Back from 2 weeks in Spain....
 

Back from 2 weeks in Spain--Marbella, Granada, Servilla, Madrid, Toledo, Nerja, and Barcelona. Would be glad to answer any questions you might have (if I can).<BR>E- mail,<BR>Paula<BR>at [email protected]

Hi Paula<BR>Any good day trips from BCN? Is montserrat worth it?<BR>Where did you stay in BCN and MAD?<BR>

Paula,<BR>Any restaraunts worth recommending in Barcelona?<BR>Thanks,<BR>Chris

Hi, Paula,<BR><BR>Where did you stay in Granada and how did u like those accommodations?<BR><BR>Thanks.<BR><BR>john

Welcome home! We're going in May/June to those same cities -- but we've heard mixed reviews of Marbella -- was it worth it? <BR><BR>Don't know which one is better -- Marbella or Malaga??? <BR><BR>Thanks.

Where did you stay in Madrid? Any recommendations??

In answer to your questions...<BR>The first week we stayed in Marbella and used it as a base to see Granada, Nerja, and Ronda. We have a Marriott timeshare and stayed at the Marriott Marbella which was fantastic--especially the staff who were more helpful to us than any place else we stayed in Europe. The Costa del Sol is a bit touristy, but the old town or Marbella is charming and it's a good base for day trips. (Also good if you like the beach.) In Madrid we stayed at the Hotel Europa which I wouldn't recommend except for the location and price, and in Barcelona at the Hotel Continental which was well located and had a great dog--a Great Pyamese. I loved Barcelona--especially the Gaudi architecture (don't miss Casa Mila and Parc Guell)--and one of my favorite restaurants of the trip was there--La Dolca Herminia at Magdalenes 27,--wonderful and inexpensive food AND they have a non-smoking section!!!--a real rarity in Europe. Also, I would highly recommend the flamenco show at Los Gallos in Servilla if you're going there--which you should--it's a wonderful city--don't miss the Santa Crus area, Cathedral, and Plaza de Espana.<BR>I'd also recommend making train reservations in advance from the U.S. if you're using a Eurail pass and don't rent from Hertz (I've heard Europcar is good and we've had good luck in the past in Europe with Avis.)<BR>Have a great trip,<BR>Paula

Paula,<BR><BR>I am interested in why you say don't rent from Hertz. I am getting a rail/auto pass through Rail Eurupe and they have my car booked through Hertz and not Avis. (The price would have been the same for either.) Did you have bad luck or something? Thanks and tell us more details about your trip!

Hi,<BR>If you can still change your reservation to Avis, I would recommend it. We rented from them in Italy and had no problems. The trouble we had with Hertz is a long story, but basically, our train reservations were changed and they said on their contract that they would stay open later to accommodate such changes, but they refused to, and because of that we had to take a bus to get to an airport to get the car which was very confusing, cost extra time and money, and basically, they acted in bad faith. I'd be happy to answer any other questions re. our trip...<BR>Paula

Did you stay in Toledo, and if so, where? Would you recommend Marbella over Nerja? <BR><BR>Thanks much. I appreciate your help.

We stayed at a fabulous place in Toledo--Hotel del Cardenal--would highly recommend it. It's right by the old city wall, has charm and is very reasonably price. Has a pretty good restaurant too. As for Nerja v. Marbella--Nerja is less touristy. The caves are amazing and the Balcony of Europe is nice.<BR>Have a great trip,<BR>Paula

Thank you, Paula!

Paula, I have a question regarding Toledo. So many people love it and say not to miss it, many also talk about how touristy it is. It seems that it must be a very special city to be so well loved and so well frequented. How would you describe it? Is it not to be missed? I have long been curious about Hotel del Cardenal, thank you for the mention of it.<BR><BR>Thanks Paula,<BR>linda

Hi.<BR><BR>Just my 0.02 about Toledo. It is a touristy place. There are a lot of souvenir vendors all over the place (basically armors, swords and mosaics), a lot of day-trippers (many people recommend staying the night to see Toledo w/o tourists).<BR><BR>However, the city is just amazing. Just the sight of the old city surrounded by walls with huge stone carved coats of arms at the gates justify the trip. The sights in Toledo are equally amazing. The Cathedral is beautiful, the Alcazar looks very impressive, a lot of El Greco's paintings, a couple of synagogues, and a very interesting mix of Catholic, Jewish and Moorish buildings.

Paula, You mentioned making your reservations for trains here in the US-what routes did you find especially crowded? Also, I am booked for hotel Europa because it was inexpensive and other fodorites have said good things-did you find it run down? Should I book somewhere else? I have 7weeks in Europe and so I wanted to go budget where I could. thanks for the info.

Thanks Jean Valjean!<BR><BR>linda

ttt

First, Linda--re. Toledo...I think Jean answered your question really well. We were only there overnight and I wish I had spend more time there. Also, I would use the Hotel del Cardenal as a base in the future--it waa really incredible. <BR>Debbie, As far as The Hotel Europa in Madrid...it seems I'm in a minority and a lot of people like it. I think it would have been fine for me when I was travelling as a student, but I'm over 50 now and my husband and I both have bad backs, and the matresses were not firm enough for us (nor did they have boards to put under them when we requested such.) Besides, Madrid was not my favorite city. I felt it was worth going for the Prado and Sophia, but in the future, I would do that as a side trip from Toledo. <BR>As far as train reservations go--you didn't say when you would be travelling. Maybe some months are worse than others. I've had very good luck on trains in Europe in the past, but this time was really a bummer. Especially bad was from Servilla to Madrid and Montpellier to Nice. <BR>Hope this helps. Have a great trip.<BR>Paula

I strongly recommend to insist on a DIESEL car ,specially if you planned a long journey,gasoline is very expensive in Europe

Leonardo,<BR>Good suggestion. We had a diesel car and it saved a lot of $.

Hi<BR>I am going to be going to marbella and have a reservation at the Los Monteros a le meridian property. Any comments?

Sorry, don't know anything about this hotel.<BR>

Hi Paula<BR>I hope you enjoyed your trip.<BR>I was hoping to get your opinion on whether to spend 6 nights of our honeymoon in either Nerja or seville. We will also stay in Ronda for few nights then fly to Barcelona.<BR>thanks a lot

Paula,<BR>Me and my husband are going to stay 15 days in Spain. Certantly we are going to Barcelona. But I would like to ask your suggestion , wich places do you recomend ? PS. WE MARRIED 2 YARS AGO, AND THIS TRIP WILL BE OUR SECOND HUNNEY MOON.

George and Priscilla,<BR>Depends what you like. Nerja is smaller and the caves are truly fantastic, but Serville is larger and was one of my favorite places ever...the flamenco is incredible (Los Gallos), the Plaza Espana, Alcazar, cathedral, and barrio Santa Cruz were wonderful. However, I hear it gets very hot in Serville in the summer (we were there in March), so I don't know how well you deal with heat. I like Toledo too--especially where we stayed--Hotel del Cardenal--and you can make day trips from there to Madrid to see the Prado and Sofia. Congradulations to all of you (we were there on our 20th anniversery--hard to believe!)<BR>Hope this helps,<BR>Paula

Hi, Paula! We are considering Spain for a "beach holiday" in late June. Do you think Marriott Marbella wld. be a good choice? Do they have suites/condos there? Can you tell us a little bit about the beach? What is closest major airport? What will the weather be like in late June/early July?<BR>Look fwd. to your comments/suggestions<BR>Another Paula

Paula: We (6 of us) will be in Barcelona for 3 days the end of June. It will be the only place in Spain we are visiting. Can you give us some idea for day trips by train or cab from the city that might give us a broader view of Spain. We do not want to rent cars and to pay a guide looks like big $$$$$$. Thanks

I would suggest you spend all your time in Barcelona. We were only there 3 days and it wasn't enough time to do everything. It's such a great city...so much to so (check notes above)...and you sure don't want a car there. Have a great time.

what day trips did you make from marbella? we will be using marbella as our base in july. was the staff at the marriott helpful in helping make plans?

Hi Paula,<BR> I'm strongly considering attending an athletic event which will be held close to Santander (Cantabria) in mid-July for 2 days. The most inexpensive tickets to Spain would be to Madrid. From Madrid, would it be advisable to take a train to Santander, or rent a car and drive there? Also, if I do rent a car, how do I arrange to drive there? Is the driving much different there? Thanks.<BR><BR>Dean.

Spencer, We used the Marriott Marbella as a base to see Alhambra, the Nerja caves, Ronda and Mijas as well as the old village of Marbella which is charming. The staff were wonderful...so helpful...best of any place we stayed in Europe.<BR>Have a great time.<BR>Dean, I don't know where Santander is. Sorry can't be of any help. As for renting a car, check out Europcar (don't use Hertz). Yuo need an international driver's lincense which you can get from AAA in the states.<BR>Good luck

Paula..did you do a day tour to Granada from Marbella? Who did you use? Would you recommend Marbella or Nerja as a base to tour Andalucia?

Cathy,<BR>We rented a car. Granada was about an hour/hour and a half drive from Marbella. I liked both Marbella and Nerja, but the Marbella area is more touristy, but we had a time-share at the Marriott for a week and it was great--staff were unbelieably helpful. Whichever place you stay, make sure you see the caves in Nerja and Alhambra. Have a great trip.<BR>Paula

Dean:<BR><BR>You may want to start your own thread on this, as Paula doesn't mention Santander.<BR><BR>I have made this trip a few times, though. Basically, you have three options:<BR>1. bus: cheapest, approx 5-6 hours.<BR>2. train: approx 6 hours.<BR>3. car: approx 4.5 hours.<BR><BR>For driving, taking the N1 to the N623(@Burgos) and N623 to Santander is usually good. There are other options, though, especially if you want to see some towns along the way, like Segovia, or Palencia or Valladolid. Check viamichelin.com for good routes and get a good map once you are in Spain. For train, check www.renfe.es. There are a million private bus companies in Spain, I don't know the one that is serving Madrid-Santander, but it should not be too hard to find out.<BR><BR>I don't know where you are from, so I don't know how different driving in Spain would be for you. I, an American, have found it fairly easy outside of the big cities, with good roads, good signs and decent (if fast) drivers. If you'll have a place to park the car in Santander, it might be good. Driving in Santander itself is no fun, although no worse than most American cities and is certainly easier than Madrid.<BR><BR>IF you are only spending two days in the Santander area, I think your decision should be based on what you are going to do before and after. I hope that two days won't be the sum total of your visit to this great part of Spain.<BR><BR>

Thanks for being available to answer questions! My 18 year old son is going on a study abroad program in Alicante for the month of July. He will be taking the train back to Madrid for the flight home and will have to spend a night alone there. How far is it from the city istelf to the airport? Can you recommend a hotel that would be safe for him traveling alone? What 1 or 2 sites would you recommend for him to see in an afternoon/evening before his flight? Thanks so much.

Hi,<BR>We didn't fly in or out of Madrid, so I can't help you on the airport...hopefully someone else will...we stayed at a place in Madrid that I personally wouldn't stay at again, but would have as a student...there were several students from the U.S. there on exchange programs...it's called the Hotel Europa and is inexpensive and in a safe area. As for what to do...I'd say not to miss the Prado and Sofia museums. For July he might check out getting tickets in advance on the Internet. Hope that helps, Paula