Last updated on June 28th, 2020 at 06:27 pm
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I went on what would be the most epic adventure of my life yet, a two week road trip through Spain. It was a trip for the ages. With this guide, I will detail everything that went into planning the perfect Spain Itinerary so your trip can be equally as epic.
Luke and I had been talking about doing a big trip for his college graduation. His idea was Spain and/or Portugal. I honestly had never really considered either of these places until fairly recently (when I started blogging) and I have no idea why. Sometimes things just are not on your radar, you have other plans and trips and things you want to accomplish. But it was his graduation trip and I am game to go almost anywhere, so I started researching.
2 Week Spain Itinerary
Here is a breakdown of our trip:
Day 1: Arriving in Barcelona
Day 2: Valencia
Day 3: Valencia to Granada
Day 4: Granada
Day 5: Granada to Tarifa
Day 6: Day trip to Tangier
Day 7: Tarifa to Seville
Day 8: Seville
Day 9: Seville to Cordoba
Day 10: Cordoba
Day 11: Cordoba to Madrid
Day 12-13: Madrid
Day 14: Madrid to Barcelona
Day 15-16: Barcelona
Day 17: Barcelona to Denver
Approximate Drive Time: 29 hours
Approximate Driving Distance: 2622 km or 1629 miles
Spain Road Trip Tips
- Rest easy if you’re from the US, Spanish drivers drive on the right side of the road.
- Make sure you have a valid license – if you are from the US you need to get an International Drivers License.
- Autopistas are toll roads and can be expensive. Google Maps will tell when your route includes tolls and you can have it avoid toll roads if desired.
- Make sure you have access to Google Maps – either download maps to use offline or make sure someone has coverage (T-Mobile includes coverage in over 200 countries).
- Do not speed – Signs say “Speed limit enforced by aircraft,” this is not just for show, as we unfortunately found out when we got home.
- Book your car well in advance if you want an automatic. These are less common in Europe and are also more expensive.
- If you are under 25, you will be charged an additional fee to rent a car.
- In parking garages, make sure to keep your ticket and pay at the machines, you do not pay at the gate.
What Time of Year to Visit Spain?
The best times to visit Spain are spring or fall. These seasons are considered shoulder season. Summer is hot and crowded and winter may be cold in the center and north of Spain.
We visited in September and some days it was still hot, but generally nice. It rained almost the whole time we were in Valencia, but after that the weather was much better, with occasional rain. It also hit over 100 degrees F while we were in Cordoba.
There were still a lot of people visiting Spain in September. I imagine since Spain is such a popular place to visit that it is always a little busy.
How to Find Cheap Flights to Spain
I plan my trips ridiculously early. I really don’t mean to, but I get so excited about the prospect of going on a vacation that I just start monitoring flights. And typically, when you are looking at google flights every day, you are going to find a good deal.
On the particular day that we booked our flights, we were actually in California visiting Los Angeles. Google defaults your location to wherever you are, not necessarily your home airport. So while Luke and I were monitoring the flights in LA, a very good deal from LA to Barcelona popped up – $384.80 per person on Norwegian Airlines. That was the absolute total, including tax and fees.
Want more money tips for travel? Check out my guide here.
So obviously, we booked this flight while we were in the car headed to our current adventure in California. Flights from Denver to Spain are usually in the $1,000+ and flying from Denver to Los Angeles is about $150 at the most.
When you are looking for good flights to international destinations out of the US, or anywhere really, look for an alternate airport. The inverse also works – we could have flown from Denver to London (one of the cheapest European destinations out of Denver) and then flown from London to Spain on a cheap European carrier.
I also recommend being flexible with the dates. Using both Google Flights and Skyscanner you can search for the destination with flexible dates to show you the best deals.
Why You Should Road Trip Through Spain
Once we had our flights booked, it was time for the fun part! I enthusiastically started pinning all of my ideas to my Pinterest board, my favorite way to plan for a vacation.
We knew right away that we wanted to do several cities because we had two weeks, but we had no idea where we wanted to go. There were so many options, I felt overwhelmed! Luckily, you won’t have that problem since you have this guide to planning the perfect two weeks in Spain.
We weren’t sure if we wanted to stay in Spain or venture into France or Portugal. Ultimately, we decided that we wanted to do a circle around southern Spain. It seemed easier to focus on one country and there is so much to do and see in Spain alone.
After we had picked a general route, we had to decide how to get around. Did we want to fly or take the train in between cities? We really wanted to be able to see Spain, so flying was ruled out quickly. If we had chosen train travel, we would of had to rearrange our route a bit and perhaps skip certain places. Luke really wanted to be able to stop wherever we could as well, so we started to consider driving.
In Spain, cars drive on the right side of the road, same as in the US, so it didn’t seem overly difficult. If we were going to do a European road trip, I preferred to do it somewhere we wouldn’t have to relearn how to drive.
I still had a couple of reservations. I wasn’t sure how parking would be in the cities. I was also concerned about the narrow inner city roads that we would surely encounter in the smaller towns.
Ultimately, I did A LOT of research on these topics and decided it seemed doable. People had done it in the past and of course, there will always be a risk that something might not go as planned. However, the risk in this case seemed minimal enough.
Although we had some struggles with parking and navigating narrow roads, driving was an overall good experience and I have no regrets about it. It was an experience of a lifetime. I would like to do a train trip through Europe someday, but I think driving in Spain was the best option. The highways were very easy to navigate as long as you have access to Google Maps.
The landscape was incredibly diverse, from flat farmland to beautiful mountain cliffs. I am glad that we got to see and experience so much. Driving in another country allows you to get familiar in a way unlike any other forms of travel. There are so many adorable towns and jaw-dropping places to stop in Spain, you might be a little overwhelmed. But with this guide, you shouldn’t have any problems.
If you decide that driving isn’t for you, Renfe is the Spanish train system and this itinerary can be adopted for train travel.
Where to Stay in Spain
We only stayed in AirBnBs in Spain. It was overall a good experience. We focused on places that had a parking spot available or asked the host if they could recommend parking nearby. Note that it was not always free. I’m sure hotels can also provide you with parking in some cases.
Here is a list of the places we stayed in each city:
- Valencia – Parking nearby
- Granada – Parking available
- Tarifa – Parking nearby
- Seville – Parking available
- Cordoba – Parking available
- Madrid – Parking available
- Barcelona – Parking nearby
As with many places, there are certain restrictions when using AirBnB in Spain. When looking for places, make sure that the host can give you a license number, which indicates that they are following local laws. All of these locations have license numbers in the listing except Madrid, because the host does not rent out his apartment more than 90 days in a year. If you have concerns about an AirBnB listing, you can simply message the host.
The AirBnB in Granada was the best because the view from the private terrace was incredible and Hugo, our host, was incredibly nice and gave us a lot of his local recommendations. The AirBnBs in Cordoba and Tarifa also had great views from shared terraces. Valencia was the worst AirBnB we stayed in because something was stolen from us, so I can’t recommend it.
If you prefer to stay in hotels, Booking.com is my favorite place to find affordable hotels.
How to Pack for 2 Weeks in Spain
Pack as light as possible. Since we were driving I didn’t think it would be too bad, but dragging a suitcase up cobblestone streets will never be fun. Next time I would try to pack in a backpack. We ended up grabbing what we needed out of the big suitcase and repacking the carry-on sized bag to bring with us to the room. This was a bit of a pain, however, and it would have been nice to just grab a bag and go.
Don’t forget these essentials for Spain! A cute hat is a must when traveling in Europe, they are great for photos and stylish for exploring a city in the sun. I never travel without this rain coat either, and thank goodness, since it was so rainy in Valencia. Of course every trip to Spain requires a cute sundress and a knowledge of the delicious food you will enjoy (paid links).
2 Week Spain Itinerary
For our trip, we flew into Barcelona and decided to drive straight to Valencia. Originally, we were planning on staying one night in Barcelona before driving to Valencia, but then our flight got moved to the next day (which caused some issues with our flight from Los Angeles – beware when you book your flights nine months in advance). From there we went to Granada, Tarifa (where we took a day trip to Tangier, Morocco – I highly recommend this), Seville, Cordoba, Madrid, and back to Barcelona (where we then stayed for two days before flying out).
The drive from Madrid to Barcelona is the longest and most boring stretch at six hours. This is doable, but if you want to avoid this and spend extra time in Andalusia, you could consider flying into Madrid instead. Personally, I enjoyed Barcelona immensely and like seeing the difference between the Catalan cities and Andalusia.
We decided to only stay one full day in each city, except both Madrid and Barcelona, which we stayed for two full days. If I could do it over again, I would consider staying two days in Granada or Cordoba and only doing one day in Madrid. There is plenty to do in Madrid for two days, but I simply enjoyed the slower pace of Granada and Cordoba more and they are harder to visit, which makes it less likely that I may visit again in the future.
Day One – Arriving in Barcelona
We flew from Denver and stayed one night in Los Angeles (thanks to Luke’s cousin, Cole, for letting us stay with him) and then flew direct from LA to Barcelona on a 11 hour Norwegian flight that landed at 12:30 in the afternoon.
It took a minute to get the rental car but luckily, we were the first ones in the shop so it could have been much worse. We set Luke up as the driver because it was a hefty additional charge to add a driver.
We exited the airport and were met with an intricate highway system common to big cities, but it was easy to navigate. Make sure you have access to Google Maps abroad. With Luke’s T-Mobile plan, it was one of the many countries included, but since I have AT&T I had to add an international option to my plan.
Once we were out of the city, lush green hills with beautiful carved vineyards stretched for miles, with small towns tucked into mountain peaks. It was the perfect introduction. Although you will be close to the coast, it will not be visible from AP-7 highway between Barcelona and Valencia.
We stopped briefly in Tarragona because we were starving. It was a beautiful, walled city with a palace. The city center was full of winding cobble stone paths and brightly colored buildings.
Tarragona is in the Catalan region and although we had been practicing our Spanish all the way here, they primarily speak Catalan which is not similar enough for me to understand. So we sat at a café and struggled horribly with the menu and managed to order a couple café au laits. It was about four thirty though, which is typically right after lunch and before dinner in Spain, so we didn’t get to order any food. Instead we quickly devoured some nuts that were on the table.
Lesson Number 1: Bring snacks when road tripping through Spain.
Once we arrived in Valencia, we parked in a garage located at Plaça de Joan de Vila-rasa, 46001 València called Empark Car Parking for $20 a day. This was very centrally located in the Historic Center, where our AirBnB was located. This is the one AirBnB that I cannot on good faith recommend although I didn’t have a problem with the space itself. This is the AirBnB where something very important was stolen from us, and the incident had to have occurred at this AirBnB , although we didn’t notice any damage. Read more about what happened and how we handled it.
We were still starving so the first thing we did when we got checked into our AirBnB was devour a skillet of paella and washed it down with some Sangria.
We were officially in Spain!
Day Two – Valencia
The Historic Center was so much fun and since it poured rain the entire time we were in Valencia (Welcome to Spain!) we spent all of our time here. Check out my guide to spending a day in Valencia to plan your visit!
My favorite part: Mercado Central, a must see for foodies!
Day Three – Valencia to Granada
We started out pretty early because we had a long drive and a couple stops we wanted to make. The first stop was to the beach in Valencia where I thought we’d be getting pictures of the sunrise but in reality, Luke had ulterior motives. This day included almost seven hours of driving, but we had to go out of our way for some of the stops. If you wish to get to Granada faster, remove some of the stops from the itinerary.
The next stop we made was at the pink lake called Calle de las Lavandores. This was fun but I am not sure if I would do it again. The lake is pretty pink up close but since we didn’t want to swim before being in the car all day we just looked around, stuck our feet in the water, and took some pictures before heading out.
I would bring flip flops and a towel for this stop as well as some clean water to rinse your feet. You may also want a swim suit and water shoes because the ground is gravel. The lake was only a little smelly, which was a complaint for most people in reviews, but I didn’t mind it too much. People were soaking in the lake and using the mud as a mask, since it is supposed to be good for your skin.
The next stop we made was in Cartagena, which I enjoyed much more. We parked easily at Parking la Lonja. The town is a cruise ship stop, so it can be busy if there is a boat in port. This isn’t really a problem unless you are trying to get a seat at a restaurant.
We ate at Bodega Las Fuente, which was pretty good. If you ordered food, you got a small drink with it. The patatas bravas were good but one order was plenty.
After we ate, we wandered the streets. This is a touristy town, but it was very cute.
After we stretched our legs, it was back on the road. We took one more stop to go to the beach, Cabo de Gata, for about an hour. This beach had little pebbles in the water instead of sand and the water was comfortable enough.
The landscape on this portion of the drive was mostly dry, sandy hills dotted with bushes and rock formations. It almost reminded me of Utah. Once we got closer to Granada though, it turned into lush green, rolling hills, with tons of trees, some of them lined up in formation. Little whitewashed cities popped up every once in a while and I had to fight the urge to stop at all of them.
When we finally got to Granada, it was late and we were hungry again. We parked at C/ Severo Ochoa, s/n 18071 Granada and paid $36 for 42 hours.
The smell of oranges enticed me as we stepped out into the open air. There were many orange trees in Granada and some of the oranges had fallen and littered the ground, but it was lovely.
This was our absolute best AirBnB (probably ever) and I absolutely recommend that everyone stay here. Our host, Hugo, was so nice and gave us a very detailed map with all the good spots to eat everything from tapas to pastries to ice cream. He then went over how to visit the Alhambra and all the spots that we should check out. Not only that, but this AirBnB had the most gorgeous view from the private terrace, where you could look out at the rooftops of Granada and even spot the Alhambra.
I am going to go back here some day and spend a week just enjoying Granada. It was my absolute favorite place we visited.
I desperately wanted tapas, real tapas, for dinner but all the restaurants Hugo had suggested were packed to the brim since it was after nine o’clock, prime dinner and drinking time in Andulsia.
Instead we ate another pan of paella at Le Bicyclette, which was much better than the place we had tried in Valencia.
Day Four – Granada
On this day we explored Granada, visited the Alhambra, and ate amazing food. It was a marvelous day. Check out the full guide here.
My favorite part: Tapas at Taberna la Tana and the gardens at the Alhambra.
Day Five – Granada to Tarifa
The next day we started our day out right with a croissant, orange juice, coffee, and one last Pionono from Casa Ysla. If I could start every day this way, I think I would be the happiest person on the planet.
We took one last walk down Paseos de los Tristes to photograph the romantic European bridges and then we were one our way to the next destination.
The drive to Ronda consisted of farms and valleys. You must stop in Ronda. It was enchanting. Parking here was also extremely easy as there is a huge parking garage right in town. Ronda is home to a huge bridge, called Puente Nueva, that was built to connect two towns to each other. The bridge is incredible to behold. At the very bottom of a large gorge, exists a beautiful turquoise river dotted with shrubbery.
You can walk under the bridge and across it and there is a trail on the other side. We didn’t have time to take the trail to the bottom, but we did pay € 2.50 to go just below the bridge. As you walk away from the bridge, you can view vast rolling hills stretching out to the mountains.
In Ronda we ordered some tapas at Taparia el Toro and then grabbed some gelato.
Just a little outside of Ronda exists Cueva del Gato, which is a very large cave in the side of a cliff that is shaped like a cat. Hence the name, gato, which means cat.
Underneath the cave is a beautiful swimming hole with water even more blue than that flowing through Puente Nueva. It is € 2 to get in, but I think it is worth it. Of course, as we pulled up it started to rain, so the girl at the counter let us go in for free. It was so pretty. Make sure you bring your swimsuit so you can swim!
The drive from Ronda to Tarifa was absolutely gorgeous. We drove through the mountains, which were rocky at first but then turned a beautiful shade of green, pearl cities popping up among the trees. The mountains slowly subsided to rolling hills and then to farmland, where we passed a variety of farm animals. Just before Tarifa, it becomes industrial.
Parking in Tarifa was a difficult and our AirBnB did not include a spot, but we did manage to find a lot just outside of the main city center. They only took cash and we had to lug our stuff quite a ways. The address of the parking lot was Calle Calzadilla de Téllez, 3, 11380 and it was €12.45 per day.
Lesson #2: Pack lightly.
Tarifa itself was the perfect mix of southern California and southern Spain. This little beach town is a gem, with cobble stone streets, tight alleyways, bright blooming flowers, and ocean views. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to spend much time there but I would love to do so in the future. For dinner we ate fried seafood and Moroccan chicken, with a plate of cheese from Bar Los Melli, a low key spot with outdoor seating.
Day Six – Tangier
Even though we were torn between spending the day in Tarifa and taking a day trip to Tangier, we ultimately decided to take the ferry across the Mediterranean.
Read all about our experience in Tangier and how easy it was to visit Morocco from Spain!
When we returned we found the best beach bar, Waikiki, and had some minor regret that we weren’t able to spend more time there – another trip to Spain is in my future! For dinner we tried a raclette at El Lobo, a Swiss style of eating, where the cheese is melted before you and eaten with meat and bread.
Day Seven – The Sherry Triangle
On day seven we had a shorter drive and were driving through the Sherry Triangle so we stopped in Jerez de la Fontera. This is home to Tio Pepe, one of the largest producers of Sherry, a fortified wine. Before our tour of Bodega Tio Pepe, we decided to check out the Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera, which is luckily right next door. It is 5 euros to visit the Alcázar, where you can enjoy more beautiful gardens and view the Arab baths.
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Alcázar of Jerez de la Frontera had a very intricate water system. -
The octagonal tower is common from the era of Almohad.
Tio Pepe was interesting. I am not sure that I really like Sherry that much on its own, however it was fun to do a tasting and learn about the history of Sherry. It is much sweeter than wine. The tour was an hour and a half and very informative. At the end you were able to sample two to four different wines/sherries depending on the package you purchase. For two sherries it is 16 euros. There is also an option to add food if you so desire.
After our day trip, we continued onto Seville. Parking in Seville was provided by our AirBnB host, but it was a distance away. The AirBnB includes a shared terrace, however, and the views are incredible.
Once in Seville we had drinks at a rooftop bar called La Terraza del EME with beautiful views of the Cathedral. The drinks were interesting (my margarita was overly saltly) and we ordered sushi which was mediocre, at least by our standards. The soy sauce was served in pipettes, to our amusement. The views made it worth it and I would definitely go back for drinks.
Day Eight – Seville
Seville is the capital of Andalusia and should not be forgotten as a part of your Spain itinerary. Plan your trip with my guide!
Highlights: Plaza Espana and the abundance of rooftop views.
Day Nine – Seville to Cordoba and The Castle
After getting breakfast in Seville, we were on our way to Cordoba. The drive to Cordoba was mostly dry, rolling hills with occasional farmland. Businesses became more concentrated as we neared Cordoba.
We stopped at Castillo Almodovar del Rio which has been used in filming Game of Thrones. I haven’t seen Game of Thrones, but I found it interesting anyway. The castle is also supposed to be haunted by the wife of one of the men that lived there. It was very beautiful with an abundance of history and many photo opportunities. It is 9 euros to visit Castillo Almodovar del Rio. View their hours of operation here.
Cordoba was one of the easiest places to park as the garage was right next to where we were staying and didn’t have any overly tight turns. It is located at Paseo de la Ribera, 1, 14002 and was €15.50 per day.
Day Ten – Cordoba
Cordoba was one of my favorite places because it was much less hectic and we finally got some time to rest. Cordoba is the perfect place to do as little as possible.
Highlights: Avocado toast and the beautiful flowers everywhere.
Why would I return to Cordoba? Find out here.
Day Eleven – Cordoba to Madrid
The drive from Cordoba to Madrid was mountainy and green.
We stopped in Toledo, but as this is one of the longer legs of the trips, at six hours, we arrived late. It was during the siesta hour, which is apparently taken very seriously in Toledo (we hadn’t really had this problem too much during our travels up until this point), and even at the open places, the only thing we could get was nuts and drinks.
Toledo is also very hilly and it was brutally hot so we left pretty quickly. It was an impressively beautiful walled city.
We arrived in Madrid to our parking spot, which had been included with our AirBnB, and had some trouble making it around the tight corners in the multilevel parking garage. When we finally made it, we quickly got ready for drinks and then dinner.
Day Eleven and Twelve – Madrid
We spent two days in Madrid, although I think I would have been fine with spending only one day there. However, there is plenty to do in Madrid if you decide to stay for two days.
Highlights: Architecture, food, and drink.
Check out my guide on what to do in Madrid.
Day Thirteen – Madrid to Barcelona
This was easily the worst drive of the whole trip because we were on a two-lane road, each lane going opposite directions, on what is apparently a frequent route for semi-trucks. So many times, on this leg of the trip we would get stuck behind several semis, all stuck behind one semi going very slow, and we would have to wait for a good opportunity to pass. I really applaud Luke for driving this stretch so well, I could not have done it.
This was a long drive and so we only briefly stopped for food (and there were not many options) and arrived in Barcelona in the late afternoon. I had wanted to stop in Zaragoza, which is a good halfway point, but we decided to knock out the driving instead.
Parking in Barcelona was very difficult.
When we arrived in Gracia, we circled around the area near our AirBnB once, and I caught a glance of a parking garage sign. On the second time around, after finding nothing else, Luke pulled down this little side street typical of Europe and found the parking garage.
We pulled in and the parking attendant motioned us to our parking spot. We realized quickly that this man only spoke Catalan, a language that developed from common Latin. After spending most of our trip so far in Andalusia, where Spanish is the language, we had absolutely no clue what he was saying. We also quickly realized that in our current position in the parking garage, we would be blocking the exit of several cars. This seemed to be a day lot only. We tried to ask the attendant about this, but facing defeat, decided just to back the car out of the garage and hope that the man didn’t charge us.
Luke started turning the car around. He got in position and tugged the steering wheel this way and that, but to no avail. There was a very poorly placed column behind and to the right of us and the other cars were piled so tightly into this garage that it was impossible to get out. At this point I got out of the car in an attempt to help direct him. I am okay at directing on a good day and in this situation, I mostly just stood there with a grimace on my face because there was no good direction to go. He continued to move the car slowly forward and back a little until a horrible screeching notified us that we would be owing the rental car copy some money to fix a huge scratch.
The Catalan man motioned to Luke and he stepped out of the car as instructed and handed him the keys. The man sat down, quickly turned the steering wheel, and immediately maneuvered our car out of its precarious situation, making me question if we were ever really stuck in the first place.
We finally managed to find a parking garage that we could safely maneuver and could remain in for more than a day. The parking garage was located at Passeig de Gràcia, 08008 Barcelona, Spain and it was easily the most expensive parking garage yet at a whopping $40 a day (although we did not get charged that much, so there may be a discount for multiple days).
For dinner we went to Marea Alta, a swanky seafood restaurant positioned several floors up with incredible views of the harbor. It was a great way to get accustomed to the city.
Day Fourteen and Fifteen – Barcelona
We spent one of our days in Barcelona doing a food tour. The other day was filled with miscellaneous sight seeing and tasty food. See my guide on spending one day in Barcelona.
Highlights: Food tour, Gaudí’s architectural wonders, and gelato from Swiit.
Day Sixteen – Farewell
After spending two weeks in a foreign country it is so difficult to get back on the plane for home knowing you have a job and responsibilities to face. Knowing that a piece of your heart is going to remain an ocean away, while you have no idea when, or even if, you will be able to return to it.
But somehow, we did it.
Thank you, Spain, for teaching me a little bit more about the world, for late nights sipping wine and eating dinner at a time that would be considered ungodly at home. Thank you for helping me know discomfort and fear. Thank you for helping me to try new experiences and new foods and new languages. Thank you for making me feel like a fool at times and reminding me to be humble.
Looking back, I can’t believe how uninterested I was in visiting Spain before this trip. I am so glad that I have Luke to push me to try things I never would and I am glad I am the kind of person who is willing to go anywhere.
Have you done a Spain road trip? What stops do you think are necessary for this Spain itinerary?
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What a great overview of your trip! I loved the details about the parking and the food! Such a great read- it makes me want to visit. 0You give so much more detail than other blogs I’ve read- thank you for sharing with all of us!
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it!