Spain itinerary...HELP!

Not a bad plan, but seems a bit rushed to me (and I move at a pace that many here would say is crazy). A few items that seem notable to me: 1. Stop counting your arrival/departure days. Day 1 is really your Day 2. You have 12 days there - start thinking of this as a 12 day trip and it will help you keep your schedule realistic. 2. You can not do both Toledo and Segovia in the same day - they're in opposite directions. I'd also argue that each deserves an overnight - especially Toledo, which is mobbed by the crush of day-trippers from 10am-4pm every day, but is delightfully empty and magical after the hoards all leave. It's worth staying overnight to get the better experience. Consider this: Madrid to Toledo by train mid-afternoon. Spend the night. Next day rent a car and drive to Segovia, with a short stop in Avila (Avila is not easily reached by train). Continue to Segovia, drop car and spend the night there. Next day, train back to Madrid. 3. Yes, you can "do" Cordoba as a Day trip on the way between Madrid & Sevilla - it's a good choice on a short trip. 4. Good plan to rent a car in Sevilla and drive to Granada via the white hill towns. But I'd strongly recommend Arcos as your overnight stop rather than Ronda. See Ronda on the way to Granada. 5. Be careful with your timing of Granada & the Alhambra - be sure you get tickets far in advance with your tight timing. 6. Honestly, I'd consider cutting San Sebastian/Basque country from this trip (I know, I know...). It's way out of the way and adds 2 full days driving to your trip. Redistribute those days elsewhere and you will have a much less frenzied trip. 7. Why go all the way back to Madrid? Fly open jaws into Madrid, out of Barcelona and save a lot of time - which you can better use on a 12 day trip. Hope that helps.

We took the train from Madrid to San Sebastian. We love SB but you didn't mention when you were going. We went in early June and had one day of great weather, two fine days and one of endless rain. My daughter studied there one summer and enjoyed their many festivals but she said September started getting too cold. As it was the end of our family vacation both daughters flew out of SB airport connecting in Madrid for international flights and we continued on to France.

Trish - We did a trip close to your itinerary in reverse without San Sebastian a few years ago. We spent 4 nights in Barcelona then flew to Granada and spent two nights. We then rented a car and drove to Ronda, spending the night before driving to Sevilla and ping the car. After two nights in Sevilla we took the train to Madrid for 5 nights stopping in Cordoba on the way (didn't see anything but the Mezquita). We did day trips to Toledo and Segovia from Madrid. Observations from the trip - Loved the trip and want to return to Spain but there are a few things I would have done differently.... - Ronda was a great place to stay (at the Parador) but would have liked an extra day driving the hill towns to stop in Arcos for the night. - Would have liked an extra day in Sevilla. - Would have stayed in Toledo. We did stay after dark and took the last train back, but the town is magical after dark. Didn't book train tickets in advance (beginning of October) and had to wait for a later train because earlier trains were sold out, cutting our time in Toledo for the day. - Would not have done a long day trip of El Escorial, Valley of the Fallen and Segovia. We didn't have enough time in Segovia. - Day trip from Barcelona - loved Montserrat - took the funiculars and did some hiking - the views were amazing. - We didn't have time to go to Park Guell and wished we had fit it in. Enjoy your trip!

Generally speaking, it's very rushed and you should consider cutting back. In my opinion this is too little time in Madrid, which is one of the most underrated cities in Europe. You could split up, but the art lovers will want to see the Prado and the Thiessen (also the Reina Sofia for Guernica). Don't forget El Escorial, and Toledo deserves an overnight. Seville is good for three nights, two full days -- o.k. to visit Cordoba on the way (but on our next trip, we will stay overnight there as it seemed intriguing on our last visit.) Barcelona is good for three nights and two fulls days, as you plan, but another day would be better. I have never been to Arcos, but Ronda is great. Consider taking night train between Granada and Barcelona. We did it in the opposite direction, and it worked great. It may only be an hour or two on the plane, but the before and after suck up a lock of time.

We were in Spain two years ago and the highlight for us was San Sebastian. We spent 3 days/4 nights there and wished for more - the food was sooooo good, and so interesting. Also the beach was gorgeous and we could've spent every single day there. Barcelona was great too - and so vastly different from San Sebastian - our 3 days there were perfect. Madrid was interesting but it was HOT. I don't know when you're going but we were there in August and it was borderline intolerable. We rented an apartment in a complex that had a pool and without that we would've melted. It was 38C (100F) but with all of the concrete buildings it felt even hotter than that. I thought I was in a tandoori oven! Don't get me wrong, I still liked it, but the temperature definitely affected our trip. We never made it south - we're saving that for another trip. Instead we spent a week in a small town between Barcelona and the French border which was so lovely and relaxing. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time doing whatever you choose - just be careful of trying to pack too much in to too little time. It's hard to really get a feel for a place when you're just popping in and out. In any case, enjoy!

The advice from the posters here (particularly David) is spot-on. I'd cut at least one destination, because otherwise you're doing a LOT of moving around for 12 days. If you do end up in San Sebastian, fly home from there. Or if you end in Barcelona, fly home from there. On a short trip, you don't have time to return to Madrid, even if it "saves money" (and it may not even cost more). You only have 1 day in Seville, which I think you'll regret. Either spend more nights there, or skip it entirely in favor of another place. You can't see everything on one trip, and to see all the places you listed, you'd need about 18 nights, not 12. Yes, with a tight itinerary, you need to get Alhambra tickets in advance. "The group has varying interests: history, food, wine, art and contact with the people of Spain." You can accomplish all of these anywhere in the country. Of course, someone will soon chime in that the best food is in the Basque country, or the best art is in Madrid. But, it's still true that you can get your fill of these elsewhere too. So, accept that you can't see everything, cut down the number of destinations, and then you'll actually enjoy where you do go. If someone does have a specific "must" (say, the art in the Prado, or the wines of a certain region), then that's a great way to focus the trip, and use that as a building block to help eliminate other places.

Actually, driving from San Sebastian to Madrid is rather nice. Road time is between four and five hours, leaving you time for stops in both Vitoria and Burgos. Plus, San Sebastian is a dinky airport so you're going to probably have to go through Madrid anyway. Unless you make the first leg the night before (the same day you'd be constructively driving), I think it's an uncomfortably tight connection.

Hi Trish, Really is hard to choose on that list as all the towns that you are mentioning deserve a visit and if you have a group with varying interests is sure you will like all places. Toledo and Segovia both are worthy to do from Madrid, but it is true in the same day is not possible. I think the morning there and afternoon in Madrid of two days would be good. I would not scape the Basque Country in your trip, is a nice and surprising corner up here. On your car drive from San Sebastian to Madrid, Vitoria and Burgos worth a visit. Of course, it will be fast in most places, but then you can make your mind and see the variety of regions in Spain. Depending on the time of the year Sevilla and Cordoba can be VERY hot, and San Sebastian, VERY clowdy and rainy. Just take it into consideration.
Enjoy, Aitor Delgado

Thank you for your kind and helpful responses. We have agreed to save San Sebastian for our next trip.

I am planning my trip to Spain in September and 15 days (not including travel days). There is so much to see there but I decided to spend more time in each place so that I can really experience the local culture. I did this in Italy and found it much better than a rushed tour, IMHO. It depends on what you are interested in seeing - I am a huge history geek, and Madrid doesn't hold much interest for me as it's too "new" compared to Southern Spain. Schedule as of now: Day Arrival day Overnight in Madrid 1 train to Malaga, pick up car hire, drive to outside Granada (Villa in countryside for 7 nights) 2 explore countryside/coast 3 explore countryside/coast 4 Granada/ Alhambra tickets 5 explore countryside/coast 6 explore countryside/coast OR return to Granada if need more time there 7 explore countryside/coast 8 drive to Malaga & return car, take train to Sevilla 9 Sevilla 10 Sevilla 11 day in Sevilla, late afternoon train to Cordoba 12 Cordoba 13 Cordoba (day trip to surrounding area) 14 Cordoba 15 train to Sevilla, overnight in Madrid
Departure day

So you are flying into and out of Spain through Madrid, but aren't actually spending any time there to visit one of the world's great cities? Madrid, Toledo and Segovia are each worthy of one day and one night on even the most hurried itinerary ....

Tema, you might want to re-post in a separate thread, rather than conflating your trip with someone else's (who had a very different plan).

David does well. The problem with Spain is there is so much to see. For San Sebastian, it's more convenient from Madrid. If you want to see Burgos too, I'd probably rent a car in Madrid (when you first get there) drive through Pamplona (Olite near Pamplona has a nice little castle you can tour), then drive to San Sebastian. You can then drive to Burgos, and back to Madrid through Segovia. I liked staying in Ronda. Between Ronda and Granada, you can stop at Antequera for some stone age Dolmens (tombs) that are fairly unique. We stayed a night in Cordoba, but it's not a bad stop to just see the Mesquita and continue on to Seville.