AirBalloon

Hi all,

I am writing a new post as we are fine tuning our 17 day summer vacation in Spain and we need some help deciding where to visit after Madrid and Seville.

We have dedicated 5 days to Madrid and 3 days to Seville, leaving us with 9 days to either stay in Andalusia or travel to the eastern coast.

We are deciding between the following:

Staying in Granada for 2 days, seeing Cordoba (as a 1 day trip from Seville), staying in Arco De Frontera for 3 days and doing day trips from there (seeing Ronda and Zahara) and staying in a coastal beach town in the Costa del Sol for 3 days. However, this coast seems to be overdeveloped and quite commercialized and we have had a difficult time finding a small medieval type beach town that has retained it's character.

OR

Travelling to Valencia and spending time on the Costa Blanca and the Costa Valencia. It seems the City of Valencia is very interesting and beautiful and the surrounding area has much to offer. The small towns that dot these Costas have a different flavour than in Andalusia and would give us a flavour of both regions (we enjoy doing this on many of our European vacations). As well, the eastern coast does seem to have warmer waters making the time spent on the beach a little more enjoyable.


Thank you so much everyone for any advice you can offer.

Andrea

danon

I love Valencia, a beautiful city with great beaches.
Granada is definitely a place to see , if you can fit it in .
...as you know , the temps .
in the summer are close to 100F in Madrid and the south.

nytraveler

IMHO Andalusia is by far the most interesting part of Spain due to it's unique moorish heritage. We have been twice - once 10 days and once 12 and still have a lot more we want to go back to see. We have also spent several days on the Cost del Sol - Puerto Banus, west of Marbella, that we enjoyed.

AliciaJ

The Costa del Sol is extremely developed - if it's Spanish culture you're after you'll be hard-pressed to find a lot of it. With that being said, you may wish to research the town of Nerja. Still touristy, but has managed to retain quite a bit of its history. Rick Steves' guidebooks are very helpful if you decide to go there.

Also, you said you were looking for a medieval coastal town...if you're looking for a fabulous medieval ambiance you MUST go to Toledo - a very easy side trip from Madrid (30 min train ride). If you have time I would strongly suggest you stay overnight in Toledo. It's like going back in time. I did a night time tour w/ a company called Entorno Toledo (but there are some others that do night tours as well).

There are also a few other easy daytrips from Madrid: Segovia, Alcala de Henares, and Avila.

In my opinion I would do Madrid, Sevilla, and Andalucia.

AirBalloon

Hi,

My husband and I just finished watching a recorded Rick Steves program on Andalusia this morning (Granada and Nerja were mentioned) and Nerja does look wonderful.

Toledo also seems very interesting. Do you suggest we take an extra day or two in Madrid to see Toledo and to visit either Segovia, Alcala de Henares and/or Avila?

We want to visit Valencia but as it is our first time in Spain outside Barcelona (we spent a week there three years ago) so maybe staying in Andalusia would be a better idea. Hmmmmm.


Keep the ideas coming. You guys have been so helpful in the past helping us with our trips.

Thanks.

Andrea

lincasanova

In the summer I'd go North.. lots of amazing small towns there.. plus the wine region.. rural inns.. lots of open spaces and beautiful beaches and not scorching hot like the South, nor as developed.

AirBalloon

Hi Lincasanova,


Thank you for your recommendation. What parts of the north are you referring to?


Andrea

Robert2533

lin would be referring to the Rioja, the Basque Country and the rest of Green Spain.

lincasanova

Thanks, Robert.

AirBalloon

Hi,

What about Madrid, Seville and the North in 17 days?

Would that work?

Thanks

Andrea

SueOnTheMove

I took my kids (6 and 8) to Spain this summer. It was a whirlwind trip, but here was our itin:

Madrid - Caceres - Merida - Sevila - Cordoba - Granada - Almeria- Murcia (to see family) - Madrid. Then day trips from Madrid to Toledo, Chinchon, Segovia, and El Escorial. That was all in 14 days.

I will say that Almeria was a big mistake. The only good thing was driving through the mountains where a bunch of old American westerns were filmed and seeing the massive farms that supply much of Europe with their vegetables. But, not worth your time. Better off to catch a train from Madrid to Barcelona, which is one of my favorite cities in the world.

Good luck! You'll love it.

AirBalloon

Hi Sue,

Thank you so much for your trip details. That is quite a bit of moving around in 14 days but what an adventure it must have been.

We have been to Barcelona twice (once just my husband and I and the other time with our two children) and we all just love that city so we do not have to go back again this trip.

Do you have any advice on Valencia and the Costa Blanca?

Thanks.

Andrea

IMDonehere

Whatever you do, please use a professional guide book, not Rick Steve's. I do not want to start a fight, but he omits many, many worthwhile towns and gives perfunctory information on art and architecture.

The south is worthwhile, if you chose carefully. I understand that the summer is the only time you have for vacation, but it will be brutally hot in the most of Spain especially the south.

I highly recommend Michelin Green for sights and history.

SueOnTheMove

Sorry, no advice on Costa Blanca, but check this out:

http://britishexpats.com/articles/sp...-costa-blanca/

I had originally wanted to include Valencia in our itin, but my dad wouldn't budge saying it was over-developed. There are so many gorgeous towns on every coast of Spain, I think you'll probably end up loving where ever you end up!

Christina

I think Sevilla and Andalucia in summer are not optimal. It will be very very hot.

But I spent several days in Malaga a few months ago, and it's a nice beach city. It has plenty of Spanish flavor IMO, although of course there are beach resorts along the coast nearby. But it's not some small town, if that's what you want. I don't know about Medieval beach towns, that's not what I picture as Medieval (beach towns). Malaga is very historic but its cathedral started in the 16th Century and there is a lot of Moorish influence there, such as the Alcazaba and the Castillo. Of course, they were built in the Middle Ages if you mean anything built between the 4th and 15th Century but I suspect you may not mean Moorish or Islamic.

Anyway, it's just an idea, it's a convenient location and pleasant city and is about 10 degree cooler than Sevilla due to being right on the coast.

cmeyer54

Any reason you are looking at Barcelona as a location? We did Madrid, Seville, Malaga for 2 totally forgettable days and Barcelona. Yes, we went to Granada and at the risk of offending a lot of people here, I did not like the alhambra at all. cannot see what the fuss is about but that's just me and it was near an anniversary of 9-11 where I lost people, so all the inscriptions were disagreeable.

cmeyer54

sorry...'not' looking at Barcelona? Its on the coast, has a decent beach, tons of architecture and history as well.

SueOnTheMove

Wow. You are obviously entitled to your feelings, but when in Spain (or anywhere) you must keep things in context.

(Just for clarity, I lived 9 blocks away from the twin towers when it happened and was a volunteer on the pile for weeks post event, so I also have very strong held feelings on the subject.)

The Moors of Spain were not like the vigilante crazy jihadists that carried out the 9/11 attacks. In fact, they were kicked out of Spain by Christians. And, as I'm sure you know if you know any history, Spanish Christians killed and tortured people they considered heretics for hundreds of years.

Sorry to be off-topic, but I hate to think people see history through the colour of today's lens.

http://askville.amazon.com/people-ki...uestId=3878676
http://history.howstuffworks.com/his...nquisition.htm
http://www.historytoday.com/roger-bo...xpulsion-spain

cmeyer54

As I said, this is just me; I have total respect for those who go to the Alhambra and think its magical. I didn't see that, was unimpressed, gardens were lovely but I've seen other gardens that were much prettier in Europe. Would I make a special trip to Granada, no. This was a day trip we did and it was more than enough time for me. Everyone has their likes and dislikes in travel. I just didn't need to see 'there is no victor but allah' over and over.

Bedar

Meyer, this is strange:- you can't read English - the OP says several times that she's been to Barcelona twice and is not interested in returning - but seem to be able to read Arabic at the Alhambra. Wow, far out but a very weird education.