VS

We are going to Spain in the first two weeks in August (yes, I know it's hot...hopefully not as hot as today <BR>We will be renting a car in Madrid (on the day we leave there and will return it in Malaga, before our flight to Barcelona). <BR> <BR>After reading some posts and talking to a few people we drafted the following itinarary: <BR> <BR>Madrid - 2 nights <BR>Hit Toledo on a way to Cordoba, spend 1 night in Cordoba <BR>Seville - 1 night <BR>Torremolinos - 4 nights <BR> <BR>We will use Torre, as a base, so we can day trip to Granada, Ronda, Gibraltar, possibly Tangiers), white villages..We picked over Marbella, becuse we heard its somewhat less expensive and has a better nightlife. We also looking forward to spending some time relaxing on the beach. <BR> <BR>Then fly to Barcelona for 3 nights. <BR> <BR>I know this itinerary is somewhat crowded, but we will have to stick to highlights. <BR>Our friends, that are coming with us are trying to convince us to make it even more nuts, by flying to Ibiza for 2 nights and then to Barcelona. This would also require us to we cut two nights somewhere ( Barcelona? Costa del Sol?) <BR> <BR>Looking for driving tips(distances/ times), hotels, especially in Torremolinos, Cordoba, and Barcelona, as well as restaurants, nightlife spots, and words of your joint wisdom. How's Ibiza? Is it really worth the trouble or just skip it?

Martha B

I spent an August in the Balearics (Mallorca, Menorca, and Ibiza) once. The heat wasn't bad at all, because we were right on the water. If the heat in Andalucia is really unsupportable, can you cancel everything else and just head directly for Ibiza?

vs

Martha,..This is our first trip to Spain, and I really don't want to miss the wonderful places in the South of Spain...Do think Ibiza is a MUST see place? How does it compare to the beaches and "fun" in Costa Del Sol?

kristi

We stayed at the Riu Bel Playa in Torremolinos and thought it was great-large rooms, a nice pool (Mediterranean was too cold to swim in), nice breakfast. It was close to a train line that runs up and down the coast (not as far as Marbella though), a cheap alternative to taxis. <BR> <BR>In Barcelona we stayed at the Gran Via, near Las Ramblas and Playa Catalunya. Great location, inexpensive ($75 US). <BR> <BR>We loved Barcelona-give it at least 2 or 3 days. <BR> <BR>Skip Tangier-the day trip took all day and we were sorely disappointed that we wasted a day there. <BR> <BR>We did almost the same trip as you all by train. We rented a car only once we got down to the Costa del Sol so that we could drive to Ronda (be sure to do this in the daytime both directions as the roads are very winding) and Gibraltar (you can avoid the long line to get in if you park on the Spanish side in La Linea and walk across the runway to the rock). If you're not planning on stopping in between cities, you might want to consider taking the train. The AVE train from Madrid to Seville was only 2 1/2 hours. You can easily get from Madrid to Toledo by bus in an hour.

topper

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Martha B

The Costa del Sol is my least-favorite part of Spain (although there are corners of it here and there that I like) so I'm not the best person to ask. I'm sure if you're looking for nightlife you'll have fun there. I liked Ibiza a lot better. I even liked St. Anthony on the north part of the island, although it's a purpose-built resort town. However, I'd say Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, and Barcelona are definitely more "must sees" if you want a feeling for Spain. So, yes, you could skip Ibiza. But if you're suffering too much from the heat to do much sightseeing anyway, Ibiza's not a bad place to hole up.

vs

Thanks for your replies, kristi and Martha... <BR> <BR>I guess I will consider skipping Tangier and spend 2 nights in Costa so we can spend two nights in Ibiza...Any ideas where to stay in Ibiza? Restauraunts, clubs, things to do? What are the must day trips from Costa? Ronda, Gibraltar, Granada...???

kristi

Granada is the must do day trip to see the Alhambra. There are many bus tours that go there from Costa del Sol. The drive up to Ronda is wonderful, very scenic. Gibraltar was fun-you can take a cable car up to the top and see the Barbary apes and caves, eat some fish and chips and stroll through the very British shopping area. If I had to choose between Ronda and Gibraltar, I would probably go with Gibraltar but I suspect most people would go with Ronda. It might be possible to do both in the same day, as long as you went on a weekday (we went Sat to Gibraltar and Sun to Ronda and a lot was closed) and left early in the morning. Don't try to drive to or from Ronda in the dark.

VS

Here is another scenario: <BR> <BR>We can drive from Madrid to Seville, visit Toledo for 1/2 day on the way, spend 2 nights in Seville and then drive to Cordoba for a day tour and continue on to Granada, where we will stay overnight. Does this make more sense than the initial itinirary. We are trying to free up a day or two to go to Ibiza, so then we can only spend two nights and two days on the Costa. We can use the days to see Gibraltar and Ronda, and then a day for something else, maybe Nerja?? Any opinions?

Jill

Last August, three friends and I visited Spain for two weeks. We toured by rental car. Why try to decide every second of your trip? Do your research and know the places you'd like to visit but once you get there you may find throw your itinerary out the window. As the others have said, Granada, Seville, and Toledo are great as is Gibraltar (we also parked in Spain and walked over). We though the Costa del Sol was terrible and quickly moved on. Maybe because I previously lived in Hawaii but I thought the beach was horrible (as did the others). If you want great beaches go to Portugal. Since we had a car, it wasn't a big deal to often change hotels - therefore you don't have to keep backtracking to your hotel.

Scott G

What do people think of Marbella? ideas of where to stay there...we want to hang for 4/5 nights...relax, eat/DRINK, girls, culture--is there anything worthwhile there (I've already been to Sevilla and Granada, Madrid and Barcelona)...is Gibraltar a day trip or a night or two? what about Tangiers? How about a train to Faro? Lisbon??? advice/suggestions...??? thanks in advance...