daisy58

Hello again! I am in the early stages of planning our trip for next May or June.
Considering 2 weeks Spain/Portugal. How would you structure the trip, and is it
doable by train? Our trip to Italy last May
was all by train, and it worked out well, and thanks to all of you who helped with that trip planning! One more question, since we spent a small fortune at restaurants in Italy (not fancy ones, but definately in tourist areas) are Spain and
Portugal as expensive as Italy?????
I realize I am not giving alot of info
for the upcomimg plans, because I am looking for advise of must sees, don't
bother seeing, etc. We like typical sightseeing of extraordinary unique places, palaces, surprises. (And of course, shopping for prizes!

PrincessOfPenguins

where specifically in these two countries are you thinking of going? Cities? Countryside? Beach resorts?

daisy58

thanks for your reply. Cities mostly, with side trips to castles, etc. We like museums, palaces, castles, also
"natural wonders" . Beaches are fine for a short stay, if it coincides with the transportation logistics. Unless of course either country has an area like the Cinque Terra in Italy. We enjoyed that

Robert2533

If you want to do both Spain and Portugal, then you might consider beginning your trip in Madrid, traveling to Sevilla and then on to Lisbon before heading north to Porto and Braga before crossing back into Spain to Vigo in Galicia. From Vigo you can head north to Santiago de Compostela before catching your flight home via Madrid.

This can be accomplished by a combination of train and bus, or you can pick up a rental car in Sevilla, dropping it off in Santiago.

worldinabag

Hi

For my 10 euro cents I would do only one country. I would choose Spain. I spent almost 4 weeks touring and I still didn't get to see heaps. There is so much to see! It is easy and cheap to do by train (excellent rail system) and bus but you can still hire a car for those off the beaten track places you want to do. I too wanted to do Portugal and Spain. I grabbed a map and realized just how much country I would be covering.

And Spain is alot cheaper than Italy.

Bill_Bolton

Both Spain and Portugal are well worth visiting. However, getting between Spain and Portugal by train in 2002, while possible was inconvenient, to say the least.... and I dont think its any better today!

We gave up and caught a bus from Porto to Salamanca. Train travel/connections in both Spain and Portugal were generally OK and workable otherwise, though Madrid to Grenada turned out to be a much easier/quicker bus trip than trying to do it by train.

Both Lisbon and Proto are "must see" places in Portugal.

Cheers,

Bill

NEDSIRELAND

If you limit yourselves to 2-weeks you shouldn't even attempt both Spain and Portugal unless you 'open jaw' (i.e., US to Spain and home from Lisbon).

As for dining: you can find many bars and Taverns in Spain and Portugal that offer a midday 'Menu' for less than 10 Euro. They are structured for the 'regulars' and include everything, (bread & wine). That's the principal meal in Spain or Portugal. For the evening meal, we 'nosh' or have snacks in a tavern.

<< How would you structure the trip, and is it doable by train?>>

U.S. to Barcelona: arrival day plus two additional days in Barcelona area.

Day-3 fly BCN-MAD: arr. Madrid late afternoon or early evening. Day-4: tour Madrid; day-5: daytrip Toledo or Segovia; day-6 Madrid (shopping & touring); Day-7 late afternoon AVE to Sevilla. AVISO: la Feria del Campo and Romeria al Santuario de la Virgen del Rocio coincides with Pentecost Sunday, 27-28 May, 2007. Many Madrilenhos make the Romeria. Trains & Buses will be full heading south in the days leading up to Pentecost.
Day-8 & 9: Andalucia 'loop.'
Day-10: Bus, Sevilla-Lisbon (Oriente).

So, the answer to your question re: 'Is it doable by Train' is NO. Here's my 'first blush' shot at it. It has a bit of 'slack' in my timeline.

You could conceivably do as Robert2533 suggests in your 3-or-4 remaining days: <<... traveling to Sevilla and then on to Lisbon before heading north to Porto and Braga before crossing back into Spain to Vigo in Galicia. From Vigo you can head north to Santiago de Compostela before catching your flight home via Madrid.>>

Sue_xx_yy

If you put 'cheat sheet" in the search keyword box and choose 'Spain' from the and/or other topics column (i.e. country of interest), you will pull up my post "Seville to Lisbon by Public Transit Cheat Sheet" which gives you the various ways to go between southern Spain and Portugal.

We spent 8 nights in southern Spain (I would dearly have liked 9 or 10) and about 5 nights in Portugal, all but 1 of them in Lisbon. We were very keen to see Lisbon so this worked for us (we did NOT see Madrid, let alone Barcelona) otherwise the advice to do either country or the other is sound.

Nikki

I spent two weeks in Spain and Portugal in July with friends. We took flights between cities on Vueling Airlines for 10 euros apiece plus tax and handling fees. We only got to the cities, seeing Barcelona, Madrid and Lisbon, with a couple of days in Ibiza because my friend's son was spending the summer there.

My trip report is at:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34841123

Photos are at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=...&y=-fvnw8i

Nikki

In answer to the question about whether Spain and Portugal are as expensive as Itly, I found that hotels and restaurants were less expensive in Spain than in Italy, and less expensive in Portugal than in Spain.