Will this 10-day itinerary work?

Ashwin, that's great that you can handle hectic days. I am the same way. But even the most flexible of us need some kind of stability. When I plan a trip like this I make sure that I am changing hotels as little as possible. Leaving and arriving at hotels can take up as much as 20% of your day. Try to minimize the number of hotels you're going to and maximize the number of nights in each hotel.

For example, for your Madrid/Salamanca/Toledo stage, try for 2 hotels. Do the rest as stops on your way to/from places. Then for your Sevilla/Cordoba/Grenada leg, try to minimize that to 2 hotels. If you're very ambitious you could just stay in Cordoba and do Sevilla and Grenada as day trips, but that would be 2 very long day trips.

These are just some thoughts on how to keep you from going insane as you try to fit it all in. Good luck.

Ashwin...not a bad itinerary, but I would make three suggestions. First, since El Escorial is just to the northwest of Madrid, it might be better if you visited there on your way to Salamanca, just drove by Avila, and stay in Salamanca...then hit up Avila on the way back to Segovia...it'll save you some mileage. Second, since you have the car when you leave Segovia, just drive it to Toledo and drop it off there...no sense battling back into Madrid just to take a train south. Third, be aware that after your overnight in Toledo, you'll have to come back to Madrid to catch the AVE to Sevilla. For the best exterior shots of Avila, go to Google Maps and past in these coordinates (40.6623900, -4.711990). There's a gas station and restaurant there, and a lookout across the road for some great walled city shots...just watch the traffic crossing the road!

The itinary is way too busy; lots of time wasted changing hotels & switching around different kinds of transportation. Here's an idea to simplify a little: Sat. Day 1 arrive MAD & stay 4 nights. tour Madrid. Sun. Day 2 local tour bus to El Escorial & Valley of Fallen. Mon. Day 3 Madrid & half-day trip to Toledo or Segovia. Tues. Day 4 day-trip to Salamanca Wed. Day 5 train to Sevilla & stay 2 nights. Thurs. Day 6 Sevilla. Fri. Day 7 train to Granada (1 night) & Alhambra visit. Sat. Day 8 to BCN - 3 nights. This cuts out the car, either Toledo or Segovia, Cordoba, and reduces # of hotels from 7 to 4. Actually, if it didn't sound like you already had your airline tickets, I'd have cut out either the southern cities or Barcelona & saved them for a future visit.

Jarrod, Norm, Tim,
Thanks for excellent suggestions. I will definitely reduce # of hotels by doing 2 nights in more places & also reduce time wastage in changing transport media (car -> train). Since I haven't bought my air tkts yet,
I can still fine-tune my itinerary.
If I were to prioritize between:

Salamanca, Segovia, Sevilla, Cordoba and White Hill Towns, what would your order be? I could either add a day or two to my schedule, or cut 1 or 2 from the current itinerary. (Don't have WHTs on my iti now.)

Thx, Ashwin

If you want to slow down your trip, cut out Salamanca and concentrate on the Madrid area and Andalucia, as Tim suggests. You can visit Segovia and Toledo as day trips from Madrid, then swing south thru Cordoba, Sevilla, across to Granada, and back to Madrid. You can visit Ronda on the way from Sevilla to Granada. 4-5 stops instead of 7.