IMDonehere

I guess I am outnumbered. We went to Toledo for the only second time in 40 years, last October. And it is a beguiling city.

KarenWoo

I apologize for hijacking this thread, but I am very interested in the restaurants that Kimhe recommends for Malaga. We will be in Malaga for 2 nights in September, and would love to have fresh seafood at a beachfront restaurant. Are the restaurants you recommend in Pedregalejo within walking distance from the city center? Or would we have to take a cab? I printed out the article to bring with me. These restaurants sound like our cup of tea! Thank you!

kimhe

KarenWoo,

Pedregalejo is some 3 miles east of the absolute city center of Málaga, and I would have taken a 5-7 mins taxi for some 5-7€. There are also buses all the time.

progol

<<My day trip from Sevilla would be to Cordoba to see the Mezquita, It is mind-boggling. I would also take a day off of granada and add to Madrid. The Prado is my favorite art museum in the world.>>

Totally agree! Mezquita was one of the most breathtaking experiences of a trip filled with them - a must see.

And the Prado is up there in amazing when it comes to museums! Whether you do it now or in the future when you have more time to spend is a good debate. We also loved the Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofia, which now houses 'Guernica' again, after many years at NYC's MOMA. If you're a NYer of a certain age, you may remember it hanging there (as I do) and felt very moved to see it now back in Spain.

KarenWoo

Kimhe, thank you vey much!

kimhe

I strongly suppoert the idea of Museo Reina Sofia in Madrid. The second floor with Picasso, Dalí, lots of other painitings, posters, films, photos etc., dealing with a couple of the greatest civilizational breakdowns of the 20th century, the Spanish Civil War and WWII, completely blew my mind off a couple of years ago. Powerful Guernica almost came as an anti-climax to all the other strong impressions. Reina Sofía is close to both Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza: http://www.museoreinasofia.es/en

ebean

kimhe: what restaurants in Pedregalejo do you recommend?

PalenQ

Four days in Granada is about 3 too much.>

Or perhaps for some 3.5!

ebean

we're probably cutting back granada to 2 full days (3 nights).

MichaelAndrews

I am planning our first trip to Spain as well for this summer. I had asked a question in my first post on Fodors about whether Valencia was worth visiting.

We are landing in Madrid and don't know whether to go North, South, East or West

Andalusia seems like the most logical choice on our first trip, but when I look at the map and research this wonderful country, I am also drawn to Barcelona and Valencia and the eastern coast, the less travelled region of Extremadura to the west, and the greener northern coast.

As life is unpredictable, you never know when we will have the chance to return, so we want to make this trip to Spain count.

It is my wife and I and our two children, ages 21 and 19 (boy and girl). We have travelled to Europe quite a bit over the years and have seen many parts of France, Italy, Germany and Greece.

We planned on twelve days but think we will extend it to three weeks, so maybe we can combine two or three regions. We will be renting a car and driving throughout the trip. We also think we should spend a few days in Madrid at the end of our vacation just before we fly home. We want an "all-inclusive" vacation, including art, museums, beach time, day trips, good, reasonably priced food and walking through quaint medieval towns.

What do you all think?

PalenQ

. We want an "all-inclusive" vacation, including art, museums, beach time, day trips, good, reasonably priced food and walking through quaint medieval towns.>

Then you will want three weeks not 1.5 weeks.

MichaelAndrews

Hi PalenQ,

I said we would extend our vacation to three weeks (first sentence of the last paragraph).

Can you help with that info?

Thanks

Bedar

No, you said you THINK you'll extend it to 3wks. Nothing definite. First things first, go buy a guidebook and do some research.

PalenQ

Can you help with that info?>

That's a pretty broad question but to me a classic tour of Spain would involve Barcelona
train to Madrid -with day trip to Toledo
train to Granada - for Alhambra
bus or train to Ronda - gorgeous town divided by deep gorge
Take buses via iconic perched white towns to Seville
Seville - with day trip to Cordoba and day trip to Jerez de la Frontera for sherry tours and see practice sessions of great Andalusian horses.

Spend 4-5 days in Barcelona, Madrid and Seville not including travel time.

If doing all by train check out the Spanish Railpass.

If driving add more time to transit between Barcelona and Madrid and Andalusia.

MichaelAndrews

Bedar:

I think that if you read the rest of that paragraph, you could infer that with three weeks, I could spend more time seeing two or more regions. Read slowly next time.

Also, why not ask people here at the same time I am researching online? The advice from travellers here is a lot more useful than standardized guidebooks. And I have done research, but now need advice to help me narrow my choices that are available to me.

PalenQ:

Thank you for your advice. Your plan is most probably what I should do as Andalusia is probably the best way to spend a first trip to spend in Spain. Would you leave out Valencia?

Thank you very much.

kja

@ MichaelAndrews: While it depends on your interests, in general I recommend 10 or 11 days for Andalusia; 6 to 10 days for Madrid, Toledo, and other parts of central Spain, 10 days for Barcelona and the Costa Brava, 5 or 6 days for San Sebastian and Bilbao, more if you want to see more of the coast.

BTW, online research can not replace studying a guidebook, as you can' research something you don't know to ask, but that information is all right there for you in a guidebook.

MichaelAndrews

kja:

Have you ever been to Valencia? It does not get much press compared to other Spanish cities but, after the research I have done, it does seem very interesting.

I am thinking about spending 8 - 10 days in Andalusia, then heading east to Valencia, up the coast, and ending our vacation in Barcelona.

What do you think?

PalenQ

I liked Valencia a lot- you could go Barcelona to Valencia then to Madrid then Seville (Valencia to Seville is a long train ride but if driving the coastal route can be quite nice (trains take a round-about inland route). I took a night train Granada to Valencia but I think that that train may not run no more.

IMDonehere

As a guidebook cuckoo, they vary substantially in their intent and coverage. For example, Cadogan guides are as dull as they get but have extremely accurate coverage. Fodor's after catering to the first timer for decades has finally expanded their coverage to include regional cooking and smaller towns.

For sights, the best still remains the Michelin Green. And for restaurant I like Time Out but they are limited to bigger cities. But all guidebooks are obsolete as soon as they are edited.

But the reason I like these boards, is there are many with personal experience which is better than some guide books and much better than the unknown credentials of bloggers, 98% of which are vanity affairs and are poorly written and narrow in scope.

PalenQ

<But the reason I like these boards, is there are many with personal experience which is better than some guide books and much better than the unknown credentials of bloggers, 98% of which are vanity affairs and are poorly written and narrow in scope>

ditto - Fodor's and similar sites (I guess never been to them much) are invaluable for trip planning with personal experiences given and locals who contribute so so great - of course you'll get varying takes but more opinions and takes the better IMO.