Lolie

Traveling to Europe for 3 weeks in mid-March. Will do open jaw travel. Top wish list is Spain, France and Portugal. Not sure what would be best itinerary. Travelers are three adults (adult daughter will travel with us for one week out of the three weeks). All three have been to Italy so very little interest in going back - want to see new countries. Any input is appreciated.

PalenQ

Are you going by train or car?

Possible itinerary:

Land in Nice
French Riviera
Take train (or drive) to Aix-en-Porvence
Then to Avignon area - the classic of Provence for tourists with so so many neat sites

Take the TGV to Barcelona

Take the AVE to Madrid

Take the AVE to Seville

Take a bus to Faro, Portugal

Spend a few days on the Algarve near Faro - Lagos is a neat old town.

Train to Lisbon

Fly out of Lisbon.

If going by train check out these superb IMO sites for planning the rail part - www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com. If driving keep in mind that enting a car in one country and dropping it in another can result in steep drop-off charges. Trains are excellent in all those areas - going up to about 200 mph!

yorkshire

There are thousands of itineraries one could propose for Portugal=Spain-France.
My first step would be to check out guide books and narrow down a bit, then price open-jaw flights.
If you are still lost, at least tell us if you are a city/art/museum person, a nature/remote village kinda person, etc.

PalenQ

France - do you want to see Paris and I suppose if you have never been there the answer would be Oui Oui!

So then land in Paris - spend some days there and then take a train to the Riviera or Provence - the two tourist hot spots in southern France or really France outside of Paris (not that there are not many neat places but in terms of tourist numbers and southern France will be a whole lot warmer than northern France)

Then go via Barcelona and Madrid and Seville - a logical routing for someone never having been to Spain and wishing to end up in Portugal.

Lolie

Thanks for the responses. We changed our itinerary. We have booked flight from US to Barcelona with 25 year old daughter arriving 3/21/14. We are planning to stay in Barcelona area and then move to Madrid area. Daughter will fly home from Madrid on 3/29/14. We will then stay another 10 days. Possible itinerary is: Barcelona 3 nights, Madrid 2 nights, Salamanca 2 nights, back to Madrid one night for daughter's flight the next morning.

We are then looking at Seville for 3 nights, Granada for 3 nights and Valencia for 3 nights and then back to Madrid for 1 night before our flight the next morning back to the US.

Please comment on itinerary. Any places we should add or change? We are also looking for recommendations on places to stay, activities (hiking, tours, museums, etc) along with good restaurants. We prefer trains and buses rather than renting a car - any suggestions? Will we need to travel by car during our 10 days without the daughter?

This is the first trip to Spain for all three of us.

joannyc

After daughter leaves, I'd go to Cordoba for 1 night then onto Seville. Take out 1 night for Cordoba from your 3 nights in Grenada.

Also, go from Barcelona to Salamanca then put your 3 nights in Madrid together.

I might also take a night from Valencia, although I haven't been there, to add a day to Toledo (even tho I preferred multiple nights in Toledo). Some Toledo is better than no Toledo!

IMDonehere

Madrid is an excellent base to visit the surrounding towns including Segovia and Toledo and there are plenty of trains and buses.

Take at look at the AVE, high speed train and Vueling for flights within Spain.

kja

A good guidebook or two should prove invaluable to you. Also check trip reports and planning threads on this board -- you will find a wealth of information!

Lolie

Any recommendations on hotels in Toledo or Segovia? I will look at high speed train. Thanks.

kja

see booking.com and trip advisor.com

kja

Sorry - that should be tripadvisor.com

PalenQ

We are then looking at Seville for 3 nights, Granada for 3 nights and Valencia for 3 nights and then back to Madrid for 1 night before our flight the next morning back to the US.>

Most find Granada not that exciting or attractive outside the Alhambra and some neat old lanes bordering it - I would do it as a day trip from Seville or for one night only - Ronda to me is one of the stars of the area and a nice base for hopping to Granada.

Madrid itself IMO does not merit more than a few days for the average person but it has some astounding day trips - do not miss a day trip to Toledo, by any reckoning one of Europe's finest old-world cities. Under an hour each way by train. Avila and Segovia and El Escorial are also fine day trips, making Madrid a place where you could use as a base.

Seville is one of my favorite cities in Europe - day trip to Jerez-de-la-Frontera if possible to see both the Sherry houses - touring and tasting and the practice sessions of the famous Andlusian horses in the local training facility - an easy day trip from Seville.

Aramis

Here is your plan in a list, by overnights;

Barcelona 3
Madrid 2
Salamanca 2
Madrid 1
Seville 3
Granada 3
Valencia 3
Madrid 1

The first obvious conclusion is that you want to be in Madrid on the 8th night to see your daughter off the next morning. Does that have to have you staying in Madrid 3 times (2 is inevitable if you want to see Madrid with her and must depart from it at the end of your trip). Maybe not - why not try;

Barcelona 3
Valencia 3
Madrid 3 (daughter leaves)
Salamanca 2
Seville 3
Granada 3
Madrid 1

It is easy to get to Valencia from Barcelona and easy to get on from there to Madrid - little backtracking (some north-south, maybe)
I suggest Seville after Salamanca because it is an easier and faster trip than travelling from Salamanca - Granada and if you don't need to be back in Madrid your final night except to reach an airport hotel, then the longer trip there from Granada is "affordable" time wise.

I suppose if your daughter wants to See Salamanca instead of Valencia this won't work well for you.

joannyc

I stayed at the Fontecruz hotel in Toledo. Very nice hotel!

http://eng.fontecruzhoteles.com/font...FSHNOgod0EoAzw

amer_can

Bear in mind the weather may be a crap shoot. Have layers and tuck a pair of gloves and a scarf in your bag. We were in MAD, Salamanca, Avilla and Sergovia and it snowed, blew and was miserable. The only saving factor was IT WAS SPAIN!!! So layers, layers, and layers..And this miserable weather was late March, 2011.