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2 twenty something lovebirds doing spain and portugal for 3 weeks in July
Hi! I have used fodor's to plan trips in the past and LOVE all the great advice I have gotten. Now I am on official Fodorite too!
I am having some trouble planning part of my trip to Spain for July 2007. I love to travel and want to try to see as much as I can in the short time I have. Here's what I have so far: Arrive in Madrid in the morning from Canada. Spend 2 days in Madrid. Fly to Bilbao to check out the gugenheim. Go to Pamplona for the running of the bulls - this is the only day I could get a hotel room, so this has impacted the planning a bit. Go to San Sebastian to recover - we have a day and a half of beach time. Off to Barcelona for 3 or 4 days - can't decide. I have been to Barcelona before and absolutly love it! My partner has never been to Europe before. We want to fly next to Seville and spend a week doing Southern Spain - Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Rhoda, Malaga, Marbella, and we both want to check out Gibraltar if possible. We are planning on renting a car for this part of the trip because we want to travel around a lot and don't want to have to rely on bus schedules. We were thinking of possibly staying in one or two places and doing mostly day trips, but now we are unsure of where we should base ourselves. My partner wants to fit in a wine tour, but I'm not sure the best place to do this in July. We have to eventually end up in Lisbon to fly back to Canada and we wanted to spend the last 4 or 5 days in southern Portugal to spend our last few days relaxing (and I'm hoping to get a surfing lesson in). So, I have about 7 or 8 days to work with and too many places to see! We have found some accomodations, but would also welcome any tips about where to stay. we are looking for mid-priced hotels (around $100 - $150 dollars) - just looking for good value. Please help! Any recommendations would be really helpful. THANK YOU!! |
For southern Spain, I suggest you a trip to Ubeda, Baeza and Sierra de Cazorla.
The official website for tourism in Spain is: www.Spain.info/TourSpain Click english and search the tips. |
Hi, rsn - what a whirlwind tour.
A few suggestions: give yourselves a chance to recover from teh flight and extend your stay in Madrid - if you get bored, you could take day trips to toledo and/or segovia. Then spend your night in Pamplona, followed by Bilbao or San Seb. [or cut them out entirely and spend longer in Barcellona]. This would be the time to fit in a wine tour of the rioja area. That lot should take about half the trip. Then in Andalucia, have a look at a map and work out a round tour - the Cadogan guide to Andalucia is very good on this. For romance, the alhambra is hard to beat, especially at night - 2 nights in Granada will probably be enough and you must book your tickets in advance. Unless you have some really good reason for going there, like family connections, I wouldn't bother with Gibraltar - time better spent in Jerez and Cadiz, IMO. good luck! |
Thank you so much for your good advice!
We have decided to stay for an extra day in Madrid (we now have 3 days) and fly directly to Pamploma - we have taken Bilbao out of the itinerary so it will be less rushed. We have also decided on 4 days in Barcelona - with one being devoted to a wine tour. We have been looking into some tours, but haven't found one just yet. In terms of our travels in southern spain: we have decided to fly from barcelona to seville and pick up a car in seville. We have also taken out Gibraltar in favour of an extra day in Seville. Here's what we have so far: day 1 - seville day 2 - seville day 3 -- drive to cordoba and spend the night day 4 - drive to granada, spend the day in granada, stay overnight day 5 - go to the alhambra, drive to malaga day 6 - wake up early and walk around malaga, drive to marbella and back to seville. return car in seville day 7 - wake up early and take the bus to Faro, Portugal This leaves us with a day in Faro, 2 days in Lagos, a day and a half in Lisbon and then we fly home. I know it is a bit rushed, but there are just so many places to see! Do you think this is enough time/too much time in each place? Keep in mind that we have the last few days in Portugal to relax, go to the beach, take a surfing lesson, etc. Also, I am having trouble finding a reasonably priced hotel for san sebastian - any suggestions?? THANK YOU!! |
Hi, rsn -
glad you decided to extend your stay in Madrid - we just spent 3 days there and it will be a great place to recover from jet-lag as you can get virtually anything you might want to eat [or drink] at any time of the day, or nighht. I'm in the middle of a trip report if you want to click on my name for further details. Your new itinerary looks great. Sorry I can't help with lodgings in SS - one and only time we went was over 20 years ago, and all I can remember is the huge thinder-storm that hit while we were there. I do remember what a lovely place it was, though. Good luck Ann |
Hi, again,
forgot to say that you should go to the alhambra at night [the most romtantic experience, ever!] and during the day. This really isn't overkill as at night you can enjoy a walk throguh the gardens and the palaces with their beautiful decorations; during the day you get all the buildings plus the generalife. Your new itinerary should allow for this, but you must book in advance. Regards, ann |
I think your plans for the part of your trip in Spain sound great, and I second annhig's recommendation to see the Alhambra at night (and to book ahead for that) - magical! Enjoy!
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Thank you so much for all your help! I'm happy with the revised itinerary.
I am looking forward to seeing the alhambra - how far in advance should we arrange tickets? Also - has anyone done a winery tour near barcelona? We have heard from a few people that it's a good thing to do, but we haven't yet found a tour that we're crazy about (and moderately priced). Any suggestions? |
Hi, rsn,
ref. Alhambra tickets, as you are going in July, i would say book now [or as soon as you can for your dates - my recollection is that you can book pretty far ahead, but there may be a "booking period"]. The time slot referred to on the web-site refers to the 30 monutes during which you may enter the nasrid palaces - the rest of the site is not timed at all. The system is a bit confusing - if you book a morning time slot, you can enter as early as you like and stay all day. If you book what they call an "afternoon" slot, you can't enter the site before 2pm. Remeber there is ateh generalife to see in teh day as well - it's agood 4-5 hours to do it all. For July, I'd want to be there early in the morning, then be able to leave when it gets too hot. For the evening visit, only the gardens and the palaces are open - you can enter the site when you like, but have to wait to enter the palaces during your 30 mniute time slot. It is supremely romantic wandering around the gardens at night, so that's not much of a problem! good luck! regards, ann |
sorry about the typos - I'm rushing this before I go to work!
regards, ann |
Thanks Ann! You have been so much help! If you think of anything else - please send me a message!
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hi, rsn,
glad to be of help. If you want to read about our recent weekend in Madrid, you'll find my trip report [uncompleted but I'm getting there] if you click on my screen name, or search annhig madrid. do you need hotel recommendations? i can only help with Madrid, Granada and Malaga I'm afraid. Have you found Maribel's guides yet? as well as being a Fodor stalwart, she's got her own web-site with very detailed guides to lots of spain. they are well worth a read. best wishes, ann |
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Thanks again Ann! I have checked out your trip report from Madrid - sounds like you guys had a great time!
For hotels in Madrid - we haven't yet booked, but were looking into the Room Mate Mario which has been recommended on this site. I think, however, that we might go with hostal acapulco instead - only b/c it is much cheaper and I know that we will be rushing around Madrid and not spending time in the hotel. We are still looking into hotels in Cordoba and Granada: Granada - we are looking into Ladron de Agua, Casa Federico, Casa Morisca... All of these come highly recommended on tripadvisor - have you heard of them? We aren't really sure about Cordoba yet - this trip is a real work in progress... do you have anywhere to recommend? (we are looking for places that are moderately priced - max. about $100US - but we are saving money on other places so we don't mind paying a bit extra for something really nice. |
Hi, rsn,
Thansk for the kind words; still trying to finish the trip report, as you'll see. In Madrid, I only have experience of hee hotel opera - if anything I found there was too much choice, but i would avoid anything which fronted onto a main street - those madrillenos are just too noisy! In Granada, we stayed in the Hotel Guadelupe - right opposite the alhambra - in a large double room with full bathroom for E60. Parking is in the large car park opposite with a discount as a hotel resident. There is a very regular bus down into the town from right outside the alhambra but it's a nice 10 minute walk downhill; the bus back [a 20 minute walk back uphill so much more important] goes very regualarly from the main square at the bottom of the hill. about 1E each way. hope this helps, regards, ann |
I am wondering why you do not consider flying into Barcelona and from there move onto Pamplona and San Sebastian. You might be able fit La Rioja in here.
Then go south to Madrid and from there, train to Sevilla and the rest of your Andalucian plans. I am not sure about the winery in the south, as they are less known for their wines than other regions. Any interest in sherry? Do you actually want to see how the wines are made or just sample lots of wines from various regions? |
We looked into a number of different flights, but the one into Madrid was the best choice for us. Because of other circumstances, we had no flexbility on dates, so that limited our flight options somewhat. And we actually booked our flights last week - so we can't change that part of the trip...
In terms of a wine tour - we are very open to trying new things. We had heard from a few people that there is a nice region near barcelona, and that's why we started looking into it. Just thought it would be something fun to do! Any suggestions for something that would be better? |
For wine tours check:
www.vintagespain.com |
Thank you all for all of your help! We have decided to make a small change in the itinerary - what are your thoughts?
Instead of flying from Barcelona into seville (as in the above itinerary) we were thinking of flying into Malaga: July 17 - fly into Malaga - drive through Malaga, Marbella, Rhonda - sleep in either Malaga or Marbella. Thoughts? July 18 -- Granada July 19 - Granada July 20 -- Cordoba July 21 - seville July 22 - Seville We now have an extra day somewhere in that week. We were thinking of either spending the day and going to Jerez de la Fronera. Or, we could leave Seville and go to Faro, Portugal before heading to Lagos on the 24th. Or we could do something else! What do you think? We could use some help!! |
I suggest you insert Ubeda and Baeza:
July 19 - Granada July 20 - Ubeda & Baeza July 21 - Cordoba Info: http://geneura.ugr.es/ubeda.html |
thank you so much for your suggestions, Revulgo. I checked out the webpages you posted for me and the places you recommend look really interesting.
It seems like you know this region in Spain rather well, so I have another question for you. We have 1 evening and 1 full day (2 nights) in Granada - is this enough time? Should we spend 2 full days in Granada? Is it worth it to do 1 day in Granada and then head to Ubeda and Baeza for the day? THANK YOU!! |
I think two nights in Granada is enough.
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Do you think we should go to Ubeda and Baeza as opposed to spending some time in Rhonda?
Do you know how far the drive is from each of these places? ie how long will it take to drive from Malaga to Granada? and then to Cordoba? and then to Sevilla? Is there a webpage that will help me with this type of information? I haven't been able to really find anything on this. thanks. |
Okay. After 1 freak out, a few days to think about the trip and 1 argument with the boyfriend, I have decided yet again to revise my Spain itinerary. Most of it is staying the same, but the middle (Andalusia) section has been rearranged again. Thank you for all your help in the past, and thank you for your patience with all my changes. Please - comment on this recent update:
3 and a half days in Barcelona fly from Barcelona to Jerez de la Frontera - arrive at 4pm - spend the night in Jerez day in Jerez - see horse show (it's a tuesday) and try some sherry -- drive to Ronda via white villages - night in Ronda Spend day exploring Ronda - drive to Granada in late afternoon -- arrive in Granada - see Alhambra at night spend day in Granada (AnnHig - booked "Hotel Guadalupe" on your recommendation) leave Granada early in the morning and drive to Cordoba - spend the day in Cordoba - drive to Seville Day and night in Seville Day and night in Seville leave for Lagos, Portugal Questions: 1) We are planning on renting a car, but it's getting kind of expensive - Would this route be do-able without renting a car? 2) We have taken out Malaga in favour of spending time in the "white villages" - are we missing anything major? 3) Is a day trip to Cordoba enough? Or do you recommend spending the night there and then leaving in the morning to go to Seville? Any other suggestions would be more than appreciated! As you can tell, I'm sort of lost on this one! THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! |
hi, rsn,
love the new itinerary, and hope that you won't be disappointed in the hotel guadelupe! IMO you will enjoy this particular trip far more with a car - with A/C at that time of year of course - as you will not be tied to train time-tables. Car hire is quite cheap in spain, and as there are just two of you, it should be OK to get a smallish car. Malaga was nicer than we expected but it's expendable. regards, ann |
Ann,
Thank you so much for your help and constant encouragement that I am making the right decisions! We are planning on renting a car - the only problem is that neither myself or my partner drive standard. we were going to learn before the trip, but I have been told by a few people that the drive in the Jerez/Ronda area is especially hilly and treacherous. Now I am nervous about stalling on such narrow roads! We have been looking into getting an automatic car, but they are SO SO expensive. I have a feeling that we will end up sucking up the cost and renting a car, b/c that would be the best and only way to see all the smaller villages along the route - but I just wanted to know if it would be possible without a car. Just in case... |
I didn't visit all of the places you are planning to see, but I did visit Ronda, Granada, Cordoba, and Sevilla without a car. I did a lot of research on train and bus schedules ahead of time, and found a routing that worked really well for me.
As for how long to spend in Cordoba, it depends on what you want to see and do there and in Sevilla! I found plenty to keep me busy in Cordoba for 1.5 days, but I also had more than 2 days in Sevilla. You might want to check exactly what days are involved, as many things are closed on Sunday afternoons and/or all day on Monday. Hope that helps! |
rsn
Just returned from Spain and Portugal and the roads in Jerez/Ronda area are great. Many new highways and toll ways have been built in the last few years. I would suggest you become pretty good at shifting or rent a automatic. The streets many of the ciites and town are pretty narrow. If your worried about shifting and driving through them it could be a problem. My wife couldn't believe be had two rear view mirrors after two weeks. Lagos is a perfect town to stay in the south of Portugal. The Hotel Marina Rio was 65 euro including breakfast for a double. 4 star. The Sept rate is the same. |
hi, rsn,
glad I've been able to help. AS you are not going til July, could you get a bit of stick-shift practice in? A few lessons should do it, IMo. I'd rather spend the extra on A/C, if it's choice between the two. anyway, you are both young and should have little difficulty adapting- after all, us Brits do it all the time, as do most other europeans. what's a holiday without a bit of adventure? best wishes, ann |
I think that we are going to stick with a day trip to Cordoba en route from Granada to Seville. We are moving around a lot and switching hotels almost every night, so it might be nice to get to Seville where we will stay for 3 nights. Also, from what I have been hearing, Seville is AMAZING! and I would rather get there the evening before, ditch the rental car and wake up fresh, and ready to go!
Also, we have decided to rent the car - and an automatic - we ended up finding an amazing price on a discount rental website. Although we technically have time to learn stick, we would have to rent a car here for a few days and get someone to teach us - I'm not convinced that it would be worth it in the end! Although I am totally up for adventure (on past europe trips have gone canyoning in the mountains in Switzerland and sky diving in Prague) I'm not so up for rolling off a cliff! Thanks for all of your input and suggestions - keep them coming!! |
hi, rsn,
well done for biting the bullet about the car. Sometimes any decision is better than none! and when you come back another time, having tried it once, perhaps you won't be so worried about the stick-shift. keep the qs coming! regards, ann |
Hi all!!
I know I have been away from Fodors for the past few months, but now that the trip is fast approaching, I am back to my old planning self. Plus I have a good excuse for being MIA and I thought I would share my good news - I was writing finals and I just graduated from law school!!! Yay! Now that (most of) my school stress is over, I am back to finalizing trip details! Question - I am going to book my ALhambra tickets and I was wondering if I should book a "regular guided tour" or whether I can do it on my own. I will have a guide book with me that has descriptions of the part of the Alhambra and I'm wondering if this is enough? Also, can anyone recommend a nice hotel in Jerez that's not too expensive (max 90 euros or so)? Thank you!! |
hi, rsn,
congrats on the graduation - i hope that your career turns out to be all you hope and more. turning to more fun matters, IMO a self-guided tour of the alhambra, especially with a good guide book, will be fine. try to get hold of Robert irwin's book "the alhambra" [pub, profile books in the UK]for fits fascinating history. and do make time to go in the evening as well as the day - it's quite a different experience. regards, ann |
We are going to the Alhambra in September, and a lot of people have recommended that we get the audio guide. But you should get there early, because they're usually all gone/being used by the afternoon.
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Hey, congrats on law school. Click on my name and read our Andalucia trip report from a month ago. It was wonderful! You are going to have a great time.
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kelliebellie - thanks for your trip report! It has so much great info for planning our days and what we want to see. I always get a little ambitious about what is possible to see in a day. For this trip, I am going to try to relax a little bit!
mikeycora - thanks for your recommendation - I finally booked the Marina Rio hotel in Lagos. It was a bit more expensive in July, but compared to the other hotels we looked into on the beach, it was still (somewhat of) a bargain at 100 Euros. Am booking tickets for the ALhambra and we decided to use a guide book or get an audio guide as opposed to a formal tour. Thanks for the input! We are still debating about whether to stay in Jerez or in Arcos for a night. We will be flying into Jerez at about 4pm but we found a beautiful hotel in Arcos that is more reasonable than the hotels in Jerez. We were thinking of making the drive that evening because we were told it's only 30 minutes. Has anyone done the drive from Jerez to Arcos? is it really 30 minutes only? Is it worth it to travel the extra distance by car, or should we suck it up and pay a little bit more to stay in Jerez? thank you!! |
Update: booked the parador in Arcos for the night! We used the "young person discount" and got a great rate.
I hope it isn't too far from Jerez so that I can get back to do the tour of the sherry bodega... |
Personally, I would cut Madrid to less days ....maybe 2, and spend it in Toledo or some other city (ie. Salamanca) or a city on your way to Pamplona. Madrid it's a beautiful, and "busy" city, and you might find it a bit overwhelmed, and definitely HOT in July. My wife and I did Pamplona a few years back, and just like you we were only able to a room for one night, and the 2nd night, we were up all night partying from bar to bar, and staying up to wait for the run at 7am (I believe).
Here are a few reasonably priced hotels that we've stayed before: In Barcelona - http://www.hotelprincipal.es/index_en.html In Sevilla - http://www.hotel-sevilla.com/princip_ing.htm In Lisbon - http://cb2web.com/geres/ |
by the way, you might be dissapointed with the Jerez Tour in Jerez. We also did that and found it a waiste of time... I would've rather spend more time in Cadiz which is about 1 hour south of Jerez...
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