Your Favorite experiences or things to do in 3 cities Madrid Seville and Barcelona

In addition to the Madrid museums you have listed, you might want to consider the Reina Sofia Museum.

If you don't have a Rick Steves Spain book, purchase one to obtain lots of great advice & much more detail than we can share in this space.

I haven't been to Barcelona, but we went to Madrid (3 days) and Seville (5 days). I see that you've mentioned smaller towns, i.e. Toledo, Cordoba, Ronda, etc. If you're trying to avoid tourists, the best way is to stay overnight in those smaller towns. We really enjoyed our two days in Toledo, two days in Ronda and one day in Cordoba mainly because we could walk through the towns in the early morning and evenings before/after the day-tourist crowds had left - a completely different atmosphere.

Highlights for us in Madrid:
Royal Palace (purchase your tickets ahead of time)
Prado Museum
Husband went to a bullfight
Exploring the Mercado de San Miguel, Plaza Mayor and Calle Mayor
Retiro Park

Highlights for us in Seville:
Alcazar (purchase your tickets ahead of time)
Bike Ride Tour
Cooking Class at Triana Market
Plaza de Espana
Flamenco Show
Walking around the neighborhoods
Check the transportation options for the day-trips you've listed, too. Ronda is 2.5 hours each way by bus. Granada is even farther.

Just visited Spain in October for two weeks. We went to Barcelona, Madrid (side trips to Segovia and Toledo), Granada, and Seville. We took public transportation. Here is some feedback for each City on what we like and if we had to do it over, we would pass on.

Barcelona: 4 nights & 3 days

• Loved, loved, loved our hotel--Hotel MidMost. Great location, service, and breakfast. We were lucky enough to get a patio. This is a high-end experience with local flair and reasonable prices.
• During the three days, we had plenty of time to see the sites and more
• Sagrada Famiglia (must get tickets in advance as they sell out during tourist season). The tower is stunning, but you need to walk down in a very narrow passage, recommended if you are in good shape.
• Park Guell, spent about 3.5 hours there. Purchase tickets in advance to go into the Monument Zone, but take time to visit the rest of the park--great people watching, wonderful musicians. If we had to do it over, we would have brought a picnic. Even crowded, it is relaxing.
• Picasso Museum: wonderful small museum; get the audio guide, it is worth it. I have seen Picasso's all over the world, including the museum in Antibes, but this is the museum that does the best to take you through his journey as a young artist to an established master. Around the corner is a great food court, Catalonia style-- Mercat Princesa. Pick from a variety of vendors serving tapas, wine, beer, and vermouth. Reasonably priced and nice mix of locals and tourist. Make sure you spend some time in the El Born, loved the shopping and people watching.
• Make time to celebrate--our list was like yours and they were having their annual saints festival, Catalonian freedom protests, all mixed together and we just adjusted. The parade passed by our hotel and it was cool to hang out with all the local families. Fireworks from the terrace were amazing. Last time I went to Barcelona in December, I went to all the Christmas markets and events. --Visit the La Boqueria early or skip it and go to Santa Caterina market. We took a cooking class and market tour and it was one of the highlights of the trip. --We spent very little time on the Ramblas, crowded and expensive.

Madrid: 4 days with side trips on two of the days.

• Our best experience in Madrid was taking the Devour Tour for Tapas. We learned about how to enjoy Tapas and got great recommendations for local places from our guide. Many of the places we visited, we were the only English speaking folks.
• Love the Prada (been there 3x before and it is a must see for Spanish Art). Went to the Sofia Reina instead of the Thysen. The palace is must see and buy tickets in advance--they sell out early. Time your visit to see the changing of the guards.
• Day trips from Toledo and Segovia are easy, but you will need to plan ahead. We booked the night before and most of the tickets for Toledo were sold out. For Segovia, I wanted to wine taste and found a company--winebus that combined wine tasting and Segovia. One of the best experiences on the entire trip--great wine, food, and a magical view of the castle from the bluff overlooking the city.

Southern Spain: spend two days in Granada, could have spent a week. The Alhambra is a must (purchase tickets up to 3 months in advance). Stayed in the center of town, next time will AirBnB and stay in the caves. Take the Free Walking Tour, buy cookies from the cloistered nuns. We took the Devour Tour here as well and we had some of the best food in Spain.

We had two days in Seville and it was not enough. We saw Flaminco in Seville (small theatre, no food, just the performers, only one seat away from the stage. See the cathedral and the Alcazar, but buy tickets. The rest of the time, we people watched, ate like the locals. If I had to do it over again, would have spent less time in Barcelona and more time in Seville.

Whatever you choose, you will have a great time.

I did a search of your other posts. It would really be helpful if you would include more information in each new post. You wrote in one of them that you are flying R/T Barcelona arriving April 22. It helps to know the time of year.

Madrid Allow a full day for the Prado, it's huge. The audio guide is very good. Plan in advance what bits you most want to see and figure out where they are. Their website has lots of information. The Thyssen is much smaller. Roughly speaking the Prado has paintings through the 18th c. The Thyssen carries on from there with lots of Impressionists. The Reina Sofia follows the saga from the 20th c. The Thyssen and Reina Sofia are smaller, allow 2-3 hours each. The Royal Palace included several small interesting museums, plan on several hours. I really enjoyed the Naval Museum (take passports), much about the Golden Age of Exploration. It's on the boulevard between the Prado and the Thyssen. The San Miguel Market is a great place for tapas - lunch or early supper. I liked the HOHO buses, but the commentary was dull and poorly timed. Then someone suggested listening to the kids' channel - much more interesting. Since you are planning day trips, stay somewhere near the metro for easy access. My choice is the Europa Hotel on Puerto del Sol, easy to get to/from the airport and train station by cercanias/metro just meters away, central location, great staff.

Sevilla First, Granada is NOT a day trip from anywhere. If you want to visit the Alhambra, you need to spend 2 nights in Granada. You can get there by train/bus from Cordoba (2 hours) or Sevilla (3+ hours). Then fly to Barcelona. Ronda is about a 3 hour ride from Sevilla. You could day trip to Arcos (one of the pueblos blancos) from Sevilla - take the train to Jerez, then the bus to Arcos. I think there are buses directly from Sevilla, but they are few and far between. If you want day trips, go to Jerez for the horse show at the Royal Equestrian School and a sherry bodega tour. Cadiz is also a good day trip from Sevilla by train. You could even combine the two, though it would be a very busy day.

Barcelona I agree with Sandy's description of the Picasso Museum. If you are fans of Picasso, you will find it interesting to see his development. The museum focuses on his very early years (teens) and there's a lot about the development of cubism. Not much else. My favorite modernisme sight is the Palau de la Musica. The TI's modernisme walking tour was excellent - a great introduction to the city's architecture and an eye-opener: there's a lot of moderisme that you can easily walk past without seeing if you don't know to look for it. Don't go out of your way to see Las Ramblas - you will walk through it more than once or twice and that suffices. Go to Figueres early, spend the morning at the museums, then stop in Girona on the way back for the afternoon/evening. You have nothing on Montjuic???? MNAC? Miro? Magic Fountain?

We always try to take a cooking class. The class that we took in Madrid was great. We learned to make a variety of tapas while drinking sangria. You learn a lot more in a cooking class than just the cooking. During several hours of one on one with a native many interesting topics can be discussed. Cooking classes are always a high point in our travels.

Barcelona: Sant Pau Modernista Site (the rare top Barcelona sight that doesn't require pre-booking) and Palau de la Musica Catalana (tour required, offered by the facility itself).

Madrid: Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales. You'll want to get an English-language tour unless you can undeddtand Spanish. This is not easy. The alternative is to read Rick's description multople times until you have internalized it.

"...ways to spend time." Attend a soccer (fútbol) match! Some of the greatest soccer in the world is played in Spain. We went in Madrid, but you should be able to find a quality match in any of these cities unless you are traveling out of season.
Have a great trip!

We will be traveling in May for about 3 weeks. I do have the Rick Steves Book and have used the internet to search ideas and suggestions as well.
I thought it would be a good idea to hear about first hand experiences from travelers to help us figure my schedule. You have all shared some good insights from your experiences.
A few of you mentioned cooking class and that is something We will want to add to our schedule in either Seville or Barcelona. We did that in Italy and it is something we still talk about. So much so that we try to incorporate a cooking or food tour in our trips.
I am sure other travelers to these cities will enjoy your suggestions and comments...please continue..
Thank you.

I will add another recommendation for Devour Tours in Madrid. In September, I did the "Hidden Markets" tour and it was a highlight of my trip. I am planning on going back to Madrid and Toledo in early February and will probably take another Devour Tour when I visit.

Granada, Ronda, and the white towns are not advisable as day trips from Sevilla.

Madrid - my favorites would be the Prado and Reina Sofia museums, and a day trip to Toledo. I used to suggest an overnight in Toledo because it is so crowded with day visitors during the day. It is beautifully lit at night but also very quiet (lots of restaurants are closed, there isn't the vibrant street life you find in towns with more population). It depends on what you want from your evening - wandering with the streets to yourself or a more lively scene back in Madrid. So do at least a day, possibly an overnight, in Toledo.

Seville - Alcazar, Cathedral, wander barrio santa cruz, and flamenco concert or club are the must dos. Cordoba, too. The white towns and Ronda are great but not worth the time if you would miss the highlights of Seville. Plaza Espana is pretty but again, not as old or interesting as the other places to me. I haven't been to the bullring or the amusement park.
Granada is absolutely a highlight of Spain, but it really can't be done as a day from Seville. Even if technically possible with a tour group, you'd miss a lot.

Barcelona - Sagrada Familia, wander the barri gotic and santa maria del mar church, and one of the Gaudi houses (I liked Casa Batllo best). Go to the beach if you like beaches.

And from Sevilla, one hour by Train, you must visit Jerez de la Frontera, with one of the most interesting wine of the world: Sherry called Jerez in Spain

You have a lot of Bodegas to visit

My two cents...