seenafakhimalizad550

I have a law exchange that I will have to be in Madrid for starting September 7th. I will arrive in Spain on August 17th and need help planning a doable itinerary prior to classes starting. Since there is a mandatory attendance requirement of 70% and I will be taking at least 7 courses, I’m incentivized to explore other countries prior to classes starting (would make more sense to explore Spain more broadly throughout the semester and on weekend trips since this would perhaps be less time-intensive). Where do you recommend visiting? A friend of mine is visiting as well and he wants to go to a warm-weather spot like Nice as well as Switzerland. Greatly appreciate the help!

rosetravels

It's all a warm weather spot this time of year. Can you share more about your interests? What you like to do? Any countries or cities you've always wanted to visit?

Jean

You're just beginning to plan a multi-country trip that starts in a week??

Do you have a budget? The two specific destinations you mention will still be at high-season lodging rates and very crowded.

bilboburgler

I'd also look at easy train and cheap flights from Madrid to other places.

lrice

Going up toward Barcelona, Girona and into southwestern France sounds amazing and easy: Collioure on the Mediterranean, Narbonne, Carcassonne, Toulouse!

starrs

I would go to Paris for a few days, then take the TGV train to Avignon for a couple of days. Then on via train to Nice, especially since your friend wants to go there.

Do you have interest in seeing Italy?

seenafakhimalizad550

I am thinking of doing ideally at least a 5 day road trip through Basque Country/north of Spain, going to Bilbao, San Sebastián, etc. The friend seems more interested in going to Mallorca for that week instead (but it seems dreadfully hot and busy this time of year). So alternatively, I can go to Ireland or Scotland for the first week instead and then reunite with the friend for the 2nd week he is there and explore France and Switzerland or save the Basque road trip for then. I have 5 days to a week potentially after he leaves that I can also plan something separate for. My goals are to likely avoid overly hot, touristy sites (including places in Andalusia or island destinations) that I could perhaps do myself throughout the semester at more affordable rates, better weather, and less busy.

annhig

Have you looked at the weather forecasts for the various places you mention? If you don't mind the possibility of rain, Scotland would be a good cooler choice but you won't be able to see it all in a week; you could perhaps do Glasgow and the Highlands or go up the west coast to Mull. Probably best to avoid Edinburgh as the festival is on until August 28th, and the prices for last minute accommodation will be sky high, plus it will be ridiculously busy.

After that Switzerland would make a great contrast, leaving Spain to explore when you will have shorter blocks of time available.

bilboburgler

As Ann says Scotland (exclude Edinburgh) might be a good short trip if you just focus on an area. Ireland much the same. Weather is always an issue and British Isles have been having a stupidly wet summer this year but late August can be a great time to come as the kids start to go back to school.

Denmark focusing on Copenhagen again would be a nice culture difference from Spain. Skyscanner is a great tool for this, https://www.skyscanner.net/ and playing around with that this morning you can fly to Denmark for roughly E30 one way which is a great price so close to departure. (NB for weather, basically Denmark and western coastal Germany gets roughly the same weather as the UK and Ireland)