espainol

Hi, I am an exchange student living in Madrid. My dad will be coming to visit me in May and he will be here for two weeks. I want to travel around Spain with him, but I honestly don't know much about Spain, other than Madrid. I was hoping someone would have some ideas on which cities in Spain we should go to, and what to do while we are there. We can go anywhere in Spain, it doesn't matter where.

I want to spend at least 3 days in Madrid showing him around in my new city and letting him meet my host families, but after that I am stumped. I know Madrid fairly well, but if you have any ideas of things to do in Madrid, I would like to hear that too.

I have lived here for over 5 months and I am relatively proficient in Spanish, so the language barrier wont be a problem for us (at least in the Spanish speaking parts of Spain).

Please, if you have any ideas for what my dad and I should do while he is here, please let me know!

Thank you!

Revulgo

Basic destinations in Spain, others than Madrid: Barcelona (Catalan culture), Sevilla (Andalusian culture) and San Sebastián (Basque culture).
http://maribelsguides.com/

Rubicund

What do you want out of this trip? Are you looking for culture, art, beaches, architecture or villages etc.? Give us a bit more info and we can help.

espainol

Well I guess just a little bit of everything. Im sorry I know thats not very helpful

emily71

Toledo-for a night or two
Segovia-day trip
Granada-Alhambra is the number one tourist destination in Spain-2 nights
Seville-3 or 4 nights


No need to drive as the Spain train system is world class.

BigRuss

Would skip Segovia if you go to Toledo.

YOU would like Salamanca, and the old man should too.

Perhaps you should talk to pops about where he'd want to go . . .

espainol

What is there to do in Segovia, Granada, Seville, and Salamanca?

suec1

I'm sorry, but I am going to join the ranks of snarky posters - you've been in Spain 5 months, have contact with host families and are asking what is in Sevilla and Granada - really?! I'd suggest chatting with your Spanish friends / families and getting a bit more info on the country you have been living in the past 5 months.

BigRuss

<<What is there to do in Segovia, Granada, Seville, and Salamanca?>>

You have internet access to post on this board - go do some research.

joannyc

I wouldn't' skip Segovia if you go to Toledo! Where else are you going to see a 2000 year old aqueduct that is so very well preserved? Also, a great alcazar! Not to mention the roast suckling pig!

I loved my 4 nights in Toledo (day trip to Consuegra), 2 in Avila, 4 in Salamanca (day trip to Zamora), 3 in Segovia and 5 in Madrid (saw El Escorial and Valley of the Fallen on way from Segovia) this past autumn! I had planned a couple of day trips from Madrid but found so much to see in Madrid that I never got to do them.

espainol

I would like to say thank you to the "snarky posters". Y'all are incredibly helpful. As I said in my post I know Madrid very well, since that is the only place I've been able to go. I don't know if you know anything about exchanges, seems like you don't, we are not allowed to travel. The reason I asked what there is to do in those cities is because I wanted advice from people that have been there and want to share some advice.

And "BigRuss" this is research wouldn't you say?

Thanks to the people that actually wanted to help. I appreciate your advice!

Michael

<i>What is there to do in Segovia, Granada, Seville, and Salamanca?</i>

It might be worthwhile to browse through a guidebook such as Fodor's or the Michelin Green Guide for Spain.

kimhe

Your dads stay in Madrid might coincide with the world's most cutting edge flamenco dancer Rocío Molina's "Afectos" in Teatro de la Abadía Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, May 30th-June 1st.
http://www.rociomolina.net/agenda/?lang=en

I saw the premiere of this performance in Barcelona in October. Extremely powerful and highly recommended.

28 years old Molina was voted best flamenco dancer 2007 and 2008 by Spanish critics, and in 2010 she was awarded the Premio Nacional de Danza, the most prestigious dance prize in Spain as the youngest flamenco dancer ever.

This spring she tours New York, Washington, Miami, London, Moscow, Paris, Toulouse and several Spanish cities, among them Madrid, the flamenco capital of the world.

"one of the finest soloists in the world today"
New York Times 2009

"Molina has genius: irresistible, all-consuming, all-powerful"
Financial Times 2011

Press: http://www.rociomolina.net/prensa/?lang=en