A few years ago, I spent the month of June in Spain. Starting in Madrid, we hit Segovia, Salamanaca, Sevilla, the hill towns, Grenada, Valencia, and finally Barcelona. It was a good time to go though the last week was starting to get hot.

Lisbon will be the cooler than Andalucia and in October can get rain. That said this year Portugal has had a complete reversal of weather. In the south it was cold and rainy this spring which we have never experienced in 26 years...it was warmer in Moscow this spring.

Spring in Andalucía is something special, not too hot yet and plenty of celebrations and festivals that will introduce you to the local spirit, culture, food etc.

Semana Santa/Easter comes early next year, and it's huge all over Andalucía. It's the year's greatest event, fiesta and devotion hand in hand 24/7. I would perhaps recommend going to wonderful Málaga on the coast instead of extremely crowded Sevilla. http://www.andalucia.com/festival/easter/home.htm

A couple of weeks later, Sevilla celebrates the famous Feria de Abril. http://www.andalucia.com/festival/seville-feria.htm

May is festival time all over Andalucía, and most of the festivals goes way back in time and are primarily local events.

Andalucian towns - especially Granada and Córdoba - celebrate the "Cruces de Mayo"/May crosses: http://www.spanish-fiestas.com/spanish-festivals/cruces-de-mayo.htm

In Córdoba the "cruces" celebration is followed by the patio competition leading on to the flamenco inspired Feria by the end of the month.
Córdoba patio exposition and competition: http://www.andalucia.com/cities/cordoba/patios.htm
The Feria in late May: http://www.andalucia.com/festival/cordoba-spring-fair.htm

May is also the month of the famous Jerez horse fair,
Feria de Caballo de Jerez: http://www.andalucia.com/festival/jerez-horse-fair.htm

And then you have the spring blossom, the landscapes and the mountain regions are never more beautiful than at this time of year.

End of October could also be a good time to visit Andalucía. Much less crowded, and normally the weather will still be fine. We use to go here at this time of year.

I would never want to be in Seville for Holy Week, it's way too crowded!
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But it what visitors want to see. We live in NYC and we avoid the tourist areas because.....it is crowded with tourists

We like to travel around May 15 and September 15. We were once in Merida in June and it was too hot to go out at midday.

Hello,
recommendation from my side. Depending what week you plan on spending Easter in Andalucia, the Semana Santa, the Holy Week, will make tourism there hell, with prices up, many people and hard to find over priced accommodations. On the other hand, it is Holy Week, with lots of religious celebrations going on.

Andalucia is fantastic in holly week, but maybe there will be a lot of hot, it depends what are you locking for, but in summer is a great option too. If do you want to enjoy the beach you can see this page, where you can find stances to Costa Brava this page could help you http://www.realrent.es/en/beach/costa-brava/

Early May is a great time to visit Spain, and Andalucia is delightful. Cordoba has their annual patio contest. I also enjoyed Sevilla, where you don't want to miss the incredible plaza that was built for the World's fair in 1929. SKIP, I repeat, SKIP Lisbon. If you want to visit Portugal, stay in Sintra or Cascais instead. Both are very lovely, cleaner, and much more safe.

Appreciate the feedback. Sounds like it will be a choice of whether to partake in the special Easter festivities or run from the crowds. We usually choose the later but I'll give it some thought. Thanks.

From what we've been told, both Easter and October are pot luck in Portugal - the weather is changeable and occasionally quite wet, though there is often plenty of sun, too. In high summer Lisbon in particular is invariably much less steamy than Andalucia, certainly, especially at night because of the cooling effect of the sea.
Take that one bit of advice you had to skip Lisbon with a big pinch of salt - most people I know who had been rave about it, and I found it has a great combination of old-world charm and buzzing bars - even the graffiti is arty! If you don't like the hustle and bustle of big (well, medium) cities then yes, you could stay in Cascais or Sintra, though there really isn't much to do in either of those places.
I'm not sure you should restrict yourself to Portugal's two main cities. After all, what makes a country like Portugal different from others is its strong rural traditions, so you could perhaps try to get out and see some of the countryside. We did a sights-and-wine tour to the Alentejo region, which is really pretty in May - lots of wildflowers - with a company called Have a Wine Day ( www.en.haveawineday.com ), which included a fascinating visit to a regional winery They also do trips to places like Óbidos, a pretty walled village, Alcobaça with its medieval monastery, as well as Sintra and Cascais.
If you do go up to Porto, we've been told it's about a three-hour trip on the train. But if you think you might come back to Portugal at some point ever, consider focussing on Lisbon and the surrounding area, rather than trying to 'do' Lisbon and Porto and then not seeing the countryside...

So what on earth got you so exercised about Lisbon, PamEwing? You seem to be bad-mouthing it on every available Portugal thread.

It's one of my favorite cities, and I'd really like to know what your problem is. And what other cities you're comparing it too.

I would definitely choose spring for Andalucia...easily it's best time of year.You can avoid Holy week crushes by going to the smaller cities(avoid Sevilla/Granada) Anyway I would recommend end of April/May as best time.If you like wine(and port) Oporto is worth going to(best port wine bodega is the Symington one).Good luck with the planning.
http://theartichokeadventures.blogspot.com.es/

Lisbon is a gem. We were there in June and it wqs very pleasant.

Oh good grief Thursdaysd, everyone doesn't have to like your "favorite cities" for you to still enjoy them. You like Lisbon, I don't, THERE IS NO PROBLEM.

We loved Lisbon and would go back in a heartbeat! Great affordable food,interesting culture, diverse people, beautiful beaches...sure it's grittier than say Paris, but a beautiful capital that deserves a few days for sure!

We also loved Sinatra and porto!

Sintra...stupid autocorrect!

I don't care for Madrid, but I don't go around telling every one to stay away. Figured you must have more reason than just not liking the place.

I like Lisbon. Quite a bit, actually. I really dislike Cscais though.

Indydad, you are thinking school breaks, right? Portugal is dicey weatherwise in early April. It can be glorious or marginal. It usually isn't horrid though. Southern Spain is fab. The same goes for half term in the Autumn.

Are you talking 1 or 2 weeks?

I would recommend Portugal in the Spring, flying into Lisbon and visiting that city, check out a fado show! Then, visit Sintra, Obidos, Evora and you can wind your way up to Porto. Stay in pousadas.

Do Andalucia in the Autumn. Fly into Madrid and wind your way South. Stay in Paradoes. Make reservations early for the Alhambra in Granada. Seville is fascinating.

Interesting read............what are your thoughts on driving these areas in the first two weeks of January?

Aussiedreamer, the last time we drove through PT and Spain was in early January. We had great weather, with days in the low 20s C. No crowds and no traffic either. The only risk is that you may have rain as this is typically the rainy season. January 2012 was a drought in the Iberian peninsula. There are also fewer festivals but if you want to shop, you will have the sales!