mel_996

HI i'm thinking of travelling to Spain July 2008 and was wondering if anyone knows of some good guided coach tours and what are the essential places are to visit
Thanks,
Melissa

Robert2533

Have you done any research on this subject? There are literally hundreds of guided coach tours on the web for you to choose from.

Essential places to visit will depend on what you are interested in.

adeben

I think you should visit Bilbao, Pamplona, Logrono, Zaragoza, Sorja, Burgos, Santander, San Sebastian, Tudela, Tarragona,Oviedo, Leon, Valladolid, Zamora, Palencia, Caceres, Salamanca, Talavera, Merida, Avila, Madrid, Toledo, Valencia, Barcelona, Segovia, Sevilla, Cordoba, Jerez, Malaga, Algerciras, Utrera, Huelva, Granada, Almeria, Murcia, Alicante, Jaen, Linares and Antequera. Somewhere, something will be of interest.

Aduchamp1

think you should visit Bilbao, Pamplona, Logrono, Zaragoza, Sorja, Burgos, Santander, San Sebastian, Tudela, Tarragona,Oviedo, Leon, Valladolid, Zamora, Palencia, Caceres, Salamanca, Talavera, Merida, Avila, Madrid, Toledo, Valencia, Barcelona, Segovia, Sevilla, Cordoba, Jerez, Malaga, Algerciras, Utrera, Huelva, Granada, Almeria, Murcia, Alicante, Jaen, Linares and Antequera. Somewhere, something will be of interest.

I would not visit Utrera, if I only had two weeks. (Joke, just a joke.)

GBbabe

adeben, that all can be accomplished in a ten-day coach tour, right?

annhig

hi, mel,

before you start planning at all, do you really want to be in spain in July?

this year all southern europe had a terribel heat-wave at that time.

how about iceland?

regards, ann

isabel

First of all, people are making fun of you because you posted such a broad question without apparently having done any research. The really good thing about this forum is people's ability to answer fairly specific questions, so you really have to have read a few guidebooks first, then start asking questions and you'll get lots of serious replys.

The first thing I always do when planning a trip is go on the web and read the online guides, and look at peoples photos. When someplace looks interesting I note it, and then once I have a bunch of places I think I want to go I start seeing if they make sense geographically, etc. That's when this forum will be helpful.

I just got back from Spain last week. No it was not unbearably hot. I was in Madrid, Segovia, Salamanca and Toledo. It was quite pleasant, about 90 mid day but cooled off nicely at night. I do think Andalucia - Seville, Granada, etc is quite a bit hotter in the summer so you might want to cross that off your list even though it's my favorite part of Spain, just not in summer.

And if you are really considering coach tours, you should probably just go to a travel agent that sells that kind of thing. Big mistake as far as I'm concerned. Much better and cheaper trip if you do it on your own. Public transportation in Spain is fine.

CathyM

I have to agree 100% with Isabel on guided tours. I'm not a big fan and I can say this with experience. I took a guided tour (various European cities) in 1999 and Italy in 2000. No matter what the brochure advertises (leisure tour), you'll spend alot of time on the bus, and much of your "free time" in a city is 3 hours during your lunch. So, you have to decide if you want to sightsee and grab a sandwich as you're running from sight to sight or enjoy a nice lunch. Many sights are just "drive by's". Days start early (around 7a.m.) and end around 5-6pm. Then there's dinner around 7-9pm so forget enjoying the city in the evening...unless you skip the dinner you've paid for! I could go on and on......

Unless you have a health issue that would hinder your ability to get around, I'd definately travel without a tour.

I visit Spain twice each year, traveling solo and relying on public transportation. I've never felt unsafe - in fact I feel much safer in Spain then I do in the USA traveling alone. I'm not fluent in Spanish - just a few phrases and the basic vocabularly (Berlitz tapes and a couple of adult school courses). I use this forum in addition to researching books for most of my trip planning. Renfe (train) and most bus companies in Spain post their schedules on line so you can even make sure you have planned connections correctly.

How much time do you have for the trip?
What are your interests (slow pace or fast pace, big cities or villages, etc...). This will really determine the cities you need to visit.

nytraveler

Can't suggest where you should go - you really need to do some basic reseach basd on YOUR interests.

But do be aware that southern Spain (IMHO the most interesting part) is hot as hell in the summer - with temps often over 100. We were there in late April and it was alreqady into the 80s - I wouldn;t go later than that.