Seven days covers Madrid and Barcelona on the AVE. Fourteen days is the comfortable minimum for the capital, Gaudí, Seville, and the Alhambra without treating stations as the holiday.
7 days: Madrid and Barcelona
Spend three nights in Madrid (one Prado morning, Plaza Mayor, tapas in La Latina, optional Toledo day). Then four nights in Barcelona — Sagrada Família, Park Güell, and a Gràcia evening. The AVE takes about 2.5 hours. Book Renfe and both Gaudí tickets early. This is the first-timer’s city pair; it does not include Andalucía.
10 days: Madrid and Andalucía
The route for palaces over Gaudí: Madrid (3 nights, with Toledo if you want it) → Seville (3 nights: cathedral, Alcázar, flamenco) → Granada (3 nights: timed Alhambra, Albaicín). Madrid–Seville is 2.5 hours on the AVE; give Granada its own arrival night before the Nasrid slot. Book Alhambra tickets before hotels. Córdoba fits as a stop if you steal a night from Seville, not from the Alhambra.
14 days: grand tour
Madrid (3) → Barcelona (4) → Seville (3) → Granada (3), with a travel day of slack. That is the version that includes Gaudí and the Alhambra. Add San Sebastián only if you drop a city or add nights. Use AVE for Madrid–Barcelona and Madrid–Seville; do not day-trip the Alhambra from Seville. A car is not useful in Madrid or Barcelona; it can help between white villages if Andalucía becomes rural rather than urban.
Insider tip: Madrid to Barcelona, Seville, or Málaga is about 2.5 hours on the AVE. Booking Renfe weeks in advance can save up to 70% on walk-up fares.
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