Spain and Portugal Itinerary for Families: The Complete Planning Guide

Planning a Spain and Portugal itinerary with kids is one of those trips that sounds ambitious right up until you land in Madrid and your 9-year-old asks if they can go back every year. We did this trip overland with our kids at ages 4 and 9, covering Madrid, Granada, Seville (with a day trip to Córdoba), the Algarve, Lisbon, and Porto. We were on the ground for 21 days. We stayed in some exceptional hotels. We ate a lot of marzipan. Nobody cried at the Alhambra. Barely.

This post is the hub for everything we’ve written about this trip. The individual destination posts have the day-by-day breakdowns, hotel reviews, and restaurant recommendations. What this post covers is everything you need to make the big planning decisions: how long you actually need, whether to fly or travel overland, which country to start in, how to split your time between regions, and what to skip with young kids so you don’t destroy anyone’s will to travel.

spain and portugal with kids photos from a family itinerary

How Long Do You Need for a Spain and Portugal Itinerary?

Longer than you think.

Three weeks is ideal for a full Spain and Portugal itinerary that covers both countries at a pace that doesn’t wreck everyone. Two weeks is absolutely doable but requires cutting something real. One week means you’re picking one country, not both, and you should make peace with that before you start planning. And even at three weeks we didn’t do everything – I’ll be back one day soon to see Barcelona! As I’ve gotten older and slowed my travel down more for our kids (something I actually enjoy), I’ve come to peace with the fact that I’m not going to see an entire country in a single vacation.

Here’s how to think about minimum nights per region:

Madrid: 3 nights minimum, 4 is better. You need at least one day trip (Toledo with kids is genuinely great) and enough in-city time to cover the Royal Palace area, El Retiro, and the food markets without sprinting.

Granada: 2 nights. One is not enough. The Alhambra is a full-day commitment that will leave everyone flattened, and you need a second day to actually enjoy the city. Especially if you are visiting in the summer like we did – it is HOT!

Seville: 4 nights. This is non-negotiable. Seville rewards slow walking, you’ll want the Córdoba day trip without sacrificing a full Seville day to get there, and honestly, 4 nights still won’t feel like enough.

Algarve: 4-5 nights. Three nights technically works but you’ll spend half of one day recovering from travel, and the Algarve is the kind of place where you want to fully exhale. If you’re staying at a resort, give yourself the time to actually use it.

Lisbon: 3 nights minimum. Sintra eats a full day, so you need nights on either side of it.

Porto: 2 nights. Two full days is genuinely enough, and Porto is efficient in the best way.

Total for the full routing: 17-21 nights. If you’re working with 10-12 vacation days, something has to give. The “What to Cut” section below will help.

Fly Between Countries or Travel Overland?

Overland. Every time, if logistics allow. The Spain and Portugal itinerary is one of the great overland routes in Europe, and flying the Spain-to-Portugal leg wastes the trip’s best feature.

Here’s why flying doesn’t make sense on this route. The distance between Seville and the Algarve is roughly 2.5 to 3 hours by car or private transfer. Factoring in airport time, security, and the general production of moving four people and their luggage through a terminal, you’re not saving anything meaningful, and you lose all flexibility.

We arranged a private car through Vila Vita Parc from our Seville hotel directly to the resort. Total door-to-door time was about 2.5 hours. After a week of walking cobblestones in 95-degree Seville heat, a comfortable car with no airport involved was not a luxury. It was the only reasonable option.

One critical logistics note on car rentals: Do not rent a car in Spain and drive it into Portugal. The cross-border drop fees are astronomical and will genuinely shock you. It is actually cheaper to arrange a private driver for the Spain-to-Portugal crossing and pick up a separate rental in Portugal. We rented a car in the Algarve, used it for beach days, and drove it up to Lisbon to return at the airport. Two separate rentals, zero cross-border fees.

Train is your best tool within each country, and it is excellent. This is one of the things I love most about Europe in general: the public transportation is so good it makes driving feel unnecessary. We took trains for every inter-city move in Spain: Madrid to Granada (3.5 hours, direct), Granada to Seville (3 hours, direct), Seville to Córdoba for the day trip (50 minutes each way). In Portugal: Lisbon to Porto (3 hours), Lisbon to Sintra (40 minutes). Book through Renfe for Spain and CP for Portugal. Both are easy to navigate, trains run on time, and the stations are often beautiful in their own right. São Bento in Porto has hand-painted tile panels covering the entire interior that are worth the trip alone. The only time we needed a car was in the Algarve. Otherwise you’ll find us walking or taking a metro everywhere!

Which Country Should You Start In?

Spain first, Portugal second.

Specifically: fly into Madrid, fly home from Porto or Lisbon. This direction makes sense for three reasons.

First, Madrid tends to have better transatlantic flight options from the US. Second, the pace naturally decelerates in the right direction: city-heavy Spain transitions into the beach reset of the Algarve and then the slower rhythm of Porto. You will be tired by the end of three weeks. Ending with a long lunch overlooking the Douro River in Porto is a better final memory than trying to summon energy for Madrid at the end of it.

Third, saving the Algarve for the midpoint of your Spain and Portugal family trip gives everyone a true reset. After cities, the beach days feel earned. And if all else fails, you have something to bribe your children with. ‘If you go to the museum, Mommy promises she’ll take you to the beach tomorrow!’. It works every time!

How to Split Your Time

The most common planning mistake on a Spain and Portugal itinerary is spending too long in Madrid and not enough time in Andalusia. Madrid is great. Granada and Seville are better. Weight accordingly.

Here’s the split by trip length:

3 weeks (21 nights): Madrid 4 nights, Granada 2 nights, Seville 4 nights, Algarve 5 nights, Lisbon 3 nights, Porto 2 nights, 1 night buffer for the unexpected.

2 weeks (14 nights): Madrid 3 nights, Granada 2 nights, Seville 3 nights, Algarve 3 nights, Lisbon 2 nights, Porto 1 night. Porto gets shortchanged here. That’s the trade-off.

10 vacation days: Cut Porto. Madrid 2 nights, Granada 1 night, Seville 3 nights, Algarve 2 nights, Lisbon 2 nights. Aggressive but manageable if you’re organized. Truthfully, once you are down to 10 vacation days I would consider cutting one country and slowing your trip way down. You can do either my full Spanish itinerary, or the full Portugal itinerary in 10 days.

The Algarve deserves more nights than most itineraries give it, particularly if you’re based at a resort. We chose Vila Vita Parc and the entire point of the property is that you slow down. Five nights was right.

The Spain and Portugal Itinerary: Region by Region

Madrid

Madrid surprised me with how family-friendly it is. The food markets are excellent, the neighborhoods are walkable in a way kids can actually sustain, and the day trip to Toledo is one of the best things we did on this entire Spain and Portugal family trip.

The apartment-style hotel we stayed at — the Ayala 63 by ARC Collection — was an absolute 10/10. Having a kitchen, a separate bedroom for the kids, and laundry in the unit was a genuine game-changer for the pace of the trip. I cannot overstate how much easier it makes everything to not be crammed into a single hotel room with two children at the end of a 10-hour sightseeing day.

El Retiro Park is worth a full day of your time, and I mean that literally. We spent an entire day just wandering around it and never felt like we ran out of things to see. Peacocks roam freely near the rose garden. There is a lake with row boats. Kids could run without anyone apologizing to a waiter. It was exactly what we needed.

The non-negotiables with kids: the Royal Palace gardens (free and beautiful), El Retiro, Plaza Mayor, and Toledo as a day trip. Buy marzipan in Toledo at Santo Tomé. It is not optional. Or buy some from every market you pass. I can vouch that is a truly magnificent strategy!

See the Madrid with Kids (coming soon!) and Toledo Day Trip (coming soon!) posts for full logistics and restaurant recommendations.

Granada

Granada is charming in a way I didn’t fully expect, and I genuinely wish we’d had more time there. Two nights is the minimum but if you can swing three, take them.

The Alhambra is awesome. It is also an enormous, historic site full of things you cannot touch, which is a useful fact to know before you arrive with a 4-year-old who is in a touching phase. I spent a fair amount of our visit redirecting my younger one away from irreplaceable 14th-century tilework. It is still absolutely worth going. Just set expectations before you walk in: this is a looking trip, not a touching trip. Bring snacks.

Book tickets as soon as you have your dates. Not a month out. Not two weeks out. The day you book your flights. Entry to the Nasrid Palaces is time-stamped and they will not make exceptions if you are late. Children under 12 are free.

After the Alhambra, walk to Mirador San Nicolás for the views of the complex from above. The Carrera del Darro river walk is easy with kids and beautiful. Granada has excellent Middle Eastern food in the neighborhood surrounding the Alhambra, which was a welcome change after several days of Spanish cuisine.

See the Granada with Kids (coming soon!) post for the full Alhambra strategy and hotel details.

Seville

Seville was the unanimous favorite of our entire Spain and Portugal itinerary, and it wasn’t close.

The golden hour at Plaza de España with flamenco dancers performing in the courtyard is something I could have watched every single day and never tired of. The scale of the plaza is jaw-dropping, the light turns everything gold, and the dancers just show up and perform. No ticket required. It costs nothing. It is one of the most memorable things I have ever seen while traveling, and my kids still talk about it. Tips are appreciated and while I rarely have money on me I tried to make an effort to always have something to give the dancers. I really can’t stress enough how talented they are and what a special experience watching this was for our family. If we go back, I’d personally try a class and learning some flamenco myself!

The Real Alcázar — which Game of Thrones fans will recognize as the Water Gardens of Dorne — is extraordinary. Book tickets in advance the same way you do the Alhambra; the Royal Apartments are time-stamped and the general site gets crowded fast. I’m a big GOT fan and this is the third country we’ve been to where we got to see some film sites. Being an actor has to be one of the coolest jobs. I’d love to get paid to hang out in these places!

The horse and buggy rides through the city? Absolutely touristy. Absolutely worth doing. It is the most efficient way to see Seville’s layout when your kids have run out of walking legs, and it is genuinely fun. Do not overthink this.

La Carboneria for flamenco in the evening is free, informal, and the real thing. Shows start around 8:30pm, which is late for small kids, but it’s worth attempting.

One practical warning that is not negotiable: June temperatures in Seville hit the high 90s. Morning sightseeing only. Long lunch. Rest in the afternoon. Then go back out for golden hour. This is the correct way to do Seville in summer and you will not regret it.

The Córdoba day trip (50 minutes each way by train from Seville) is also not optional. The Mosque-Cathedral is one of the most stunning buildings we walked into on this entire trip. I’m going to be honest. I liked Córdoba but wasn’t quite as impressed with it as I thought I would be. I pre-booked our train tickets and had been worried a full day wouldn’t be enough but actually ended up feeling like a full day was a bit too much.

See the Seville with Kids (coming soon!) and Córdoba Day Trip (coming soon!) posts for detailed itineraries and logistics.

Algarve

The Algarve is where the Spain and Portugal itinerary for families changes pace entirely. After two-plus weeks of cobblestones and cathedrals, everyone is ready for a beach.

We based at Vila Vita Parc, a five-star resort with seven pools (three specifically for children), a kids’ club, private beach, and a shuttle to a separate beach club with additional restaurants. It is the kind of property where you could honestly stay for five days and never leave the grounds and feel completely satisfied. We did not do that because there are beaches to see, but the option was there and that matters.

Beyond the resort: Praia da Marinha is the most beautiful beach we visited, with dramatic rock formations and the clearest water on the coast. Arrive early; the parking lot is small and fills fast. Lagos is worth a half day. Praia da Falésia has cliffs that look unlike anything else on the Algarve.

See the Vila Vita Parc Review and Best Beaches in the Algarve posts for more.

Lisbon

I’ll be honest with you: Lisbon was my least favorite stop on this trip. It’s a perfectly fine city and the Sintra day trip is genuinely excellent, but if your Spain and Portugal itinerary is already tight and something has to give, Lisbon is the one I’d shorten before I’d touch Seville or the Algarve.

That said, there are things worth doing. The Alfama neighborhood and Castelo de São Jorge are legitimately interesting. Pastéis de nata from Manteigaria are legitimately life-changing. The Convento do Carmo ruins are atmospheric and odd in the best way.

One thing to know before you go: Lisbon’s cobblestones are relentless and they are genuinely hard on strollers and small legs. If you have a child young enough to need a stroller, pack a good one and set your expectations. Keep your days shorter here than you would elsewhere.

We stayed at Martinhal Lisbon Chiado, which is the best family hotel in the city by a significant margin. One-bedroom apartments with bunk beds for the kids, a kids’ playroom bookable in one-hour increments, and a Chiado location that’s walkable to everything. See the Martinhal Lisbon Chiado Review for the full breakdown.

See the Lisbon with Kids post for the day-by-day itinerary and Sintra logistics.

Porto

Two days in Porto is enough and it delivers. São Bento Train Station alone is worth the trip north from Lisbon: the interior is covered floor to ceiling in hand-painted blue-and-white azulejo tiles depicting scenes from Portuguese history, and it stops everyone, kids included, in their tracks.

Livraria Lello requires pre-purchased tickets (credited toward a book purchase and worth every cent). The walk across Ponte Luís I to Vila Nova de Gaia has the best city views of the trip. The Ribeira Promenade at golden hour is the best evening walk we took anywhere.

We stayed at Torel 1884, a boutique hotel with apartment-style rooms and views over the city. See the [Torel 1884 Review] for details.

See the Porto with Kids post for the full walking itinerary.

What to Skip on a Spain and Portugal Itinerary For Families

Some things are universally recommended that you can safely cut when traveling with kids:

Tourist flamenco dinner shows: Expensive, long, and they start at 9pm. La Carboneria in Seville is free and is the real thing. Do that instead. Or just go watch the free dancers while the sunsets. I made this a nightly tradition and loved it!

Teleferico de Gaia in Porto: Five-minute cable car with decent views and a long line. Skip it.

Royal Palace interior in Madrid: The gardens outside are free and significantly more enjoyable for kids than the formal interior rooms. Save the entry fee.

Barcelona on this routing: If you’re doing Southern Spain plus Portugal overland, adding Barcelona requires a flight and breaks the pace of the whole trip. Save it for its own trip.

On the fence about visiting Spain and Portugal with kids?

I hope this Spain and Portugal itinerary for families has sold you on visiting the countries with your kids. I’ll be honest, neither were high on my bucket list and I’m so glad that good flights helped push them up my travel to-do list. They were fantastic and great places to explore with young children!

Spain and Portugal Itinerary for Families: The Complete Planning Guide

How Long Do You Need for a Spain and Portugal Itinerary?

Fly Between Countries or Travel Overland?

Which Country Should You Start In?

How to Split Your Time