Spain

Thanks for your feedback. It helps.
Now I have to find reasonable hotels in all those places!
Sandy

Personally - I would spend less time in Barcelona and add that onto your days in Andalucia 2 days in Seville seems short. Unless your plan was to spend those days on the beach.

However - I am partial - I prefer the green of Andalucia to the city of Barcelona.

I wouldn't skip Cordoba on the way to Seville. You could stop for 2 nights and a day for a worthwhile visit. My wife and I liked Cordoba as much as Seville. It's an easy train ride from Madrid.

I recently spent a month in Spain, and personally, I loved Andalucia a lot more than the rest. If I went back I would spend some time in Madrid, and the rest in the south (Cordoba, Sevilla, and Granada). My favorite city of all was Sevilla. It's just a lovely city, laid-back, with nice sights and people. But I truly also enjoyed the Mezquita in Cordoba as well as just walking around the winding old streets there, as well as the wonderful concert I attended at the Center for the Memory of Al-Andaluz, and would not have wanted to miss Granada and the Alhambra. I also enjoyed the tapas bars and the kebab places in Granada. I didn't love Barcelona as much as most people seem to -- too crowded, too touristy, not that special (aside from the Gaudi architecture). nb I would skip the inside of the Sagrada Familia. See the Casa Battlo; it's much cooler. Que disfrute su viaje a Espana.

I agree with Liz down the line (except that she forgot to mention the baths just outside the Mezquita in Cordoba (bring a bathing suit and ease your knapsack sore shoulders in a real piece of history!) Spain is not know for its technological innovations or for its general level of culture -- the people here are what make the country worthwhile. The further south one gets the more time the people are willing to spend with a foreigner. I would add two days to the Andaluz leg of the trip at the expense of spending only two days in Barcelona. However, whatever way you chose to do it, you'll have a great trip.

Thanks to you all for your helpful advice!
Sandy

HI Sandy,

David here, New Yorker living in southern Spain.

With the new service on the RENFE-AVE, hi-speed train, you could stay in Andalusia longer than you thought as there is now very convenient service from Malaga to Barcelona (6 hours). Take the AVE from Madrid Atocha to Sevilla (2.5 hrs). In Sevilla, I would recommend Hotel Simon, http://www.hotelsimonsevilla.com/, located in the heart of the city, just near the cathedral in an old converted mansion townhouse. I stayed there my first trip to Sevilla by chance and loved it. Very near lots of tapas places as well.
You can also hire a car easily at the Sevilla Station but there is train service to Cordoba and Granada from there as well. Bus service e to the Ronda area in Malaga (where I am living).

Have a great time.

Thanks for that helpful advice!
Sandy