shanek

Wow, Thanks kimhe for all the time that you have spent providing me with all the links. This is just the help that I had hoped for.

suze and bobthenavigator, you are starting to convince me. I think that I will contain the urge to add more destinations and immerse myself totally in these 2 obviously fascinating countries.

I will check out Maribel's, I appreciate the tip HT.

HappyTrvlr

One thing to be aware of Shanek: You want to pick up and return the rental car in the smae country or you'll pay a steep drop off fee. We actually took a cab across the Portugese/Spanish border from Porto to pick up a new car in Vigo, thus had a different car rental for each country..

HappyTrvlr

Look at www.pousadas.pt and www.parador.es for charming historic places to stay in both countries. I bet your two boys would love to stay in a castle or two.

djjojo

Someone said that there were no easy transports between Portugal and Spain, that getting a plane was really expensive... what?? you have train, bus (from Lisbon to Madrid and other parts of Spain)... if you prefer plane, I think the person who said the journeys were too expensive never heard of easyjet or other lowcost airlines, right?? you can get tickets for as much as €10 per person from madrid to Lisbon, or vice-versa... is this expensive?? off course you cannot make the reservation with only days for the date you want to travel. But if you book in advance you get really good prices.

ribeirasacra

shanek
What are your plans then...you have had a lot of suggestions so far but IMHO they are quite diverse and scattered all over the country. Maribels guides do not cover the parts you were originally interested in. So I wonder how helpful they were?

SOCALOC

It has been four weeks since we got back home to Australia from an AMAZING 5 week road trip on the West Coast of the USA. The only thing that is likely to rid me of my PTD (Post Trip Depression) is to commence planning our next adventure.
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LOL I love it! Shanek your passion for travel is so intoxicating, I can almost feel it pulsating through my monitor. Planning and seeing Europe through your eyes is going to be another fun ride.
I'm not one for whirlwinds but if you have 5 weeks and are going to be along the northeastern coast of Spain(Barcelona, Iberian peninsula)less than 500 miles(quick flight/drive) you'll be at, to me anyway, one of the most beautiful places in Europe- the French Riviera( Nice, Monaco, Eze, Cannes, St. Tropez etc.) Carpe Diem.

travelgirl2

djjojo - There is no direct transport between Lisbon and SOUTHERN Spain, unless you route through Madrid or Barcelona. That is what I meant. There is no direct train, direct flights (Lisbon to Seville) were $500 when we checked, there was a $800 rental car dropoff fee, etc. There is a direct bus between Lisbon and Seville, or as we did, a train and then a bus, but the travel time is about 8 hours.

sap

travelgirl2 - that is exactly what I need to know. How does one most efficiently get from Seville to Lisbon? Is the only good way to go back up to Madrid and take the train from there?

kimhe

shanek,

Just had to send you this very nice video of Andalucía called Andalucía se lleva dentro (Andalucía you carry inside):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAXdU...feature=search

djjojo

sap there are also buses, off course it takes about 8 hours. If you don't want to travel by bus, just take a train to Madrid then a plane... as I said you can get really cheap flights if you book in advance...

travelgirl2

sap - Re: Lisbon to Seville. I am going to post this in more detail on a thread where I made the same inquiry. What we decided to do was: CP train Lisbon to Faro and then EVA bus Faro to Seville. Travel time was 8 hours.

sap

Thanks djojo and travelgirl2. I'll have to make all those comparisons time & moneywise when our plans gel, but it's good to know what the options may be - especially if they could be a bit convoluted. Please post back with your thoughts after the trip, too, travelgirl2.

travelgirl2

Thanks sap. We are back from the trip. I'm planning to post about it...

I just wanted to mention about Lisbon to Seville travel situation because I booked a lot of things assuming we'd drive a car across the border, or take a quick and cheap EasyJet or RyanAir or Vueling flight. Only later did I find out it was an all-day thing.

SuQue

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