I need advice; Spain in August.
 

Hello everyone,

Well, we have almost finished planning our summer vacation. We decided to spend 17 nights in Spain and we need your advice on one part of our trip.

We are a family of four with two teenage sons. Our flights are in and out of Madrid (we will be spending the last 4 nights of our trip in Madrid) and we will be renting a car as soon as we land and driving to our first destination.

We are spending 4 nights in Trujillo (Extremadura), 4 nights in Seville and 4 nights in Madrid. For the remaining 5 nights (which is between Seville and Madrid), we are considering the following:

Nerja
Cartagena
Valencia

This part of our trip is more for relaxation and some beach time but we would also like to be in a place that has things to see and a that has a good nightlife as well. We do not mind driving so the distance between Seville and any of the above destinations is not a factor in our decision.

Your help is much appreciated.


Andrea

Valencia is a beautiful city with fantastic beaches.

Valencia is a wondrous old-world city in its center with a great cathedral and yes awesome beaches. Never been to the others but I think Valencia is special for both interests.

If Valencia is your last stop before Madrid, why not drop the car there and just get the AVE back to Madrid? It's quicker than driving and you won't have to drive in Madrid (which is NUTS). No need for a car in Madrid because the Metro will go basically wherever you want and if it doesn't, the Cercanias will.

Nab nice discounted tickets at www.renfe.com - for Valencia to Madrid - give your kids a taste of Europe's modern high-speed trains.

Nerja: look up sewage in the sea.

Another vote for Valencia! Your family might enjoy the City of Arts and Sciences - check it out.
http://www.cac.es/

Cartagena not very interesting. Valencia's your best bet. From Seville try to stop in Cordoba and Granada, if you haven't been there before. And, yes, take the train to Madrid from Valencia.

Nix the four nights in Trujillo (if you can) and replace it with one night in Oropesa( Parador) followed by three nights three nights in Merida.

Trujillo is interesting but you can see all there is to see in half a day.
From Oropesa to Merida take the road through Guadalupe. Stop there for a few hours.

Merida is full young people and families out in the evening. It is a wonderful place.

Near Merida there are two easy hikes, one to the ruins of the castle in Alange and another to the castle in Medelin (birthplace of Cortez)

Mark

If you do keep the car after Valencia, you might want to do a castle tour before Madrid.

Stop in Alarcón.. then detour to Belmonte.. or take a very short detour to the small town of Uclés to see a monastery and typical small town in the middle of nowhere, but seen from the highway. (A3)

Towns outside madrid worth stopping at
Aranjuez
Alcalá de Henares ( tons of storks and Cervantes' birth place and house)

The best route from Granada to Valencia is not necessarily a coastal route. www.viamichelin dot com is a great tool.

Hate to be a naysayer but have you looked at the wether in Spain - esp southern Spain - in August?

Make sure your hotels have strong AC, good pools, and don't plan on sightseeing in the afternoons, when temps can easily top 100.

As for cities - can only agree that Merida is a wonderful one. Great Roman ruins to explore - we loved it.

I spent about a week in Extremadura this past February and loved the region. I dont see Cáceres mentioned , its a gorgeous old city with a very nice Parador. We spent 3 nights there, visited Trujillo as a day trip. Agree with others , 3 days in Trujillo way too much.
Also agree about Mérida, very interesting, great Roman ruins too.

Valencia really isn't on the road between Sevilla and Madrid. It's at least a 6-1/2 hour drive in bright sunny weather. or a 1-1/2 hour flight. The train only runs through Madrid.

Hi,

The reason we chose Trujillo is this will be our first stop after landing in Madrid after a long flight. We wanted a good base to see the region and both Merida and Caceres are both only about 30 to 50 minutes away. We will be spending a day in Trujillo and the other two days exploring the region, spending a few hours in the evenings in Merida and/or Caceres for dinner.

This way, we only have to check in and check out once and our hotel in Trujillo has a nice pool as well.

There is a direct AVE train from Sevilla to Valencia. I've taken it and didn't go through madrid ( if this was what you were referring to):

You'll LOVE Extremadura. My husband was quite impressed with the little known wines he was offered.

4 nights in Sevilla? You know is quite hot +40 during August in Seville?

I would change Cartagena or Valencia and go to Cadiz, Tarifa, Malaga and back to Madrid.

If someone spend 17 days in Spain is a must to visita La Alhambra.

I think you will have enough of big city with madrid for a few days,
Valencia is interesting but I would not call it relaxing.
If you want to relax then Nerja or other beach spot will be better.

Someone suggested to drop your car in valencia and take the train.
While the train impressive speed will drop you in Madrid in 90 minutes. the drive takes about 4 hours.
You will have to carry your luggage around the stations and you will loose your flexibility to stop by during the trip.

Rgds

"You know is quite hot +40 during August in Seville?"

For the next ten days all but one are predicted to be over 100F (mostly well over). August will almost certainly be as bad if not worse. I would be going north from Madrid, not south, but it's your trip. (BTW, Madrid is almost as hot.)

Got back from Madrid and area about 3 weeks ago.
was over 95F everyday in Madrid and getting hotter.
Was 105 F in Toledo.

In southern part of Spain right now it is 100-107 F.

In August you can bet it will be hotter.

Are you saying you want to drive Madrid to Trujillo after a flight? Will you not be jet lagged?

PS I love the predictions of the unpredictable. (weather)