Spain & Portugal in June
 

Two active couples looking for a 14-17 day trip to Spain and Portugal. Been to Barcelona so primarily Madrid down to Malaga and then Portugal. I personally know nothing about this region so I need lots of help planning this trip. I know that June may not be the best time to go but it's the best time for us to go and we're not worried about heat. We are OK with getting a car and driving unless other transportation works better. Accommodations should be deluxe (4-5 stars) and we want to spend a couple of days at each place. We don't want to change every night.

What are you interested in: museums, nightlife, excavated Roman and Celtic cities, Moorish architecture, beaches, caves, monasteries, castles, river cruises, fortified or walled cities, driving, vineyards and vine cellars......
Why Portugal?
Why just Madrid and Malaga?

When you say Madrid to Malaga, do you mean you also want to visit other places in Andalusia along the way to Malaga?

We were in that region this past September for 15 nights, so I am not sure you have time for Portugal. This was our itinerary:

Madrid - 4 nights
Toledo - 1 night
Córdoba - 2 nights
Granada - 2 nights
Malaga - 2 nights
Seville - 4 nights

I know that TAP has flights from Seville to Lisbon, so if you don't go to Toledo, you could probably go to Lisbon for about 3 nights. But Toledo is beautiful, and since it's only a half hour train ride from Madrid, it might not make sense to skip Toledo on this trip, unless you think you will return to Madrid some day. It might make more sense to leave Portugal for another trip.

We traveled by train or bus. Cars in these cities will be very inconvenient unless you want to visit the white towns. You should purchase train tickets as soon as they go on sale (about 2 to 3 months before your travel dates) to get the best prices.

If you haven't done so already, I strongly recommend buying some guidebooks to help you plan this trip. I used Lonely Planet, Michelin, and Rick Steeves.

You can also click on my name to read my trip report.

Hope this helps.

Trains are great but book early to get nice discounted fares - www.renfe.com for Spain - www.seat61.com has lots on that; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com lots on trains and where to go with them.

I too would concentrate on Spain with only two weeks. Or may just fly from say Seville to Lisbon to end trip.

While it obviously depends on your interests, I’m with KarenWoo: You have more than enough to see in Spain for the time you have. I skipped Malaga, but welcomed more time in Toledo (2 nights) and Granada (3 nights) than KarenWoo, and I also spent time in Ronda (1 night), Las Alpujarras (1 night), Salamanca (2 nights), Segovia (1 night), and Avila (1 night). As already mentioned, I skipped Malaga and a lot of other places many people consider priorities, including Cuenca and the white towns other than Ronda. And except for the white towns other than Ronda, no car is necessary – public transportation in Spain is, IME, comfortable and convenient.

Here's what I recommend: Get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation, add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting lost/oriented, etc.). Then see how things fit together. BTW, note that many things in Spain are closed on Monday, and often for all or part of Sundays too; and many things in Spain will also be closed daily for a very long mid-day break.

Hope that helps!

Wow...thanks for the great information. I can see that we have to do a lot more research before we book this trip. As I said I know nothing about this region so it looks like we probably should just consider Spain. The other couple that we will travel with suggested flying to Madrid and then coming home through Malaga stopping at multiple places. We do love wine and would love to stay away from cathedrals. Other than that we are open for suggestions. Thanks again.

What your friends are suggesting is called open jaw tickets or multi-city tickets, and that makes the most sense so you don't have to backtrack to Madrid. There are lots of flights from Malaga and from Seville back to the U.S. We flew into Madrid from Marseilles because we first spent 2 weeks visiting our daughter who lives in France. Then we used trains and buses for the rest of the trip, and flew home from Seville.

BTW, we really like Malaga, which I think is under-rated. The old city is beautiful, and there are enough sights to visit. Since it will be hot in June, you might welcome some down time on the Mediterranean where it will hopefully be cooler.

There is not one dominant wine region in Spain. They are scattered throughout the country.

http://winefolly.com/review/map-of-spain-wine-regions/

Everyone says how underrated Malaga is - plus it's on the sea, always a plus.

I should add when I was in Malaga long ago it was rather shabby at places - folks who have not visited in recent years may not know the vast improvement. Everyone now raves about Malaga - not just a seaside resort.