Recommendations for first trip to Spain
 

My husband and I have booked our first trip ever to Spain for mid-late November. We arrive into Barcelona and leave out of Madrid (although we are only planning to spend the last night there.) We have 7 nights in between and right now are planning on 3 in Barcelona and 4 in Sevilla. We are interested in a mixture of seeing the sights and enjoying the culture (via some good food and drink.) This board helped me plan a fabulous trip to Ireland two years ago so I would love any specific recommendations this time around on good hotels in these two cities (not more than $200 per night), restaurants to check out, as well as potential day trips to take (particulary while in Sevilla.) Thanks in advance for your help.

I love your plan, I was not impressed with madrid, except for the prada, way to americanized. Barcelona and Sevilla will give you a great taste of spain. As far as side trips, I enjoy history especially ancient so spain is a great place to see roman ruins. Near Barcelona is Tarronga with a great areana and aquaduct to see. Also near sevilla is a place called italica with ruins of an ancient city with another arena and homes with incredible mosiac flores intact. Enjoy spain, barcelona has incredible food and is very cheap.

Come on, give them a little help!!!

Did this trip first 2 weeks of December in 2005, although reverse direction.
Sounds loke you only have 2 days in Barcelona so that will take up all time there. I would take a day trip to Cordoba and spend the rest in Sevilla with lots to see and do. We loved both Sevilla and Barcelona, 2 totally different type of cities.We had mixed impressions of Madrid, but it was our jet lag first stop.

Botafumeiro is the best restaurant. Excellent table service and seafood. Tipped the waiter 30% and he almost fell over. I guess they are not used to it.

I had the best time in Barcelona a few years ago. It's one of my favorite cities in the world. I followed the Fodors guide book walking tour. It's a wonderful city to walk around in, weather permitting, and explore! We just walked by restaurants when we felt hungry and had the best food. I would stay close to the the beach side of the town. It was very central and lively at night. The metro was also very easy to navigate. Enjoy!

Two great cities! We rented apartments in both, and were happy to have the extra room and a small kitchen, for much less than $200.
The apartment we used in Barcelona was right off the Ramblas, a block from La Boqueria market.
http://www.rentinbarcelona.com/properties/168.htm

The apartment in Sevilla was on a small plaza, above a little cafe, where the breakfast came with the apartment.

http://sevilla5.com/apartments/san-andres.html

Both agencies have many other apartments available.
The apartments were clean, nicely furnished in simple modern style - no clutter.

Things to do in Barcelona: all things Gaudi; Parc Guell if the weather permits, a concert at the Palau de la Musica (we went to a concert because the tours were all booked up and that was the only way to get in,but it was great!). Also the Museu Picasso and the Font Magica on Montjuic (at night if they do the water show)
We ate at a terrific pizza place called Veronica, lots of young people. Boqueria market is a lot of fun, and beautiful
Guidebook we liked: For carrying around - Eyewitness Top 10 Barcelona.
Have a great trip!

There's an overnight train (Talgo: todo preferente) departs Barcelona Sants at 22:35 or so and arrives Sevilla Santa Justa at 08:30. Sleeping Compartments are quier and very comfortable. If you go that route I would advise that you stock up on snacks & drinks at a Deli in the Barcelona Sants Station. We were in the last carriage, 7 carriages away from the Cafeteria Car (a long walk for my AM Coffee).

lmernal, loved the Barcelona apartment; just bookmarked it. How far in advance did you book it?

a great website for all things Seville is
www.exploreseville.com

missypie- I booked it at least two or three months in advance, but I'm a compulsive travel planner. They used to have an availability calendar on the site, but I don't see it now. As I recall, this one was pretty popular.
leslie

I'm about 7 months out, so I think I'm okay.

My wife and I spent 5 nights in Barcelona, 3 in Sevilla, and 3 in Madrid. If I had to do it over again, I'd take 1 night from Madrid, and add it to Barcelona, but that's just me.

We stayed here in Barcelona, we rented an apartment through Loving Barcelona (www.lovingbarcelona.com). We booked Diputacio #4, and would recommend it for its price and location.

In Sevilla, we stayed at the Hotel Becquer, which we would also recommend. I think the prices may have gone up since we stayed there, but the location's fantastic, and the room was clean, quiet, and very comfortable.

One note - if you want to "quick jump" to the apartment we booked, it's number 7135.

julzieluv, yes he probably did fall over with a 30% tip and no, you are dead right, he is not used to it. It is not usual to leave a percentage tip in Spain, only "the dust". Our Spanish friends get quite het up if we leave more than one euro! I should go back there (any time in the next 20 years) and I expect you will be very welcome.

Loved, loved barcelona -- I should have stayed an entire week rather than the 4 days we had, spent the other 4 days in Pamplona and San Sebastian. We also rented a great apt in BCN but it was a 3 br/3 bath (135/Euro/nigt).

We had a great time at the opera at the Liceu -- half price if you go when the "alternative cast" performs during the weeknight. Try doing a search for Barcelona and look for laclaire and Maribel's replies -- provide tons of food and other suggestions -- they are all outstanding. This was the best vacation and food vacation I've had to date.

Passadis Del Pep, Gaig, Abac, Commerc 24 for great pricey BCN restaurants. check out www.maribelsguides.com -- indispensable resource. Have fun!

Thanks to all of you for your help and insights. It is much appreciated. I will definitely check out the threads and websites recommended. I think we will probably stay in a hotel versus an apartment (just our preference) so any additional thoughts on BCN hotels would be great.

Is Botafumeiro in Barcelona or Sevilla?

chi_jen,
Botafumeiro is in Barcelona.

Last October we spent 4 wonderful nights in Sevilla at Taberna del Alabardero (www.tabernadelalabardero.com). Its hotel only has 7 rooms, but those 7 rooms are on the top floor of the remainder of the building, which includes a cooking and hospitality school, a fine dining restaurant on the second floor and a bistro and tea court on the first floor, all run by the same people. I recommend.

The most obvious day trip would be to Cordoba, to see the Mezquita. Ronda is a bit further (in the other direction).

That being said, one of the main attractions of Sevilla is just being there. It has great ambience.

Topping for all the good ideas on this thread.
Can anyone tell me what the weather is like in these cities in June and early July?
Thanks.

We arrived in Barcelona this year on July 9 and it was hot, hot, hot and humid, humid, humid.

Thanks for all the good tips. Bookmarking for our trip next year.

Hello. I am also going to Spain for the first time with only two days in Madrid. Can anyone tell me anything GOOD about Madrid?

Re Barcelona to Seville....you might consider flying and if you book early enough you can usually get a cheap fare. There may be a budget option between the two and try checking at www.skyscanner.net for that possibility. I love the rails but with so little time i would definitely consider air between these two.

Personally, I think four days IN is plenty if not more than enough...obviously a lot depends on what you want to do but you can certainly see both the cathedral and the nearby Alcazar in one long day if desired. The architecture may seem VERY "familiar" especially if you've been to the US Southwest/So. California.

As to Madrid...I would hardly call it "Americanized" as did someone above..unless you can locate a few royal palaces in American cities much less museums which rank up there with the Prado in terms of works contained.

I like all three cities mentioned and yes, Barcelona will be hot and VERY humid; Madrid will be hot and dryer.

I've asked this question before, but I'll ask the folks here, too: We are thinking of a spring break trip to Barcelona. Because the kids have only a week off of school, the trip can't be stretched any longer. We would likely arrive on Sunday and have to leave the following Sunday. That would give us 6 non-jetlagged days. I was thinking of just staying in Barcelona...but then I wonder if we should try to add Seville. What do you think?

missypie- I think that 6 days with kids in both BCN and Sevilla is quite a stretch and not a very good idea. I would stick to BCN and maybe do a day trip to Girona or Figueres (depending on what you guys like).

As for chi_jen: do you know where you want to stay in BCN? I highly recommend the Hotel Majestic, which should be within your budget in November, which is the off season.

Córdoba is the best day trip from Sevilla (I think) and the most accessible by train. As for Madrid, if you have only one night I would try to stay somewhere near the Puerta del Sol and take an evening stroll to the Plaza Mayor.

We used sevilla5.com to book an apt on Calle Adriano. Loved it -- excellent value. We also had an amazing lunch at La Taberna del Alabadero.

I enjoy all three cities mentioned, and all for different reasons. Loads of culture and good food and drink in each place. Be sure to have a look at Maribel's Guides for excellent advice on all three cities: www.maribelsguides.com.

As for Madrid being "Americanized," not sure what that means, but we encountered so many more English speakers and tourists in Barcelona than Madrid. Perhaps because Barcelona is a genuine hot spot right now. Heck even the Cheetah Girls shot their latest "movie" there. (I obviously have a six year old daughter.)

Yeah, it scares me that the Cheetah Girls will make Barcelona even more popular and that "everyone" will be going when we are! On the other hand, if it makes my own girls excited about visiting there, I guess it's a plus.

Before I went to Madrid last month I had no particular desire to see it, but it ended up being convenient for our itinerary to spend two nights there. Everyone in my party loved Madrid. The atmosphere is very urban and cosmopolitan, people up and on the streets very late into the night.

The Plaza Santa Ana is lively with cafes and street vendors and dancers and musicians. We saw the midnight flamenco show at Casa Patas, which was great fun. We went to the Prado and Reina Sofia museums.

We had one dinner at the very touristy but still worthwhile restaurant Botin, which was fun with strolling singers appearing around 11:30 PM. Lots of other interesting choices on that same street.

We did not go in but debated the Cafe central, a jazz club near the Plaza Santa Ana. It looked like fun, there was a band playing and there is live music every night from 10 to 12 PM. We opted out in favor of dinner before the flamenco show however.

We got many of our suggestions from Maribel's guide, referenced above.

I would love to go back.

On my first trip to Spain, I went to Barcelona, which I loved. I admit that by reputation, Madrid sounded a bit like “the Toronto of Spain” (i.e. neither as beautiful as Vancouver or sexy as Montreal). Second trip, I included Madrid. I was pleasantly surprised; having low expectations will do that. In spite of having a metropolitan population of around 4 million, the core neighborhoods don’t feel terribly crowded (unless you’re mad enough to be driving). It helps if you like art.