in the evening). Very inc place to together rid of jet lag. Toledo can be visited as a day trip from Madrid and one day is more than enough to see everything, but at night, when all day trippers are gone, it is special.
Cordoba is along the high speed rail between Madrid and Sevilla. If you plan to spend night(s) then do so on the way to Sevilla.
4 nights in Sevilla are good, but if you plan a day trip, then you might want to add a night.
The portion Sevilla-Ronda-Nerja-Granada is the only portion I would consider renting a car (I did so but in the reverse). You might consider a visit at Gibraltar, but you might need an extra night. If so park and stay on the Spanish side (la linea) and walk through the border. There is a shuttle bus that goes back and forth from the border to the city center. Car inside Gibraltar is a hassle to have,
Ronda and Nerja are nice and quaint, but don’t have a whole lot to offer, so you could move one night to Granada where I think you could use an extra day.
Unless you are a surfer, one night in Nazaré should be enough. Obidos and Evora are nice day trips from Lisbon, but you may not have enough days in Lisbon, unless you add to it.

I second the suggestions to try to spend a night in Cordoba if possible and that Toledo is very doable as a day trip from Madrid if you need to cut a night somewhere. I decided to skip Nerja for the reasons Cupcake notes. If you have a car, then stopping at beach towns like Nerja and Nazare are easier but by public transporation, to me, they did not sound special enough for the time involved getting there.

I wouldn't have been able to see all I wanted in Toledo without spending multiple nights there. These are the sights Rick lists on this website, at https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/toledo--click on At a Glance:

▲▲▲ Toledo Cathedral One of Europe's best, with a marvelously vast interior and great art.

▲▲ Santo Tomé Simple chapel with El Greco's masterpiece, The Burial of the Count of Orgaz.

▲ Army Museum Covers all things military; located in the imposing fortress, the Alcázar.

▲ Santa Cruz Museum Renaissance building housing wonderful artwork, including eight El Grecos.

▲ El Greco Museum Small collection of paintings, including the View and Plan of Toledo, El Greco's panoramic map of the city.

▲ Tránsito Synagogue and Jewish Museum Museum of Toledo's Jewish past.

▲ Victorio Macho Museum Collection of 20th-century Toledo sculptor's works, with expansive river-gorge view.

▲ San Juan de los Reyes Monasterio Church/monastery intended as final resting place of Isabel and Ferdinand.

▲ Visigothic Museum Romanesque church housing the only Visigothic artifacts in town.

Sinagoga de Santa María la Blanca Synagogue that harmoniously combines Toledo's three religious influences: Jewish, Christian, and Moorish.

I bought the little bracelet (sold by the tourist office) giving admission to 6 or 7 secondary sights, not all of which Rick has on his list. I also enjoyed walking around the large, rather hilly historical district.

I would be hard-pressed to choose whether to spend nights in Cordoba or Toledo.

I haven't been to Nerja or Segovia in my 3 visits to Madrid/Andalucia. I've only visited Ronda with a rental car and used it as a base, twice, mostly for the scenic drives and seeing other white hill towns. Cordoba is my favorite Spanish city. Given all that, here are my suggestions.

Madrid is the least interesting European capital I've been to and the least interesting big city in Iberia. If you love European painting (I do) you'll want the better part of 2 days for the great art museums. Otherwise you can see the highlights in a day. Toledo is much better as an overnnight than a day trip. Both Cordoba and Toledo are pretty quiet and laid back, a bit romantic, in the evenings after the sights and tourist shops close. I'd skip Ronda - it doesn't have the same intimate feel of Cordoba or Toledo. Instead of Ronda and Nerja, maybe 2 nights in Malaga, which has beaches and some interesting sights. Barcelona has lovely beaches too.

3N in Porto isn't much if one full day is devoted to the beautiful Douro Valley. Coimbra needs 1 full day. I was underwhelmed by Nazare. This is the site for finding trains and buying tickets. The main station in Porto is Porto Campanha. From there take a taxi to the center, in Coimbra you want Coimbra-B and a taxi to the center. There are old train stations in both city centers, but it's not worth the time to wait for the local trains. I don't know how you get to/from Nazare (I had a rental car). Sintra is much better as a 2N stay. There's plenty to see and unless you get up very early, you may be in long lines once you get there on a day trip. On my visit in 2019 uber prices were very reasonable and it was worth taking uber to/from Lisbon.

If you have an extra night, I'd add it to Barcelona. 3 full days (4N) is not nearly enough.

We thank all of you for sharing your thoughts, suggestions, advice and enthusiasm. Your comments have helped a great deal, and we've had to compromise as all travelers must do, but we think we've come up with an itinerary that we're excited about. Have spent the last week, booking our stays, researching, and here's our plan at this point. Feel free to share any ideas you have about our plans, especially ideas about what we need to book in advance. We know we need to jump on Alhambra and Sagrada Familia tickets - we've got both Spain and Portugal RS books, so we'll keep reading to prep.
Again - so grateful for your help!
4/27 - arrive Madrid - 5 nts - with day trip to Toledo
- Cordoba - 1 nt - Mezquite
- Seville - 4 nts - Alcazar ... pick up a rental car to depart
- Ronda - 2 nts - Gibraltar a big maybe as a day trip
- Nerja - 2 nts - some down time on the coast
- Granada - 2 nts - Alhambra, drop car - fly out
- Barcelona - 5 nts - fly out
- Porto - 3 nts
- Coimbra - 2 nts
- Lisbon - 5 nts - possible day trip to Nazare area, day trip to Sintra
**miscalculated and don't have a 32nd night to use. I guess we have to go home sometime!

Great plan.
How do you plan to visit the Douro River Valley?
We did a week long cruise, it was great.
There are one day cruises from Porto, but they don't go far up the river.
Suggest taking the train up to Pinhao and Regua. The train runs on the north bank of the river.

Wish we had a week - that sounds marvelous. We were thinking a day trip boat just to see what we could. Will consider your train trip. Adding it to the list of ideas - thanks!

What a great trip! We also spent 2N in Nerja and it was a nice break from cathedrals and museums. Look at stopping at Frigiliani for lunch on the way into town. The caves of Nerja were also a highlight for us. Have fun!