We are going to Spain!!

This is kinda a last minute trip. We are leaving in two weeks. We are flying standby.... which will most likely require that we fly to London from Florida and then find transportation (like a low cost carrier) from London to Spain.

Everyone on Fodors has been great in helping us decide to go to Spain. Now, any suggestions on what to do once we get there? ;-)

1. Which cities would you recommend? I have heard that Seville is nice?

2. Are there any beaches in southern Spain that are really nice. Anywhere you can snorkel?

3. How do you feel about the lost cost European flights on RyanAir or EasyJet? Or do you know of a better way to get from London to Spain?

4. Any other recommendations on great places to stay or any other activities?

Thanks so much!!
--Bryan

PS. We are a couple in our late 20s. We are up for anything from hiking, to sightseeing, to watching flamenco dancing.

Do you have a budget? How much do you want to spend on a hotel? We stayed in a very contemporary boutique hotel in Madrid just last week that we liked a lot. We also flew EasyJet from Madrid to Gatwick with no problems (but if you fly into Heathrow, getting to Gatwick is kind of a pain).

"DmLove" ... we are actually flying into LGW. EasyJet sounds perfect. Do you happen to remember the name of the hotel in Madrid? Thanks!

Sure - we were just there last week! The name of the hotel is Hotel Preciados. It's a small contemporary boutique hotel -- not elegant, but nicely designed (the room was very small, but so well designed it didn't matter), two blocks (on pedestrian-only streets) to the Puerta del Sol. Location is fantastic as it's near the Puerta del Sol but on a quiet street. We paid 365 Euros for 4 nights in a twin room, the equivalent of about $130 a night at the current exchange rate.

I haven't had time to do a trip report yet, but I will say this - we loved Madrid, it's a beautiful city, but there aren't a lot of actual tourist attractions. By that I mean, it's a great place to "be". We spent two days walking/sightseeing, and one day just hanging/shopping etc. There are some easy day trips (Toledo and Segovia are both a half hour or so by train).

Take a look at Maribel's guides.

http://www.maribelsguides.com/

(FWIW, we were in Barcelona a few years ago, and I loved that city too, and in Sevilla many years ago and liked it a lot, too).

I forgot to add - I posted some pictures of the room with my TripAdvisor review of Preciados.

1. Which cities would you recommend? I have heard that Seville is nice?

Right, this is a 44 million people country, full of historical and beautiful cities, where climate varies enormously from North to South and East to West and where every region is quite different in many aspects to the others (for instance, flamenco dancing is just done in Andalucía, a region of Southern Spain). You should maybe narrow your question a bit. And yes, Seville is nice, in fact very nice.

2. Are there any beaches in southern Spain that are really nice. Anywhere you can snorkel?

With over 1000 miles of mediterranean coast, there must be a really nice beach somewhere. Those in Almería are maybe the less crowded. Snorkeling is very popular in the Girona coast (Medas islands), for example.

3. How do you feel about the lost cost European flights on RyanAir or EasyJet? Or do you know of a better way to get from London to Spain?

No problem with those airlines. Clickair is another low cost option.

4. Any other recommendations on great places to stay or any other activities?

Yes, but there´s an evident lack of space to number the enormity of places to see and enjoy in Spain ):

Thanks so much "DMLOVE" and "MIKELG".

I am looking into your suggestions as we speak.

You are right, Mike. I am reposting under a more specific heading... Southern Spain...instead of just "Spain".

Thanks.