ivorycat

My husband and I with our teenage daughter are planning a trip to Spain. We have been spending a great deal of time everyday on the web searching for ideas. Unfortunately, with our trip starting in about a week, we are still unsure if this itinerary will work and also because of this have yet to book any accommodations or car rental. So far, we have only purchased a ticket from Barcelona to Granada and booked our visit to the Alhambra. Our itinerary has to include Santander as this is the reason for our trip to Spain to meet up with our daughter who is completing a language immersion program. We would be so grateful for any help or comments on our planned itinerary below:

13 July arrived in Barcelona, - sleep Barcelona
14 July 7am flight to Granada ( 2pm visit to Alhambra) - sleep Granada
15 July Granada - sleep Granada
16 July Drive to Cordoba (planning to rent a car) - sleep Cordoba
17 July Cordoba - sleep Cordoba
18 July Drive to Ronda - sleep Ronda
19 July Ronda to Algeciras (leave car at public car park), take train from Tangier to Fez
- sleep Fez
20 July Fez - sleep Fez
21 July Train from Fez to Tangier, Ferry to Algeciras and drive to Seville - sleep Seville
22 July Seville - sleep Seville
23 July Seville - sleep Seville
24 July Fly up to either Bilbao or Santander - sleep Santander
25 July Santander - sleep Santander
26 July Drive to Salamanca - sleep Salamanca
27 July Salamanca - sleep Salamanca
28 July Drive to Madrid (via Avila) - sleep Madrid
29 July Madrid + Visit Toledo - sleep Madrid
30 July Madrid + Visit Segovia - sleep Madrid
31 July Drive to Zaragoza - sleep Zaragoza
1 August Drive to Barcelona - sleep Barcelona
2 - 3 August Barcelona
4 August - Flight Home.

danon

you are planing to sleep in 11 different places in 20 days...seems like a lot of moving around in 100 + degrees temperatures almost everywhere except in the North .

Fodorite014

Hi,

Nice trip! I would cut out Fes though and spend the two extra nights in Spain. I can understand that it is tempting to go to Morocco when it is so close but in my opinion it is not worth the effort. Morocco is interesting but it will just give you one day in Fes and too many hours on Moroccan trains.

If you want to go a bit slower I would cut out Salamanca and I think you should try to add one more day to Barcelona. Or maybe trade Salamanca in favor of San Sebastian. I am also a great fan of Madrid and think it deserves at least one whole day without any daytrips. I am extremely slow and lazy and find your itinerary a bit rushed but that is so individual. At least you have planed for a minimum of 1 whole day in each city apart from Ronda and Zaragoza.

You have an exciting trip ahead of you!
Have fun & good luck!

Fodorite014

By the way, can't you meet up with your daughter in Madrid? Then you won't have to go all the way up to Santander. I think you will appreciate some "spare days" for a rest. Spanish cities are lovely and interesting enough to just hang around in for a couple of days without doing a lot of sightseeing. Walk around, have lots of coffee, drink sangria, watch people.

nytraveler

1) Way too much moving around
2) Temps may well be 100 plus (up to 120) in some places - so you need to be sure you have hotels with good AC and great pools - and don;t plan on doing a lot in the middle of the day
3) At this point you may have trouble getting decent hotels without spending a fortune

If it were me I would scale way back and slow down -- to what you can reasonably do in that weather.

ivorycat

Thanks for the replies. hoxa61 you are right about Fez. We've now decided to drop it and use it to stay an extra day in Andalucia plus extra day in Madrid. Would Ronda now deserve an extra night and would it be a good base, location wise to visit Malaga and Gibraltar. With San Sebastian, we're thinking of visiting it as a day trip from Santander. Also we're unsure about Salamanca and whether it deserves 2 nights or would Avila or Segovia with its Roman aquaeductus be more beautiful. We know temperature will be a scorcher but living in Saudi Arabia now we're quite used to such heat. My daughter is staying a month with a Spanish family and we thought it nice to personally show our appreciation and meet up with these nice people. Thanks again for all the comments.

cruiseluv

Maybe its too late now but its too bad you didnt design your trip to travel in Northern Spain. By the way, Santander and its environs are beautiful. My son spent two summers there in Language immersion programs and I was lucky to visit him there and travel in the area.

Have a great trip!

cruiseluv

Sorry, forgot to comment about your question on Salamanca. Two nights in Salamanca is NOT too long. Avila and Segovia are nice but IMO Salamanca is superior. Also, have you ever been in Madrid before? You're basically using Madrid just to sleep and do day trips from there. Madrid is a great city that deserves time. I would suggest to cut Zaragoza from your itinerary so you can enjoy more time in Madrid.

Fodorite014

Hi,

I think it is a good idea to spend an extra night in Ronda but I wouldn't bother with day trips to Malaga and Gibraltar. Nothing wrong with Malaga at all but there is no need to see every major city in the area. I have never been to Gibraltar though, I have only seen the cliff a few times when passing by bus. : )

Ronda is nice and a good place to relax in. If you feel that 2 nights are too much, you seem to be full of energy , I would spend the extra night in Arcos de la Frontera or another of the "white villages" on my way to Sevilla.

As already mentioned before and confirmed by others I think it is a good idea to add an extra night in Madrid. You need at least a whole day in Madrid itself without any daytrips.

The reason why I suggested to trade Salamanca with San Sebastian is that you already have "historical" cities in your itinerary and northern Spain is very different from Andalucia. It is also nice to spend some days by the sea and the food is superb.

Did you throw in Zaragoza as a point to break your drive to Barcelona or are you particularly interested in visiting the cathedral or something else you have found? The reason for asking is that I would rather add an extra night to Barcelona. 2 days isn't much for Barcelona.

All places in your itinerary deserv at least two nights! If you decide that you want to see Salamanca I would not recommend to cut one night in favor of Segovia or Avila (I have never been to Avila though).

Have fun on your trip!

cruiseluv

Reading the prior post I notice you're thinking of doing a day trip to Gibraltar. I haven't been to Ronda , but have been to Gibraltar and would not spend a day doing that. Also agree with PP that you should consider spending more time in Northern Spain. San Sebastian would be a logical place but your dates are high, high season there (as well as for Santander) so you may run into problems finding lodging.

danon

I agree with PP about Santander. I would rather spend time in a lovely town on the sea than Gibraltar or Ronda.
I understand that not everyone is interested in museums and art and that people travel with different "speed" but Madrid and Barcelona are wonderful cities with tons to see.

Sometimes driving to a place,parking, checking in, unpacking, finding your way around cities, checking out etc can take half a day.
You may be used to hot weather but touring Alhambra or Toledo for several hours exposed to the sun could be a different experience. I did it myself in August.
AC in hotels, restaurants and stores in Spain is not like what you are used to in SA or US.

Egbert

Your itinerary looks awful to me because it is just too much traveling around which is exhausting and stressfull. I would not try to get around and see as many places as possible. I would focus on less "must sees" and relax and absorb the culture. I would spend 2 nights in Granada, 4 nights in Seville, 2 nights in Cadiz. Andalucia will be extraordinarily hot. Then I would fly up North, visit Santander for a few nights, San Sebastian for 5 nights, then to Barcelona for the end. (This might be a letdown after San Sebastian). Come to think of it, I would probably spend the entire 3 weeks in San Sebastian. I would definitley not ruin a fantastic trip to Spain by going to Morroco.

Aduchamp1

Consider spending the night at Avila at the parador, then going to Madrid. I have never driven from Avila to Toledo, and on the map, the road looks circuitous, but if someone has experience with that, it might be better to go to Toledo first and then Madrid. The views from the parador in Toledo are spectacular.

Even though I like Ronda, two days is too much and if you do go to Santander be sure to see Altamira II.

My wife and I seem to be some of the few people on this board who liked Gibraltar. It is quirky starting from the frontier with Spain where you drive across the tarmac of the airport. It is crowded and hard to park but it this odd British enclave in Spain.

ivorycat

Thanks for all your kind replies. Just the push I needed to finalise the itinerary. I've simplified it somewhat to overnight in Barcelona on Day 1 and then 2 nights each in Granada, Cordoba, Cadiz and Seville. We think 2 days Ronda is too much too, so now we stay a night there and go on route A369 to spend a night in Casares before going to Cadiz. We'll do Arcos as a day trip from Seville. From here, we fly to Santander and stay 2 nights there and Salamanca, then move to Madrid via Zaragoza and spend 3 nights there before ending 4 nights in Barcelona. I know this is a lot of travelling but for most part the distances are quite close except for the long 500km drive from Madrid to Barcelona! Cruiseluv, we hope to see as much of Santander and the surrounding areas, esp. Bilbao Guggenheim Museum and San Sebastian altho we didn't realise that San Sebastian has so much to offer as Egbert suggested. Only query now, should we stay in the El Prat area or move to the city for our first night in Barcelona. We're arriving around 9am and leaves early next morning at 7.30am. Many thanks again for all the help.

cruiseluv

I know you're not asking our opinion but I think the first part of your schedule is a bit schizofrenic. For example, with only two days in Sevilla you are planning a day trip to Arcos? Didn't know there is anything that memorable there, maybe I'm missing something. With only 2 nights in Santander there is no way you'll be able to sample that and surrounding areas too much, especially if you will be spending time while in Santander visiting the host family.

I wouldn't stay by the airport in Barcelona. The airport is close to the city, approx 20 mins.

Egbert

I give it a C-. Also, never stay at a hotel near the airport.

Fodorite014

Have you thought about going via Arcos de la Frontera and/or Espera when driving from Cadiz to Sevilla rather than doing a day trip from Sevilla? You can look around and then have lunch and then continue to Sevilla. I really think it would be a good idea to stay 3 nights in Sevilla. Maybe drop Ronda OR Casares?

Are you going from Salamanca to Madrid via Zaragoza? And only passing through Zaragoza? Why? I must say that THAT doesn't make sence to me... ;-) Or have I completely misread your post? I guess you intend to drive from Madrid to Barcelona via Zaragoza?

You will spend two nights in Santander which means that you will have one whole day in Santander? On that day you plan to see Santander, Bilbao and San Sebastian?!

Fodorite014

What do you think about this:
Granada -> Ronda and/or Casares -> Cadiz -> Sevilla by car. You can visit Arcos de la Frontera and/or Espera on the way from Cadiz to Sevilla.
Do Cordoba as a day trip from Sevilla. It takes less than an hour by AVE-train and trains are frequent. If you skip either Ronda or Casares you will have 3 more nights. Add these to Sevilla and Santander. Just a suggestion.

And I would actually do Santander -> Salamanca -> Madrid -> Barcelona by public transport, not by car. It is easy to get to Toledo and Segovia by public transport from Madrid. A car isn't really needed.

ivorycat

Cruiseluv, hoxa61, thanks for your help. I would love to take an extra night from Andalucia & spend it either on Santander or Madrid. This was my original plan when we took Fez out but I rushed thru the flight booking without checking and now we are stuck as per our first itinerary arriving Santander on 24 when it should be 23 July. We have booked 2 nights in Cordoba so that can't be changed but I think I'll drop Casares, not easy to get accommodation there now and use the extra night in Seville. From Salamanca we'll go to Madrid via Segovia. Zaragoza, we'll do on our way to Barcelona.

Sandramiani

Wow, I couldn't imagine so much travelling and money that you will spend by going from place to place without really seeing or enjoying the cities that you will be visiting. There are so many wonderful places to sit and linger and take in the ambiance in a city. You were wise to cut out Fez and Gibraltar. The best times I have in Europe is when I rent a car and just go with the wind, stay as little or as much in any particular place. Of course this is the summer season, so accommodations will be at a premium, but try to enjoy - not just try to see every city that was advertised in a website.