10 Days in Spain in July
 

Hello all,

My husband and I just booked a trip to Spain for 10 days/11 nights in July. We will be flying into Barcelona on July 13 (morning) and flying out Madrid on July 23 (morning). We'd like to see and explore as much as possible since our traveling style is on-the-go, but we also realize that we need to be realistic.

We hope to see the following:

• Barcelona (and if time allows, Montserrat)
• Granada
• Cordoba
• Seville
• Segovia
• Toledo
• Madrid

How should I divide my time accordingly? We thought of doing 3 days in Barcelona, 2 days in Granada, 2 days in Seville, 3 days in Madrid.

Do you recommend doing a HOHO bus for Barca and Madrid to get around and see highlights?

How do you intend to travel from place to place?

It makes more sense to plan an itinerary around the number of nights you'll spend in a place, not the number of days.

In any case, you have 10 days and 7 destinations. On the face of it, once you include travel time, and just general orientation time, you can't do it justice, maybe can't do it at all.

This question is very difficult to answer. If it were me, I'd do 3 days in Barcelona, 3 in Seville and 3 in Madrid. It's temping to try to get all the sights and sounds in, but remember that you want to really experience Spain, not just hurry through each city. Heck, if it were me and I was going back, I might just do two cities in the 10 days. When we went two years ago, we left out Madrid so we could see Granada. Some people may disagree, but each travel experience is different.

I know you said that your travel style is on-the-go, but you're right to make some plans so your time is well spent. How about choosing the sights you want to see most, ordering them in preference and then seeing if that helps you determine where and how long for each city. We often try to have one 'big sight' in the morning and one in the afternoon so that we have a plan, but it is not set in stone. We always know what we can let go if we find something more interesting or an opportunity comes up.

We love Spain! Hope you do too! Enjoy your trip.

You say you want to be realistic so you then need to drop half your destinations. I am a very 'on the go' type traveler and I have had no trouble staying occupied in each of those places for 3 days (or more). That's more than twice what you have.

All of Spain can be hot in July but Andalucia is the worst. Average high temp for Seville in July is 96. Last summer, when I was in the north of Spain, it was 114 for days on end in Seville (Cordoba and Granada will be similar). All three of those cities are fantastic, but to see even a small fraction of what there is requires twice as much time as you have, and in extremely hot weather no one can sight see as much as they can in cooler weather.

Madrid, Toledo and Segovia would be a nice 10 day trip. If you really want to push it you could add Barcelona to that. Central Spain in July is hot, but usually not unbearable.

Temperature is often close to 100 F in the south ( and Madrid)...might slow you down.

Barcelona and Madrid
 

I would stick with Barcelona and Madrid, with day trips to Toledo and Segovia. Besides, it will be very hot in Sevilla in late July. It's currently 22ºC in the evening.

And yes, the HOHO bus works if it's your first time in the city.

taking trains between cities or driving? For cities trains are best, going up to nearly 200mph and cars and large cities don't mix well. Book your own tickets online at Renfe and book far in advance to snatch limited discounted tickets. For lots on Spanish trains check www.seat61.com (didactic advice on booking your own discounted tickets online); general info www.rickstgeves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

I agree with Robert2016 and Isabel. Andalucia in the summer is unbearably hot! We were in Seville last September (late September/early October) & it was in the mid 90’s. I remember reading people’s trip reports from last summer, and they talked about being drenched in sweat after walking outdoors for 10 minutes!

I recommend 5 nights in Barcelona that could include a day trip if you like. It all depends on your interests. We spent 5 or 6 nights in Barcelona in 2010 & didn’t have time for any museums. And we were constantly on the go. It might be cooler in Barcelona because it’s on the water.

For your other 5 nights, I think Madrid makes the most sense. You could spend all 5 nights in Madrid, with a day trip to Toledo, or spend 4 nights in Madrid and one night in Toledo, which is what we did last September. I am glad we spent the night in Toledo because otherwise, I don’t think we would have liked it as much as we did. It is very busy during the day with tour buses, but much quieter and prettier at night.

Hope this helps.

Avg hi temp Seville July - 07 F!

July Weather Averages for Seville, Spain

Hot! That's why folks take a long siesta during midday and eat late at night?

As others are noting, you simply don’t have time for all the places you want to see, even if you are on-the-go travelers. I’m also on-ghe go, and needed more than 3 weeks for the places you list.

With 10 days, you could see Barcelona, Montserrat, and a bit of the Costa Brava.
Or Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, and maybe Avila or Salamanca or Cuenca.
Or Sevilla, Cordoba, and Granada.

I wouldn’t do either of the later trips in July – too hot! YMMV.

Here's what I recommend: Get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library) and plot your wish list on a calendar. Each time you propose to change locations, pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting lost/oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. BTW, note that many things in Spain are closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too; and many things in Spain will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break.

Good luck!

You don't mention any interests. The only site you mention is Montserrat.

Do you want to just tick off boxes? Or do you want to see things?

Even the heat issue depends on your interests. If Madrid is hotter than a bonfire and you're spending the days inside a museum you won't be sweating.

Assuming you've bought tickets you're locked into Barcelona and Madrid. Spend your time there. If you're heat adverse lean towards Barcelona and it's beaches. If you're a museum fan lean towards Madrid.

They say that Madrid has 9 months of winter and 3 months of hell. Personally I've never found the winters to be that bad and the summers in NY seem alot worse to me. At least Madrid heat is dry, nevertheless, walking around sightseeing in high temps can be very uncomfortable & you can easily get horribly sunburnt. Toledo and Segovia can be done as day trips from Madrid, I've done it by rental car.

For Granada, Córdoba and Seville, I'd probably base myself in or near Málaga and work out whether day trips would suffice. In such heat, starting very early is best.

Do you recommend doing a HOHO bus for Barca and Madrid to get around and see highlights?>

HOHO buses generally get a negative review by Fodorgarchs but IMO could be a great way to orient yourself to a city and provide transit without thinking between main sights. Commentary en route can be enlightening. I think a good thing for a first-time visitor. Rap is that the buses are often snarled in traffic and may not always be possible to hop on the next buses if they are full, etc.

"They say that Madrid has 9 months of winter and 3 months of hell"
If we only had Madrid " winters" where we live, I'd gladly put up with " hell"

I have visited Madrid. mostly in Apri, May and Octobre...always very pleasant weather.
The late August was hellish but I survived.