Multiple Destinations 9 days
 

Hi

My girlfriend and I (28 and 31 yrs.)are going to Spain from April 14-24, 2004. We will have 9 full days in the country. Based on other suggestions and due to good luck with fares, I am planning to fly into Barcelona and fly out of Madrid back home. I'm curious to hear thoughts on this approach. I haven't had time to research everything yet, but right now it looks like we could spend 3 nights in Barcelona, 2-3 nights in Sevilla, 1 night in Toledo, and 2-3 nights in Madrid. Any thoughts on my 9-day trip would be fantastic.

Has anyone stayed in the Parador de Toledo? I'm looking into that as well.

Thanks!
Melissa

How are you getting from Barcelona to Sevilla?

Good question. Any suggestions?

We did kind of the same trip last year. You may want to check out a boat to Mallorca. Also, unless you're really set on Sevilla, I would spend less time there and go to Grenada which was our favorite smaller city mostly because of the AlHambra.

The only comment is that a night in Toledo is a great idea. The day we spent in Toledo was one of the highlights of our trip last year, and I can still remember being disappointed to have to head back into Madrid on the last train of the day. We regretted not being able to enjoy the views and the sunset there into the night. So definitely stay the night. Good call.

Also, given your time limits, I think Sevilla is a better choice than Granada. You can take the high speed AVE train between Sevilla and Madrid. You might even look into getting off the train at Cordoba for a few hours between Madrid and Sevilla. In any case, Sevilla has an Alcazar that is quite nice, though admittedly is not on a level with the Alhambra. All the same, we loved Sevilla.

While I like many of the paradors, we didn't stay at the one in Toledo, because as I recall it was considerably outside the city. (?)
We loved the wonderful old Hostal de Cardinal, sort of built into the city walls, however. You can enter that in a search here and get lots of information -- also I think by going to the hotel section of Fodors.

I think the overall plan is great -- although that trip from Barcelona to Sevilla is a bit tricky. Not sure the best way to do it.

You can fly from Barcelona to Sevilla. Iberia has cheap air fare on line. If I recall well, it costs 29 Euro or so pp, tax included.

madanthony,

we will be in Spain this February doing the same itenarary. I bought tickets from Iberia.com for flight from Barcelona to Seville for 28 euro each. We are planning to buy tickets for AVE train from Seville to Madrid. The price is 64 euro each.

OK, new plan. I just stopped and talked to Phil McCabe, owner of the Inn on Fifth and McCabe's Irish Pub. This place is right on the plaza on Fifth Avenue (at the Sugden Theatre). They have a room facing the plaza that holds up to about 25, which also opens up to the outside where they can set tables as well. We can mingle, do drinks, sit for food, whatever, and they'll just do separate checks. Menu ranges from entree salads that are very popular at $8.95 and $9.95, to sandwiches from $ 6.95 to $8.95, fish and chips at $ 9.95, corned beef and cabbage at $8.50, and a range of pastas or individual pizzas. Guinness and other beers on tap, full bar, nice wine selections. Casual atmosphere. Depending on the number of people, they'll keep enough of the terrace area on the plaza open to accomodate us. They remain open all Saturday afternoon so we can meet at 2 and order food whenever.

There is a big free parking garage across the plaza by the theatre. And we'll be right in the middle of Fifth Avenue for those who want to stroll and shop before or after (or get a gelato at Starplace.)

The Parador in Toledo is great and I highly recommend it -- very nice rooms. Toledo is one of my favorite towns in all of Spain -- then again, I'm a BIG El Greco fan so... If you can, book it now as it books up fairly regularly.

Patrick -- oops, wrong message I assume. :)

Wow, what was that? I was posting this under a thread on the Tampa get-together, and it suddenly appeared here and then immediately my screen went to the airline forum. What was THAT all about? Needless to say, you can ignore the above post as it has NOTHING to do with Multiple Destinations in 9 Days.

Madanthony,

I just returned from the same trip. Here was my plan:
Saturday 12:30pm arrive in Madrid
Sunday took 7am flight to Granada (28euros)
Monday took 8am bus to Seville
Tuesday took 9am train to Cordoba
Tuesday took 6pm train to Madrid
Wednesday drove car to Toledo (Alcazar closed for long-term renovations)and Consuegra (great windmills & castle) stayed in Madrid
Thursday am toured rest of Madrid pm drove car to Segovia took 7pm flight to Barcelona (again 28 euros)
Friday - Sunday Barcelona flew home Sunday

It was very hectic, but we knew we probably would never get back to Spain again and wanted to see everything. We slept on trains/buses etc whenever we could and were very organized on what to do when we got to each city. We loved every minute of it. The only thing I would do differently is add more time to Seville. Fortunately/unfortunately we were in Seville on Monday which the Alcazar was closed. Had it been open we would have needed more time. Buy all your plane/train and Alhambra tickets before you go, do a lot of research (with Maribels help) and bring comfortable shoes - our feet couldn't take another day!! We are also on the young side (33 and 41) so this plan worked for us - I know it sounds too rushed and crazy for most on this sight, but we are "power travellers" and did manage to "sit back and watch" at times, but sometimes you have to do it fast!! Good luck and have fun!

I'm not sure when Sevilla's Feria de abril begins but, according to your schedule, you'll have departed Sevila before it 'kicks off.' You may want to modify your itinerary & schedule if it begins the week of 19 April.

An all-preferente Talgo Hotel Tren departs Barcelona around 22:30 and arrives Sevilla at 08:20. Compartments have 2-comfortable bunk-type beds and a wash basin. W/C is at each end of the carriages. It's a bit pricey (unless you have a railpass) but it's quieter than I expected (no clackety clack). There's a grocery store in Barcelona's Sants station: I was glad I had bought snacks & drinks because I was in the last carriage and the Cafeteria-car was 7-cars away.

We have the same amount of time(9 days excluding US travel) in March for our trip and thanks to everyone on this forum we've come up with the following - take a look at it to give you an idea...

day 1- US
day 2- Madrid
day 3- side trip to SEgovia to see castle(or Toledo) Both are close by and busses are frequent/cheap
evening bus back to Madrid.
Day 4 - morning AVE to Cordoba to see the Mezquita..spend whole day
night AVE(only 40 minutes) to SEville
day 5 - seville
day 6 - seville
day 7 - morning bus/train(3 hours) to Granada. Explore Alhambra in afternoon/see it by night. Overnight at Granada
Day 8 - there are two early morning flights to Barcelona on Iberia for just 40$. Barcelona in the afternoon..
Day 9 - Barcelona
Day 10 - Barcelona
Day 11 - Barcelona flight for $40 to Madrid - afternoon flight to USA.

are you missing Madrid for a reason. if I read this right you're arriving in Madrid and you have that one jet-lagged day to see Madrid -- but that's all. every other day you'll be somewhere else. there's a lot to do and see in Madrid.

I agree with the suggestion to fly from Barcelona to Sevilla. Barcelona is really off by itself; you don't want to waste time going to/from by ground. On our first trip we did the opposite: flew US to Madrid, drove around, then flew Malaga to Barcelona and home from there. Several people mentioned Cordoba. We were there five years ago and loved it. Went back in November...much of the town is torn up (I guess they're redoing all the streets) and the cathedral in the Mezquita is undergoing renovation, so you can see very little of it. Not only that, but they have set up a temporary cathedral out in the body of the Mezquita (folding chairs, etc.) which really takes away from the unique feeling of the place. So if you're pressed for time, you might consider saving Cordoba for another trip. Considering the shape it was in two months ago, I cannot imagine it will be done by April. We were able to get a tour in English of the "royal" alcazar in Seville (upstairs, where the king stays and entertains when he's in town) which was very interesting and totally different from the main Alcazar. Tickets were available once you got inside the Alcazar.

Thanks for all the insightful suggestions! This forum is invaluable for so many nuts/bolts questions.

My itinerary is very loose at the moment, but this is my initial thought:

Day 1--leave US
Day 2--arrive Madrid, 7:30am
Day 3--Madrid
Day 4--Madrid--> Toledo, overnight at the Parador de Toledo
Day 5--Toledo-->Seville
Day 6--Seville
Day 7--Seville/Granada..?
Day 8--Barcelona
Day 9--Barcelona
Day 10--Barcelona
Day 11--leave for US :(

We are very adventurous and don't intend to party too late (at least not too many nights), as we are typically early risers. We like the active vacation, so we won't mind the moving around. Any further suggestions would be very much appreciated (especially in the vein of getting to/from Toledo-Seville-Granada--Barcelona)

Also, I've received Maribel's files for Seville + Madrid...does anyone have her files for Barcelona or any other Spanish cities???

Thanks!

earl 30 : I know but as long as we see the Prado in Madrid and perhaps try to take in some of the cafes etc..what else can we do , we have only 9 days and who knows when I'll come back - the optimist in me says, I have yet to see Portugal and Morocco, therefore I can include in one of the other Spanish cities like Madrid on the next trip if it feels horribly rushed. :)

Mad - Seville to Granada there's a bus and a train. Each takes 3 hours - make sure you don't take the milk train it stops everywhere and takes 4 hours - you need an early morning start in case you miss the bus or train...

Toledo to Seville - there should be an AVE, check out www.renfe.es for train timings to and from a city...very helpful.