nooriskandar

Hey dear all. I'm here again after such amazing help I got for my Europe as well as Iran and Turkey trips. I wish this time round it would be smooth sailing as well.

I will be on a 33 days trip to this part of the world for my semester break. Looking forward to spending "winter" in Europe. Away from sunny, now hazy Singapore. I am a visual artist, poet and now an arts research postgrad student. Culture, air, love, light, mystery enthral me. Mosque hopping, Moroccan tea, count stars, people watch with Spanish music plugged to our ears, chase the winter sun are some of my idea of fun.

I don't even mind flying off to other nearby cities if time and budget permit but this seems packed as it is!Please help advice me if these rough plan works and also to recommend me small gems of cities I might have overlooked but fit my kinda enjoyment. Your help would be so appreciated Thanks in advance!

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Flight on Thursday, 03.12.2015 from Singapore to Lisbon

04 DEC LISBON
05 DEC LISBON
06 DEC LISBON
05 DEC SEVILLE
06 DEC SEVILLE
07 DEC SEVILLE
08 DEC GIBRALTAR
09 DEC TANGIER
10 DEC TANGIER
11 DEC TETOUAN
12 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
13 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
14 DEC FES
15 DEC FES
16 DEC FES
17 DEC ———- BREATHER
18 DEC CEUTA
19 DEC GRANADA (CORDOBA DAY TRIP)
20 DEC GRANADA
21 DEC MURCIA
22 DEC MURCIA
23 DEC MURCIA
24 DEC MADRID
25 DEC TOLEDO
26 DEC TOLEDO
27 DEC SALAMANCA
28 DEC PORTO
29 DEC PORTO
30 DEC PORTO
31 DEC MADRID

1 JAN MADRID
2 JAN MADRID
3 JAN BARCELONA
4 JAN BARCELONA
5 JAN BARCELONA
6 JAN BARCELONA

Flight out from BARCELONA to SINGAPORE

Best,

Noor

nytraveler

Well I would bag Gibraltar (just a big rock with nasty monkeys and getting back across the border to Spain can take hours, depending on the state of relations between the 2 countries) and add time to both Cordoba and Granada, which to me are the most fascinating part of Spain IMHO.

Bedar

And, I would skip Murcia. Not much to see there.

ribeirasacra

do not forget Chrisams eve until teh 26th a lot of places close including restaurants. The same for NYE and NYD.
The 6th Jan is also a public holiday.

kja

I have to admit that this trip is FAR more fast-paced than I would like, but you would see some wonderful things!

Although I thought Cordoba worth 2 full days, I know that many people see it as a day trip -- but I think more typically from Sevilla than Granada.

ribeirasacra's advice to consider holidays is very good. And short hours of daylight at that time of day. And keep in mind that MANY things in Spain are closed all day on Mondays and much or all of Sundays, too, not to mention a LONG mid-day siesta.

If you do cut some places, as suggested above, I would encourage you to add time to places already on your itinerary rather than adding locations. For example, Salamanca is easily worth 2 full days, and depending on when you travel, you are giving yourself very little time in Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada. If you do add anything, Ronda might be worth considering as a one-night stay -- but only if it fits in the rest of your plan. Or Segovia, as an overnight or day trip from Madrid.

And if you do cut some places, consider consolidating your time in Madrid (so you have only one stay there) and consider ensuring that you have at least 4 full days there -- with your interest in art, you might find it worthwhile.

And be sure to book your tickets for the Alhambra well in advance, preferably including both a day and evening visit.

Hope that helps!

nooriskandar

Wow, woke up to such delightful responses. Thank you all.

I have noted all advice.
I will append the new plan below.

I have some questions:

I am more intrigued by these small places like Segovia and Ronda. Do you think I will miss much if I cut out Valencia and Murcia, both? Since they are a little out of the way. So by removing them, I can proceed from Alhambra straight to Toledo/Madrid.

Also, if you notice I am a bit unsure about whether to include pitstops for a night after and before crossing Spanish-Moroccan borders.
Say, is it necessary for me to stop at Malaga or Gilbratar or I can just go straight to Algeciras from Seville and straight to Granada from Algeciras?
Or will the journey be too hectic?

Also everyone has been recommending me Porto henceforth it is in the list, but is it really worth the hassle?

The moroccan section is still not fixed but the moving in and out of Morocco dates are as follow

Thanks all for the replies!


04 DEC LISBON
05 DEC LISBON
06 DEC LISBON
05 DEC SEVILLE
06 DEC SEVILLE
07 DEC SEVILLE (CORDOBA side trip)
08 DEC SEVILLE
09 DEC SEVILLE -TANGIER (ferry in)
10 DEC TANGIER
11 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
12 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
13 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
14 DEC FES
15 DEC FES
16 DEC FES
17 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
18 DEC TANGIER - Granada (Ferry back)
19 DEC GRANADA
20 DEC GRANADA (alhambra etc)
21 DEC GRANADA (RONDA daytrip)
22 DEC GRANADA
23 DEC TOLEDO
24 DEC TOLEDO
25 DEC MADRID
26 DEC MADRID (SALAMANCA)
27 DEC MADRID (SEGOVIA daytrip)
28 DEC PORTO
29 DEC PORTO
30 DEC PORTO
31 DEC MADRID
1 JAN MADRID
2 JAN MADRID
3 JAN BARCELONA
4 JAN BARCELONA
5 JAN BARCELONA
6 JAN BARCELONA

Flight out from Barcelona to SINGAPORE

kja

"26 DEC MADRID (SALAMANCA)"

Salamanca does not, IMO, make a good day trip from Madrid -- it merits at least one overnight, if not two.

"I am more intrigued by these small places like Segovia and Ronda. Do you think I will miss much if I cut out Valencia and Murcia, both?"

I can't really speak to this question, as I haven't visit either Valencia or Murcia to date. That said, it really depends on what YOU want to see and experience and what YOU are willing to sacrifice along the way.

I think your current plan is much improved -- but it is still too fast-paced for my tastes. YMMV. I would encourage you to plot your route out on a map, with options for cutting various places to see how much time you will have to spend to include some of the places that are a bit out of the way and how much time you can save by routing differently. Just a thought.

How do you plan to get from place to place? Make sure you factor that in, too.

Bedar

From Seville you should go to Tarifa to get the ferry/hydrofoil. It goes directly into Tangiers harbor. The ferries from Algeciras go into Tanger-Med which is about 40 km from Tangiers. On your return you could stop by Ronda on your way to Granada.

nooriskandar

thanks again for the tips! I have refined the itinerary looking at the plots on the map. HOPEFULLY, this works out will travel mostly by trains and buses, whatever is of convenience and cheap haha

04 DEC LISBON
05 DEC LISBON
06 DEC LISBON
07 DEC LISBON -SEVILLE (CORDOBA side trip)
08 DEC SEVILLE
09 DEC SEVILLE
10 DEC SEVILLE
11 DEC SEVILLE -TANGIER (ferry in)
12 DEC TANGIER
13 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
14 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
15 DEC CHEFCHAOUEN
16 DEC FES
17 DEC FES
18 DEC MEKNES
19 DEC MEKNES
20 DEC TANGIER - Granada (Ferry back)
21 DEC GRANADA (RONDA daytrip)
22 DEC GRANADA
23 DEC GRANADA
24 DEC GRANADA
25 DEC MURCIA
26 DEC VALENCIA
27 DEC VALENCIA
28 DEC MADRID
29 DEC MADRID (TOLEDO daytrip)
30 DEC MADRID (SEGOVIA daytrip)
31 DEC SALAMANCA
1 JAN SALAMANCA
2 JAN MADRID
3 JAN BARCELONA
4 JAN BARCELONA
5 JAN BARCELONA
6 JAN BARCELONA

kja

Better!

I still don't understand the reason for 2 separate stops in Madrid. (You may have excellent reasons -- I'm just not seeing them.) Consider your options for consolidating your time there. And consider staying overnight in Toledo -- it is incredibly evocative after day trippers leave.

kimhe

You can do some of your travel with the high speed and very comfortable AVE train: Sevilla-Cordoba (42 mins), Valencia-Madrid (1h 38 mins) and Madrid-Barcelona (2h 30 mins), all city center to city center. Much money to save if you but in advance on renfe.com

nooriskandar

kja, i did that cause I feel like using Madrid as a base Since it is pretty central. Maybe i should consolidate them all together.

Kimhe, that's great, i will perhaps use the trains for those connections then thank you

kja

"i did that cause I feel like using Madrid as a base"

It looks like you plan to stay in Madrid before and after your time in Salamanca. If you can consolidate your time in Madrid, it should be a time-saver.

BTW, if you post another itinerary, it might help to quit using all capital letters, which comes across as shouting and is also hard to read -- just a suggestion!