Help with trip to Extremadura
 

Hi everyone,
this is my first post - I am planning to got to extremadura for a long overdue holiday in Spetember with my wife and 18 month old boy. The plan at the moment is to go to Madrid, leave straight away for Avila and spend two nights there, see the sights, maybe visit Segovia. Then drive on to Merida (apparently there is a festival there in the first week of spetember), spend 2 nights in Merida, then 2 nights in Guadaloupe for the feast of the 8th september there and finally spend 2 nights in Trujillo. In these days we plan to visit the Monfrague park among other things. We will be staying at Paradores (will be getting the 6 night 'dream passport') though we're not yet sure about the first two nights at avila. I was wondering whether anyone could give some suggestions to this preliminary itinerary. The first two nights are definitely to be discussed as we chose avila because it is close to madrid and we arrive late in the evening by plan.
looking forward to hear your opinions,
Gianfranco

If you're planning on visiting Segovia, then you might want to reconsider staying in Segovia for the first two nights and then head to Avila, an easy drive on the N110. One day and night in Avila should be all you'll need unless you want to take a little more time to explore the area.

It's a nice drive from Avila to Merida. You'll be moving through some beautiful country and might consider stopping for the night at the Parador in Plasencia. We stayed for a few days at the Parador Jarandilla this past spring. It's in an excellent location, but it would require you to take a detour off the N110 at Plasencia. They are about a half-hours drive apart.

Merida is quite nice, especially if you like Roman ruins, but the best place to eat in Merida is at the Parador, so the restaurant is quite busy at times. You should also try to spend some time in Cáceres. The old city is one of the best preserved old quarters we've every seen. It's almost perfect in every detail and the new city itself me of Victoria-Gasteiz, the capital of the Basque Country.

Guadalupe is worth a day trip, but there isn't much to see except for the Monastery, although the drive up takes you through some more beautiful country. You might want to consider spending two nights in Trujillo and finish up with one or two nights in Oropesa, or Toledo. Toledo has more to see and do, but the Parador in Oropesa is one of the nicest we stayed at yet. We had one of the four original rooms in the main building and it was huge. The private sitting areas for the guests of the Parador are also amazing.

All in all there is a lot to see and do in Extremadura and never enough time. It is especially well suited for anyone who wants to explore the land of the Conquistadors and enjoy the beautiful outdoors with river rafting, skiing, mountain biking, trekking, etc. It's also the land of the worlds most expensive hams, including the acorn-fed Bellota ham which we saw in one store in Cáceres priced at 145 euros a kilo.

Gakku:

I posted a long trip report re my short trip to Extremadura in Spring this year. Search on Ger and you will find it.

I LOVED the area :)

thanks to both for the tips, you have been really helpful. We have decided to spend the first two nights in segovia instead of avila as it seems a more lively town...
we will probably stop at avila on our way to merida and spend an afternoon or morning there.
Caceres is another day trip from trujillo probably. We tried to get a room at the parador there but its not available for the promotion we're taking.
Guadaloupe we're staying for 2 nights to relax a bit and maybe do some trekking in the area.
Toledo we were considering but time is a bit limited so we decided to let ti be for now and consider it for another trip in conjunction with madrid.
at the moment i'm looking up as much info as i can on sites to visit and trying to cram everything into 9 days :-)
does anyone of you happen to know of a good guidebook for extremadura? i have the rough guide for spain but it is quite basic though i guess i could live with it
cheers
gianfranco

Hi Gakku -

I have not been to Extremadura, but have had my appetite wet. Here are some helpful postings to peruse:

Ger's trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34486795

Driving itinerary for Extremadura:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34481343

Weekend in la Vera, Extremadura: (includes Olga's trip report)
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34470791

Base for exploring Extremadura:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34471782

Maria's trip report to Extremadura, Huelva, Cadiz Provinces and Sevilla:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34457851

- Sharon

The best material on Extremadura isn't available outside of Extremadura, but you can contact the Tourist Office of Spain regarding information on Extremadura. The office in Beverly Hills is the most responsive to requests. The phone number is (323) 658-7188. Ask for Sandra López at extension 12. She is the Information Coordinator. You can also contact her by email: [email protected]

You can also contact the Tourist Office of Extremadura (http://turismoextremadura.com) to see is they will send you any information. Some of the guides are available in English. We came back with several great publications from the different offices we visited during our trip. See if you can get a copy of "Weekend Routes in Extremadura". It's a very handy guide for day trips around the region.

thanks for the tips, i have just emailed the turismoextremadura to see if they can help. I am from Malta (Europe) so calling Beverly Hills might be a bit too much :-)

Malta. Interesting... I guess the closest Tourist Office of Spain would be the one in Rome. You should still contact them to see what information they may be able to send.

http://www.spain.info/TourSpain/Turi...r/?Language=en

i have another dilemma... the dates of the original trip screwed up - so now i have 6 nights booked at the paradores in extremadura and one night before and two nights after that free. I want to keep the extremadura schedule intact. At the moment i am leaning towards doing one day after arriving in spain in segovia, then go on to extremadura, then after that drive up to cuenca (I know its quite far from trujillo..) for two nights before going to madrid for the flight back. What do you think - is this do-able especially the cuenca bit? Or would you suggest some other place to visit for those two nights? I have been thinking toledo but we will probably be back in spain next year and visit madrid and surroundings.
Any suggestions are very appreciated!
thanks
gianfranco