sjk1976

After reading some of the posts on this site and doing some research about where I want to spend two weeks at the end of this year, I've come up with the following flexible itineary. There is a lot here and I realize that, but I prefer to have more things on them so that I can cut things out on the go. So that said...

12/19 - leave NYC
12/20 - land in Madrid - travel to Toledo for the night.
12/21 - Madrid. Enjoy the free museum entrances to Prado and Reina Sofia on Sunday.
12/22 - Madrid [Segovia/Avila]
12/23 - early bus or train to Granada [is there a flight option - didn't see this in vueling.com]
12/24 - Granada / Alhambra
12/25 - Ronda [assuming I can use public transport. if not, ...?]
12/26 - Tarifa & day trip to Tangier [tbd...]
12/27 - Cordoba
12/28 - Cordoba/Seville
12/29 - Seville
12/30 - Seville / PM fly to Barcelona
12/31 - Barcelona
01/01 - Barcelona
01/02 - Barcelona / pm flight to Madrid
01/03 - Madrid
01/04 - fly back home

On the 25th, what can I expect of Granada? Will everything be shut down? Same with the 1st in Barcelona? Also, how early should I be booking my flights on vueling to take advantage of their cheaper fares?

I'm a huge fan of public transport but in reading the posts, should i look into a car for the Granada / Tarifa / Cordoba portion of the trip?
Thank you in advance for your comments.

danon

Iberia has flights Madrid- Granada several times a day.

I assume you have to fly in and out of Madrid.

As you said, seems like a lot of moving around . You know what you like, but each time you move, you'll lose half a day.
You may find museums jammed on Sunday because of the free entrance. Madrid is a huge city - you will not see much of it .
I don't understand the rush to Toledo (overnight ?)
Why Tangier?
You could take AVE from Madrid to Seville ( if you wish stop in Cordoba for a day , it is on the same line) Drive from Seville to Granada ( if you wish to see Ronda, I would forget about Tangier ), fly from Granada to Barcelona (vueling).

annhig

hi sjk,

my main comment is that you are allowing yourself/selves very little time to recover from your fligght/jetlag before you start moving around.

I would strongly advise NOT planning on going to Toledo the day after you land - whilst I appreciate you reason for staying in Madrid on 12/21, why not give yourself just one day more to enjoy the city?

then if you feel you want to, you can head off to Toledo /Segovia etc. on your thrid day.

also, I would not try to squeeze in a day trip to Tangier - you are moving around so much, and this day would be virtually all travelling - why not spend a quiet day enjoying Ronda or add a day to Seville?

sometimes, less is more!

regards, ann

sjk1976

Thanks Ann, I appreciate your comment about moving around too much. I'm always struggling with wanting to see all I can see and slowing down to smell the roses. The Tarifa/Tangier sidetrip was me trying to overcome my disappointment of a trip to Egypt / Jordan that fell through this year, and I will likely be leaving that off because it takes me so far off where I want to be.

greg

From your posting, it is not clear if you have already booked your flight to Spain.

If you have not, landing in Madrid and returning from Barcelona, or vice-versa will free up one or two days.

Also, since Madrid to Cordoba/Sevilla is a piece of cake using an AVE train, flying Granada-Barcelona makes more sense than flying Sevilla-Barcelona.

sf7307

I too would push the whole schedule down at least a day by eliminating Tangier. First of all, Tangier is NOT representative of Morocco and second, as someone else said, it just takes to long. I think you should allow yourselves at least two full days in Madrid proper (more if you like to spend hours and hours in art museums). Personally, my favorite museum in Madrid is the Thyssen and you don't have that on your list. I'd suggest you land in Madrid on the 20th and spend all of the 21st and 22nd in Madrid. Then Granada, Cordoba, Seville. Then Barcelona (although it's a wonderful city, you could easily leave Barcelona out on this trip because it's so far away from the other places you want to visit), then back to Madrid. When you return to Madrid, do Toledo and/or Sevilla as day trips before returning home.

sjk1976

Thanks all. I have booked my flight to Madrid. I actually redeemed miles for the trip, and the open jaw return from Barcelona (or anywhere else) just wasn't possible.

Given the advice here I'll leave out the Tangier day trip.

sf7307, what do you like about the Thyssen? I only listed the two museums on sunday because of the free admissions. Depending on the weather when I'm there, i'll either elect to stay outdoors or add more indoor places

Thanks!

sf7307

I'll be honest sjk, I'm not really a huge art museum fan. We typically do what Art Buchwald referred to as "the 3-minute Louvre". We like to look at the pictures and move on -- we don't stand around and analyze! So, that being the background, the reason we liked the Thyssen is because it's a really eclectic collection (it's a private collection), and is organized chronologically. The building itself is lovely (in a way the Prado is NOT -- they could stand to take all the art off the walls at the Prado and re-do the place IMHO), and very well lit/sunny. It's just an enjoyable outing for non-art aficionados.

Robert2533

This is far too much moving around for such a limited amount of time. I agree that you should put Toledo off for a couple of days so that you can adjust to the change in time (jet lag) and the different dining hours.

We just spent 4 nights in Madrid and hardly had the time to see everything we wanted to and enjoy the city as it should be enjoyed. This is the Christmas season and things are happening in Madrid.

The museums in Madrid and Barcelona are typically busy during the Christmas holidays, so you need to plan you visits in advance.

I would also look at spending a little more time in Granada and Sevilla before heading to Barcelona.

Have you taken a look at any of Maribel's Guides? You may find them useful.

Viajero2

sjk-- let me try to be gentle...your itinerary is really bad. Please, please, please tell this is a first draft because you need to go back to the draft board in a hurry....

Fist off, land in Madrid, travel to Toledo-turn around go to Madrid- turn around...WHAT????? I would not ask you to cut, but to rearrange the logistics.

Suggestion: land in Madrid-stay in Madrid. Day trip to Toledo.

Skip Tangier-- dirty, dingy town. To shortchange Andalucia so you can spend a day in Tangier (not rep of Morocco) is nutty.

Rent a car if you want to go to Ronda on Dec 25th.

Depart from BCN.

cmeyer54

here's what we did on a recent family trip to Spain. land in Madrid and spent 3 nights/3.5 days; took AVE to Sevill and spent 4 days/4 nights; picked up rental car and drove to malaga via Ronda; stayed in malaga for 3 nights and took a day trip to Granada/Alahambra. Dropped car in Malaga and flew to Barcelona; 5 days/4 nights in Barca; flew to Madrid and flew home.

sjk1976

Robert2533 thanks for the advice on the Mirabel guides. I skimmed through them and plan to print them out for things to do.

viajero2, yes, this is a first draft! I've been reading through the comments and working on the 'final draft'.

Either way it looks like I'll be somewhere in Andalucia over Christmas. Is there any one city better than the others for being at on 12/25? What can I expect - will everything (restaurants? attractions) be closed on 12/25? If so I'd rather be somewhere with lots of places to walk around from the outside... sounds like maybe Seville? Or should I rent a car on the 24th / 25th and drive around the white villages? Any suggestions?

THanks again for all the comments.

lincasanova

wait until you see the madrid xmas lights!!!

http://tinyurl.com/5lbpub

sjk1976

lincasanova - wow, those are pretty cool. IN NYC christmas is a pretty big deal as far as decorations, but that is really neat... 18 days and counting I can't wait.

Also thank you for the tip about the maribel guides. It will be train reading for this week.

i've read a few different opinions on Toledo and Segovia as day trips or destinations. Given my time frames, what would work better?

Given comments here, I've adjusted my itinerary as follows:

12/19 - leave NYC
12/20 - Madrid
12/21 - Madrid
12/22 - Madrid [Toledo or Segovia day trip]
12/23 - hmm... a 'free day'... what to do...
12/24 - Cordoba
12/25 - Cordoba / Seville
12/26 - Seville
12/27 - Seville / Ronda? [day trip or spend the night on the way to granada on 12/28? I love the photographs i've seen of Ronda with the gorde and the waterfall!]
12/28 - Seville
12/29 - Granada - Alhambra night tour
12/30 - Granada (PM Flight to Barcelona)
12/31 - Barcelona
01/01 - Barcelona
01/02 - Barcelona
01/03 - Madrid [AM flight - how reliable is vueling?]
01/04 - all good things must end - return home

Also a general question about accommodations - I used to travel with booking my first and last nights and then just "winging it" by looking up the hotels using the TIs in the various spots I landed at. This worked pretty well except for the one time in Munich when I ended up in the middle of the red light district. Back then the dollar was strnoger than the Euro, too. Should I be looking to book my hotels now to get the most out of my budget? As I don't spend too much time in the hotel rooms, all I usually look for is a clean and quiet room (with en suite bath or a shared bath with another room). It doesn't have to be fancy, just clean.

vueling.com - I tried to find their baggage policy but I'm not having much luck trying to get there. I had planned to take my rollaboard carry-on that was disallowed as a carry-on on the return continental flight from manchester UK this summer... so I want to check to see if I need to downsize. anyone have any recent experience with them and either checked or carryon luggage?

Thanks again for all the help!

lincasanova

for vueling info go to "useful information" then FAQs. the luggage allowance is spelled out very clearly.

internet 20 kg checked bags only 10 euros. at counter 20 euros

one carry on 10kg. 55x40x20cm

kja

Hi, sjk1976 -

> 12/22 - Madrid [Toledo or Segovia day trip]
12/23 - hmm... a 'free day'... what to do...


Visit Toledo on one day and Segovia on the other - both are worth seeing!

> 12/29 - Granada - Alhambra night tour

I love the Alhambra at night! You might also want to go during the day to see the gardens and buildings that aren't open at night. (The only building you can see at night is the Nazrid Palace.)

Hope that helps!

STUMBLEBUM

Sounds like my kind of trip! I htink Tangier is great but agree with cutting it from your itinery.

Barcelona is fantastic, but a bit of a haul? You could do more in Andalucia instead - Cadiz, Jerez, Arcos dela Frontera, the coast (some of it is nice), the Alpujarras...I could go on.

http://stumblebumstravels.blogspot.c...ch/label/SPAIN