Best Cities in Spain?
 

If you had a few weeks to spend in Spain-which are the most beautiful cities to go to? Thanks! (clean, not so touristy, good sights, safe etc.)

the most beautiful cities in any country are unavoidable touristy.
Little towns or villages in remote areas may be a better choice for what you are looking for.

Are you talking about big, major cites or smaller town type places? We've visited Spain a couple times and have by no means seen it all. From what we've seen, Seville is our favorite. In Andalusia we also enjoyed Ronda (an afternoon visit), Cadiz (a day trip), Toledo (an overnight), and one extremely long day in Granada.

I know a lot of people will jump down my throat on this one, but Barcelona wasn't our favorite. Yes it has some extremely interesting things to see and do, but the overall vibe just wasn't us, and for us it doesn't compare to some of the other places we have visited in Spain or the rest of Europe.

I don't have a wide list of places in Spain to recommend, but in our case, we enjoyed Granada over Ronda. We spent a couple of days in Ronda to us felt very touristy, almost a museum more than a town. It was closed up tight by 10pm. A good base to see some of the white villages though. Whereas in Granada, other than the Alhambra and the market full of pseudo-Moroccan junk next to the cathedral, we felt a lot of local buzz and we enjoyed that. Not to be disagreeable with Julies at all, but just to add a different perspective.

Seville without a doubt in my mind. I have not seen all of Spain, but we have seen a lot ( this is our second winter in Spain) and just fell in love with Seville.

It is very beautiful and it feels like a much smaller town ( compared to Madrid and Barcelona which seem like huge, crowded, busy cities that they are).

We will tour Northern Spain this year, so perhaps I will find something more beautiful, but thus far Seville is the most beautiful city for us and Andalucia and its joyful people have stolen our hearts.

Stay in the Santa Cruz Barrio area and see the flamenco and all the sights that are walkable from there. Don't miss the fabulous tapa bars. One gets a real feel for the glories of Spain !

I think the beautiful small white villages also should not be missed.

I would not travel to Spain in the summer though...too crowded and too hot. In the winter it is divine in the south!

Imlooking for cities (not so muchtowns) In Italy, my fav. city was Florence, Iloved the art,culture & architecture, clean, smallish, pretty. For me, Rome was too busy etc. If I love Florence, would we like Madrid or Seville better? Sounds like Barcelona may not be for us....will have 2 little kids with us too...

Its me again, the original poster. If we did 1.5 weeks in Seville & wanted to do 1.5 weeks R&R on the beach, is the Costa Del Sol the closest 'beach' region to go to for 2nd half of trip?

Sevilla, GRanada, Cordoba
Salamanca
Segovia
Girona
Tarragona

In the past couple years I've been to (3 seperate trips) - Barcelona, Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Madrid, Toledo, Salamanca, Segovia, Toledo and Avila. They really do ALL meet your criteria. None of them felt particularly touristy to me - none as much as Florence which you said you loved. Madrid is a big city but didn't feel as "busy" as Rome. If I had to pick my favorites I guess I'd say Seville, Salamanca, and Segovia, with Granada close behind.

My photos of all these places are at www.pbase.com/annforcier

My favourites are San Sebastian, Barcelona, Granada, Salamanca, Sevilla, Valencia and Madrid, depending on what kind of holidays I'm looking for the order would be different.

julies-- I am with you; Barcelona left me a bit cold. Yes, Las Ramblas and the ocean boardwalk are fun, but something about Barcelona is cold and detached and I sincerely do not care if I don't ever go back again. My opinion.

I've been to Spain many, many times and the most memorable places are the small villages up in the mountains, both South and North. Since you are asking about cities, well, I particularly left my heart in Salamanca with close seconds Ronda, Santiago, Sevilla and Segovia. Madrid does have something that keeps tugging at me; I always have a great time in Madrid, including people who are some of the nicest I've found in all my travels. So, if I was to recommend a region, definitely Andalucia (before June and after September!

We've been to Spain several times in the past years and as Danon has pointed out, the beautiful cities have a tendency to be touristy because they are so beautiful. However, if you go to some of the smaller "white villages" you might find what you want. Since you also want beach, and are travelling with 2 little kids, maybe stay in Nerja, which has a beach and is smaller and charming and may day trips to the white villages. However, I do suggest you plan on at least a day trip to Granada (to see Alhambra--get tickets on the Internet) and few days in Seville and a stop to Cordoba.

I find Northern Spain less touristy that Sothern Spain or the major cities like Barcelona or Madrid.

Check out Galicia, with Santiago de Compostela being the jewel there. To me it's an amazing area. Now, if you're looking for a "big city" that is not touristy, I don't know.

Partly due to the contrast and partly it really is beautiful, I find it is hard for me to a ranking of any kind. I will tell you that I loved Seville, Granada, Toledo, Avila, Segovia, and Salamanca. Madrid is very nice too, just entirely different flavor. I have never been to but will be in Barcelona and Valencia (someone who frequents this board owes me and my wife a paella lunch) in 2009 so can't comment yet.

Safety? I live near a tough town so that is all relative :)

The closest beach area to Seville is Cadiz and the Costa de la Luz. Relatively unspoiled compared to Costa del Sol but on the Atlantic so more wind and not as hot. By the way, Cadiz is a lovely small city and well worth a visit.

Hmmm Joan, you seem to shop around all over Europe---you must like to fantasize. To give the benefit of the doubt, here are my favs---you may notice a common factor:
Seville
Segovia
San Sebastian
Salamanca
It takes at least 5 trips to see Spain---we are doing our 5th in May.

I agree that the Seville and Nerja combo would seem to work best for your needs and both are great for families. Summer is the high season and hot though, so I hope you are not thinking July and August for southern Spain.

If you loved Florence compared to Rome, then all the more Seville compared to Madrid or Barcelona ( both can be overwhelming, especially for families).

Florence and Seville are very different of course, but both are very pretty,clean, easily walkable small cities with great food and architecture. You can take a lot of nice day trips in both ( do not miss the ave train to Cordoba).


Get a villa on the beach in Nerja...you can even lunch on the beach in a great restaurant while the kids play nearby,Stroll on the balcony of Europe, eat an ice cream, people watch and look at Africa. Take a carriage ride, see a festival, watch flamenco. Build sandcastles in the sand at one of the prettiest beaches in Europe ( la jolla like with more authentic Spanish flavor than most of the costa del sol).Horse back riding and hiking nearby.

Spain is a wonderful place for children. You can also take a lot of nice daytrips from Nerja ( do not miss the caves, Granada & Malaga) if you are in the mood.

I think you have found your perfect place Joan! ;)

San Sebastian. The only "tourists" I saw there were from nearby France. From your post Joan, you could underline (clean, not so touristy, good sights, safe etc.). I think you forgot outstanding food!

For some reason this thread has what I think is an unusual number of negative posts about Barcelona. I think it is an interesting and pleasant city to visit. The Gaudi architecture is fascinating. There is a great maritime museum. The old Barri Gotic neighborhood is very atmospheric
I actually think it would be a fun big city for walking around with young kids--but it is bigger than many of the others listed.

bobthe navigator-- we are going to Spain in May, too! Are you heading North or South? We are heading South.