Hi All,

My wife and I are planning a trip to Spain for our first anniversaryin the first 2 weeks of july this year. We want to visit a couple of cities and also want to spend time at a beach town. We prefer smaller beautiful towns to large cities though!

We are planning barcelona, madrid, malaga, marbella and one of the islands... how is the region of Costa de brava/ costa de sol?

request your opinion on this and if you suggest some other cities for our travel... any opinion/ help will be highly appreciated....

many thanks for your help

gean

Way too much for two weeks. Take a look at a map. You are moving every three days. You will lose from 1/2 day to whole day on every traveling day.

And July is brutally hot in the places you listed.

July is extremely hot in Spain - I did it a few years ago, though and it was still a great trip.

I highly recommend Barcelona and Madrid (with a day trip to Toledo) but would also HIGHLY recommend San Sebastian in the North. It is right near the French border, has an amazing beach, small town feel and great restaurants.

Also, you might want to check out when the San Fermin (running of the bulls) is happenning in Pamplona. We went en route to San Sebastian (I think an hour or two by bus if I remember correctly). What an incredible, once in a lifetime experience. If you are able to go, let me know as that will require a whole other post!

On the other hand, if you are concentrating on southern spain - try to go to portugal for a few days. We went to Lisbon and the algarve for some beach time. The weather was beautiful and a much needed break from the heat.

Not only hot but also the crowded!

Madrid + outskirts, Barcelona with Mallorca or Menorca.
Try to see either of the islands in its integreity

I second rsn on San Sebastian (Donostia). The old town is very nice and the horseshoe shaped beach is beautiful.

San Sebasian also has some great restaurants representing a mesh of Basque, French and Spanish cuisine.

You can also head up to the French beach town of Biarritz, not far north from SS.

Pamplona is expensive and crowded during San Fermin. Maybe you would like to sleep in the park? Some do and find it exciting.

Also San Sebastian/Donostia will be very crowded as many try and escape the heat of Madrid and other places.

Reservations are must in both places.

In July I would recommend San Sebastian or Santander in the north for a week. if you want to visit a city , you could do Barcelona and Bilbao (or even Madrid, I've been to Madrid many times in July and although very warm it has not been unbearable).

Do you have two weeks or only 10 days?

Relatively small and Belle Epoque San Sebastián (pop 180 000) is fabulous, the culinary capital of Spain if not all of Europe, some of the finest city beaches on the continent and European Capital of Culture 2016. A favourite for Spanish and French visitors for more than 150 years. http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/08/07...tin-spain.html

According to the world's most famous chef for the past decade, Ferran Adria of El Bulli, San Sebastián is the best place to eat in the world "in terms of the average quality of the food, in terms of what you can get at any place you happen to walk into". http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandsty...rink.shopping2

All about going for the world famous pintxos in food crazy San Sebastián. http://www.todopintxos.com/home/home.php?lang=en

Book early. San Sebastián is close to Pamplona, and the San Fermín-festival is celebrated 6th to 14th of July and lots of people head down to San Sebastián before, during and after the festival.

I've lived here and visited almost every year since the late 80's and can give you more detailed tips based on your preferences. Here's the European Capital of Culture promotional video (the last minute captures the lure of the city best in my mind): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2zTb7Eg9Lk

In the south, you should consider the Cádiz and Huelva coast (Costa de la Luz) in Western Andalucía. Cádiz itself is a fabulous small city, and you find some of the finest beaches in the country here. Cooler water and more windy outside the Gibraltar strait (the Atlantic) and less tourists.
http://www.andalucia.com/costa-de-la-luz/home.htm

Cádiz: http://www.justspain.org/spain/cadiz/cadiz-beaches.asp
A video intro to 3000 year old Cádiz (Phoenician Gadir), a cradle of flamenco culture and a haven of excellent seafood and wonderful wines (Manzanilla/Jerez): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33JUrGwZQLY

Yes, Pamplona is expensive and crowded during the festival, but it was a once in a lifetime experience and I'm happy we did it. We went for 2 days (1 night) and that was enough for us.

We found San Sebastian was busy, but not too crazy, even in July. Obviously you should book hotels in advance, but since you're going on an anniversary trip, I assume you will be doing so. We stayed at a nice hotel on the beach in San Sebastian - it was not too expensive. If you're interested I will try to dig up the name.

I would also say Barcelona is a must see. Prefer Madrid over Bilbao if looking for another city to visit. We felt there was much more to see/do and we liked the feel of the city a lot more.

Dear All,

Many many thanks for your replies...

from what i gather from your suggestions following may be the itinerary

Madrid- 2-3 days
Barcelona- 2-3 days
San sebastian + pamplona (Running of the Bulls is a must now that you have suggested it!) - 3 days
Malaga - 2 days with trip to Marbella or gibraltar

does this sound like a good plan? we can do day trips as suggested by you guys.

thanks in advance!

No it's way too much traveling. Spain is a big country and you will spend several days just traveling. I would spend all of the time on the North coast. San Sebastian deserves 5 nights minimum. The rest of Spain is painfully hot in July. If you must choose another place you can spend 3 or 4 nights in Barcelona before heading to San Sebastian. When we took that trip last July I wished we had skipped Barcelona and gone right to San Sebastian. Marbella and Gibraltar are not worth it although if you are British ignore my advice, you may enjoy Gibraltar and Marbella more.

I would suggest a couple of days in Madrid and the rest of the time in plain fantastic San Sebastián. You can do a daytrip to Pamplona, a little more than an hour away by bus.

Or, if you want to see the encierro (the running) at 8 in the morning, there are still some rooms left in Pamplona to sky high prices: http://www.booking.com/city/es/pamplona.en.html

Here is what you can expect in Pamplona, fabulous atmosphere and the best party of your life and after two days you want out immediately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFK-A4uTw4s

I agree - maybe leave Malaga for another trip and spend more time in San Sebastian. I definitely think you could still do Barcelona and Madrid if you fly between them to save travel time.

I could only stand Pamplona for about 24 hours, and couldn't wait to get to San Sebastian to crash on the beach for a few days (yes, took that much time to recover...)