THR

Hi all,

So this is a follow up to my original thread (http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...parison.cfm?27), where we were deciding between Spain and Italy. The good news is we have now booked our tickets! In and out of Madrid.

I would firstly like to thank everyone that has contributed and provided advice. It is truly appreciated!

However, following that advice I have created the following schedule and itinerary, but I am not quite sure if it is right, especially perhaps the amount of time dedicated to Sevilla/San Sebastian. I apologise for posting another thread but I would soon like to start booking accommodation (and trains etc), given we will have to plan well this time given the limited time.

I've increased the amount of time to spend in San Sebastian and have it at the end of our trip as I envisage this will be the most relaxing portion.

Any further advice greatly appreciated!

Date Location
Thursday, 30 May 2013 Leave Sydney
Friday, 31 May 2013 Arrive Madrid
Saturday, 01 Jun 2013 Madrid
Sunday, 02 Jun 2013 Madrid
Monday, 03 Jun 2013 Toledo
Tuesday, 04 Jun 2013 Sevilla (via day trip at Cordoba)
Wednesday, 05 Jun 2013 Sevilla
Thursday, 06 Jun 2013 Sevilla
Friday, 07 Jun 2013 Sevilla
Saturday, 08 Jun 2013 Granada
Sunday, 09 Jun 2013 Granada (Alhambra)
Monday, 10 Jun 2013 San Sebastian
Tuesday, 11 Jun 2013 San Sebastian
Wednesday, 12 Jun 2013 San Sebastian
Thursday, 13 Jun 2013 San Sebastian
Friday, 14 Jun 2013 San Sebastian
Saturday, 15 Jun 2013 Leave via Madrid

Rubicund

You could do Toledo as a day trip from Madrid, thus keeping the same hotel and avoiding time loss by moving hotels. Maybe the only other change would be to be in Madrid on Friday 14 June in preparartion for Saturday's flight.

THR

Thanks for the advice. Yes, perhaps Toledo would best be done as a day trip...

As for the 15th, the flight is actually at night (10pm), so we would probably catch a mid-day flight from Bilbao to Madrid, or go via bus or train.

ribeirasacra

Method of transport? Is that train?

How do you plan to get from Granada to San Sebastian?
Be careful of maying day trips on Mondays. This is the day when things in Spain normally close. Also public buildings usually close during lunch times.

THR

Thanks for the advice! May have to move the day trip to Sunday for Toledo.

As for transport from Granada, we intend to fly to Bilbao; possibly from Seville (as it seems quite expensive from Granada).

I know it's the other end of the country

From San Sebastian to Madrid, not sure - fly from Bilbao or SS to Madrid, train or bus; or drive (via Burgos, perhaps), dropping the car off at the airport on the 15th.

iris1745

THR; Consider; 1. After Madrid, high speed train to Granada.

2. Then Seville

3. Fly non-stop to Bilbao from Seville [rent a car]

4. Just as we are doing in Sept. and what you are considering. Three nights in San Sebastion.

5. Two nights in Burgos. Airport about 2 1/2 hours from Burgos.

6. Or four in SS and one in Burgos.

BigRuss

<<After Madrid, high speed train to Granada>>

One problem - there is no high speed train to Granada.

iris1745

BigRuss is right again. I looked at this site http://www.eurail.com/trains-europe/...trains/altaria and commented.

However that was not good info.

But if I were doing this trip and these cities were a must, the sequencing I suggested would work for me.

So, a bus leaves Madrid every hour and takes 4 1/2 half hours.

CathyM

I love your proposed itinerary. I'd definately just do Toledo as a daytrip from Madrid just because I hate 1-nighters and unless could do as 2 nights would rather just do a daytrip.

Comments:
Madrid - 4 nights w/daytrip to Toledo; you may be able to squeeze in a daytrip to Segovia but could play it by ear depending on your jetlag recovery time and how much you want to see in Madrid

Sevilla - 4 nights w/stop in Cordoba en route. This will give you 3 full days in Sevilla which is good for exploring the main sites of Sevilla along with some of the outlyinig neighborhoods (ie. Triana, Macarena). If you are a faster paced person you may be able to do one more daytrip but again could play it by ear. Some choices:Cadiz, Jerez, Carmona, Arcos, Osuna, etc....

Granada - 2 nights; make sure you reserve the Alhambra tickets in advance

San Sebastian - 5 nights; personally I would keep with this plan. There is so much in this area to do. You'll eat up at least 1/2 day getting to San Sebastian from Granada. You could fly from Sevilla or Malaga to Bilbao. If you're flying into or out of Bilbao I'd consider a daytrip (you can store your luggage at the bus station). So you really will only have 4 full days in San Sebastian. This would give you time for a couple of daytrips (lots of options) OR you could consider staying 3 nights in San Sebastian and 2 at a smaller fishing village for a different feel. Up to you on how much you want to be moving bases. You could rent a car for this part of the trip but parking can be quite expensive in San Sebastian.

For San Sebastian to Madrid there's several options - train is easy, there's also a supra bus service and also the option of driving.

iris1745

For me, I would not want to travel to the Madrid airport from San Sebastion, especially by bus or car. It would take over five hours, probably closer to six hours and you never know what might happen while on the motorways.

Perhaps you could look at flights that may take less time.

If you stay with your itinerary and what Cathy also liked, consider staying in the wonderful city of Burgos for a night or two, just before your flight home.

It's still 2 1/2 hours to the airport, by car of bus.

Then you have to add airport/security time. We always add three hours for International travel, even with getting our boarding passes the night before.

For us, even Burgos is a bit far from the airport, but we will stay two nights in September.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgos

ab2010

I agree with Cathy on your new itinerary but try not to add too many day trips as this can be overwhelming and exhausting. You can plan out possible day trips ahead of time but take the first couple of days to soak in Madrid and Sevilla and then play it by ear.

Vueling does not fly Granada to Bilbao and Iberian is too expensive. Check Renfe for the train schedule but would probably cut a day going south to Basque country.

Granada can be a day trip from Sevilla but the distance is about 3h each way. There are many discussions online about Granada day trip or overnight so you can read more about this and decide. Definitely book Alhambra months in advance. If staying overnight then go Madrid – Granada – Sevilla – fly to Bilbao. Definitely fly as this will save time. Good suggestion to store your luggage at the bus station but this could be a long day with travel and site seeing so you might want to go straight to SS.

There are no direct flights from SS/Bilbao to Madrid. Renfe train SS to Madrid is 6h and there are 2 daily schedules. From SS you can do many day trips (fishing villages, Hondarribia, St Jean De Luz on the french side) by renting a car but this is a whole other discussion (not to scare you but I’ve read a lot about people getting confused driving in this area). Your itinerary is already packed so you might be exhausted by the time you reach here and may want a more relaxed pace.

danon

the train from Madrid to Granada takes 4 hours and 30 minutes - not bad. Twice a day.
there ARE cheap direct flights from Bilbao to Madrid on Ryanair.

danon

Both Ryanair and Vueling have direct flights from Seville to Bilbao
If you go to Granada from Madrid first, then to Seville,
you can solve the problem of the direct flight to Bilbao ( bus to SS take 70 min from the airport in Bilbao)
check RENFE for train Madrid Granada one can also fly)

Bokhara2

Hi THR,
Looks like a great trip. I had a somewhat similar itinerary a couple of years ago and used trains & buses as I was mostly city based, and had friends with cars in Madrid & Granada.

From Madrid, I did day trips by train to Toledo, Segovia and Salamanca. I would have liked to stay overnight in Segovia, to enjoy it in the quiet when all the day trippers (like me ) had gone. The trains are great - very fast, efficient and clean.

I took a bus from Madrid to Granada (about 4-4 1/2 hours) as that fitted my schedule better than the trains.

From Granada, I did an overnight trip to Cordoba - up by bus and back by train. I'm glad to see you are staying over here, there's a great atmosphere in the evening.

I liked the buses because they gave a better view of towns & villages than trains usually do, and again were very clean and ran to time. However, I found the seats didn't really suit my back - probably better for people taller than I am.

If you haven't settled on your accommodation in Granada, I can thoroughly recommend Carmen de la Alcubilla del Caracol
http://www.alcubilladelcaracol.com/

It's a charming B & B, brilliantly situated both for views across the city and proximity to the Alhambra. It's about 10 -15 minutes walk to Plaza Nueve. I stayed for 10 days and would return in a heartbeat.

If you have the time, try & do a day and an evening visit to the Alhambra. Very interesting to see it in different lights - and there's plenty to see.

Hope you have a great trip - you've whetted my appetite for another visit to Spain. This time, I'd rent a car & noodle around some of the countryside a little more.

kja

If you aren't averse to one-night stays (I know that many people are), do consider staying overnight in Toledo - it is IMHO quite special after day-trippers leave! I felt the same about Cordoba, BTW. (And I found enough to keep my happily busy in both Toledo and Cordoba for 2 nights and nearly 2 days each - but I don't think you'll have enough time for that.)

Enjoy!

THR

Wow, I'm stunned, once again, by all the replies. I will absorb and make some final adjustments (e.g. go to Granada before Sevilla).

You guys are all fantastic people

iris1745

If you have not seen this site, many of us use it to book our hotels. Good reviews.

You can then go to the hotels site to see if prices are the same or better.

Look for free cancellation in case you want to change a reservation. booking.com/spain

Of the seven hotels we are staying in, five have been booked on this site for August/September in Spain.

CathyM

I use booking.com along with TripAdvisor to review hotels. But I prefer to make my reservations directly with the hotel instead of a 3rd party. It's easy, especially with the hotels that have the on line booking tools.

THR

Bokhara2: Thanks so much for the link to Carmen de la Alcubilla del Caracol. It looks absolutely perfect! I have sent a reservation enquiry. We will definitely try and do both a day and evening trip to the Alhambra (I have heard this suggested a number of times, so we'd be silly not to).

CathyM: Thanks for your many and various inputs. I am definitely incorporating your suggestions; most of all, though, I am glad for your verification that we're on the right track with our itinerary!

Iris1745: Thanks for your input also. Definitely keen to consider Burgos; the part from San Sebastian to Madrid is an area I'll need to properly consider. But I agree, the concept of driving to Madrid airport doesn't particularly excite me (fortunately our flight is at 10pm, so we don't have to be in Madrid the night before).

Danon: Thanks so much for the idea about Ryanair. I had checked Vueling and Iberia (who are very expensive), but had no idea Ryanair flew that route! Will definitely include them in my plans. And we will switch around and go to Granada before Sevilla, to save back-tracking.

kja: Definitely not averse to one night stays - we're going to try and travel light. So we may well stay overnight in Toledo (especially as we're going on a Sunday; which means it will probably be so busy during the day).

Once again all, I cannot thank you enough. Your input is hugely valuable - and I will digest over the weekend and incorporate into more detailed plans!

kja

> we may well stay overnight in Toledo (especially as we're going on a Sunday; which means it will probably be so busy during the day)

If it's anything like it was when I was there in 2004, many things may be closed on Monday, so plan your time accordingly!