Spain 18 day trip itinerary help
Oct 13th, 2014, 06:28 PM
#1
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Spain 18 day trip itinerary help
Hi,
Going to Spain next year for the first time with my wife, what do you think about allocation of days in each city (18 days total)? I will do more detailed plan for each city later.
Will be arriving in Madrid (from Sydney, AU) on Sat 16 of May 2015 at 13:45 PM and leaving from Barcelona to our next destination on Tue 2 Jun (leaving date is not locked in yet). Originally planned 14 days for Spain as after Spain we will be visiting our family in East Europe, but with all that we want to see 14 days wasn't enough, so I've "borrowed" 4 days from the family time.
- Madrid 5 nights (16-21 May) with day trips to Toledo and Segovia
- Train to Granada
- Granada 2 nights (22-23 May)
- Train to Seville
- Seville 4 nights (24-27) with a day trip to Cordoba
- Train to Barcelona
- Barcelona 6 nights (28 May - 2 June)
- Flying out of Barcelona 19:25 PM
No accommodation is booked yet so we can change around, except that we will be arriving in Madrid and leaving from Barcelona and also prefer trains vs flying for connections inside Spain.
Any suggestions are welcome and thanks in advance!
Going to Spain next year for the first time with my wife, what do you think about allocation of days in each city (18 days total)? I will do more detailed plan for each city later.
Will be arriving in Madrid (from Sydney, AU) on Sat 16 of May 2015 at 13:45 PM and leaving from Barcelona to our next destination on Tue 2 Jun (leaving date is not locked in yet). Originally planned 14 days for Spain as after Spain we will be visiting our family in East Europe, but with all that we want to see 14 days wasn't enough, so I've "borrowed" 4 days from the family time.
- Madrid 5 nights (16-21 May) with day trips to Toledo and Segovia
- Train to Granada
- Granada 2 nights (22-23 May)
- Train to Seville
- Seville 4 nights (24-27) with a day trip to Cordoba
- Train to Barcelona
- Barcelona 6 nights (28 May - 2 June)
- Flying out of Barcelona 19:25 PM
No accommodation is booked yet so we can change around, except that we will be arriving in Madrid and leaving from Barcelona and also prefer trains vs flying for connections inside Spain.
Any suggestions are welcome and thanks in advance!
Oct 13th, 2014, 08:03 PM
#2
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It really depends on what you want to see and do, and for that, you really need to do more detailed planning BEFORE allocating days. For example, I thought Madrid worth 4 days PLUS 2 full days for Toledo AND a day for Segovia. I thought Sevilla worth a bare minimum of 3 days PLUS 2 FULL days for Cordoba. And I thought Granada worth 2 FULL days. YMMV.
The good news is that you will see some wonderful things no matter what you choose.
The good news is that you will see some wonderful things no matter what you choose.
Oct 13th, 2014, 08:51 PM
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Thank you kja!
Regarding what to see/do a little bit of everything I guess - we like going to art museums, beautiful gardens, architecture, walking aimlessly in cities we never been before, trying local food etc., not that different from majority of tourists I'm afraid
Considering that we only have 18 days, I'd still like to leave Toledo, Segovia and Cordoba as day trips only? I might remove one night from Barcelona and add to other place like Seville or Granada if this would be a better idea?
Regarding what to see/do a little bit of everything I guess - we like going to art museums, beautiful gardens, architecture, walking aimlessly in cities we never been before, trying local food etc., not that different from majority of tourists I'm afraid
Considering that we only have 18 days, I'd still like to leave Toledo, Segovia and Cordoba as day trips only? I might remove one night from Barcelona and add to other place like Seville or Granada if this would be a better idea?
Oct 13th, 2014, 09:08 PM
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There are three world class art museums in Madrid. The Prado can occupy one day. The architecture is the art in Barcelona. Sevilla and Barcelona are great walking cities.
Read about the eating customs in Spain and the times. In the major cities you could enjoy tasca hopping where you go from one tapas bar to another trying each's specialty.
Read about the eating customs in Spain and the times. In the major cities you could enjoy tasca hopping where you go from one tapas bar to another trying each's specialty.
Oct 14th, 2014, 06:58 PM
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Thank you IMDonehere, we like art museums, but too crazy about them e.g won't be spending all day in Prado etc, half day perhaps.
Never had tapas in my life, this is going to be awesome experience!
Anyone else can please comment on days allocated to each city? Would you change anything?
Never had tapas in my life, this is going to be awesome experience!
Anyone else can please comment on days allocated to each city? Would you change anything?
Oct 15th, 2014, 12:12 AM
#8
IMO you will find 5 days in Madrid just about right. Like you we enjoy museums but found half a day in the Prado the right amount of time for us, but there are also the other two major museums which you should also visit; we particularly liked the Museo Thyssen. There is also the cathedral, the palacio real, the Retiro park, the markets, etc .etc. Intersperse them with a couple of day trips and you should have a very nice time there.
As for Granada and Seville, depending on your arrival time, you might find 2 nights in Granada enough, but you are cutting it fine. The centre of the city is very interesting and there is also the Albercin to explore as well, of course, as the Alhambra which really takes 3/4 of a day to see. as well as booking that well in advance, I would suggest booking a night visit as well, when they let in far fewer people.
And 3 nights in Seville will give you only 2 full days which is barely enough and will not allow you to go to Jerez as esj suggests. I would take at least one night from Barcelona. However, I am not a fan of Barcelona and found it terribly expensive to visit the sights [such as they are] and very crowded. others love it of course.
As for Granada and Seville, depending on your arrival time, you might find 2 nights in Granada enough, but you are cutting it fine. The centre of the city is very interesting and there is also the Albercin to explore as well, of course, as the Alhambra which really takes 3/4 of a day to see. as well as booking that well in advance, I would suggest booking a night visit as well, when they let in far fewer people.
And 3 nights in Seville will give you only 2 full days which is barely enough and will not allow you to go to Jerez as esj suggests. I would take at least one night from Barcelona. However, I am not a fan of Barcelona and found it terribly expensive to visit the sights [such as they are] and very crowded. others love it of course.
