Thought I would share some thoughts on my very last-minute October 2011 10 day, first trip to Spain. A bit of a sampler, I spent about 4 days in Madrid, 2 days in Granada, and 3 days in Seville with a day trip to Cordoba.
Airline: Vancouver to Madrid return via Lufthansa. My first time with Lufthansa and I enjoyed its service. Disliked the lack of control on boarding, really a free-for-all. I just watched and was one of the last to board.
Trains: Trained from Madrid to Granada, 4.5 H via 1st class, and Granada to Seville, Seville to Cordoba return, and Seville to Madrid via tourist class. Great train stations, modern trains, wonderful service - what's not to like?
Madrid:
Hotel: Catalonia Las Corte, rated a 4 star (but I would call it a 3 or 3 1/2 star), 1/2 block from Plaza Santa Ana, 2 1/2 blocks from the Museum Triangle. 18th c. palace, nicely renovated and maintained, large room and ensuite, good sound-proofing and air conditioning, E100 & E120 per night. Perfect for a first time visitor - recommended.
I very much liked Madrid. Loved Parc El Retiro and the Botanical Gardens and really enjoyed the big 3 museums. Did lots of other sightseeing but found the heat and crowds sometimes oppressive. Inexpensive good wine and cava were a treat but wasn't so lucky with the food (which I know was from my not finding the good local haunts).
Granada:
Carmen de la Alcubilla del Caracol. I have a detailed review on T.A. - this was my favourite hotel of this trip and certainly ranks highly with accommodation from other trips. A seven room private home a stone's throw away from the Alhambra Palace Hotel and a few minutes walk to the Alhambra itself. Charming rooms, charming host, lovely gardens to enjoy the views over Granada and the Sierra Nevada Mtns, honour bar... highly recommended.
The Alhambra and Generalife were stunning, places I'll remember forever. Viewed the interior of the Cathedral and the Capilla Real, explored the Albaicin, and generally really enjoyed Granada more than I expected.
Seville:
Hotel Fernando III. Well, this is a 4 star hotel with well appointed lobby. Bar and restaurant on site but I didn't visit them. Roof top pool and bar with a great view of the city and the Cathedral, mainly populated by 20 year old, 110 lb topless goddesses. No way in hell this overweight 50 something was joining the crowd in my bathing costume. Room was, well, okay, service was okay, location was good, nothing horrible about the hotel but nothing fantastic (unless you are a male watching 20 year olds...). Not a particularly interested front of house. E100 and E120. I think one could do much better.
Enjoyed the Cathedral and the Alcazar. I found Seville very crowded and very touristy, lots of grafitti.
Day trip to Cordoba;
Easy 40 min. train ride from Seville. Loved the Mesquita, liked the Alcazar, had my best meal of the trip here. Enjoyed walking around but a half day was enough time for me.
Overall I enjoyed my first trip to Spain but I didn't love it as I do France and Italy. I'll return one day to visit other areas - this was a fun and informative first trip for me.
Madrid & Andalucia
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Interesting how travelers experience various countries.
I visited France and Italy number of times before Spain.
Once I traveled in Spain,I knew that was the place I loved and would return
to many times.
Danon - I agree. It's wonderful how everyone has different tastes. Like you, I had visited much of Western Europe on several trips with the exception of Spain....until my first visit in 2001. I'm embarrassed to admit I really didn't know much about Spain prior to this trip. Almost as soon as the plane touched down in Spain my love affair with the country had begun.
Thanks so much for that. My wife and I are going to be making a trip at the end of November that will be almost exactly the same. 10 days to split between Madrid, Granada, and Sevilla, with a day trip to Cordoba. How did you feel about your allottment of time between the cities? Would you have spent more/less time in any of the places?
Been to each of these cities and each has points of interest, although less so in Cordoba. In Sevilla a set meal in the Hotel Alfonso XIII is very reasonable for silver service in a setting used in Lawrence of Arabia. El Buzo, beside the bullring, is another good place to eat. Bodega Santa Cruz is one of the best tapas bars in the city and El Rinconcillo is by far the oldest.
In Madrid there is the oldest restuarant in the world, Botin, although the food is plain roast pork and lamb, it is worth the visit.On Plaza Santa Ana sit at Hemingway's table in Cerveceria Aleman, enter the door and it's to your right against the wall.
El Retiro has the only statue of the devil I know of, and a lovely story connecting the statue and the trees surrounding it. Templo del Debob is a genuine Egyptian temple relocated when the Aswan Dam was being built.
Granada is a great, small place to just wander, and Aixa is just one of many great bars, named after Boabdil's daughter, and a short bus trip south takes you to the site of El Suspiro del Moro, the Moor's Last Sigh, where Boabdil looked back and wept at losing the last Moorish Kingdom in Spain.
Thanks for your report - we were in Spain virtually the exact same time period, but did similar destinations in the opposite order: Toledo (1 night), Granada (2 nights), Cordoba (2 nights), Sevilla (2 nights), Madrid (3 nights).
We enjoyed Spain much more than we had expected (heard stories of aloof Spaniards and not-so-good food, mostly not the case for us) -- my husband was planning the itinerary for a return trip while we were still enjoying this one! Though I would also say, as you did, France and Italy still rate at the top of our favorite European destinations (though Spain is 3rd on the list, for food).
We loved Sevilla as much as everyone said we would, mostly because it was just such a pleasant city. Granada, other than the Alhambra (which was of course amazing), we didn't like so much. If we had known, we probably would have spent one night in Granada, and 3 nights in Sevilla. Not many people spend two nights in Cordoba, but we really get into history, and as it was the capital of Moorish Spain for a long time, I wanted to spend more than a day-trip there.
I found the Mezquita in Cordoba and the Alcazar in Sevilla almost as fascinating as the Alhambra. And because there were fewer people in the Mezquita and the Alcazar, and because I had the leisure to return to the Mezquita, I feel like I could appreciate their art and architecture more fully. In the Alhambra, it was so compelling that I was a bit too overwhelmed to take it in all at once. Caveat: I love stuff like this, others might not be so excited by it - though DH and DD also returned to the Mezquita with me.
I will get around to a separate report sometime soon-ish.
Lexma90,
Where did you stay in Sevilla? We are thinking of doing a Sevilla-Madrid-San Sebastian trip next spring, before we head to Paris for a work conference.
Thanks for everyone's thoughts.
Chirpy, I'm the only traveller I've read/know who was underwhelmed by Seville, so take my recommendations with a grain of salt. Three nights/2 days would be perfect, or four nights/3 days with that daytrip to Cordoba. I'd probably spend one of your Madrid days daytripping to Toledo, which I didn't do and somewhat regret.
I'll return to Spain; would like to see San Sebastian, Barcelona, Segovia and Salamanca one day...
In Sevilla, we stayed at Hotel Amadeus. It was delightful!
macdogmom,
When in Sevilla, be sure to visit areas outside the beautiful but very touristy Santa Cruz district. The close by Arenal area West/North-West of Santa Cruz, the San Lorenzo/Alameda/Macarena area North of what the natives call centre (North of Santa Cruz) and Triana on the other side of the city river Guadalquivir is much more local atmosphere and - apart from the obvious sights in Santa Cruz - a lot more interesting.
Arenal: http://www.sevillaonline.es/english/seville-city-centre/arenal.htm
Alameda/Macarena: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/macarena-alameda.htm
Triana: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/triana.htm
Here are very knowledgeable suggestions for tapas bars and restaurants by district. Azahar lives in Sevilla:
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/
These two gems are close to the Plaza de San Lorenzo:
Eslava: http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/category/eslava/
Bodega Dos de Mayo: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g187443-d1749980-Reviews-Bodega_dos_de_Mayo-Seville_Andalucia.html
Lexma90, thanks for your reply. I had already noted that hotel (maybe from another poster) in my notes. Looks great.
Kimhe, big thanks for all this. Will copy and put into my notes ASAP. Especially love the food recs!