Three Week Trip to Southern Spain and Portugal

Southern Spain! (Andalusia) Sevilla (alcazar), Pueblos Blancos (Grazelema, Zahara, Ronda) Granada (Alhambra), Cordoba (Mesquita, Jewish quarter patio homes). I haven't been but with your time you could add Jerez, Cadiz and maybe a coastal/resort city?? Great food and wine cities. Also Spanish gin is quite amazing.

From what I've heard it is not as simple as one would think to go from Spain to Portugal via train.

You don't go between these countries by train, particularly in the south. Either fly or take a direct bus running either Sevilla-Lisbon or Sevilla-Faro. Or if you'll rent a car, plan to return it in the same country where you picked it up (need not be the same city).

We did a 3+ week Spain-Portugal trip a few years ago mostly following RS guides. Started in Madrid, but you could start in Lisbon if you want to skip Madrid this time. We went by train except for the Seville-Fårö bus. Our route was Madrid, Toledo (my favorite city in Spain), Córdoba, Grenada, Ronda, Gibraltar, Seville, Fårö (Portugal), Lagos, Lisbon (day trip to Sintra), Nazare, Coimbra, Salamanca, Madrid.

Look through the guide books to see what interests you in each place to decide how long to stay. I think we only spent one night in Ronda and Fårö, two in most cities, three in some. It was all beautiful.

This trip should be easy to plan also. Be encouraged. Just know that in southern Spain you'll need to travel by bus or car. Here's our itinerary back in 2017--Madrid with a day trip to El Escorial and Segovia, Toledo, Cordoba, Granada (get Alhambra tix early), Nerja (rented a car to drive white hill towns), Ronda/Arcos, La Linea (returned car) for day trip to Gibraltar, Tarifa with day trip to Tangier, Seville, Lagos, and Lisbon. From Granada to Nerja was via bus, as was La Linea to Tarifa to Seville to Lagos. A lot of the planning was done using the RS Spain and Portugal guidebooks. PM me if you have questions. Have a great trip.

2019 Spain / Portugal Trip

Spain - Seville 4 Days

Day 1 - Seville

Day 2 - Day trip to Arcos De la Frontera (1 hr. 19 min by car)

Day 3 - Day trip to Jerez De La Frontera (1 hr. 11 min by car) and drop off rental car later in the day.

Day 4 - Seville

Granada 3 Days

Day 1 - Granada

Day 2 - Granada (Drive to beach town Nerja which is 1 hr. 16 min from Granada)

Day 3 - Granada

Cordoba 3 Days

Day 1 - Cordoba

Day 2 - Cordoba ( Day trip to Malaga)

Day 3 - Cordoba

Ronda 3 Days

Day 1 Ronda

Day 2 Ronda

Day 3 Ronda

Portugal - Lisbon 3 Nights

Day 1 - Lisbon

Day 2 - Lisbon (Day Trip to Sintra) 28 min drive

Day 3 - Lisbon

Algarve 2 Nights

Day 1 - Faro

Day 2 - Faro

Evora 2 Nights

Day 1: - Evora

Day 2 - Evora

Porto 4 Nights

Day 1 - Porto

Day 2 - Porto (Day Trip to Obidos) 2 hrs. 13 min drive

Day 3- Porto (Day trip to Douro Valley towns of Lamego and Bitetos) 1 hr.20 min drive

Day 4 - Porto (Drop Off Rental Car and Fly Home)

Thanks for all the detailed information and itineraries that will help us with planning our Spain/Portugal trip. Getting a rental car and driving would be a new experience for us - we have always used public transportation, small group tours, or private drivers to get to sites throughout Europe and northern Spain. The information you have provided indicates that bus and rental car are the best forms of transportation for southern Spain - and that travel between Spain and Portugal is by bus or plane. That information helps with the planning.
If our itinerary would be based on no more than 5 cities/overnight stops - each being at least three nights - what itinerary would you create?
Again, thanks so much for all the information - this really helps us with our planning.

I don't know what options you have for flying to/from Spain or Portugal.

But, for a possible route to tinker with based on 5 overnight stops for 3 days minimum (-ish):

Arr. Malaga (1 night), coach to Granada (3 nights), rail/coach to Sevilla (6 nights), Ryanair flight to Porto (3 nights), onto Lisbon (4 nights), dep. home.

Day trips from Sevilla to Cordoba and Cadiz. Day trip from Lisbon to Sintra.

As that's fewer nights than you've available, you could add a stop between Granada and Sevilla in either Ubeda or one of the white villages using coach/rail or hire car. Or add Coimbra in Portugal. Or spend a night or two in either Cadiz or Cordoba rather than day-tripping.

It's not true that "bus and rental car are the best forms of transportation for southern Spain", rail might be the better option, it just depends where you are getting to and from where.

In southern Spain, I think the only place where a car is even preferable would be the pueblos blancos and even then a bus is "doable". The train service is quite good. I liked having a car for Sevilla to Granada to explore the white villages (Zahara, Grazelema and Sentinel were my favorites) but I was happy to "get rid" of the car in Granada.

Look at the festivals in Andalucia in May. There's Feria in Sevilla, probably patio festival in Cordoba and Feria del Caballo in Jerez. Then decide if you want to be part of the crowds and the special sights and events or if you want to avoid them. I think that Cordoba is fairly quiet even during its (relatively low-key) festivals. You can tour sherry bodegas in Jerez.

With 2 weeks in Spain, my choices would be Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Toledo. I would rent a car between Granada and Sevilla/Cordoba and spend 2-3 nights in the pueblos blancos either based in Rondo or a string of 1-nighters.

There are no good ground transportation options between the two countries. The best idea is to fly. Ryanair has flights from Sevilla to Porto. Then you can make your way around by train and/or car and end up in Lisbon. I'm also planning a first trip to Portugal in May.

I don't know why people have said bus or car. Except for driving through the pueblos blancos, I have traveled almost exclusively by train. They are fast and efficient. Tickets usually go on sale 62 days in advance and highly discounted tickets are available, but they do sell out quickly. Also, you can buy a tarjeta dorada (gold card) for seniors for €6 each once you get to Spain. Then you can buy "regular" tickets at discounts of 25%-40%.