How long should my Spain trip be?

by Sara
(Michigan)

Q: Hi, How much time should I realistically set aside to travel through Southern Spain?

Q: Great question…and of course my initial answer is you should spend all your time in southern Spain! No but really, you won’t regret it. I would make this suggestion- take your time with Spain.

Most likely you are spending a lot of your hard earned money to travel to this foreign land and I would like for you remember more than just landmarks. Don’t get me wrong landmarks are great and have to be seen but take some time to savor each city.

My personal opinion is if you can’t give a city one full day skip it and spend more time in one place. As for southern Spain if you are not going to spend your entire trip in southern Spain and for example you are flying into Madrid, I would give Cordoba at least one day as it is on your way to Seville or on your way back to Madrid. I would give Seville a minimum of 2 full days.

If you have more time I would give Jerez de la Frontera a full day for wine tasting or if that is not your thing than you could easily spend half a day at the Roman Ruins of Italica outside of Seville. Granada is another must see city deserving a minimum of two days. I haven’t even begun to get started on the beach towns or the white hill towns...

If you were flying into Madrid for a two week vacation I would dedicate a week to Southern Spain. If you don’t get to spend time in southern Spain it would be like flying into New York, Paris, or London and trying to judge the rest of the country by its largest city.

My biggest piece of advice is to not try to see all of Spain in two weeks or three weeks- you will have seen Spain but not experienced it. Pick your top 2 or 3 cities and go from there.

Bien viaje!