Portugal & Spain Itinerary 90% finalized. Considering 2 changes - please help

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Jul 21st, 2019 | 06:46 PM

IzabellaBella

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Joined: Feb 2013

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Portugal & Spain Itinerary 90% finalized. Considering 2 changes - please help

Here is my itinerary for Portugal and Spain. We decided to leave Madrid, Zaragoza, and north of Lisbon for another trip. I am thinking of making the following changes:
Option A) Adding 1 full day in Seville and decreasing 1 day in Palma going from 3 full days to 2 full days. We were just going to use Sevile as a stop for 1 night to return our car and take a train to BCN the next day.
Option 2) Adding a day in Seville, but decreasing 1 day in Barcelona, going from 4 full days to 3 full days.

Note: We will have a car in BCN and Palma. When in BCN, we were going to use 1 day to head towards SOME of the areas - El Mas Oliva, Figuera, Cadaques, Tossa de Mar Costa Brava, Girona, Peratellada. I KNOW we do not have enough time to visit all the towns I listed.

Day 1 - Depart
Day 2 - arrive in Lisbon
Day 3 - Lisbon
Day 4 - Lisbon
Day 5 - Drive to Albufieria(algarve region) - where can I make a stop that is worthwhile for an 2 hours or so on the way to Algarve?
Day 6 - Algarve region
Day 7 - Algarve Region
Day 8 - Drive to Seville
Day 9 - Check out of Seville hotel - Train to Barcelona
Day 10 - Barcelona
Day 11 - Barcelona
Day 12 - Barcelona
Day 13 - Barcelona
Day 14 - Villafrance(Cava Hotel) - 1 hour from BCN. want to stay in a semi countryside area since we are not heading north into Zaragoza and surrounding areas.
Day 15 - Villafrance
Day 16 - Villafrance
Day 17 - Fly to Palma
Day 18 - Palma/Mallorca
Day 19 - Palma/Mallorca
Day 20 - Palma/Mallorca
Day 21 - Fly to BCN for 1 night to pack and get ready to depart to the USA
Day 22 - Depart for USA

Jul 21st, 2019 | 10:28 PM

kja

Joined: Dec 2006

Posts: 25,724

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Quote:

Originally Posted by IzabellaBella

I am thinking of making the following changes:
Option A) Adding 1 full day in Seville and decreasing 1 day in Palma going from 3 full days to 2 full days. We were just going to use Sevile as a stop for 1 night to return our car and take a train to BCN the next day.
Option 2) Adding a day in Seville, but decreasing 1 day in Barcelona, going from 4 full days to 3 full days.

Note: We will have a car in BCN a.... When in BCN, we were going to use 1 day to head towards SOME of the areas - El Mas Oliva, Figuera, Cadaques, Tossa de Mar Costa Brava, Girona, Peratellada. I KNOW we do not have enough time to visit all the towns I listed.

It really depends on what you want to see and experience. FWIW, I think Sevilla -- one of my favorite cities in Spain (which says a LOT!) easily deserves 4 nights. I think Barcelona, not counting ANY day trips, easily merits 6 nights. I can't imagine having a car while in Barcelona, and I felt a bit rushed trying to visit Figueres, Cadaques, Tossa de Mar, and Girona with just 4 nights.

Good luck!

Jul 22nd, 2019 | 05:47 AM

IzabellaBella

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That’s great input. I know...I can’t believe that even with 19 full days, we will feel rushed. I feel Portugal and Spain should be seperate trips. I know we will return to Spain, just as we travelled back to France, Italy and Croatia a few times region by region to see and experience a lot vs. just rush through it.

Do you think we should decrease 1 day in Palma too? There isn’t a crazy amount to do, but my husband loved Capri, so he thinks this will be similar, hence the 3 days. He wanted 4, I wanted 2, we compromised, lol. As far as what we like to do, we are not huge beach people. We’ll go for a few hrs, that’s about it. Didn’t mention it in original post, but we are travelling with almost 2.5 year old twins(this is our 4th trip to Europe as a family). We do like just strolling the streets, driving around the countrysides, visiting and strolling through little countryside towns and vinyards, although wine tasting is very limited now since we have our kids in tow, hence why we are staying at Cava on a binyard, to still get that vibe. We like the big cities, but don’t make a point to visit all the museums. We are usually good with the top 2-3. We usually prefer the other sights and Parks, and just strolling. Prior to kids, we always took a few cooking classes, so we still might do that, just seperately while the other watches the kids.

Jul 22nd, 2019 | 06:23 AM

HappyTrvlr

Joined: Jul 2006

Posts: 18,251

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I agree that Portugal and Spain should be separate trips. Add as many days as you can to Seville.
Do not have a car in Barcelona! Book a few nights on the Costa Brava if you wish to see that area and a car there would be useful.

Jul 22nd, 2019 | 07:19 AM

IzabellaBella

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Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyTrvlr

oh I was originally going to book something in Costa Brava.

We are only renting a car to drive up to the coast near Costa Brava and surrounding areas and for the drive next day to Villafrance.

Jul 22nd, 2019 | 08:40 AM

Michael

Joined: Mar 2003

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Sines or Beja can be a stop on the way to the Algarve, but it's only a 3.5 hour drive from Lisbon. We did not take the direct route to go from the Algarve to Setubal, so we stopped in Sines for lunch. We did not go into the town which overlooks an industrial port. But it might be have an interesting old town as fortifications are visible from the shore.

Jul 22nd, 2019 | 10:48 AM

xyz99

Joined: Sep 2003

Posts: 2,442

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I think it's up to you to prioritize, but...Barcelona deserves a lot more than 4 days, and it seems a shame to only pass through Seville and not get to spend any time there. These 2 + Costa Brava, and you have more than enough for 19 days.

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Jul 22nd, 2019 | 12:03 PM

MoBro

Joined: Aug 2017

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"I think Sevilla -- one of my favorite cities in Spain (which says a LOT!) easily deserves 4 nights."
I wholeheartedly agree with kja.
We LOVED Seville.

Jul 22nd, 2019 | 05:49 PM

kja

Joined: Dec 2006

Posts: 25,724

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Quote:

Originally Posted by IzabellaBella

I can’t believe that even with 19 full days, we will feel rushed.

You are fortunate to have 19 full days for your vacation, but the Iberian Peninsula is HUGE and has an incredible array of rich destinations. 19 days is a drop in the bucket for an area that can take months for just a cursory exploration of the highlights. A good guidebook or two should prove invaluable to you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IzabellaBella;16957585[left

I was originally going to book something in Costa Brava.

We are only renting a car to drive up to the coast near Costa Brava and surrounding areas .[/left]

If you haven't already seen it, you might find some useful information on Barcelona and the Costa Brava -- my 10 days in that area -- in this trip report:
Four Awesome Weeks in the North of Spain and Catalunya

Quote:

Originally Posted by IzabellaBella;16957585[left

We are only renting a car to drive up to the coast near Costa Brava and surrounding areas and for the drive next day to Villafrance.[/left]

To where?

Jul 22nd, 2019 | 07:17 PM

#10

IzabellaBella

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Joined: Feb 2013

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Quote:

Originally Posted by kja

To where?

We want to stay somewhere in a Countryside like setting since we are not heading to Zaragoza and area this time around. So we decided to stay at Cava Hotel & Mastinell for 3 nights. We need a car to get there form BCN, and to drive around the area.