spain and portugal-drive or train
 

Hi,
I'm planning a two week trip next april or may. First, is this a good time to go and would you rent a car or travel by train? We'd like to start in Barcelona then head north visiting town along the way an then into portugul and south possibly ending in seville. Is this even doable?
Thanks

Yes! and it's wonderful. My husband and I travelled through Spain and Portugal in the Fall of 2003 by car. Both countries are very easy to navigate. We never bought a map!

The only tricky parts are the larger cities (ie: Seville and Barcelona). We learned the best thing to do was park at the train station and explore the cities by foot and/or cab. Driving in the cities is a nightmare.

Definitely visit Cascais in Portugal!

We have traveled Spain 4 times and Portugal twice--all were 2 week trips. We still have not seen it all. You really need to get a good map and use viamichelin.com to estimate driving times. It will be a stetch just to see Portugal and Andalusia in 2 weeks. It is Barcelona that does not fit--too far. Limit your scope and you will be happier. I would pick a max of 5 destinations and make each one a max of 4 hours drive time to the next. Yes, that is a good time and driving is the only feasible way to do it.

We have done two major road trips in Spain. The first one was a three week trip going to Madrid-Segovia-Avila-Toledo-Cordoba-Cadiz-Gibraltar-Jerez-Ronda-Granada-Denia to see friends-Cuenca-Madrid. Loved it! They were very busy three weeks.

The second time we had ten days and we went Madrid-Burgos-Bilbao-Basque Coast-Santillana del Mar-Potes-Cangas de Onis-Leon. Truly wonderful but totally different from the south. Do not miss the Picos de Europa region! We could have easily spent two more weeks just between the Basque Country and the Picos.

Throwing Portugal in as well is a bit ambitious. Choose one or two areas in Spain and make the most out of that ;)

Are you planning to spend some time in Madrid? That would take at least three days out of your two weeks if you are planning to go to the museums and hang around. Barcelona will also take a couple of days. Sevilla could easily fill more than one day.

Make sure you download from maribelsguide.com her wonderful files on Madrid, Barcelona, Andalucia and the Pais Vasco. Trust me, you cannot go wrong with her information and recommendations.

thanks for your helpful replys. this is the beginning of my research and you've given very helpful info