train vs bus for this intinerary

When you refer to a "mountain town" I assume you mean one of the "Pueblos Blancos" - the "white hill towns"? If so, that's not going to work for you without a car - especially with such a short trip. (If that's not what you mean, then I don't know what you're referring to - you'll want to be more specific.) The white hill towns are lovely but you need a car.

Likewise, not sure what you mean by "sea coast" - you'll need to be specific.

That said, I'd actually suggest you drop those items as I don't think you have time for them.

You're just giving Madrid one day, which seems a shame. Not everyone loves Madrid but I think it's one of Europe's greatest cities, and is under-appreciated by many Americans.

Good choice to spend the night in Toledo (rather than doing it as a day trip) - you will be glad you did.

Personally, I'd peel a day off Seville and dedicate that to Cordoba - it's right on the way (on the high speed rail line) between Madrid and Seville, and well worth a stop.

Your trip is pretty short, especially when considering how much ground you are trying to cover. I'd give up on the "mountain town" and "seacoast", you're going to need to need that time for your other destinations.

I'm not sure whether you're aware that the path from Toledo to Granada is back through Madrid.

Granada is a bit awkward to reach since the high-speed rail line is still under construction. I think you can either take a train to Antequera and switch to a synchronized bus (departing from the train station), or you can take a bus all the way to Granada.

Rather than dealing with that awkwardness twice, you might consider routing yourselves like this: Madrid - Toledo - Seville - sea coast - mountain town - Granada - FLY to Barcelona.

There is fast AVE service between Barcelona-Madrid-Cordoba-Seville, but even so your initial plan has you on the train for over 7 hours as you travel from Seville to your final stop in Barcelona. For simple schedule-checking, I like to use the Deutsche Bahn website. No Spanish fares or ticket purchases there, of course.

I can't provide useful advice about the mountain and seacoast stops, but I do like Ronda. Edited to add: Ronda is manageable by public transportation, but whether you want to take the time to travel there that way is something worth thinking about.

You might consider some time in Cordoba, even if it needs to be in transit between Toledo/Madrid and Seville.

Firstly ....

Secondly, if there is nowhere specifically in Andalucia where you want to see the coast (Cadiz, Malaga?), then Barcelona is also on the seaside (plus easy day trips to elsewhere on that coast), so it might be worth staying inland in Andalucia, and doing the coast visit in Catalonia.

Thirdly, Granada by railway is currently a bit of a pain because of the cock-up on building the fast line. But that may well be sorted by next April, so don't rush to make decisions (the physical work is finished, finally, but the IT side has failed the safety tests).

Fourth, Spain's railway system is pretty good. For some routes it is excellent. But for some journeys car will be better, but if you don't want to drive then bus is a better choice than train in terms of speed/convenience, especially the pueblos blancos.

Fifth, do you mean mountain village? That would really mean somewhere from Granada. Or do you mean what are called "white towns"? They are all over, but the famous ones such as Ronda are between Sevilla and Granada so it makes sense to visit whilst travelling between those cities.

I would consider Toledo-Sevilla (going via Madrid for a night)-White Village-Granada-then via flight to Barcelona.

Hey Craig,

Taking the trains between those cities would be more convenient then bus. However, taking a bus to nearby towns might also be necessary to see some sights.

Here is an itinerary from your listing I came up with that can be more efficient.

APRIL:

Thursday. 25th Madrid arrived 8:35am

Friday 26th - Madrid

Saturday 27th – Madrid (Day trip - Train to Toledo early morning and return late evening)

Sunday 28th - Madrid (Day trip -Train to El Escorial Palace - 1 hour from Madrid)

Monday 29th – Granada

Tuesday 30th – Granada (Day trip - Bus to Nerja, Spain)

MAY:

Wednesday 1st – Granada (Day trip - Train to Malaga, Spain)

Thursday 2nd – Granada

Friday 3rd – Seville

Saturday 4th – Seville (Day trip - Train to Cordoba)

Sunday 5th – Seville

(You might consider flying from Seville to Barcelona on May 6th through Ryan air instead of using rail, the train trip can take you close to 6 hours or more. The air fare is cheap.)

Monday 6th - Barcelona

Tuesday 7th – Barcelona (Day trip – Train to Montserrat, Colonia Guell, and Gaudi Crypt)

Wednesday8th – Barcelona – Fly Home

From the itinerary, you will have 4 cities you can be based in that will allow you to take trips to nearby towns so you don’t have to constantly changing hotels. Look into Airbnb for accommodation.

Guys, thank so much for your replies!!!

I was indeed thinking a white hill town like Arcus and a sea coast town like Nerja. Completely, NOT married to a particular village. And, I may be forced to choose sea only or moutain only to keep my logistics simple. I was just thinking some smallish ( not a jet setter beach place) if i go sea coast. A small relaxed southern coastal sea village might be a nice reprieve from the higher intensity places. Or, a white mountain town. My preference would be for one or both to be easily reachable by bus or train from guessing... Granada. or Seville.

I don't mind seeing more Spain countryside on a 7 hour high speed train ride to Barcelona. That's why i added an extra day in Barcelona to make 3. Assuming we arrive later on the first day via train. I love nice trains and and am not excited about doing more planes then needed. I doubt I'll do more than walk the sea boardwalk in Barcelona - from an ocean standpoint in BCL. More interested in other stuff in BCL.

Totally open to bus travel too if make more sense and is more direct then a train on a particular route.

"A small relaxed southern coastal sea village might be a nice reprieve from the higher intensity places. "

That's a perfectly reasonable idea, but the problem is that between Sevilla and Granada such villages don't really exist. Those place are going west to Cadiz or far east to Almeria coasts. I do think, given your limited time, you should stick to inland Andalucia - Sevilla, white town, Granada - and leave the coast for when you arrive in Barcelona and head north for a sea village if you have time.

I suspect that when you start really digging into a guidebook you'll decide that 2 days plus an hour or two is going to be very, very short for Barcelona. You can't just run from sight to sight there at a whim. A lot of the top sights need to be pre-booked with timed tickets. That tends to make for less-than-efficient sightseeing--assuming you want to go inside the key attractions, that is. If you're more wander-around-and-appreciate-the-environment travelers, the time you have allotted may be OK.

"If you're more wander-around-and-appreciate-the-environment travelers, the time you have allotted may be OK." We more foodies and wonder the old city enjoying the architecture and vibe people. Well also rent since we're adult son plus Wife and I and Nita likes to go to market for fresh fish and cook. If in a place three nights well likely cook at least one night.

I love walking old historic cities at night when the light is 100 times more interesting. That's why we won't day trip anywhere. That's why I'm super pumped to spend the night in Toledo, Seville and Granada.

Thinking Ill back off the extra sea coast stop in favor a white town overnight or two.

I highly recommend the ALSA bus. We used it last year to travel from Cordoba to Granada, and then from Granada to Malaga. The buses are comfortable, clean, modern, and air-conditioned. On one of the routes they gave each passenger a small bag with a bottle of water and a cookie! Bus fares are very reasonable, too. I see no reason to take the train to Antequera, and then switch to a bus. Take the ALSA bus all the way to Granada.

Thanks for the ALSA rec I don't see service between Toledo and Granada. I just plugged in Mondays in Nov and December just to see and nothing comes up? Love to bus from Toledo to Granada.

No can do, as far as I know. Whether you're traveling by train or by bus, you first have to go back to Madrid.

Regarding Toledo, it is true that you have to take the train from Toledo to Madrid to get anywhere else by train. I guess the same is true with the bus. So you would have to take the train from Toledo to Madrid, and then take the bus from Madrid to Granada. I assume ALSA must go from Madrid to Granada, so you should check their schedule for that. We took the bus from Cordoba to Granada, and then again from Granada to Malaga, so our itinerary was different from yours.

If there isn't a bus from Madrid to Granada, which would be surprising, could you change your itinerary and go to Seville from Toledo by train (you have to change trains in Madrid), and then go to Granada from Seville by bus. I know ALSA bus goes from Seville to Granada.