Best cities in Spain for first timers?

We were in Spain for 2 weeks in April and had an amazing time! We flew into Barcelona, took the bullet train to Sevilla, rented a car and did Arcos, Ronda, Granada, back to Sevilla, and then trained to Madrid, where we did Segovia and Toledo. We flew home from Madrid. We felt like it was ALMOST too much, but good. If we had to do it over, we would skip Arcos, add Cordoba, and maybe skip Segovia, adding some a day into some of those other places. Have fun!

Madrid - The capital...Prado, Park Retrio, Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Lots of good restaurants, places to see in addition to those noted above, and good places to stay from hostals, to plush hotels. Check out www.madridman.com for lots of information. Also, The Moon Guide To Spain, for all of Spain. Toledo....25 minute train ride from Madrid. Stay overnight if possible. Hostal de Manolo is excellent choice. City is build in prehistoric, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, all rolled into a modern existence. The Cathedral, Santa Tome Church, Santa Cruz museum, Military Museum (Alcazar), El Greco and much much more. Sevilla, 2 /12 hours train ride from Madrid, (Again from the Atocha station) Home of Columbus's adventures. See his original writings, Carmen's site, Don Juan also. Again, overnight is best. Segovia 3/4 hour from Madrid via bus. Acqeduct from Roman times, Alcazar, The Cathderal (all cities seem to have their's) Home of Isabella the Catholic. Day trip is sufficient. Barcelona - The Paris of Spain...different in a good way from the rest of the country...language, politics, etc. Sagurda Familia, Picasso, Gaudi, Gaudi, Gaudi....great sea port area. Zamora - off the beaten tourist track, about 2 hours from Madrid.. Childhood home of El Cid...excellent castle restoration. Near Salamanca, university town with much to see. Beautiful Plaza Mayor -described as the most beautiful in Spain with justification. Also, nearby is Avila, oldest walled city. Beautiful.. home of Saint Teresa of Avila. You will not go wrong with any of these.

Barcelona 3 days Madrid 3 days Seville 2 days Ave train for travel GoSpain is a good web site Tapas tour in madrid
Flamenco in Seville Urge a visit to granada/Alhambra Recommend staying longer in each place and doing day trips

In December I'd head to southern Spain. I've travelled in Spain in early November and the northern sections can be very cold and snowy. I'd suggest Seville, Jerez, Cordoba, Granada, and maybe some beach time near the white villages. If you are travelling by car there are lots of little towns in between these destinations.

Andalusia - best weather, wonderful sights, tons of history, Moorish influences everywhere, beautiful scenery. I took the 6.15 am flight, train from the airport to Cordoba via Atocha Station (Madrid) and had plenty of time to sightsee that day. There's lots of Jewish history, don't miss Casa de Sefarad and the synagogue across the street and the Mezquita is a wow. See the evening show at the Royal Horse Stables. Then it's a 45 minute train ride to Seville. The Alcazar is another wow. There are no good tourist maps for Seville and I kept getting lost and wandering the maze of streets, maybe that's why Seville wasn't among my favorites - but still, not to be missed. From there I went the Jerez which is nice enough and a good base. Day trip to Cadiz by train and day trip to Arcos by bus. Then I spent a couple of days in Rondo, which was one of my favorites. Given the choice, I'd skip Jerez. Rondo is accessible by train. I rented a car in Jerez to spend a few days in the pueblos blancos and Antequera on the way to Granada. Here again, I wasn't so impressed with Granada itself, but the Alhambra was the main reason I wanted to go to Spain and it did not disappoint me. I took the evening tour and then spent a full day there, and was pleased I did both. From Granada, it's about 5 hours (bus or train) to Madrid. I had 2-1/2 days there before flying back. There's a 10.55 p.m. flight.