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Valencia & Andalucia February 2026

Posted by on

Hello, will you please critique this loose 2 1/2 week itinerary. My husband wants to visit Valencia and I want to visit Andalucia. Flying to Madrid is less expensive than flying to Valencia.

  • fly to Madrid from Chicago
  • train to Toledo from Madrid, should we stay in Toledo or Madrid? Not planning to sight see in Madrid.
  • train to Valencia from Madrid, staying in Valencia a few nights.
  • train to Cordoba from Madrid, staying in Cordoba a few nights
  • train to Granada from Cordoba, staying in Granada a few nights
  • train to Sevilla from Granada, staying in Sevilla a few nights
  • fly to Lisbon from Sevilla, staying in Lisbon one night. Not planning to sight see in Lisbon.
  • fly to Chicago from Lisbon

Will we have time for day trips to El Caminito del Rey, Ronda, Malaga, Gibralter?

I always enjoy reading your posts and have used those recommendations for past travels! Thank you for your time. :)

Posted by
30 posts

Hi Nick,

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Andalusia!

Regarding Lisboa, we don't want to back track to Madrid after Sevilla, we already spent 8-days in Portugal this year, we're planning on having dinner at a fabulous Lisbon restaurant (Atalho Real) the night before we fly out and it was the cheapest way for us to fly back to the U.S. If we were to go back to Portugal some day, we would like to spend more time in Porto and also visit Coimbra, Nazare, Cascais, Evora, Lagos, and Albufeira. We saw plenty of Lisbon while we were there earlier this year.

Posted by
30 posts

Hi Nick, you are not being negative at all and I appreciate the feedback! :)

I'm usually the lead on our trips and he doesn't make requests, but this time he requested Valencia to be added to the itinerary. I know it would free up more time in Andalusia if we cut out Valencia, but I don't have the heart to tell him not this time. He does want to drive, so maybe I can give in to the driving if we could cut out Valencia. We were in northern Spain and Barcelona earlier this year, so this time, my focus is southern Spain. Too many places, too little time!

At this time, I've made lodging reservations (using Rick Steves forum recommendations) in Madrid (Toledo day trip), Valencia, Cordoba, Granada and Sevilla. The reservations are easily cancellable with a full refund.

Posted by
2194 posts

As Nick says, it's difficult to connect Valencia with Andalucia by train. I would consider one of the following options:

  • From Valencia, fly to Seville, then do all your Andalucia travel.
  • Start with Andalucia, then fly to Valencia, then fly to Lisbon.

You don't say your specific dates, but if your 2 1/2 weeks extends into March, and you save Valencia for the end of your trip, you'll be there for the start of Las Fallas and have a chance to see some of the fallas being built and to experience the mascletá.

Posted by
594 posts

There's a direct train from Valencia to Cordoba - I know because I didn't take it! No, only joking, I only found out about it when I'd already organised my trip.
Not much choice on times, (just one a day at the moment) but saves a lot of hassle.
On renfe for example I looked for a random date in September:
Leaves Valencia at
09:14 h
3 horas 28 minutos
12:42 arrives Cordoba

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