Itinerary.

Once the holidays were gone and Christmas decor put away, we were back to planning our trip. It was time to come up with itinerary. This is where adventure begins. By the time we have a set agenda, I feel like we had traveled through the places already and am sad when we can’t fit a site or region into our schedule. There is so much to see and do!

Tools we use for our trip planning are travel guidebook, internet, and a notebook. I recently found out there are lots of travel apps that can be used to keep flight/housing and other info all in one spot. I guess there is an app for everything these days. Although, I don’t think we are ready to spend money on it, at least not yet. I still like my notebook and a pen.

So far we have used Rick Steves’ travel guidebooks for all of our Europe trips. We usually buy it at a local Barnes and Noble store. This time Vitaliy borrowed one from his brother who traveled through Spain last year. The 2011 book from our last trip to Spain will be very handy as well.

Vitaliy has already watched lots of videos and done some research about the places worth visiting. Now, I watch the most valued videos as well and with a map in hand (guide book usually includes a map or there is always google), we are ready to set the itinerary. This is when we make a decision about how many days we want to spend in each city/region so we can be ready for housing reservations. We will be using the Airbnb this time.

We are flying in and out of Madrid’s airport. On this trip our focus is on seeing Southern part of Spain, so we won’t be spending much time in Madrid.  We will though save it for the last two days. This way we can be close to the airport and not stress out about getting back from further away.

The very next day after arrival, we plan to head to Seville. We will be going there by train and already reserved the tickets (about 2 months in advance).  It was recommended by our Airbnb host to get the tickets as soon as possible.  Turns out there will be April fair celebration while we are in Seville. The celebration lasts for 6 days and makes it one of the busiest times in the city. Yey for that! For a moment we were disappointed as we like traveling during off season due to less crowds. Knowing there will be parades of carriages, riders, and dressed up people to see makes it exciting. We don’t get to see something like that every day! We’ll have to be extra careful with Ashley who will definitely be excited to see all the new surroundings.

Malaga will be our next destination for sleep over. We plan to rent a car in Seville and spend a day in Cordoba. Cordoba has a lot to see and we might not get to see all of it during a day trip. Anyway, we prefer to head to Malaga for the night to avoid too much of packing and unpacking. One of our goals is to keep the amount of rental places to a minimum but still be able to see majority of Southern Spain.

Malaga is a port city and is considered a great connection point. We plan to spend 4 night there. Our travel guidebook didn’t have much information about the city. Three pages is really nothing. From our own research we decided it would be a great place for us to have some relaxing time at the beach and still have plenty landmarks to see. The city is known to be one of the oldest cities in the world, so now I am wondering if we really going to have much time to relax with so much history around. As much as we love seeing new places, I always like to have some down time during our trips.

One of the places we plan to visit while in Malaga is Ronda. It is a city on a top of a mountain and is known for its bridges and the oldest bullring in Spain.

Next destination is Granada. I still remember wanting to visit Granada since planning our 2011 trip. Now, we definitely have it on the agenda. The city is full of history and has a great reputation for hospitality. We plan to get there by car. After 3 days in Granada we plan to drive to Seville where we will return the car rental. Then, back to Madrid by train.

It does sound like a lot to cover in just couple weeks, but I have no doubts we won’t have regrets. Now, I can’t wait to see all these places with my own eyes and enjoy its atmosphere. Well, if God lets, we will be there before we know it.

Here is the short version of the itinerary:

• Fly into Madrid-stay 1 night.
• From Madrid to Seville by train-spend 3 nights in Seville.
• From Seville to Malaga by car (spend the day in Cordoba)-spend 4 nights in Malaga. Visit Ronda and surrounding areas.
• From Malaga to Granada by car-spend 3 nights in Granada.
• From Granada to Seville to return car rental.
• From Seville to Madrid by train-spend 2 nights in Madrid before going home.

With the time spent on flights we have 13 nights left to book housing for. Now, the Airbnb search. Vitaliy and I both enjoy doing that.

Is there a place you absolutely loved visiting or would really want to visit in Spain? Please share!