Help needed for Spain itinerary

Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 03:53 PM
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Help needed for Spain itinerary

Hi - We are five Canadians travelling to Spain next week, 3 adults and two girls 20 and 17. This will be our first trip to Spain, we love to see and do it all when we travel, and we have a few questions. Our itinerary so far is:

Thurs Feb 13 - land in Madrid at about noon, stay in apartment close to Bilbao metro station

Fri Feb 14 - Madrid

Sat Feb 15 - 11:35 high speed train to Malaga, pick up rental car, drive to Estepona, one week timeshare in Estepona

Feb 15-22 - stay in Estepona, do day trips in the area, our only firm plan is to go to Granada on Tues when we have Alhambra tickets for the afternoon

Sat Feb 22 - fly from Malaga to Barcelona, stay in apartment in Barri Gotic

Sat Feb 22-Tues Feb 25 - Barcelona

Wed Feb 26 - depart in the morning

While we all love food, one of my daughters cannot eat dairy or grain - she does well eating grilled meat and seafood with vegetables and salads. Will we have trouble in Spain with this dietary restriction? From what I've read, It seems most tapas involves one or the other...are restaurants as accustomed to accommodating these types of things as they are in Canada?

For our time in Madrid, we will be jet-lagged the first day, but only have a day and a half there so I'm thinking we should spend the first afternoon going through the Palacio Real and then wandering the streets of Old Madrid with an early dinner of tapas and a good night's sleep. Any suggestions for a good tapas restaurant in the area?

Day 2 in Madrid, I am torn between maximizing what we see by taking a city tour of some sort and trying to see at least one of the wonderful museums - I am thinking the Prado. If the weather is good, we could walk in Retiro Park and perhaps picnic there for lunch. Although maybe Madrid will be too cold for that...I think we'd like to try to see some flamenco that evening - any suggestions for shows that night?

For our week in Estepona, we are hardy day trippers so I am thinking we'll spend some time in Malaga, visit at least some of the Pueblos Blancos (Ronda and Grazalema look close, Jerez de la Frontera is a little further away but sounds interesting - any suggestions?), and spend a long day in Granada, visiting the Alcazar and then the Alhambra. I know that the recommendation is to see the Alhambra both during the day and at night, but I think we will have a significant drive back to our apartment, so we may have to be content with a leisurely afternoon visit. While I would love to see Seville, I am worried that this is another very lengthy day trip and maybe too much to do 2 of those types of trips in one week. Is Seville a must-see, even if it is 3 hours away? I would have liked to have done the tour of the bullfighting ring and seen the Alcazar there...What do people think about Gibralter? I have heard very different views on this and can't really decide...

With 31/2 days in Barcelona, I am content that we will be able to see a lot - Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, Montjuic and the Fundacio Miro, the Palau de la Musica Catalana and the Museu Picasso are all on our list. We'll shop at La Boqueria as soon as we arrive as we will do some cooking in our apartment. Are there any markets or shopping areas that would interest 17 and 20 year old girls? We were disappointed that there will not be a football game at Camp Nou while we are there...

Finally, we have a long-standing tradition of choosing a very special restaurant for our last dinner together - any suggestions for Tuesday night in Barcelona?

Thank you so much - all of our trips have been greatly enhanced by wonderful suggestions from fodorites!
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Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 04:40 PM
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"For our time in Madrid, we will be jet-lagged the first day, but only have a day and a half there so I'm thinking we should spend the first afternoon going through the Palacio Real and then wandering the streets of Old Madrid with an early dinner of tapas and a good night's sleep" -- Are you locked in to only 1.5 days in Madrid? I must admit that the Palacio Real didn't make my plans for 4 days in Madrid, although I enjoyed their gardens. I agree that looking for a good walk, good food, and early rest makes sense.

"Day 2 in Madrid, I am torn between maximizing what we see by taking a city tour of some sort and trying to see at least one of the wonderful museums - I am thinking the Prado" -- LOL, I spent a full day in El Prado and would have been happy to spend more time there! It really depends on what you want to see and experience. You might consider visiting the Retiro rather than the Palacio Real on your first day, leaving you greater flexibly on this day. If you tire of El Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sophia are nearby. Just a thought!

"spend a long day in Granada, visiting the Alcazar and then the Alhambra" -- I thought Granada's Alcazar was part of the Alhambra, but I could be mistaken. I'm not sure if you'll have enough time, but I was glad to see Granada's Cathedral ... but only if you have time AFTER the Alhambra!

Hope that helps!
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Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 04:41 PM
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Hope you don't mind I am going to bookmark this as I am planning a trip for May in some of the same areas and have our 17 year old daughter with us...
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Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 04:49 PM
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Hi, we took our adult daughter and 12 year old granddaughter to Barcelona and Madrid last September.
We do a similar thing with the special night out, and I would recommend this: They had recently started evening tours of Casa Mila that included dinner at the resturant on the ground floor of the apartment building, with the tour after that.
It was a highlight, the views from the rooftop were wonderful. The dinner was good, not overly expensive and included wine. You book online on their website and pay on the night.
We also saw a flamenco performance in Madrid, the Tablao Flamenca La Quimera, it is a little out of the centre of Madrid, we got a taxi.
It was a great evening, we purchased the tickets online and this included a lovely meal. I would recommend this.
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Old Feb 3rd, 2014, 06:24 PM
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Thanks so much kja and missdonkey!
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 03:08 AM
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Flamenco: The best tablao in Madrid and Spain the past few years is Casa Patas just off central Plaza Santa Ana. http://www.casapatas.com/

But for your night, I think I would recommend to see Susana Lupiañez "La Lupi" dancing in famous Corral de la Morería close to the Royal palace and the Almudena cathedral. You should make a reservation as soon as possible. http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/en/index.html

La Lupi got her great international breakthrough the past two years touring all over Europe and America with the most succesful flamenco singer in the world today Miguel Poveda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=960VBZ_DhTw
and with Poveda in the Madrid opera: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vGopN5FeTI

Great cantaora (female flamenco singer) Rocío Bazán will also perform on this night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYOZoXhKDPk

When in Estepona, you should visit close by and genuine Málaga city itself.
"Secret Spanish pleasures" (Telegraph): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalis...pleasures.html
"Picasso's city of hidden treasures" (Guardian): http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...el?INTCMP=SRCH
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 04:05 AM
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Apart from La Boquería, you can visit the excellent Santa Caterina food market close to the cathdral: http://www.yelp.com/biz/mercat-de-sa...rina-barcelona

And the old El Born Market has recently reopened as a Catalan/Barcelona cultural center. http://www.mercatdelborn.org/welcome/

Lots of fabulous restaurants and upscale tapas bars in barcelona, but for the special night out I would perhaps recommend Barcelona classic 7 Portes from 1836. Tons of barcelona history in the walls, and excellent traditional Cataln food. Many tourists come here, but it's still also very popular with locals. Have had several excellent meals here the past few years. Not too expensive, mains aroun
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 04:10 AM
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...around 15-25€ and huge portions. http://www.7portes.com/catala/index2.php

A big Barcelona event when the restaurant celebrated the 175 anniversary in 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujDIsGzDO38
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 06:56 AM
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she does well eating grilled meat and seafood with vegetables and salads.

Google "celiac dining Spain" and that should get you resources on avoiding grains generally even if her digestive situation goes beyond wheat. On the coasts, you'll have lots of seafood options; inland, you'll be fine too with the grilled meats. The Spaniards think their pork is the manna described in the Bible so there's that.

What do people think about Gibralter? Gibraltar is a waste of your bloody time. Nothing to see but the grabby and grumpy monkeys and sunburned Brits.

We'll shop at La Boqueria as soon as we arrive as we will do some cooking in our apartment. No reason to do that, there have to be better markets. La Boqueria is a tourist staple, but the quality is middling. More flash than substance. Take kimhe's suggestion for the markets.

I'm with kja, I don't remember an Alcazar of note in Granada. Alhambra was the Moorish castle and when the Moors were kicked out, the Spanish repossessed it. The Cathedral is the other main sightseer destination.

Is Seville a must-see, even if it is 3 hours away? Not as a day trip.
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Old Feb 4th, 2014, 09:59 AM
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From the Spanish Celiac Association (FACE): "There are gluten-free dishes that can be found on the great majority of menus in restaurants (salads, grilled fish and meat, egg omelets, homemade desserts, fruit, etc".
http://www.celiacos.org/gluten-free-spain.html

Currently some 500 FACE-approved gluten-free products in the Mercadona supermarkets. They are all over Spain: http://www.mercadona.es/corp/ing-html/donde.html

And the Boquería market is nothing but spectacular. Perhaps the best in Europe and one of the finest in the world:
http://www.gardenista.com/posts/la-boqueria-market
http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/s...markets-316265
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Old Feb 6th, 2014, 06:22 PM
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Thanks kja and BigRuss - you're right, I was confusing Granada with Seville and it is the cathedral we will be seeing in Granada. We have also now made reservations for Feb 14 at Corral de la Morería - thanks for that and your other great tips kimhe, especially your link to the Spanish words and phrases related to my daughter's dietary restrictions! We'll take your advice BigRuss and skip both Gibralter and Seville, but does anyone have any tips about the Pueblos Blancos? What about winery tours in the area?
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Old Feb 7th, 2014, 05:33 AM
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Regarding white villages, you can take a look at this: http://www.roughguides.com/article/w...-of-andalucia/

When it comes to winery tours, you have of course Jerez: http://www.andalucia.com/gastronomy/...inerytours.htm

But also some wineries in the closer Serrania de Ronda: http://www.turismoderonda.es/gastron...oductoseno.htm
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Old Feb 7th, 2014, 07:55 AM
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And for the record, the "skip Seville" advice is only because of your current arrangements (the "skip Gibraltar" advice stands regardless of the remainder of your itinerary). If and when you return (and Spain is more than worthy of a return), dedicate some time to it and to Cordoba.

I need to go back to Seville and Cordoba (and Salamanca, which is a great town) myself.
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