"exotic" parts of Spain/Italy
 

My husband and I are hoping to take a trip around this time next year (or we could move it to March/April if we end up in Europe) for about 10 days. I really wanted to go to India, but I'm not sure this would be the ideal destination as my husband isn't the most adventurous traveler (and 10 days really isn't very much time for such a long flight). I think my husband would be much happier in Spain or Italy but these destinations don't evoke the same feelings of excitement and adventure in me. Any suggestions for Spain/Italy destinations/itineraries that would cater to my adventurous side too? We love wine. I've never been to Spain but I've been to Naples, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa in Italy.

You love wine, where to begin??

We did an interesting trip 2 years ago that has some adventure and wine as well as planes, trains, automobiles and boats involving Spain and France. We flew into Barcelona, a great city to visit and stayed there for a few days. We then took an overnight cruise to Majorca and toured the island in a car we rented at the dock. We cruised back to Barcelona, rented a car at the dock and drove to the Languedoc Rousillon area of France just north of Barcelona, about 3 hours. We spent some time there during the grape harvest and loved it. Great wine, really friendly people and food to die for. We returned to Barcelona and took an overnight train to Sevilla, Spent some time there and rented a car and drove the Costa del Sol, visited the Alhambra and stayed in Granada and drove on to Toledo, ending in Madrid before going home.

I read your post on the Asia board. Why don't you try Morocco; the flight is not long from US east coast and it certainly qualifies as "exotic" but not exotic in a scary way that would deter your husband.

I don't really understand what you mean by adventurous, though, in Spain and Italy. Do you mean "off the beaten track?" Do you want to visit wineries or just drink good wine?

In Asia you could visit Japan with 10 days.

Just pick a spot in Spain and go! All of Spain is exotic in one way or another.

If you're traveling in February, March or April (during Semana Santa), then I suggest sticking with Andalucia, Valencia, Catalunya and southern Extremadura. If you want to visit the major wine regions (the Rioja, etc.), then late March or April would work better.

Spain: If you mean off the usual tourist path, then check out Extramadura, Galicia, Asturias, Cantabria.

Do you ski? Or even if not. Consider Northern Italy. (If you ski, hopefully, next year will be better than this year.) You could fly into Milan, and visit there then work your way across Italy to Venice, fly out of Venice. Or vice versa. On the way across you must stop to visit Verona, up to Trento, Bolzano, further up to Innsbruck, in Austria (and Munich if you want), then down to Padua, and Venice. If skiing is good, stay a little north of Bolzano the whole time. Bolzano is one of the largest wine growing regions in Italy.

I agree that Spain's "exotic" and I've been to India and really wouldn't consider it as exotic (but the poverty in India really got to me, so maybe that's just me). And I too don't quite know what you mean by "adventurous".

I agree with the other posters. Andalucia was Moorish for centuries, so there's quite a bit of that beautiful Islamic art/architecture. The Alhambra is one of the most gorgeous things I've seen in my life and it's certainly exotic. Not just the palace, but the gardens around it. And the gypsy influence in Andalucia has certainly given it an exotic flair. While a flamenco show is certainly touristy, it's a lot of fun anyways. We've also travelled off the beaten path in Extremadura and it was great, because there were such few tourists.

I lived in Italy for a year and love it, but I say go to Spain if you want exotic, adventure, excitement, great weather, friendly people, yummy food, and a little bit of everything to please both of you.

Of course that means picking exotic, authentic Spain. I highly recommend picking a small ancient village and authentic ancient housing ( maybe even a cave). ;)

Make sure you do some good festivals (there are 3000 celebrations a year just in Andalucia) too and hike or ride horses ( jeep? ) in the wilderness or on deserted beaches.

I found this exotic:
http://www.soultravelers3.com/podcas...B633AE3AF.html

You can check out my blog for more details of life in exotic Spain. ;)

Because of its isolation and Moorish past ( when the rest of Europe was lost in the dark) ...Spain is very different than the rest of Europe.

If you love wine think on planning wine tours: visit Sherry wineries in Jerez de la Frontera, Rioja wineries in Haro...
More info: www.vintagespain.com
Full info on Spain: www.spain.info/TourSpain