MarkSimon

We are a family of 4 traveling to Spain this summer June/July 2016 for the first time. 13 night stay. We will focus on the Northern region of Spain. We will be renting a car. We enjoy small towns, scenic areas, architecture, beaches and good food. We do not want to stop by every church and museum, but would like to see Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the Guggenheim in Bilbao. We will be flying into Madrid and flying out of Barcelona. Would like accommodations with rooms that have separate areas for the kids to sleep in. Ideally do not want to pay for separate rooms every night. WIFI is necessary. Would like to stay in some of the Paradores. My itinerary is all over the place. I would at least want to spend 2 nights each in Madrid, Barcelona and Hondarribia ( San Sebastián and side day trip to Biarritz). Here's the preliminary, non-reserved, crazy Itinerary. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. I still need to account for an additional 3 nights of stay.

-Madrid 2 nights

-Parador Benavente

-Parador Santiago de Compostela

-Parador Leon

-Parador Hondarribia 2 nights

-Parador Hotel Aiguablava

-Barcelona 2 nights

Robert2533

Santiago to the Basque Country and then to Barcelona, beginning in Madrid, is a very long road trip with only 13 days.

Finding a room in a hotel for a family of 4 will be nearly impossible unless the children are infants. Most rooms are doubles, some will accommodate triples, but only a few will accommodate 4 people. None of the Paradors have rooms for 4 adults. Children older then 12 are considered adults when it comes to hotel rooms.

Note that the Parador in Hondarribia is very expensive during the summer and over holidays. It's a very popular destination, as are the Paradors in Santiago, Leon, and Aiguablava. You need to make your reservations well in advance (www.parador.es/en or www.petrabax.com) if you want a room for late June or July.

joannyc

I think the Leon Parador is a bit far away from the cathedral (1.5 km) and other areas and sites you may enjoy.

I like the location of the NH Plaza Mayor hotel. Had a great room there overlooking the Plaza.

The parador is worth a one-time walk to see it, the church next door and surrounding area. But, I wouldn't want to be constantly going back and forth that far to see the other sites.

Christina

It is going to be difficult to find hotels with rooms for four that are not just all in one room--and it is going to be very expensive, I imagine. In Barcelona, you can find hotels with "family rooms" but it's one big room, such as a double bed with a sofabed or even two small twins. Depends how big those kids are. One hotel I really like is Hotel Jazz and they do have one suite room that had the "living" area separate and it has a sofabed that wold work for two little kids. The Hotel Avenida Palace does have accommodations with two connecting rooms so would be what you want. Of course that may cost about $300-400 a night. The Majestic Hotel also has 2 BR apts but they probably run about $500 a night.

I think you may be mistaken if you think it will be cheaper to find a hotel with two connecting rooms or basically a setup with a separate alcove or area for the children than to pay for two separate rooms as many hotels at moderate prices would have doubles (I presume one parent would go with one kid). But not many hotels are going to have what you want. You will be able to find hotels that can handle 2 adults and 2 children in one large room, however--at least in Barcelona there are quite a few.

Southam

My suggestion concerns your route to and from Spain. You will use your time more efficiently by flying into Bilbao, a decent international airport. Visit the parts of northern Spain that you choose for a week and then move on to Madrid for the balance of your time, flying home from there. Trying to include Barcelona will spread your vacation thin and increase its cost. If you are flying trans-Atlantic, reaching Bilbao will probably require a transfer in a European gateway city. It shouldn't cost much if any more than flying to Madrid and will save lots of travel time. Book using a multi-destination search function (which you probably know.)

kja

As Robert said, that's a VERY long road trip for the time you have, and very little time to do anything other than sit in the car. Consult the driving times on viamichelin.com to get a sense of what it will take. (IME, most other mapping services, including googlemaps, seriously underestimate the driving times in Spain.)

HappyTrvlr

See if there is any avaialability left for your dates at the parador at Santiago de Compostela. We booked almost a year ahead. We also stayed in the Paradors in Leon and Aguablava. We had to book dinners at Aguablava, a requirement in summer months. Loved it there, a short walk to beach below.
In Leon, we easily walked everywhere from the parador, perfect location in town.
Take the advice of Robert2533 as he is an expert on Northern Spain.
Look at www.maribelsguides.com for helpful advice. We did all of the above plus Portugal but had six weeks to complete the itinerary.

ribeirasacra

HappyTrvlr ****Take the advice of Robert2533 as he is an expert on Northern Spain.
Look at www.maribelsguides.com for helpful advice.****

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