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Best Month to visit Spain

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Best Month to visit Spain

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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 12:57 PM
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Best Month to visit Spain

Taking into consideration weather and economy, what is the ideal month or months to visit Spain. I would love temperatures around 70 F.
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 01:56 PM
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Spain has quite a variation in regional climates. Where were you thinking of going in Spain?
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 04:23 PM
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So true !
Spain is quite diverse and climate varies greatly. If this is a first trip to Spain---it takes 6 trips to see it--I would start in Andalusia for 10 days and add Madrid at the front or rear, and I would do it in April or May.
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 04:32 PM
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All depends upon what you want to do. Spain has such a variety of areas, your question is very much like, when is the best time of year to visit California? Do you want to go to the beach? Snow ski? Anything in between... Give us your preferences for what you'd like to do and we'll shoot you some more informed suggestions.
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 04:44 PM
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DON'T GO IN OCTOBER-RAIN-RAIN-RAIN
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 04:55 PM
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Not in Andulucia. Again, were you in Bilbao? Barcelona, Toledo? Lake Tahoe weather is not at all like Death Valley weather. Get my point?
;-)
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 05:10 PM
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In southern Spain you will want April - even then you can get highs in the 80's. After that it will often be hellish (typically over 100 in the summer).

Madrid can also be very hot then - or it can be more moderate. (We had temps of high 90s the first week of May.)

Barcelona and the north is likely to be a little warmer.

But - in summer the only place you would want to be is San Sebastian (which has a separate, Atlantic climate) different from the rest of Spain.
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 06:08 PM
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"DON'T GO IN OCTOBER-RAIN-RAIN-RAIN"

depends.
we visited twice in Oct ( first half) and had one rainy day (in Santander - Northern Spain).
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 06:56 PM
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Visited Spain the last week in April Beautiful weather,but depending on which part of Spain you are in the temperature would be warmer near the coast. I think April is the perfect month to go.
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Old Jan 10th, 2009, 08:27 PM
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As the others have noted, it depends on what region. We were once in Merida in June and it was so hot we could not go out in the noon day sun. We were in Galicia last August and it was cooler than usual.

Take at look at a temperature and rain charts to see the averages.
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Old Jan 11th, 2009, 01:37 AM
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Is it me or am I the only one who hates questions about weather?
If it is that important to your vacation then maybe you should visit somewhere hot and dry, like a desert!
Ok you can suggest that the weather MAY be like this or that, but in the end you can guarantee one thing it will be variable. At the moment Europe is having its coldest winter for 10 years or more and no one predicted this. Here in Spain they have even had snow on the med coast.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35175305

OK rant over!!!
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Old Jan 11th, 2009, 03:04 AM
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milliebest, your question is very reasonable. Here is my answer:

- For Andalucia, March or April would be perfect, also October and November. Andalucia is very warm and dry and extremely hot in summer.

- For Madrid and Toledo, April would be perfect, May would be okay, also October. Madrid has a strange climate: Cold in winter and hot in summer with a short period in between.

- For Barcelona and Donostia, April, May, September, October would be good. These places have more moderate climate and do not get as hot as Andalucia, but I would still avoid the summer.

For a trip that covers different regions, April or October would be the best time.

In any case, avoid the summer.
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Old Jan 11th, 2009, 03:52 AM
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riberiascara, I think it's you. It's really a shame to go to Southern California for a beach vacation in early June because you can get a lot of overcast -- and most people don't know that.

Many people don't know about the various strong winds that can bedevil otherwise fantastic spots along the Mediterranean at only certain times of year.

Many people have no idea how hot in can be in Pompeii after the end of April.

And so on and so forth.

If somebody loves temps of 70 F, then Madrid is reliably in that range in some months, not in others -- and during those some months, neither Andalucia or San Sebastian is.
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Old Jan 11th, 2009, 05:44 AM
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I understand that point we went to our honey moon in Cancun not knowing about the "el niño" storms and we a bit dissapointed that it rained alot. But that was in deed meant to be a beach vacation...

As for Spain unless you are lookinig for a beach/sun vacation I find the occasional rain adds atmosphere and kind of fun. As long it it is not torrential.

We went May to Madrid and it did rain here & there off & on. It was fine & did not dampen our enjoyment at all.
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Old Jan 11th, 2009, 11:04 AM
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Ditto to most all of the above-

There are no guarantees,
it depends on the region,
climate varies widely,
April/October best for the south,
best to avoid Madrid, Extremadura and Andalucía in the summer,
"Green Spain" temps are at their best in summer (but higher than a 70 F average),
again April/October would be best for an itinerary covering Madrid and points south.

In our Spain travels lately, we've had many surprises, weather that has certainly varied from the usual pattern:

snow on Easter Sunday in the Rioja
Madrid shuts down Jan. 9 due to snow
zero snow on Pyrenees post Xmas
warm temps in Granada in early Feb.
upper 70s in Madrid in early April
blankets at night in June in the north


These days, we've decided, weather-wise, all bets are off!

Maribel is online now  
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