Spain in a week

Sorry - a typo in my post - we are flying in and out of Madrid!

No. The train ride from Barcelona to Madrid is three hours. Add another on each end to get to and from the station. Half of the day is completely shot and you haven't even dumped your stuff in a hotel and gone about your business yet. Going to Seville, you have to pass through Madrid and continue on after a change for a couple more hours. That's the whole day gone, except for maybe supper. Barcelona and Madrid is the full limit. That gives you the arrival night and one more in Barcelona, three in Madrid, and the night before the departure flight back in Barcelona. In that time you will have used up a full day moving back and forth between the two, so you won't see much of either. You might want to stick to just Barcelona and its surrounds, which is almost too much for six nights. You're in a pickle.

Ack! Missed the amendment. Use the above logic and make it Madrid and Seville. That would work out pretty well and you might be able to squish in either Toledo or Cordoba.

If you really want to do this, fly into Barcelona and out of Seville (or vice versa). Even if you do that, you will only have 1-1.5 days in each place, once you account for travel times between them. If you fly RT to Madrid, you lose even more time. The train from Madrid to Barcelona or from Madrid to Seville is about 3 hours, and you will have to return to Madrid the day before to make sure you don't miss your flight. I'm not saying it's "impossible" - just inadvisable. If your only goal is to say you've "been in" the three cities, you can do it (and after you finish, you're all set for The Amazing Race). But if you actually want to see anything, you should focus on 2 of your destinations, and even that will be tight. Remember that the day of arrival is often a jet-lagged haze, and you lose at least a half day when you change cities (train travel time itself, plus getting to and from the station, checking in and out of hotels, etc). For trains between your destinations, follow this very thorough tutorial from TripAdvisor: http://tinyurl.com/cu48wk5. Advance booking can save a lot of money, although it can be tricky. For flights between Barcelona and Seville (if you do still want to see all three), look at Skyscanner: http://www.skyscanner.com/. But to connect Madrid to either city, the train will be much faster. In such a short visit, making precise sightseeing plans will be important. Be sure you look at Rick Steves Spain and other guidebooks and websites to map out a plan for your personal must-sees, before you arrive.

You both have been very helpful - really appreciate the advice. As much as I'd love to see Barcelona, it looks like that will be a different trip. We thought about trying to fly into Barcelona and out of Madrid but too costly. So, I think we'll do Madrid and Sevilla. Really appreciate it!

I'm curious about your statement that flying open jaw is too costly. Are you booking it as a "multi-city" ticket, or as two one-way trips? And open jaw ticket should not be much different than a round trip.

Thx for all the tips - including the open jaw tips! I need to look into that next time. Really appreciate it!!!

I would go straight to Seville. Then to Madrid with a stop in Cordoba to see the Mezquita at least. Madrid at the end, with a day trip to Toledo as a possibility. That's plenty for 6 days.

To find open jaw flights, look for the "multi city" or "multiple destinations" option on Kayak, Orbitz, etc. Don't book it as two one-way tickets, as that's much more expensive. Particularly with short trips such as yours, open jaw flights are well worth any additional expense, and, as others have said, it may not even be more expensive.

I recommend either Madrid - Sevilla or Madrid-Barcelona. 2 1/2 hours via AVE from Madrid to Sevilla 2 1/2 hours via AVE from Madrid to Barcelona There are enough sights in each city to fill the time you have. And the stop in Cordoba recommended by another is doable on the way to Sevilla as well.

Thanks so much for the great tips!!

I think your Madrid-Sevilla plan is reasonable. Depending on how fast-paced you travel, or what your interests are, you can potentially add a stop in Cordoba and even a daytrip to Toledo.

Just to support Nancy's statement. Almost all of our trips are open jaw. We have never found open jaw to be more expensive and sometimes it is cheaper. For our next trip we are using ff points and going into Amsterdam and home from Rome for the same points that a RT to Rome or Amsterdam would have been.