Hi!
I've been looking around this board, but I though I would finally post my own itinerary question. I am going to be in Spain for 8 full days, starting in Madrid. I'm going with 3 other people. One absolutely wants to go to Granada, and one wants to go to Barcelona. Is this even possible? Is it better to concentrate the trip in the southern area to make the most of our time? What cities should we go to? Some people have said Granada is fine in one day, others say no. Is three days good for Madrid? Thanks for all of your help!

Daisyb

How energetic are you? If highly energetic then Yes, you can do Grenada and Barcelona in 8 days.

Madrid to Grenada can be done quickly with the train called the "AVE". It is a French made bullet train. I thing one full day in Grenada is enough especially if you are on a schedule.

When you are done with Grenada, take the AVE back to Madrid. From Madrid I have reached Barcelona by bus. Barcelona merits at LEAST 2 days.

Book your hotels for Grenada and Barcelona from Madrid by phone. It will save you time.

The AVE doesn't go to Granada. It goes to Sevilla... you can take it that far but you would have to change trains. The Talgo goes to direct from Madrid to Granada and I believe it takes six hours...

I think you might consider flying between some of the cities. I remember flying to barcelona to sevilla for 90 euros on air europa.that was a 2 years ago. Maybe you should consider flying into barcelona spend 2 days there, then fly to madrid (2 days there)then take the high speed train to sevilla (2 days) then take the train from seville to Granada for 1 day. This gives you one day. You could probably fly back to barcelona from granada. This all depends on how much money you have. Since there are 4 of you, hostals should be cheap. Southern spain is much cheaper than northern spain. Check the rates on spanair and iberia fo flights. In general it is cheap to fly inside spain.
Another option.
fly into madrid, then get a flight to barca the same day(2 days). Come back to madrid and take the high speed train to seville(2 days). Take the train from seville to granada (1 day). Go back by train from granada to seville, then take the highspeed to madrid from seville (no stop-overs). You would basically spend your last few days in madrid. This is a good trip. I have been to all these places. They are so different from each other.They are incredible. You really only need a day in granada.This second option eliminates many flights.

Lets say I take Barcelona out of the picture...how does this sound:
Madrid 2 days, take the AVE to Sevilla
Sevilla 1 day
Granada 2 days
Malaga 2 days
back to Madrid for the last day

Thanks Matador--you gave some good suggestions

If you are pressed for time and your motive for going to Malaga is the beach, I would look elsewhere. Not that Malaga isnt a great city, it is and I love it, but there are more interesting coastal towns with a more Spanish feel than Malaga. No offense to the boquerones out there!

If you do the southern thing, I'd get a car instead of taking the train. You'll have more flexibility and with four, the cost should be less. That way you can explore the coast and stop where you want. Just park in Granada and take a taxi if it's too much to navigate (same for Sevilla if you go there).

DaisyB writes: Are you sure?? If you fly EWR-MAD you can't really consider your arrival day as a full day. You will likely be 'wiped out' from jet lag and from your TransAtlantic flight. One rule I follow when traveling: Get where you're going that first day! Of course it's possible! For example, you could continue to Barcelona on your arrival day, then work your way back to Madrid and/or Granada How does concentrating your trip in one geographic area make the most of your time?? Barcelona (2-days), Madrid (4-days incl. Toledo & Segovia) and Sevilla (2-days, would be a starting plan). You could substitute Granada for Sevilla; and you could skip either Toledo or Segovia when you visit Madrid, but I wouldn't.

From what you say you are 4-people with separate and different Agendas. If you're going to travel together, you should settle on a firm itinerary before you depart.

I am absolutely sure of the length of my trip--I'm not counting the day I travel to Madrid or the day I leave. I know that Barcelona is possible, but since most people on this board have a lot of experience I though I would get suggestions on how to make the most of my time, and if that means skipping Barcelona this time, well, there will be other trips. Additionally, we have made firm plans. I merely wanted suggestions from people who have been to Spain before.

I would second the suggestion that you look into flying between Granada and Barcelona (or, for that matter, Barcelona and Madrid). A few summers ago I found an insanely low fare on Iberia (28 euros!) for a one-way flight between Granada and Barcelona. It worked brilliantly--one minute we were waving goodbye to the Alhambra and in no time we were landing in Barcelona.

How about renting a car? Daisy, the last itinerary you posted looked good. If you can drive stick, it's not a bad idea, although I recommend the AVE if you're travelling between Seville and Madrid.

I just got back from my Spain and Portugal adventure yesterday, so it's all swirling in my head! I HIGHLY recommend Seville - I travelled with three people to Seville, Madrid, and then Lisbon, and all three of us enjoyed Seville the best - very charming (though hot!) town. We stayed at the High Tech hotel (http://www.hthoteles.com/htm02/inforhotel?hid=17&cid=3&pais=1) about two blocks from the Cathedral - it was quiet, conveniently located, decently-priced and serves a great breakfast!

Errrr... because you cut down on the time it takes to travel between far-flung places? And because it allows you to spend time in the cities you're visiting, and not in transit?

If I had limited time, I wouldn't want to spend hours on end schlepping from one place to another, having to get to the airport or train station at a certain time, etc. But that's me