How many days to spend in major cities of Portugal and Spain

4 days in Barcelona is about 2 days too long....shift them to Granada and Sevilla. Toledo should be done as a day trip out of Madrid....the AVE high speed link between the two is up and running now. Remember, you're also going to need time to get from one point to another. Driving Lisbon-Madrid or Madrid-Barcelona, then finding your way to your accommodation will take up most of a day.

You don't say what interests you; but Barcelona is a feast for lovers of art and achitecture. There are all the Gaudi and other Modernista sites, the Museum of the Art of Catalunya (Romanesque and Gothic), the Picasso Museum, the Miro Museum. There is an excellent Museum of the History of Barcelona. There is the Bari Gotic and the cathedral. Plus, you'll want to leave some time for just walking around. Four days isn't too much at all. You are planning to cover a lot of ground. Have you considered that you will be spending much time getting from one place to another? Personally, I would scrap Morocco.

Depending on your interests, 4 days in Barcelona might be too little. There is quite a bit to see, you might even take a Cava tasting tour and go the the vineyards (Codorniu, Freixenette) and visit the Monastery of Montserrat which is surrounded by mountains. There is a lot of art, beaches and you might even try going to the Costa Brava near by. Granada is also beautiful and you will need more than one day to see the Alhambra and visit the teashops.

Thanks for the help. I do love art and want to see the Picaso museum for sure. I know from being in other big European cities that you need a few days or more to see them. I will also have to consider travel time.
Why would you not consider Morocco?
thanks

I would eliminate Morocco because it's a different culture, language, currency, etc. You won't have enough time to really get into it; and, it's yet another day of traveling. You can get the time and toll rates for driving if you go to www.viamichelin.com (similar to mapquest). Just plug in your starting points and destinations, and you will get that information along with directions. You might also want to plan the Spanish part of your itinerary so that you don't have a car in Madrid or Barcelona. Driving in large European cities is pure misery, and parking is invariably very expensive. Even dropping off a rental car at a city office can be an exercise in extreme frustration. We always try to drop off at an airport or nearby town.

Thanks Rosalyn. The Morocco part makes sense.
I agree that a car in the big city is terrible I once drove out of London with no sleep the night before.
We were thinking of coming into Lisbon, see the city and then get car as we leave Lisbon for Southern Portugal and Southern Spain. My wife can only stay 10 days so we were thinking of her flying out of Madrid which I would drop off the car. From there IO might use public transportation. Not sure if it is best to fly to Barcelonia?
does that make any sense?
How would a car be in Sevilla and Granada/Toledo?

Hey Stew. There is a very hefty fee for picking up a car in Portugal and dropping off in Spain. Also, we flew the opposite, from Barcelona to Madrid on Iberia and it was cheaper than train fare, about 45 Euros. There is also a budget airline called Vueling and I saw airfare from Madrid to Barcelona for about 26 Euros on their website.

One thing you might want to look into, is flying from Lisbon to Barcelona and then driving down southward.

Car rental-wise you might want to check www.pepecar.com Although I must mention that their focus is low-cost, no-service. The car will probably have a pepecar logo on a door, so you might even look as if you were a Pizza Delivery car, but you will have a 16 Euro a day car rental.

I did two nights in Barcelona and I wish I had at least one more night.
Do three I say

I would fly to Barcelona. We spent 4 days in
and I would go back in a minute. Sevilla is not
hard to drive in nor is Granada. Toledo is a
nightmare.

Wear a moneybelt inside your pants in Madrid and
Barcelona. They can pick your pocket and you won't
feel a thing.