Need advice on Northern Spain itinerary
 

Hi everyone. Looking for advice on a trip to Northern Spain. We have 15 days and will rent a car. We will start in Madrid and return to Madrid. We're looking to tour the following areas/towns:

Salamanca
Santiago de Compostela
A Coruña
Ribadeo
Aviles
Oviedo
Gijon
Villaviciosa
Picos de Europa National Park (including Covadonga and Potes)
Santillana del Mar
Santander
Burgos

Is this itinerary even doable in 15 days? Any place we should skip/add? How many days should we spend in each town? We also need to save a few days to see Madrid.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Lucas

Leon was a real sleeper to me - stayed there on the way between Santiago de C and Burgos.

Are you going by car - if not and if by train then you'll have to cut about half of those places IME as trains in that area are not nearly so frequent of fast as in much of Spain.

13 locations in 15 days not very good.
No time to see anything. No time to get over jet lag.
Read this thread to see some good and recent advice.
Good for ticketing boxes it has to be said.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-itinerary.cfm

Also we need to have some idea of interests method of travel plus time of year.

Thanks for the replies. We will be renting car and driving from one town to another. Interest include historical sights, religious places and good eats. Some of these places (Ribiedo, Villaviciosa for example) are just stop-overs/drive-bys. Not looking to overnight in all locations.

We will be traveling mid-November.

Any additional insight would be appreciate. Thanks again.

As noted, you're cutting it too short at all of your destinations. And it's a long drive, regardless of the time of year. We spend nearly 15 days last November staying in Paradors, picking up the car in Leon, dropping it off in Valladolid, taking the train back to Madrid (On The Road, Paradors and the Camino).

Remember, the days are getting shorter in November, so you have less time to see things. You can also expect a few days of rain in the North.

walkerlewis - I agree that particularly that time of year you're being a tad ambitious. of the places that you list, Santiago, A Coruna, and Santander are real outliers and probably aren't achievable, and the Picos may well be foggy.

a look at the map would suggest that from Madrid you could head to Salamanca, then Valladoild, Burgos, Logrono, possibly Zaragoza, and Segovia on the way back to Madrid. it you want to see the coast [which you may or may not actually be able to see, depending on the weather] then Robert's idea looks like a good one.

BTW there may not be a huge lot to see in Leon, but the Parador is worth seeing in itself and is a very good reason for staying in Leon, if only for a night. Of course, if you don't like the idea of staying in a monastery sleeping between real linen sheets, then by all means miss it out!

It's fine if you do not intend to see anything.

A Coruña should be skipped.

Robert's idea of staying in paradors is a wonderful one. We were in Spain a few years ago traveling by car and staying in paradors, when possible. We liked them so much we plan to return to Spain next year and stay in some more. www.parador.es/en.

Still no idea of interests.
as for sleeping there are literally 1000s of places to stay. So the world is your oyster there. Depends on Money and location.
Weather variable, weather history websites will not prove what will happen. I have had dry Novembers and very wet Novembers.Expect some snow on the peaks of the Picos de Europa, it makes for some nice photos.

Of course it´s doable, but you´ll spend a lot of time on the road. Glad to see there´s an alternative itinerary on the "Madrid and Barcelona" recurrent posts...You´re missing the beautiful Basque Country (of course I´m biased as a Basque), save it for next time.

We did this sort of thing one May in a open top car. It rained a fair bit or was foggy. The bits we actually enjoyed, were finding little out of the way hotels, castles, monesteries, wine areas and stopping where we went. The Picos were a highlight as was the hailstorm that caught us on a hill side and froze most of my face despite full wet weather gear. We also stumbled across one of the last working gold mines in the area still using water wheels to drive primative hammers and Pliny's gold panning river.

The cities we visited were not over impressive and included many you have listed, what was interesting was the people and things we met along the road.

I'd simplify the trip, I'd include Rioja (much of which is Basque) and I'd find hotels as you go.

Santiago is surprizingly far to the West and despite the hype, unless you really want to visit a massive church with a flaming silver meteor for a censer, cheeses shaped like breasts in most shop windows and a large number of nuns/priests walking about (and some people do) I'd drop it.

One of the charms of Santiago is watching the Camino pilgrims walk wearily and triumphantly into the main square.

Santiago was very full yesterday- National festival.
I am so glad I was not there.
http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/album/s...5516709526.htm
As for the city when it is quieter I am split. Great architecture but it is oh so touristy. Loads of shops selling the same crap. Other places are better. But coming to Galicia for the first time is a must.

Santiago over Salamanca if you are into the huge popular pilgrimage palce there but as a town itself can't compare with Salamanca IME of having benn to both.

But to me the pilgrimage aspect makes Santiago so interesting - hoards of pilgrims coming and going, some arriving by foot over the famous St Jacques footpath from France thru northern Spain.

At least in November you will not find the beaches packed like this: http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/album/s...2000308990.htm