Spain Itinerary

The classic first trip: the capital’s museums and tapas, then the two great Andalusian cities. Fly into Madrid and out of Málaga, or take the AVE back from Granada to Madrid (about 3 hours 20 minutes) on the last day.

Day three is the key move. Leave Madrid on an early AVE, drop your bag in the left-luggage lockers at Córdoba station, and give the Mezquita two hours and the white streets of the Judería another two; the synagogue and the Roman bridge are on the way. A late-afternoon train has you in Seville for dinner. Córdoba deserves a night if you can spare one, and the trip works just as well with Córdoba as a day trip from Seville.

Cost: about €130-180 a day per person mid-range, plus €90-160 for the three train legs booked ahead and about €60 in entry fees. A week comes to roughly €1,100-1,500 per person excluding flights.

The two-city version suits a first trip in winter, when the south is less of a draw, or anyone who wants Gaudí. Fly into Barcelona and out of Madrid, or the other way round; open-jaw tickets usually cost no more than a return.

For a detailed Barcelona plan with booking times and day trips to Montserrat and Girona, use our Barcelona itineraries, and see Barcelona costs for prices. Swap day three for a day in Girona (38 minutes by high-speed train) if you have already seen Park Güell.

Cost: Barcelona is the more expensive city, about €150-200 a day mid-range including the Sagrada Família (from about €26) and the tourist tax; Madrid runs €120-170. Seven days come to about €1,100-1,500 per person excluding flights.

Andalusia rewards slow travel. This loop starts in Seville and ends at Málaga airport, using trains for the cities and a hire car for the three days of mountain towns, which buses serve badly.

Seville takes three days because the heat sets the pace: the Alcázar opens at 9.30am and is best in the first slot, the cathedral and Giralda need two hours, and the afternoon is for a long lunch and a siesta before the evening paseo in Triana. Cádiz is the better day trip for the sea and Jerez for sherry and horses; on a long stay do both.

The car days are the reason to visit Andalusia rather than just its cities. Ronda sits on either side of a 100 m gorge; stay the night to see it after the day-trippers leave. The Grazalema loop is mountain driving on good, narrow roads with villages every 20 minutes. If you prefer not to drive, a bus from Seville to Ronda takes about 2 hours, and Ronda’s station has trains towards Granada via Antequera; the white villages are then best done on a day tour.

In Granada, sleep in the Realejo or near the cathedral and climb the Albaicín for the view from the Mirador de San Nicolás at sunset. On the last day, Málaga is an easy finish with a beach, and the airport is 12 minutes from the centre by Cercanías train. With an extra day, add Nerja and Frigiliana on the coast east of Málaga.

Cost: about €120-170 a day mid-range, plus €150-250 for four days of car hire with fuel, and €60-80 in trains and buses. Ten days come to about €1,600-2,100 per person sharing, excluding flights.

Two weeks joins the three great themes of a first trip, Gaudí, the Madrid museums and the south, with one train ride linking each stop. Fly into Barcelona and out of Málaga or Madrid.

This is the itinerary on our main Spain page with one change: Valencia swapped for an extra day in Seville and a Málaga finish. To include Valencia (the City of Arts and Sciences, paella at the beach in El Palmar, two days), take it between Barcelona and Madrid: Barcelona to Valencia is about 3 to 3 hours 30 on the coastal line, and Valencia to Madrid 1 hour 50 by AVE, Iryo or Ouigo. Drop Córdoba’s overnight and make it a stopover to keep the total at 14 days.

Pace yourself in the middle. Madrid’s late nights and Seville’s late dinners add up, and days 8 to 11 are the hottest of the trip from May onwards. Plan the train legs for mid-morning so you check in by lunch, and book them together once your Alhambra slot is fixed.

Cost: about €130-180 a day mid-range including the Barcelona tourist tax, €180-280 in trains, and about €120 in entry fees. Two weeks come to roughly €2,200-3,000 per person sharing, excluding flights; a backpacker version with hostels and Avlo or Ouigo fares runs about €1,100-1,400.

The north coast is Spain’s best food region and its coolest summer escape: pintxos in San Sebastián, cider in Asturias, seafood in Galicia, and mountains a short drive from the beach. This route runs west from Bilbao to Santiago de Compostela. Public transport works between the cities, but a car from Santander onwards opens up the Picos de Europa and the fishing villages.

San Sebastián is the centre of the trip, and three nights is the minimum. A pintxo crawl means one or two bites and a drink (a zurito of beer or a glass of txakoli) at each bar, three or four bars a night, about €3-5 a pintxo; the Michelin-starred restaurants in and around the city need booking months ahead. In Asturias, order a bottle of cider and let the waiter pour it in a thin stream from above his head; in Galicia, pulpo a la gallega at a market stall costs about €12-16 a plate.

The weather is the trade-off: rain is possible in any month, and the route is best from June to September. Expect 20-26°C in summer and plan an indoor alternative (the Guggenheim, the Altamira museum, the Santiago cathedral rooftop tour) for wet days.

Cost: about €130-190 a day mid-range (San Sebastián is among Spain’s most expensive cities), plus €250-400 for six days of car hire with a one-way drop fee. Twelve days come to about €2,000-2,800 per person sharing, excluding flights.

Renfe’s Avlo and the private Ouigo and Iryo sell cheaper seats on the busiest lines. Their basic fares include a cabin bag and a small personal item, with a fee for a large suitcase, so check the luggage rules before you choose. Ouigo is adding Andalusian routes, so check its site for Seville and Málaga. Every long-distance station X-rays bags before boarding, and gates close two minutes before departure: arrive 20-30 minutes early. For buses, ALSA covers most of Andalusia and the north, and the Renfe, Iryo and ALSA apps all issue mobile tickets.

First-timers: the 7-day Madrid, Seville and Granada plan or the 14-day loop. Do not try to add the islands or the north to a first week; each extra region costs a travel day.

Families with children: cut sights to one a day, choose hotels with pools in the south, and use Madrid’s Retiro boating lake, Barcelona’s beaches and aquarium, and Seville’s Plaza de España rowing boats as rewards. Children eat late with their parents in Spain and are welcome in tapas bars until late.

Summer: from mid-June to August, reverse the 14-day plan’s weight: one night in Seville, then the north coast. Or swap Andalusia for the green-north route entirely, and sightsee before 1pm and after 7pm wherever you are.

Winter: the cities are quiet and cheap from November to February. Combine Madrid and Andalusia (Seville and Málaga stay at 16-18°C) with a few days in the Canary Islands, two and a half hours by air from Madrid.

Slow travel: add a week of walking on the Camino de Santiago, ending in Santiago, or base yourself in one city for a month; see our Spain digital nomads guide.

Islands: Mallorca and Ibiza are an hour’s flight from Madrid or Barcelona, or an overnight ferry from Barcelona. Three to five days on Mallorca, between Palma, the Serra de Tramuntana and the coves of the east coast, makes a good end to a summer trip. For the weather by region and month, see best time to visit Spain; for etiquette and meal times, the Spanish culture guide.