Hi Fodorites again, I'm taking my sister to Spain in Sept. Since our flight stopped in Paris, <BR>I decided to lay over for 2 days as a special treat for her (I've been in Paris several <BR>Times) and then on to Portugal and Spain for the next 12 days. <BR>I thought that we would spend 2 days in Portugal, take a train from Lisbon to Seville <BR>and rent a car for the rest of the time. I thought from Seville I might drive around the ROCK, <BR>through Malaga, Cordoba, up to Madrid down to Valencia and on to Barcelona as <BR>our last stop. Am I crazy? Any suggestions would be much appreciated. The flights are already <BR>booked, so our itinerary is fixed as far as arrival and departure cities. <BR> <BR>She has hardly ever been out of the State of Maine let alone out of the country. <BR>(I convinced her with my pictures of Hungary and Czech Republic from my trip last year.) <BR>She would like to mostly see the sites. <BR> <BR> P.S. I posted this general question before but with a bland heading. See if this heading <BR>evokes more responses!! <BR> <BR>Thank you very much. <BR>Art <BR>

The planned train journey from Lisbon to Seville could be tricky, as there is nor direct route. <BR>As far as I can make out you have three options, none of them particularly good. <BR>1. Via Madrid. Comfortable but a long way round, involving either an overnight Lisbon-Madrid train, or an overnight stop in Madrid. <BR>2.Via a series of rural rail lines which could take for ever. <BR>3.By direct train to Faro, and then a convoluted series of train-bus-ferry-bus and train to Seville. Quite a good route but your planning will need to be fairly meticulous. I'v read other postings from people who have done this successfully. <BR>In view of this you may wish to consider renting the car in Lisbon rather than Seville. <BR>Ben Haines from London may be able to conjure up a rail option from his Cooks timetable if he sees this post. <BR>From Malaga/Seville to Madrid, then Valencia, then Barcelona, there are really excellent and regular trains, and I think you would find this much better than the car. <BR>I can give you train times for this if you need them, but you will find them quite easily on www.renfe.es

Thanks Tony. Maybe we should take the train to Madrid and then rent a car? Would this be better. <BR>

Art.. <BR> <BR>The best way is really to rent a car in Lisbon and drop off in Malaga, after you have used it to tour the area, providing you can do this interchange between countries without penalty, and I feel sure most rental companies will permit this. The drive from Lisbon to the Seville area would be quite pleasant,whereas the drive from Madrid to Seville is very long, and not particularly inspiring. From Madrid there is an hourly train service to Seville that travels at 190 m.p.h. and does the journey in less than two and a half hours. I really don't think a 7 or 8 hour drive compares with this, but it is your choioce of course. <BR>The Andalusian area around Seville and Malaga lends itself to scenic driving without the tyranny of distance, whereas as I said earlier, the driving distances from Seville to Madrid to Valencia and to Barcelona are painfully long, especially when the air conditioned trains do it so quickly. <BR>I think you will see the logic of this if you get your map out and study the angles and distances.

Art.. <BR> <BR>Check out today's postings, Just Back From 18 Days in Spain, and Spain, Need <BR>Suggestions. <BR> <BR>You'll find some interesting comments.