Help with Spain Itinerary
 

I know this itinerary seems really busy, but there is so much we want to see and for some reason my wife really wants to go to Portugal, so there we are. We plan to start in Madrid (I have no real interest in spending too much time in Madrid we just have to fly in there) and then work our way down to Andalucia with a stopover in Toledo. Likely by bus or train but we are open to flying (whatever makes most sense). Then we were going to spend a night in Granada and then head to Sevilla and use that as our base for Andalucia for 4 days. After that we were going to make our way through the Algarves for 2-3 days (probably rent a car in the Algarves) and then head up to Lisbon for 2-3 days either by train, bus or plane (again whatever makes most sense). Then we would fly from Lisbon to Northern Spain. The whole purpose of going to Northern Spain is San Sebastian. I have several restaurants I want to visit. Anyone have suggestions as to the best city in Northern Spain to use as a home base or are we best to just stay in different cities throughout Northern Spain. From Northern Spain we will fly to Barcelona and spend 3 - 4 days. Any suggestions on travel, or logistics with this plan would be appreciated. Our plan is working around a rough itinerary Cathy M gave us, I just added in Portugal. Thanks Fodorites.

April 6: Depart Victoria BC
April 7: Arrive Madrid
April 8: Madrid
April 9: Depart Madrid - Arrive Toledo
April 10: Toledo to Andalucia
April 11: Andalucia
April 12: Andalucia
April 13: Andalucia
April 14: Andalucia
April 15: Andalucia
April 16: Depart Andalucia - Arrive Algarves
April 17: Algarves
April 18: Algarves
April 19: Depart Algarves – Arrive Northern Spain
April 20: Northern Spain
April 21: Northern Spain
April 22: Northern Spain
April 23: Northern Spain
April 24: Depart Northern Spain/ Arrive Barcelona
April 25: Barcelona
April 26: Barcelona
April 27: Barcelona
April 28: Depart Barcelona

You ask "Anyone have suggestions as to the best city in Northern Spain to use as a home base or are we best to just stay in different cities throughout Northern Spain"
But to answer this, what is best for us may not best for you; so how can we answer this?
To help us to give you any specifics, we need some clarifications from you.
What are your interests?
Are you doing this trip in 2010? If so what have you got booked up already? It is only a few weeks before you are here in Spain!
What parts of Northern Spain are you thinking of?

Our main interests are drinking and eating very well. Our trip to Spain is primarily to taste the food and wine. I have heard that the best restaurants in the world can be found in Spain. We enjoy sightseeing but in moderation. Any suggestions for must see sights are appreciated.

We are doing the trip in 2010, a few weeks from now.

We have our hotel in Madrid booked, we are likely going to be staying with the AC Hotel chain during our stay in Spain. I get an excellent hotel rate there as I am a travel agent.

We originally were not going to Northern Spain, just Madrid, Andalucia, Algarves, Lisbon and Barcelona however after posting our keen interest in food and wine we were advised to head to Northern parts of Spain, Basque country as they have fantastic food. After research we definitely plan on spending 2-3 days in San Sebastian, and perhaps visiting some cities or villages in the Basque area. We are open to suggestions, we only know for certain we will be visiting San Sebastian and maybe Bilbao.

Your itinerary doesn't include Lisbon. You can visit Toledo as a day trip from Madrid, then you could visit Barcelona after Madrid, taking the night train to Granada.

Since you're doing northern Spain you might want to add northern Portugal as well--beautiful, interesting, and cheaper. But I'm not sure how the weather is up there in April.

The best chefs in the world according to Anthony Bourdain and many others is in the Basque country (and China). Specifically the San Sebastian area. Whatever you do spend 3 nights in Seville and preferably 5 in San Sebastian. I might even cut out Barcelona but that's just me.

Northern Spain is a 500 mile area from Galicia to San Sebastian, can you be more specific?

San Sebastián is a beautiful city in itself and makes a perfect base for day-trips along the coast or to Bilbao (1h 15 mins by bus). Hotel Maria Cristina is luxury and both Londres and Niza along the La Concha promenade are excellent options. I can also recommend the great value Pension Alemana, just behind Niza, 50 mtrs from the La Concha beach and in the middle of everything. http://www.hostalalemana.com/

When in Bilbao, I suggest you visit the oldest café in town, Café Boulevard. It was closed down to great public protests in 2006 after 135 years of history, but it reopens these days. This 10 min documentary about the last day before closing speaks volumes of the café and its significance as well as of the bilbainos themselves: http://www.vimeo.com/2690209

In Madrid, I would recommend to go and see one of the greatest female flamenco dancers today, Concha Jareño. She won the 2009 Revelation Prize in the prestigious festival in Jerez. I saw her in a huge outdoor production last August, and she knocked our socks off. She will dance all April in Corral de la Morería, close to the Royal Palace and the Almudena cathedral. She usually does a month or two a year in tablaos like this to experiment and develop new things. You might be in for a night to remember. Go for the second performance, starting at midnight.
http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/ingles/flamenco.html

You could then first have dinner in one of the many excellent places in and around Cava Baja in the close by Latina district. Or you might want to sample traditional Madrid fare together with the locals in Casa Marta close to the Teatro Real (5-10 mins walk to Corral de la Morería). Reservations essential:
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ta-Madrid.html
http://11870.com/pro/casa-marta

Finally, a good site about going for tapas in Madrid:
http://tapastalk.wordpress.com/tapas-bars/

Fly Bilbao-Barcelona on the 24th of April for 49€ with Vueling. Direct bus from San Sebastián to Bilbao airport in 75 mins, 15€.
http://www.vueling.com/booking/booki...ciona-tu-vuelo

Aduchamp1 I did ask for clarification in my first posting on this thread. if you read jayc (the travel agent) reply the 3rd posting he/she says they are going to the Basque country.
I had to ask as some posters include the area to the North of Barcelona (the North East) as Northern Spain too.
I since found a previous posting by jacv, to which I thought they had some good answers as to what to see do and stay in the Basque country.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-itinerary.cfm

Sorry about that.

Why sorry? We have all not spotted things within posting.

Thanks for the info guys, 7 days and counting, I am getting excited and hungry, If any of you are interested I will be blogging failry religiously while I am gone on our website tastytravels.ca