yk

Hi folks-

On a whim, I decided to head to Spain next week for approx 12 days. I looked up some old threads and borrowed numerous guidebooks from the library.

I have been to Spain once before, when I was only 9 years old. Needless to say, I remember zilch.

I like cities, art/architecture. I am traveling alone, so I'll be using public transportation. No rental cars.

I tend to cram a lot into my trips, but that's just the way I am. I know I can easily spend months visiting Spain, but I don't have that luxury right now. I probably won't be able to go back to Spain for years, so I'm trying to fit as much as possible on next week's trip.

Day 1: fly from London to Barcelona, arrive in BCN at 10:30am. Afternoon in Barcelona (I am flying US-London the day before)
Day 2: Barcelona all day
Day 3: Morning train to Madrid, afternoon sightseeing in Madrid
Day 4: day trip to Segovia
Day 5: day trip to Toledo
Day 6: Madrid all day
Day 7: Morning train to Granada, afternoon sightseeing in Granada
Day 8: Granada all day
Day 9: Morning train to Sevilla, afternoon sightseeing in Sevilla
Day 10: Sevilla all day
Day 11: Morning train to Cordoba, sightsee all day in Cordoba, then evening train back to Madrid
Day 12: Morning sightseeing in Madrid, afternoon flight to London.

So, in summary, I'll have
1.5 days in Barcelona
1 full day, 2 half days in Madrid (plus 2 day trips from Madrid)
1.5 days in Granada
1.5 days in Sevilla

I'm sure I'll have plenty of questions once I get down to the nitty gritty. I'm open to anyone who has better ways to rearrange my itinerary.

The flights (London-Barcelona, Madrid-London) are on hold, so I can still change them if I have to.

The main attraction that needs advance booking is the Alhambra, right? Is it the concensus here to visit it twice, once in the morning and again at night? Does that mean I'll need to get 2 separate tickets?

BTW, Maribel, I want to thank you for your input on the Spain train ticket thread. It looks like I can still buy some discounted tickets on line for 40% off.

yk

topping.

I've done a little more research in the last few hours. It looks like the Alhambra is open until 8pm (with the "day" ticket) and then sells a different "night" ticket for later entries.

If I opt for the afternoon ticket (admission after 2pm), I can spend all afternoon there and see it lit up at night too, as sunset is around 7pm in late Feb.

Next on the agenda is booking hotels. I am considering staying near the Gran Via metro station. I will be spending most of my time in Madrid in the 3 big museums. I think it's about one mile from Gran Via metro to those museums? Gran Via is on the same metro line as Atocha, where I will be using quite a bit.

I found some deals on gtahotels.com. I've never used it, can anyone comment on it?

Here are my options:
Best Western Arosa Hotel (US$95/night)
http://www.bestwesternarosa.com/eng/index.htm
Petit Palace Ducal (US$105/night)
http://petit-palace-hotel.bookassist...ucal/index.htm

lincasanova

first of all, i think i might fly to grananda from barcelona and start the loop in the south in order not to backtrack.

i use www.gtahotels.com quite a bit when comparing/booking as they many times have much better deals than the hotel websites, usually include breakfast plus taxes.

pay attention to the cancellation policies as they do differ from the hotelsīat times.

i am not sure if you can still get timed tickets at el prado online. also, it is free every afternoon the last two hours it is open.

the biblioteca nacional also has interesting temp exhibits.

la casa de las americas has a nice restaurant as well as fine museum.

i LOVE the Descalzas convent..

and if you are in the area of serrano/diego de leon/american embassy, i do enjoy El Séptimo restaurant for mid-morning cake/coffee/strudel, lunch or dinner. not gourmet, but a nice break from traditional spanish cuisine.
www.elseptimo.com

the bus system in madrid is very efficient and several different lines alone run up and down the castellana.. therefore avoiding alsways going underground. donīt be afraid to try them.

you might enjoy the tourist bus. especially at night .

nice evening view is plaza de oriente. behind the opera house and facing the lit up royal palace. doesnīt get much better in madrid!

treating yourself to one special evening? try the Casino restaurant. This is NOT the GAMBLING casino outside madrid, but rather a private club which has a deluxe rooftop restaurant open to the pubic right downtown.

www.casinodemadrid.es
Restaurante La Terraza del Casino . Alcalá, 15; Tel. 915 321 275

kammie_joy

Hi, if you're trying to find a better deal on your flight, check out www.harefares.com. It does not list prices but it shows all the cheap airlines that fly those routes so you can at least narrow it down to specific carriers. And when looking for hotels in Spain, I had a lot of success with www.booking.com. Good luck!

111op

I think it will be a bit long to walk from Gran Via to the museums, if I remember right. The closest station for Prado is probably Banco de Espana. For Reina Sofia, Atocha, if I remember right. You can walk between the two.

There is/was a 10-ride Metro ticket for about 6 euros or less. So it's very cheap. I'd not really want to walk very long distances.

I had a nice dinner at Casino.

I think I mentioned to you elsewhere -- you may want to consider a day trip to El Escorial + monument to Spanish Civil War (I forget the name in Spanish). I've never been. I've never been to Segovia either, so I don't know how the two would compare.

I'm not a big fan of Seville or Granada. I think I'd try to spend more time in Barcelona.

In Granada, you should find the spot where Bill Clinton thinks the sunset is the best in the world, or something like that. I didn't think it was that interesting, but well, if Bill Clinton did it.... This may affect your itinerary.

I'll check this thread later.

111op

Hi, more info for you.

Hhere're some of my threads from 2004:

Some info on Seville (that I wrote when I was there):

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34530409

(See the last few posts about where to see the sunset, some restaurant recs, etc.)

Bus schedules for Granada-Seville:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34530693

I read some of my old threads and people said it was possible to find fares from Madrid to Granada for about 30+ euros on Iberia, but I only found 100 euros+.

For flights, check Iberia, Spanair, and make sure you also check Expedia or Orbitz directly.

For Seville, you probably want to research flamenco. I think there're some old threads on this topic, and Time Out Andalucia has some recs also. We went to one venue that looked a bit like a canteen (I forget the name). Also there was some sort of flamenco festival when we were there and we went to one performance.

Info on Prado (from Telegraph). Note this was written in 2003, and the museum was just renovated recently:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/ma.../etprado08.xml

Regading Bosch in Madrid, one painting is in Lazaro Galdiano (I think).

Michael Kimmelman recent (NYT)'s article of "Santa Cruz del Valle de los Caídos, the Valley of the Fallen, Franco's most megalomaniacal monument...."

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...52C0A96E9C8B63

He's the chief art critic of NYT.