Barcelona to ???? to Madrid in May with Two Small Children
 

Next May, we'd like to visit Spain for 16 nights. I've picked out reasonably priced flights into Barcelona and out of Madrid.

I'm thinking we'll spend three days each in Barcelona and Madrid, but I'm really struggling with the middle of the itinerary. Southern Spain sounds interesting since we like beaches and interesting towns/cities/parks, but the areas need to be safe and easily accessible by train/plane/a short taxi ride since we're traveling with two small children.

Can someone recommend 1 to 3 areas to visit and the order in which we should visit them?

Thank you for your help! J

May is a perfect time for playing on the beach, so you can want to consider beginning in Valencia, then heading to Malaga and on to Cádiz for your adventure in Spain.

J, we just came back from Spain with our 4 year old. She loved it. We found lots of activities for kids. Our trip centered around Southern Spain mostly though (Sevilla, Arcos, Marbella, and Granada). We found all cities to be very safe. Kid friendly highlights in Sevilla were Isla Magic (theme park), riding around the city in a horse drawn carriage, the various children's play areas in the city parks, the Alcazar with it's maze in the garden, a side trip to the beach including the sand dunes, short hiking trip in the National Park. We saw the Adalusion horses in Jerez de La Frontera. In Marbella there is the beaches. Our hotel had a gorgeous swimming pool. We also enjoyed a side trip to Gibraltar where we rode up the mountain in a cable car and saw the Apes all over. They also have a cave inside the mountain with stalactites and stalagmites. Also around the Marbella area they have several water theme parks. We did not go to any but they looked great.

Enjoy!

Try the vrbo.com site for apartment rentals in Southern Spain. Beautiful locations, family oriented, many with pools and/or near the ocean.

Thank you for the advice!!!

Hartzog, what was the name of your hotel in Marbella? Would you recommend it?

Thanks!

We stayed at the Westin La Quinta resort. I would definitely recommend it. Especially if you are a Starwood member. If so, they'll upgrade your room if one is available. They had a great pool although it was not heated. But it was hot enough outside. The resort wasn't on the beach but the beaches there aren't especially great. If you have a car you can drive anywhere.

i don't know HOW small your children are, but if they enjoy museums.. try spending some time in valencia . you might want to stay at the sidi saler hotel . it is on grounds that connect out through the dunes to massive beach.

it has indoor and outdoor pools, and has a free shuttle into town.

we have the new science center/ aquarium/imax theater just as you enter town from the saler beach area. i beleive the free shutle now has a stop there before going into downtown.

also,there are other numerous interesting museums.. with some hands on displays. ( the history museum, fallas museum, paleontologic museum).

on the weekends there are usually free activities for kids in the old river bed.. clowns, face painting.. games..

we have a lovely large park next to the fine arts museum, and there is a zoo, and a pond with swans, plazas with pigeons and some calm simple rides for the children.

on the albufera lake south of city you have a boat ride (45 min) . also there is a nature center with videos and special cameras out in the marshes filming the birds nesting there.

a bit south of the sidi saler hotel you have Devesa gardens.. a mini zoo.. ponies, paddle boats on the canal (through back side of lake), and a cafe and restaurant.

no matter where you decide to go , i imagien you will be abel to find a lot of nice things to do with your kids. valencia is very convenient to begin with from barcelona on the high speed euromed.

if you go first class, ask ahead of time for the "table" with four seats. there is only/two one per car, i think, and they book up fast, but it is great for a group of four.

if you prefer apts., there are also some here on the northern coast with nice play area and bus service into the city .

you can fly inexpensively to sevilla from valencia one way on vueling.com.

nice apts. in sevilla "murillo " hotel and apts.