My husband and I will be celebrating our 1-year anniversary in May. We love to travel and want to get to as many countries as we can before we start having babies!!!

We went to Italy (Como, Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa) for our honeymoon...It was amazing. We loved that we got culture, history, beach, and hiking...

This year we are planning on touring SPAIN...We will leave end of May and will most likely spend 2 weeks.

-What cities are MUST SEEs???
-Should we hit Portugal or Morocco?
-We are hoping for culture, history, beach, hiking again.
-We would love to tour winery/olive oil?
-Need a little romance.

Thanks for your help!!!

Have you done any research on this adventure?

I have done some research...I got the rick steve's book for christmas.

I was thinking:
Madrid
Barcelona
Sevilla
Granada
Cordoba
Toledo
Portugal

I hate to make too many stops. But I definitely want to "experience" Spain.

First off, check out some of the Paradores for romantic places to stay. Also look at Alastair Sawday's book, Special Places to Stay Spain.

Spain is so large and everyone has their own "must sees". I love Madrid and Sevilla, but two "must sees" for me are Toledo and Granada. I love both at night. The cathedral in Toledo is amazing. If you stay a night there, take the little train through the mountains in the eveing to get great views of Toledo all lit up - fun and romantic.

The gardens in the Alhambra are supposed to be most beautiful in May. I've only been there in the fall and it was beautiful even then. It is very romantic at night.

Love Barcelona - fun, young, good dance places, Gaudi architecture. Great places for a romantic picnic in Parc Guell. Ask a taxi to drive you around at night to see some of Gaudi's buildings with lights on them. If you do go to Barcelona, I suggest you fly either into or out of Barcelona, no back tracking.

From Madrid, consider a day trip to Segovia, also very nice at night.
If you are at all into art, the Prado is a must.

I enjoyed Cordoba, but would skip it in favor of other places, at least if you are going to Granada. Would also skip Gibralter in favor of more places in Spain. Would include some of the White Hill Towns, like Ronda or Arcos.

There are lots of lovely beaches. If you are driving, look at Portimao in the Algarve, but only if you are including Portugal anyway. Otherwise, there are plenty of beaches in Spain, don't know about the water temperature then. Others on the board will know.

Spain is wonderful!

It takes 5 two week trips to see Spain and 2 weeks for Portugal. If you drop Portugal and Barcelona from your wish list then you have a shot. We are going back for our 5th trip in May also. This trip will be Green Spain in the NW corner. My favorite destinations in Spain all start with "S'.
Segovia, Seville, Salamanca, San Sebastian, and perhaps Santiago do Compostella after my May trip. We will be celebrating our 49th--you should be so lucky. Do not try to see "countries". Focus on regions.

Your plan is very ambitious. At the very least eliminate Portugal. You will spend a lot of time on trains, buses, and wlaking.

Please do not get me started on Rick Steve's. I understand it was a gift but so was the stale fruit cake.

Try Time Out Madrid and Time Out Barcelona. It is the difference between Barry Manilow and Tom Waits.

For art, Madrid has three world class museums. Barcelona is truly unusual with the influence of Gaudi and Puig and the Bario Gotico.

Read some then decide.

Two weeks is not a long time in wonderful Spain.
I agree with a previous poster about dropping Portugal and Cordoba.

If you can fly into Barcelona and out of Madrid ( or vice versa) you would save some time.

No shortage of romantic places !

Thanks for the tips...I will do my research and report back!!!