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Thoughts on (final?) Spain Itinerary

Posted by (Champaign) on

We will be in Spain for 18 days starting mid-October. We arrive and leave from Madrid, those tickets are already issued so no open jaw :-(
The last 8 days are also fixed; they include Granada, Barcelona, and Madrid. We are planning the first part of the trip as follows:

Day 1-2: Arrive in Madrid, Train to Toledo, stay 2 nights (one full day in the city).
Day 3: Train to Cordoba, stay 1 night
Day 4-6: Train to Seville, stay 3 nights (1 partial and 2 full days)
Day 7: Rental Car. Drive through Jerez and/or Arcos; night in Cadiz
Day 8: Drive down Atlantic Coast; night in Tarifa
Day 9-10: Drive through Arcos, Zahara, Caves, Chorro; 2 nights in Ronda
Day 11: Drive to Nerja and then return car in Granada
Days 12-18: Granada, Barcelona and back to Madrid.

Is Tarifa worth the visit on this trip or should we just go from Cadiz directly into the white hills towns and add a night in either Arcos or an additional night in Nerja? Is it better to split the nights between Arcos and Ronda and let Cadiz or Tarifa be day trips to lower the number of hotel ins and outs?

Any other thoughts on this plan?

Posted by
4555 posts

I think that itinerary looks pretty good. One point to remember is that you have to return to Madrid to take the train to Cordoba....but that's not a major issue.
Unless you're planning on a day trip to Morocco, or unless you like windsurfing, I'd subtract Tarifa from your itinerary. I'd actually put that extra time into Madrid or Barcelona at the end of your journey.
And if you do want to minimise hotel changes, doing Cadiz as a day trip from an extra day in Sevilla is a good proposal. It's only 45 minutes by train, as opposed to 90 by car, and you won't have to worry about looking for parking.

Posted by
3250 posts

We did the first part of your trip in May (Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba.) One suggestion that I'd make is to get your train ticket from Madrid to Toledo online in advance of your arrival. We did not--the ticket office at the train station was chaotic and there wasn't a train available until 6 p.m. (we were there at 10:30 a.m.)

Also, if you had an additional night for Cordoba, I think that you'd enjoy it. One of our favorite meals was at Bodegas Campos in Cordoba.

Posted by
78 posts

Sharon thanks for mentioning the train ticket from Madrid - Toledo... we're going in a few weeks and we've planned that day trip. I never thought about it being full ahead of time, thanks!

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