toledodd

my wife and i are veteran travelers who like to: 1. wander countries, generally avoiding big cites since we saw most in 1970 & 1984, 2. travel by auto and 3. rent villas for 2-3 days and take day trips. we have done this type of travel in turkey and 3 times in italy. now we would like to do the same in portugal and spain - haven't been in that area for 30 years. what are some of the out of the way places that you have discovered? islands? we are planning to travel in may before the hordes. i always spend many hours in research but i have found that asking here is a good place to start.

thanks in advance for your help.

Michael

You may want to take a look at my trip report--we traveled by car from Porto to Santiago and then back down to Lisbon; click on my name to find it.

Robert2533

Renting a villa for less then one week is possible, depending on where the villa is. Most require Saturday to Saturday rentals.

Wandering around Portugal & Spain and advoiding major cities sounds like a good idea, but you need to be aware you could end up wasting a great deal of time trying to find somewhere to spend the night, even in May. My advice would be to map our your trip and arrange accommodations in advance. You'll find it will save you both time and money.

Remember, a lot has changed in both Spain and Portugal since your last visit in 1984, and they are nothing like Turkey, and in some cases, Italy.

sandralist

I traveled around Portugal and northern Spain in the first week of September -- a much busier month than May -- and had no trouble booking last minute using the internet & booking.com. I wash't disappointed in a single stay -- and I always got my first choice.

Maybe if you talked more of where you happily went wandering in Italy then people could give you some tips. I go wandering in Italy in places like Friuli-Venezia-Giulia or the Emilia-Romagna, and that is much, much different that going wandering in places like Tuscany.

Also, other than "big cities", what area you trying to avoid? If you want to go wander, just go wander. Portugal is quite a small country relatively speaking, and it is quite simple to avoid the big cities, so -- like I said -- what are you worrying about? That you'll end up in touristy places nonethelss or end up in boring places?

toledodd

Sandralist: we are afraid of getting to places and running into tour bus on top of tour bus. and cruise ships waiting in the habor. made the mistake of spending a day in taormina and it was horrible. our italian wanderings tend to be in campania, basilicata (sp), regions along the adriatic, along the tyrannian coast and the small villages of sicily, although i think that siracusa may be my all time favorite location (at least in early may). one of our travel mantas is "put down the map and get lost". the other is "we travel to eat". does this help you understand our question better? thanks

kja

I spent a month in the north of Spain and Catalunya this past May. You might find some useful information in my trip report.

ribeirasacra

***what are some of the out of the way places that you have discovered? islands?***

You have not given us any ideas of time of year, port of entry and exit. So it is hare to give you and decent replies.
But to answer the question I quoted above is lesser explored parts of Spain is Extremadura and Galicia leading into Asturias and Cantabria.
Extremadura is certainly the least explored by the non Spanish.
However there are no island, unlike Galicia.

toledodd

plan to travel in May and unsure of where to fly into. also plan to see portugal. may fly in and out of separate cities.

thanks

sandralist

Yes, your response really did help. I think you coud have a great time in Northern Portugal and Galicia, especially with regard to eating as you go, although traveleing in May means the possibility of a lot of rain. Does that bother you?

If so, then you need to be south and just generally avoid the coast. You might get some ideas reading these:

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...a-spain-olives

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...live-oil-route

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...dalucia-madrid

Also, it is my impression that hardly anybody goes to the Azores, beautiful though they are. I don't know what the weather is like in May (or if cruise ships stop there). While I always hear that the Algarve has been ruined by tourism, these articles might help

http://www.express.co.uk/travel/beac...d-rustic-charm

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/trav...-spots-4727486

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/tr...arve.html?_r=0

Finally, with a little bit of planning, you can still see the utterly spectacular sights of the Alhambra, the mosque of Cordoba and get off the beaten track in Lisbon (although if you don't like big cities, you might want to give Lisbon a miss). But the Alhambra is one of the world's greatest treasures, and if you plan to go at night, you can miss the hordes and have a marvelous experience. While the mosque at Cordoba has tourists all the time, the town itself has few who spend the night, and it is about the size of Ortygia, and it is plenty of historic fascination.

And if you are interested in food when you travel in Europe, it can be interesting to see how people have coped with producing it where you are:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...village-utopia

But if you don't mind high risk of rain and are really gastronomaniacs, then wandering north of Porto through Portugal and into Galicia, then over to the Basque country would be quite spectacular.

kimhe

Take a look at the Sierra de Arcena area between Sevilla and Huelva, high on my wish list: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...de-aracena.cfm

Or in and around wonderful Antequera, as genuinely Andalucia as it gets, almost right in the middle of the Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Malaga rectangle. Would be perfect in May, spring blossom is here in full and the summer heat is normally some weeks away: http://www.andaluciacoastandcountry....era-spain.html
http://wild-about-travel.com/2011/07...ing-antequera/

Close to Antequera you'll find small towns such as Archidona
http://www.andalucia.com/province/ma...idona/home.htm
Álora: http://www.andalucia.com/province/malaga/alora/home.htm
and Ardales: http://www.andalucia.com/province/ma...dales/home.htm
and spectacular scenery such as the Torcal limestone mountain: http://www.andalucia.com/antequera/torcal/home.htm
and along El Caminito del Rey! http://www.caminitodelrey.info/en/#1

hetismij2

The Azores are well visited by European tourists.
May is a popular time to go.

You could consider one of the smaller Canary Islands, or even the Balearics, but with 3-4 weeks I would stick to the mainland.

I too would suggest you look at where you particularly would like to go, and plot out a rough route. It doesn't have to be set in stone, but is a good idea to help with finding places to stay. You may struggle to find villas for less than a week, but perhaps Paradors and Pousadas would appeal.

kimhe

And May is serious festival time in Andalucia. Many cities, towns and villages celebrate a great variety of festivals, most of them are long and local traditions. Could be a great opportunity to experience the local food, drink, song, dance, music and fiesta spirit and get under the skin of things: http://www.andalucia.com/festival/monthlyguide-may.htm
http://www.andalucia.com/festival/home.htm

toledodd

what do you think about spending some time wandering majorca?