I am planning a trip to Spain next year with my daughter (we are both adults). We tend to pick a city and rent an apartment and thoroughly do the tourist thing for ten days. Last time we went to Florence with a day trip to Siena. My daughter picked alot of Spanish up in Peru last year, and would like to test it out in Spain. Any suggestions of where, and any suggestions of appartments in the area. We tend to walk everywhere, so central is a must.

I think the obvious candidates for such a stay are Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla.

Many people love Barcelona; I don't know it, unfortunately.

Many peoople dislike Madrid, which I cannot quite understand. There is a wealth of things to be done in the city itself, and day trips to Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial and Avila, even Salamanca are very easy.

Sevilla is not my favourite city in Spain, but it too has a wealth of things to be seen, and it would be a good starting point for day trips in Andalucia. I didn't do them as day trips, so I'm not entirely sure which of the following are possible to do in a day from Sevilla, but you might look into Cordoba (the Mezquita), Granada (the Alhambra), Ronda (for its unique
setting) as possibilities.

Although most of its reviews are of apartments in Italy, there are also reviews of apartment in Spain at

www.slowtrav.com

It depends on what you want to do. I personally didn't like Madrid. I found Barcelona to be much better, but my Spanish was useless in Barcelona. Despite 4 semesters of Spanish in College and living in Texas. Barcelona is an easy city to walk and you can always go to the Beach. There are some great resturants in Barcelona if you like trendy dining.

Why did you not like Madrid?

I have not travelled that much in the last thirty years, just the trip to Florence, which I loved. Architecture, shopping and general soak in the culture stuff, please the requisite museums. I am not much for figuring out bus or tram schedules, which is why I love to walk everywhere. Florence is a city you can walk everywhere in, that is what I want.

Madrid would be ideal for you, taking into account the easy access it offers to so many wonderful cities for day trips.

Within Madrid, the Prado museum is a must, one of the great art museums of the world, worth it even if you saw nothing but the superb Goya collection and the Velasquezes. Plan half day at the Prado and a couple of hours at the Toyal Palace. We were pressed for time when we were there, so we didn't see the other great museums.

My favorite cities for daytrips from Madrid:

Segovia: 54 miles NW of Madrid, 2 hours by train. A stunning city, with a storybook alcazar, incredible roman aqueduct, and a great cathedral. Among my favorite cities in Spain, a wonderful place for walking. Here is a link to some photos: http://www.dotphoto.com/FlashTool/Me....asp?SID=62601

Aila: Just a breathtaking place, with amazingly well-preserved walls, 68 miles NW of Madrid, 1 1/2 to 2 hours by train. My photo link: http://www.dotphoto.com/FlashTool/Me....asp?SID=62520

Salamanca: 2 1/2 hours by train from Madrid, amazing for the plateresque facades on the buildings, a great medieval college town. Photo link: http://www.dotphoto.com/FlashTool/Me....asp?SID=62613

I've left off El Escorial, Cuenca, and Toledo, all of which are easy day trips from Madrid.

One thing to keep in mind, based on my experience in Spain and especially in Madrid is that you should plan to respect the siesta and try to avoid doing much sight-seeing between 1:00 and 3:00. Many of the shops will be closed, with grafitti-sprayed metal grills pulled down, not your best opportunity for soaking up the ambience of the town.

As Maryfran's sister, travel companion, admirer and proofreader, I'd have to say that we enjoyed the Royal Palace (not the Toyal Palace) and Avila, as opposed to Aila. However, I agree with everything else she said.

I don't know why people don't like Madrid--perhaps because it's a city that seems to go about its business and doesn't appear to make any special attempt to be attractive to tourists. I spent a month there at the least desirable time of year--January--and I liked it a lot. I felt very much at home there. Aside from the Royal Palace and wonderful museums like the Prado, The Thyssen, and the Reina Sofia, two of my favorite places were Retiro Park, where on a Sunday afternoon you will find musicians, singers, puppet shows, etc., and--believe it or not--the Atocha train station, which contains a tropical rainforest. I found it quite enchanting.

Barcelona would be a good choice except that the locals prefer Catalan to Castilian (sp?). I would say Madrid or Seville.

PegOntheRoad, thank you, darling, for mopping up after me, as is your habit. Best travel partner in the world! And an editor, to boot!

salamanca would be a good base, giving you access to many interesting towns wihtin an hour. obviously not as many museums, but it is full of interesting architecture, great university atmosphere, bars and restaurants and you can walk everywhere.

the best castillian is spoken here and in valladolid, (so they say).

if you do not like large bustling cities, then perhaps a smaller university town would be good. you can always visit the big city on way in or out of country.

it is hard to duplicate the innumerable museum choices of florence, in that same size town in spain.

or, avila base.. salamanca day trip. madrid day trip.

Hi piajones, you and your daughter might want to read some of the trip reports on this forum to help you decide.

I posted a trip report and it might give you some idea of our time in Barcelona. (Warning... my report is lengthy.) We walked a lot and also used the Metro. (Ray and I spent 7 full days in Barcelona, had a great time, and still had things on our list to do for a future trip!)

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34483366

There would be plenty to fill 10 days in either Barcelona or Madrid.

I am sure you realize Spanish in Spain is different than Latin American Spanish... BUT your daughter should be able to use her Spanish in Spain without any problem. Just remember to speak with a Castillian accent. It is not that hard to do, and, I prefer the sound over the Latin American Spanish. In Barcelona, they speak Catalan, and I had no trouble using Spanish rather than Catalan and being able to communicate.

In Barcelona, I would suggest staying near the Plaza de Catalunya so you could be quite central to sights and shopping by walking to many of them. Shopping in Barcelona is delightful.

In Madrid, I like the area near the Salamanca area. Loads of shopping and amazing Valasquez paintings at the Prado! I loved Madrid. It's such a pity our time in Madrid was so limited.

Good luck with your trip plans!

- Sharon

Michael, we (Catalan people) don't "prefer" Catalan to Spanish. We speak Catalan because it's our language. Why do you "prefer" English? Maybe because it's your language.

I have only been to Spain four times so take my advice with a grain of salt as there may still be many people on this board who have far more experience with Spain than I do. You might count me in with the others who are not particularly enamored with Madrid. Having said that It might be a good choice for you as it is a great location to explore places like Salamanca, Toledo, Segovia etc.
I like Barcelona better but there are not as many interesting places to visit around Barcelona as Madrid.
My family and I like Andalucia best of all and if you do not mind renting a car, I would base myself in Sevilla and explore the area around it. Granada, the white towns, Rhonda, Cordoba etc are wonderful to visit and once you get out of Sevilla, the driving is easy.

Alex,

When we were in Barcelona, most locals spoke Castilian, but preferred to speak Catalan, just as I have come across French Canadians who spoke school French with me and some version of Joual among themselves; I assume that they preferred the latter.

I like Madrid a lot, but LOVE Barcelona. Yes Catalan is the lengua primera in Barcelona, but everyone can speak castellano, and I noticed that young Barcelonians often spoke in castellano to each other.
But if conversing in Spanish is really important to your daughter, perhaps a trip in the Madrid-Granada-Seville triangle will work out best.
Seville is my second favorite Spanish city - festive, passionate, sultry - it's the Spain of legends.

Lived in Spain three years, one thing for sure Barcelona is not the best place to try out your Spanish. They like Quebec where I live are relatively independant of Spain and Many speak Catalan rather than Castilian. Spain every idea Ive seen on this post is great in other words all the advice was good and you'll love all those things.

However as an extremely well travelled individual my bet for Spain would be to follow the fiestas, there are some main ones which are very key, San Fermin in Pamplona (Running of the bulls), Los Falas (Probably spelled wrong which is the Fireworks spectacle in Valencia) and the Lanca Tomate in Bunol actually there are many Tomato festivals in Spain not just this one. Also Barcelona and Madrid have big fiestas but the names and themes I have forgotten.

The other thing I try and do although you must plan well in advance is to use the PArador system (Renovated castles-Churches Fortresses) as hotels at www.parador.es in fact you can get some long term rates for each of these.

When I stay in Spain IU always prefer the alternate city, like for example Barcelona I go to Sitges or Bilbao I go to Vitoria, Seville I go to Cadiz, Zaragoza I stay in Tarazona.

You will never discover the exceptional nature of Spaniards in a tourist trap, In fact you will find they have hardened to tourists, I remember once in Seville the barman didn,t expect me to Speak Castillian and so as a joke between him and his friends explained to me that I was to eat the snails and not their shells, they didn't mean any harm but have become so jaded by the tourist trade. The littler cities I mentionned are always in my opinion more welcoming.

Anyway you will love Spain as long as you dont make the A typical NA errors, like thinking it will be hot in Nov-Feb or thinking your going to be eating tacos. Just kidding but have seen it happen

Muchos Saludos

Anyway KENDERINA is the absolute spain expert where are you!!!!!!!!!!

Festivals
Oh, what a great idea... I just love festivals! Here are some links to use in your trip planning. Ray and I found them quite helpful.
All of Spain...
http://www.okspain.org/quicklinks/events.asp#Fairs

Barcelona...
http://www.bcn.es/festes/angles.htm

- Sharon

Thank you everyone for all your help in making my decision. I believe I am going with Seville with at least one trip to Jerez de la Frontera. I am in a horse related field.

Now this decision has been made, I would appreciate opinions on the most convenient neighbourhood to plant myself in Seville.

My wife and I did a 13 day trip in Spain. We started in Barcelona and ended in Madrid. In between we saw Granada, The Rock of Gibraltar (not in Spain but walking distance from Algecieras), Sevilla and Cordoba.

Our favourite City was Barcelona followed closely by the Alhambra in Granada. Madrid has wonderful museums if you're into that.

According to my wife, Barcelona has the best shopping - but as far as I'm concerned, it seemed as though the shopping was good everywhere after I saw our credit card bill!!!

when you say '10 days', do you mean 2 travel and 8 to be in the place?

I would stay in Cadiz its a short trip to seville and you get to enjoy the beach at the same time. Dont forget in Seville they have a very affective cure for boredom called barbadillo a delicious cheap white wine served chilled, before you know it poof...lgihts out