Need help planning Spain trip
 

Hello,

This is my first trip to Spain and first time traveling alone! I will be traveling in March for about 20 days.

I would like to travel multiple cities in Spain, and I am debating whether I should join a tour or make my own itinerary.

The Tour: 15 day tour that visits Madrid, Granada, Seville, Costa de la Luz, Ronda, Cordoba, Valencia, and Barcelona. THe tour will stay 2 nights in most of these locations.
- Is this too much to try to accomplish in 15 days?
- The tour ends in Barcelona, I was thinking perhaps i can extend my stay in Barcelona by 2 days, giving myself 4 days in Barcelona. Does that sound okay?

OR

I can develop my own itinerary...
- Would this be cheaper? If i do my own thing and stay in private room hostels?
- What is the best mode of transportaion? (accessible, safe, cheap).. bus or train?
- How many days should I allot for each location... I would def like to go to Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia... any other must see places?

-Thanks!

Just remember you will lose from 1/2 day to a full day moving from city to city. You need not go an organized tour of Spain. Tourism is one of the major industries of Spain.

Besides visiting Madrid itself, you can visit a number of nearby trips on day trips. The trains and buses are excellent in Spain and you can take the AVE (high speed train) between many of your destinations, but not all.

If you want a taster, do the tour.

If you want to really see Spain, make your own itinerary but limit the number of stops.

Thank you, if I were to organize my own itinerary, which cities would you recommend, and how many days?

I suggest getting some guide and see what strikes your fancy. Madrid has three world class museums. Sevilla is a great walking city. Barcelona is not a Spanish city but an international one. The Alhambra is one of those tourist destinations that is truly worthwhile.

RENFE is the Spanish train site. It can be a bear making reservations but highly instructive as to time and costs. There is also Vueling a cheap-o airline that is safe but with high fees if you violate their rules, especially weight of luggage.

The first question should be "What are your interests"? The second question, if you decide to go on your own, should be "Do you speak Spanish"?

Thank you for the RENFE information.

My goals for this travel is to see beautiful architecture, meet wonderful people, experience the culture, improve my spanish, and Party at night (whenever I can, assuming mostly barcelona). I know a little bit of Spanish, I can understand ok, but i have a hard time speaking.

The nights start at 11 PM in Madrid and Barcelona and end about 3 AM. I have never figured out when those people sleep.

<i>My goals for this travel is to see beautiful architecture, meet wonderful people, experience the culture, improve my spanish, and Party at night (whenever I can, assuming mostly barcelona). I know a little bit of Spanish, I can understand ok, but i have a hard time speaking.</i>

My humble suggestion:

5 days in Barcelona then head to Valencia for 3/4 days. Then head to Granada for 2 days (get your Alhambra tickets in advance) and be sure to visit the hammam there. Then head to Cordoba for 2 days (also visit the hammam here, it is AWESOME). Then head to Madrid for 5 days. Use the extra two days as float between destinations.

Thank you so much for the detailed suggestion, I will def use that as a template.

My other concern is meeting people, I am afraid I'll get bored traveling alone. I have never traveled alone. How 'easy' is it to meet people?

This is will also be my first time staying at a hostel, I think staying at hostels will help me meet people.

A good guide book or two should prove incredibly valuable. Given your interests, you might want to try the Lonely Planet.

Lonely Planet Spain and Lonely Planet Andalusia are both worth picking up.

Hostels are good ways to meet other travelers. If you want to meet locals, just go to a bar and start talking to someone while you eat tapas and drink beer (or wine). The Spanish are very friendly and it will be a good way to practice your Spanish.

Fun! I did a month-long solo trip last year. It was really easy to do on my own (and I speak less than no Spanish). I did a mix of hostels, hotels, and an apartment. It was off-season (Feb) so I didn't meet that many folks, and at 30, felt a little old for the hostel scene.

Here's how I'd do the 20 days:

Barcelona 5
Valencia 4
Granada 2
Malaga 4
Seville 5 (DT to Cordoba)

I didn't really love Madrid, but if you add it in I would suggest a day trip to Tomar, which was really pretty and a UNESCO site in case that is something that matters to you.

For figuring out how to get from place to place I kept finding myself here: gospain.about.com. Sometimes bus made more sense, sometimes train. I did a mix entirely based on that site's recommendations.

Hi there, I am also planning a month in Spain in mid May using my own itinerary. 5 days Madrid with day trips to Toledo and Segovia, train to Seville 3 nights, 3 nights Cordoba, 3 nights Granada (hopefully day trip to Ronda) 2 nights Nerja, fly to Valencia - 3 nights, 2 nights Peniscola,, train to Barcelona 5 nights, train to St Sebastian 3 nights, train back to Madrid to fly home. I travelled for a couple of weeks in France last year, didnt meet as many people as England trip because of language I think. Travelling to Spain with my sister. Any comments re my itinerary would be welcome. WOndering if I should spend 2 nights in Granada and stay a night in Ronda on the way to Nerja?? It's breaking my golden rule of at least 2 night stays....it looks a little complex to travel Granada/Ronda/Nerja....any tips?

A tour is always good value, but expensive for a single and I loathe the ultra early starts....

I would do it on your own but take tours in the cities you are.. thus perhaps meeting someone on the bus or walking tour to later socialize with . I really don´t think you will be socializing with spaniards.

You may want to try to be in valencia anytime from the 15th to the 19th for the big Fallas festival. Hotel will be cheaper the days beforehand so perhaps do the bulk of your stay then.

If you start in Madrid would be 3 days to explore the city. Then it would take the AVE (high speed train) to Sevilla where would spend 4 nights, and would use the distances are not too long to visit Cordoba train an hour from Seville. Then rent a car to visit Granada Round gift of way would remain at least 2 days.

Then continue drive to Valencia 2 which would remain for two days and then catch a train from Valencia to Barcelona where I would be at least four days.

Another tip if you want to be connected to the Internet at any time and place, rent a pocket wifi I decided to rent in https://www.easymifi.com/en/
I allowed to be connected to the internet at all times and helped me to find all the sites typical of the cities.