Spain Itinerary: Madrid, Seville, Cádiz

For our honeymoon in October 2022, we went to Madrid and the south of Spain. Here’s our itinerary, including how we got between cities. For what we did and where we ate in each city, check out my upcoming blog posts on Seville, Cádiz, and Madrid.

Sunday

NYC to Madrid: We flew from JFK to Madrid on a red eye, landing around 9AM Monday morning.

Monday

Madrid to Seville: Upon landing, we immediately went to the Estación de Atocha to catch our scheduled train. We landed early and had plenty of time, so we decided to take the bus to the station instead of a cab, costing us 5 euro each. The driver will give you change if you don’t have exact.

We made the mistake of waiting too long to book our train tickets, so a few days before our travel day, many of the times were already full. Luckily we were able to book a train around noon, putting us in Seville mid afternoon after the 2hr 40m ride. We couldn’t have known we would land in Madrid early and that customs would be quick, so, although I wish we could have switched to an earlier train after landing, for peace of mind I think the original time we booked was just fine. We puttered around the station, got coffee and snacks, used the bathroom, and made our way to the platform.

When you buy your tickets online (we purchased through Renfa’s site), you have the option to select your seat or be randomly assigned. The station is pretty straightforward, so if you’ve navigated Penn Station or Grand Central before, you’ll easily find your way around.

Seville: When we landed in Seville, our instinct was to call an Uber to get to our Airbnb. However, after watching our driver through the app continue to go in the wrong direction on his way to us, we opted to get in the taxi line, which moved quickly. We found overall that hailing taxis was an easy and inexpensive option to get around in both Seville (although this city is small enough that the need for a cab was rare) and Madrid. The fares are all based on meters, so no worries about varying costs.

We stayed in Seville from Monday to Wednesday, which was enough time to do most of what we wanted to do. I wouldn’t stay for less time, but you could definitely add a day or two. It’s a fairly small, walkable city, making it easy to explore on foot. More on what we did in Seville in an upcoming blog post.

Wednesday

Seville to Cádiz: To travel to the south, we decided to rent a car, a decision we did not regret, as it allowed us flexibility. We picked up the car right next to the train station, having booked it online in advance. The drive from Seville to most of the coast is pretty short, so we were at our resort in 1.5hrs.

We stayed at our resort in Sancti Petri (in the Cádiz province) for 5 nights, and expected this to be the relaxing part of our honeymoon, with one planned day trip to Cádiz city (about 30 minutes from the hotel). The weather didn’t end up being very conducive to hanging out by the pool or the beach, so we included two more day trips - one to Gibraltar (about 1.5hrs + the immigration line wait) and one just driving along the coast, stopping at random view points and sightseeing spots.

We chose to stay at a nice resort given it was our honeymoon, but staying at an Airbnb in Cádiz for a couple nights would be great too, before moving on to another point along the coast for a couple of nights.

Monday

Cádiz to Madrid: We drove back to Seville, where we had time to pick up lunch before returning the car and getting on our train to Madrid. Again, we waited too long to book our train tickets so ended up with a later one than I would have liked (book early!). Once in Madrid, we took a cab to our Airbnb.

Wednesday

Madrid to NYC: We spent two nights in Madrid, flying out early Wednesday morning. I wish we had at least one more night in Madrid, as there’s just a lot more to see, do, and eat given its size.