Advice on great European itineraries
 

My daughter will be studying in Spain in May/June of this year. My husband and I are going over to meet her and are looking for some recs on where to travel for about a week to 10 days. She will have already seen Spain and would like to visit other locations. Would love to hear some ideas for itineraries, top picks, info sources, etc.

Who knows? Other than the fact that you have a daughter and she'll be in Spain, you have included no information on what interests you, what interests her, why you tagged your post as you did, what your budget is for both expenses and lodging, where you expect to fly into, how you expect to do your touring, etc.

Indeed, one key part of your post is questionable - "she will have already seen Spain." Really? How small do you think Spain is? Where will she be studying? Will she actually study or just flit about the country on weekends? The various regions of Spain are not identical.

Ultimately, however, you need to do something more than say you'd like to hear itineraries because there is no way to gauge your interest in anything at this point. Give us some notion of what you're looking for and folks on this board will be able to tailor their responses to that.

Ask your daughter what she would like to do. Maybe she would like to show you <b>her</b> Spain, or maybe places in Spain that she has not seen.

BigRuss' response may seem a bit harsh, but he is actually correct. Europe is a big, big area with lots of diversity. It is impossible to give you "great European itineraries", especially for only a week to ten days, without some idea of what would be "great for you".

Are there any places you have dreamed all your life about seeing: Paris, London, Rome, Venice? Are there any monuments or buildings (Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Pantheon, etc.) that you have always longed to see?

Do you have a big interest in art, architecture, history, castles, archeological sites, a particular language or culture?

Where is your daughter studying? Where will you be flying into?

Have you been to Europe before? If so, where?

It takes at least 6 weeks to see Spain--another 2 weeks for Portugal. Why go further?

For a week to 10 days, you could do 2 other cities, or 1 city with some countryside, or just countryside.

Part of the answer is defining how you want to travel. Get an apartment in a major city and then really see the place, with some possible side trips, or roam the countryside looking for adventure.

If you could give us a bit more guidance....what have you as a family ever dreamed of seeing, what makes your heart go pitter patter when you see it on TV :)

Ok, wow, I obviously have to provide some more information! Sorry, I am new to this (site and planning this type of vacation), and was just trying to get a broad brush of ideas in order to help me drill down to the actual details to begin to plan my trip. To answer a few questions...it has been 30 years since I have been to Europe...I spent a semester of college studying in Venice, and was able to visit Rome, Florence, Pisa, Munich, Salzburg, Switzerland and Greece. I also spent a summer in Paris, also in college. I have never been to Spain, or London. I love art and architecture, but am also interested in incorporating a more active (walking, biking) component to the trip where possible.
While my daughter is studying in Seville, she will have weekends to travel. I don't know much more at this point as she has just been accepted to the program and we don't have all the details as yet. My first suggestion to her was to do the entire trip in Spain, let her use her language skills, but her preference is to see some other cities.
After reading some other posts, it seems like it makes the most sense for us to focus on 2, maybe three cities, for the period of time we are now considering.
We will be flying out of Atlanta, and at this point are flexible about where we fly into...our decision will be affected by airfare, so that may dictate where we go into, fly out of. Also I think we would like to travel by train where possible, as opposed to driving.
Basically, I am going to do some more homework, come up with a more specific plan, come back here and hopefully get some great, thoughtful recommendations. Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond.

Take her to Barcelona and then San Sebastian in the Basque country. Both are a long way from Seville and are different cultures than Andalusia.