Now that this year's trip has been taken, I'm already starting to think about 2023 travel! I'm planning a trip to Spain with a friend. I have been to Spain before, she hasn't. My previous trip was a fairly typical first-timer's itinerary: Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Barcelona.

My ideal second trip itinerary would include Valencia, Mallorca, and Barcelona. However, my friend has a family member that owns or has access to a home on the Costa Brava that we could use as a base for exploring that region. So now we're looking at Barcelona, Costa Brava, Mallorca OR Barcelona, Costa Brava, Valencia as our options. We would be visiting sometime mid-May to early-June and we'd have 4-5 nights in each location. We both like food, art, culture, history, nature, and not-too-extreme outdoorsy activities. We're both more "on the go" type travelers, but a few relaxing beach days would be very welcome (although I don't know if it will be quite warm enough for me to lounge around in a swimsuit in May).

I'm just starting to dig into specifics for each option, but I'm interested to hear perspectives on the pros and cons of each itinerary.

I wonder if Mallorca and the Costa Brava would be too similar in that both areas would involve a lot of driving and visiting small coastal towns and villages. Valencia might offer a good contrast in that it is a large city (in contrast to the towns and villages of the Costa Brava) and it has a more stereotypically Spanish flair (as compared to Barcelona's Catalonian culture). That being said, Mallorca has been at the top of my priority list, so either option will be wonderful, I'm sure.

Any thoughts from those who have been to all of these areas? I love Spain and will likely travel there many times, so it's just a matter of what to prioritize on this next trip.

If the beach is important I'd make sure the beaches appeal to you. The other thing I'd personally put the beaches days later in the trip. I've had some pretty cold days in May visiting Barcelona.

Valencia is culturally closer to Barcelona than Madrid or Seville.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalan_Countries