Best Itinerary suggestions for 7-10 Days, Seville is mandatory
#1
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Best Itinerary suggestions for 7-10 Days, Seville is mandatory
We are visiting out daughter who is studying abroad in Seville March 30-April 7/8 (during Semana Santa). I was hoping to get to see Seville, Madrid and Barcelona, but now wonder if that is too much for such a short time (and a big country). I need to at least get a skeletal itinerary to plan flights. Any suggestions would be great. Our daughter is willing to meet us somewhere, so we needn't start in Seville, but need to spend some quality time there to meet her host family, and experience what she has for the past several months. Any and all suggestions much appreciated. Thanks in advance. (Note: flying in and out of Boston)
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You're going to have to eliminate either Madrid or Barcelona. There's no realistic way I'd want to cover Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla in 7-10 days. You could easily just make this a trip focusing on Andalucia - 5 nights in Sevilla with day trips to Codoba and one other location and 2 nights in Granada. Most important - if you plan to spend time in Sevilla during Semana Santa you need to make reservations ASAP! Many places will be full especially those well located or within a decent price range.
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With only 7-10 days, including both Madrid and Barcelona with your priority of Seville would make this a challenging vacation schedule. At only 7 days I would not try for all three locations. if you have 10 days and if having less than 3 days per location appeals to you, then an itinerary that starts in either Barcelona or Madrid and ends in the other probably makes sense. That is presuming that your airline out of Boston flies into each of those cities.
I suggest;
Fly Boston - Barcelona 3 nights
Fly Barcelona - Seville - 4 nights
Train Seville - Madrid - 3 nights
Fly Seville - Boston
Intra-Spain flights are generally quite cheap if booked in advance and you should be able to find Barcelona - Seville flights cheaply. The high-speed AVE train from Seville to Madrid is much more convenient than an air connection.
There are many day trip options from Seville and since it is the focus of your trip and you have commitments there, spending any extra night there makes sense. That is not to say that Madrid and Barcelona don`t have day trip options, but they have plenty to keep you occupied for 3 days alone.
If you can`t fly into Barcelona easily from Boston (I am almost certain you can to Madrid), then focusing on Madrid and Seville is still a great vacation. You can include Segovia and Toledo from Madrid and Cordoba and Cadiz, from Seville or maybe even spend a couple of your nights in Granada.
I suggest;
Fly Boston - Barcelona 3 nights
Fly Barcelona - Seville - 4 nights
Train Seville - Madrid - 3 nights
Fly Seville - Boston
Intra-Spain flights are generally quite cheap if booked in advance and you should be able to find Barcelona - Seville flights cheaply. The high-speed AVE train from Seville to Madrid is much more convenient than an air connection.
There are many day trip options from Seville and since it is the focus of your trip and you have commitments there, spending any extra night there makes sense. That is not to say that Madrid and Barcelona don`t have day trip options, but they have plenty to keep you occupied for 3 days alone.
If you can`t fly into Barcelona easily from Boston (I am almost certain you can to Madrid), then focusing on Madrid and Seville is still a great vacation. You can include Segovia and Toledo from Madrid and Cordoba and Cadiz, from Seville or maybe even spend a couple of your nights in Granada.
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We just spent 7 days by flying into Madrid, train to Seville, 3.5 days in Seville--including a day trip to Cordoba, then one day in Ronda, and one day in Granada. I was more interested in the Andalucian countryside/Moorish influence than in big cities though. If you check my user name, you can find my trip report.
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I would spend all of your time in Andalucia and enjoy it immensely, maybe finishing the trip with 2 or 3 nights in Madrid. I would not try to fit barcelona into this trip. I would look forward to going there some time in the future.
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Are you aware that many, if not most, of the hotels in Sevilla double their room rates during Holy Week (April 1 to 7)? I made my reservations 6 months ahead and still had a major problem finding a room. I finally got a room away from the center. It was normally $75 to $100, but it cost me $200 per night.
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Depending on what you hope to see, and how you were planning on getting around this might be difficult. If you rent a car and want to only spend a few nights in each place it might be doable, but you will get very little time in each place.
When we went, we flew into Barcelona (one night), flew to Granada, rented a car and drove to Sevilla(two nights). and on the way to Madrid(five nights), we went to Cordoba. We also went to Toledo and Segovia, as daytrips from Madrid. It was crazy busy, but it was a good trip.
When we went, we flew into Barcelona (one night), flew to Granada, rented a car and drove to Sevilla(two nights). and on the way to Madrid(five nights), we went to Cordoba. We also went to Toledo and Segovia, as daytrips from Madrid. It was crazy busy, but it was a good trip.
#8
We're staying a few days just outside of Tarifa, on the coast around 2 hours south of Seville. (Stunning place - Hotel Hurricane - http://www.hotelhurricane.com/en/index.html . View from our room: http://gardyloo.us/View%20from%20roo...0Hurricane.JPG )
Anyway, today we drove up to Medina Sidonia, one of the "white villages" in this part of Andalusia; maybe an hour tops from Seville. We were there while they were preparing the witch for tonight's burning in the main plaza - http://gardyloo.us/20120227_71s.JPG - but were completely enthralled by the beauty of this town (reputedly the oldest in Europe - founded by Phoenicians.)
You could do worse than spending a couple of days in Seville, then instead of doing a forced march to other major tourist destinations, head out to a couple of villages in the region to see life at a more intimate scale. Medina Sidonia, or maybe Vejer de la Frontera - http://gardyloo.us/20120226_37s.JPG
Storks on the power poles and oranges in the street trees, too. http://gardyloo.us/20120227_47s.JPG
Not too shabby for February.
Anyway, today we drove up to Medina Sidonia, one of the "white villages" in this part of Andalusia; maybe an hour tops from Seville. We were there while they were preparing the witch for tonight's burning in the main plaza - http://gardyloo.us/20120227_71s.JPG - but were completely enthralled by the beauty of this town (reputedly the oldest in Europe - founded by Phoenicians.)
You could do worse than spending a couple of days in Seville, then instead of doing a forced march to other major tourist destinations, head out to a couple of villages in the region to see life at a more intimate scale. Medina Sidonia, or maybe Vejer de la Frontera - http://gardyloo.us/20120226_37s.JPG
Storks on the power poles and oranges in the street trees, too. http://gardyloo.us/20120227_47s.JPG
Not too shabby for February.
#9
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My daughter and I did Spain last October- we did a couple days in Jerez de Frontera, a day in Ronda, 2 nights in Granada & 2 nights in Sevilla & then flew to Barcelona for 5 days. We loved Jerez, Ronda & Sevilla & wish we would have spent more time in these areas. As usual, travel plans depend on your interests. Barcelona and Granada were interesting, but were very busy and I found them to be much just another city.