joeisftw

I am looking to plan a trip to Spain this summer for about 2 weeks. Since everyone I know does not want to take part in the trip with me, I am resorting to flying solo out there. I have done solo trips within the US but have never done a solo trip out of the country, so I am a little iffy on the situation seeing as it's going to be a big change. What advice could anyone give me out of doing this? Also what would be the best itinerary? I am looking to fly out of Newark NJ and hit Barcelona, Seville, Madrid, while hopefully being able to visit some family in Oviedo.

Help would be appreciated. Thanks!

isabel

To start with check out this thread - a collection of solo trip reports. http://www.fodors.com/community/trav...collection.cfm

But there are actually lots more. I did a solo trip to central Spain - trip report is here - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tral-spain.cfm

There are a lot of fodor regulars who travel solo, at least part of the time. I travel solo almost half of my trips recently. There are pros and cons but certainly way better than not going. And traveling solo is much better than traveling with the wrong traveling companion(s). This summer I traveled around Europe for five weeks, half of that time solo - and while I loved my time with my daughter on the first half of the trip, I can't say that I really did things all that differently the second half of the trip by myself.

With only two weeks you should probably limit yourself to three bases (possibly four) but lots of places lend themselves to day trips. Each of the cities you mention deserves at least four days. I wouldn't do any day trips from Barcelona but I would from Madrid (Segovia and Toledo).

adrienne

>

Don't approach this as a big change. The same principles apply if you're traveling in the US or in Europe. Would you be intimidated if you were going to a US city for the first time? If not, then why be hesitant about Spanish cities.

Pegontheroad

I've traveled solo to Spain 2 times. I've posted two trip reports.

This trip, in 2011, might as well have been solo, as my friend was a completely inexperienced traveler, so I pretty much did everything.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...spain-trip.cfm

This one was solo. It was great fun.

http://www.fodors.com/search/results...ge+trip+report

kja

I love traveling solo -- I can do exactly what I want, when I want. And I found it easy to travel solo in Spain. Think of it as an opportunity to be incredibly self-indulgent!

arushiaswal42

Spain can delight you if you choose to travel wisely and also do a wee bit of backpacking. But one thing i really recommend is that you fly Lufthansa. Their quality will delight you and their network will take you places which you had otherwise considered impossible.

kja

I disagree with arushiaswal42 -- neither backpacking nor Lufthansa will necessarily improve your experience.

Once you reach Spain, you have options for excellent transportation service by train or bus -- no need to deal with an airline unless you want to; just pick what serves your needs best. For your flights to/from, you have several options that any good search engine should show. And some people prefer to take advantage of backpacks when they travel, while others do not. My advice is to do what works for you.

CathyM

I think the challenge is you only have 2 weeks and want to visit 4 areas that are geographically quite far apart. If you didn't want to go to Oviedo then I'd recommend 4 nights each in Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona and 2 nights in Granada (I wouldn't miss Granada if you are already going to Andalucia). But if you need to go to Oviedo to visit family then you're going to have to cut out Madrid, Barcelona or Sevilla/Granada.

I travel solo to Spain twice a year relying on public transportation and love it. I plan my hotels in advance and purchase any long distance train tickets in advance also (due to better fares). I don't want to spend my vacation time trying to hunt down a place to stay or figure out the transportation logistics.

Once you have a specific itinerary I'm sure you'll find lots of people to help you here!