SPAIN itinerary

You may not recognise this as a big country but it is by European standards. With tens of thousands of 'sites' to see and cultural variety. 'Will be there for 10 days.' - Including or excluding entry and exit days which are mostly wasted? Where do you fly into and out of? My advice is to write down what your vision of Spain is and what you might want to see that interests you. Hit the guide books and recognise travelling this country is sometimes not an easy task and in some instances very time consuming. With ten days (whatever you mean) you have little or no time to see 'the Spains. I suggest you stick to two cities, with side/day trips, but without exit and entry points ........!?

Neil is right. Pick two main cities and make one day side trips from there. If you've never been to Spain start with the capital Madrid and then decide weather you want to go north or south from there. Or start north like Barcelona and work south. You can't miss.
Read other postings on this site to see what people are writing on Spain. You will get great ideas.

The prior posters give good advice. Barcelona is the "Paris of Spain" according to some. A very nice and big city with side trips to enjoy. Madrid, the capital, is truly Spanish and fascinating as well. Of the two I would personally choose to be based in Madrid, with side trips to Salamanca, Toledo, Sevilla. Do research on each of these. You will not be disappointed. Highly recomment the Moon Guide to Spain by Candy Lee LaBalle. Filled with good information on the sights, activities, and history. Can find it on Amazon I think. Also, checkout www.madridman.com - His site has more than just Madrid, and has postings from various people around the world who have traveled in Spain.

I recommend that you grab a couple of guidebooks. Most have suggested itineraries based on the number of days you'll be visiting. Your ultimate choices will be dictated somewhat by how you plan to travel (bus/train or rental car). In one busy 10-day visit you could see Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Grenada, and Barcelona. That assumes less time in Toledo, Grenada, and Seville and more time split between Madrid and Barcelona. Good luck.

I would choose north or south. Is there a right answer? No. What time of year are you going? For me, if it's close to summer, pick north. If it's winter, pick south. For north, your itinerary should be Madrid and Barcelona and work some side trips around those two. If south, think Seville, Cordoba, Granada with maybe a side trip. A third possibility, but I wouldn't choose it for your first visit, is the Atlantic Coast in the north. There's plenty to see there too.

Galacia, Asturias, Cantabria, and Extremadura are also interesing parts of Spain. They just haven't been included in Holy Scripture.

"In one busy 10-day visit you could see Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Grenada, and Barcelona." Yikes. Not only is that way too much moving around in 10 days, you'll have a heck of a time including Grenada. Try Granada instead. No one can really answer this question well without knowing what your flight plans are. Into and out of Madrid? Or Barcelona? Or Sevilla or Malaga or ???? Or open-jaws, into on apirport and out from another? Also what time of year?

I suppose the big cities are "musts" for first time travelers. I personsonally find them over crowded and sometimes less friendly than the smaller towns. Our favorite village (northwest) is Avila. The Hotel Rastro is still vivid in our minds 15 years later. It's small and built into the wall that surrounds the village. The most enormous, inviting fireplace in lobby and friendly, informative staff. We happened to be there during a festival so, that added to our experience. Also, along the southern coast, we much enjoyed the small town of Faro. Stayed in a small hotel overlooking the Mediterranean...very romantic.
If you need some honing up on your Spanish, I suggest trying www.busuu.com. It is free for one month and was quite helpful with our recent trip to France. Have a wonderful adventure!

Hmmm... Brad hasn't come back to give us any more information so I'm not sure what more we can say. I'd like to sit down with Brad for a couple weeks and tell him everything he can do in Spain during his 10-day visit from coast-to-coast. ;) 10-days is a decent amount of time to see 2 cities and maybe a couple of side-trips, too. Maybe Barcelona and then Madrid? Maybe Madrid and then Seville? Saludos, MadridMan @ you-know-where!