TeresaJAT

I have been enjoying all the posts on the earlier thread by IVS. I have made some decisions for our trip leaving June 14th but of course don't have enough days! I can't decide if we should spend 4 nights in Majorca or use those days to extend our driving trip down to Salamanca or spend more time in the Pyrenees. We love history (tracking down the Romans is fun), getting to know the culture, me the outdoors (Steve not as much but humors me), good museums, don't mind having some down time in the afternoon for a visit to the beach, are very active, travel light, and cover a good deal of ground. Here's what I have:

Barcelona- 5 nights (day trip to Montserrat and maybe an afternoon beach outing to Stiges or that could wait until we get the car.)
Majora - 4 nights (2 in Palma and rent a car for two days)
back at the mainland, rent a car at airport
Girona- 1 night
Tossa de Mar-1 night
Tarragona- 1 night
Heres where I'm not sure... what to see, where to stay, on our way to San Sebastian , could put 2 days here or maybe three if I cut out Majora. We do have 3 nights in Olite, just south of Pamplona at the end of the trip.)
San Sebastian- 2 days
Santander- 2 days (stop in Bilboa on the way)
Leon- 1 day
Burgos- 1 day
Olite- 3 days (My husband thinks he needs to run with the bulls. Don't ask how old he is! We will be able to watch on the first day of running and then he can decide if he wants to do so on the second. (will also be exploring the area during the day.)
Barcelona or an airport hotel- last night UNLESS....

I cut out Majora then I would spend 2 nights in Salamanca and 2 not one in Burgos so we could stop at Valladolid on the way, and one more in the Pyrenees or somewhere else.

So...... what do you all think? Thanks so much for all the information you share. I have read a good many old posts that have helped with this and past trips.

bobthenavigator

The first thing I would do is to eliminate all one niters and add more time to San Sebastian--a special place.

Infotrack

I have not been to Majorca so cannot comment on whether that is worth it or not, but have been to Salamanca, and think it is a very special place. Not on your list is Toledo. It has a couple bridges that date from the Roman times, and the history there is also very interesting.

Cowboy1968

Not sure if I get your itinerary right.
Tarragona is S of Barcelona, Girona and Tossa de Mar are N. Any reason for Tossa? If you like the beach, you can find it much easier in Barcelona, or as a day trip to aforementioned Sitges. Actually, both Girona and Tarragona are very easy day trips by train from Barcelona, so there is no need to spend a night in each town.

Mallorca
I think (?) you want to spend only 2 nights in Palma and another 2 elsewhere? The island is not that big. Any destination is max 1hr by car from Palma. What you could do is rent a car and spend 4 nights in a rural hotel or on the sea, for example in Soller, and take the historic train to Palma for a day trip. And how do you plan to go to Mallorca? You can fly from BCN, obviously, but also can take the ferry (add a cruise, so to speak), and check if you can fly from Palma (I'm pretty sure you can) to San Sebastian or elsewhere in the North like Bilbao to start your road trip. For domestic budget flights within Spain you can check Vueling, Ryanair, or Air Berlin.

TeresaJAT

Thanks for the input!
We would like to see the Costa Brava area, drive up to Empuries and Cadaques to see the Dali Musuem. We just were discussing that we could spend two nights in Girona or Tossa and do day trips. Tossa was recommended in some of my books and would allow us to go relax after a partial day of touring. Yes, Tarragona is south of Barcelona but we are interested in the Roman musuem and ruins. I see it is an hour from Barcelona so maybe it could be a day trip but then I would probably want to add a day to Barcelona. It certainly was one of the glitches in the flow of my plan

As for changing our location in Majorca, just trying cut back on having a car for a couple of days since we would probably spend a day and a half in Palma. Husband is starting to lean in th direction of skipping Majorca.

ribeirasacra

I am confused fist of all you list as staying nights then you change to days. When you talk about day stays do you mean 2 nights?
Getting to and from mainland Spain is going to take a good part of day each way. I do not think you have really allowed for that in your schedule have you? You do not mention what city you fly out from; is that BCN?

I would drop staying at Olite, it is too far away from Pamplona. Parking in Pamplona is going to be a nightmare, that’s if you can do it.
Maybe a short re-jiggling to see the best Roman sites in Spain?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...sites_in_Spain

ribeirasacra

There is a slight difference when read the Spanish version
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ca...Roman_Hispania

Aduchamp1

Some of my favorite Roman sights are spread out. There is the aqueduct in Segovia and the ruins in Merida. The bridge in Ronda was built by the Moors.

stevelyon

Despite my love of Majorca (Im off there in 4 weeks)- I dont think its worth doing a detour - Palma is lovely but not worth that much effort.

TeresaJAT

Thanks for the link ribeirsacra, never thought to use Wikipedia for trip planning(actually haven't used it much at all.) I should have said nights, not days. We would be flying out of Barcelona. As for Olite, we choose that because the rooms in Pamplona are so expensive and the town sounded nice.My husband really wants to be there for the running so I will have to do some more research. I was worried about the parking.

Aduchamp 1- We have been to Segovia, a few years ago, on a tour. We saw many of the important sights except for the Alahambra, I had food poisoning! We don't travel to see the remains of the Roman empire, but if we get near some we get a kick out of visiting...."Man, those Romans were everywhere!"

Infotrack- We have been to Toledo and loved it!

Stevelyon-So I think we have decided skip Majorca.

We still could use some guidance as to the Pyrenees (on our way to San Sebastian. Also need to read more thread about the running of the bulls. Thank you all. May need to retitle my thread.