excited_confused

Hi everyone, it's been a while since i posted but I have been lurking - reading other people's posts & TR's. Now I have a trip of my own to plan - yay! Just started looking into Spain for next May. We will be travelling with our 23 year old daughter & hopefully our 26 yr old son who always resists & then joins us at the last minute (DD tells him she can't understand why he would turn down a free trip to Europe!) I guess it's not cool to travel with your parents at that age.

We plan to leave on Sat May 10th since DD only has that week off. Barcelona seems to be the place everyone wants to see so we will be in Barcelona for 4 nights - will probably look into renting an apt. Then on to Madrid for 2 nights. The kids will probably fly out of Madrid on Sat, May 17th. DH & I will have another 2/1/2 days since we are planning to return on Tuesday - the question is where do we spend those days? Most Fodorites will probably suggest staying in Madrid but Madrid does not particularly appeal & I would really like to see another place. Trips to Europe are not easy to come by! Here are some of the options I came up with:

1. Take a train to Seville & back.

2. Fly to Lisbon & fly out directly to Boston.

3. Fly to Istanbul & fly out to Boston. I know Istanbul is much farther but since we are using award tickets, we are able to do that. The only problem is that they will not be nonstop flights but I think it's still worth it.

4. The Canary islands maybe? Have not done much research into this so I am not sure how easy they are to get to from Madrid, which one we would go to etc.

As for our interests, we like natural scenery, beaches, architecture, outdoor cafes, bazaars, nightlife - not too much into museums. We love the feel of Europe - cobblestone streets etc though my ankles kill! We like being outdoors especially in good weather, spend enough time indoors in Boston in the winter.

Any other suggestions are welcome. We have to decide where to book our return flight from so need to make up my mind soon. Thanks again, my trips would never work out as well as they do if I did not have the help of everyone on this forum - don't know what I would do without you!

Seamus

Consult a map/timetable - with 2 1/2 days would not think flying to Istanbul a reasonable option - too much time taken up with flying. Turkey is not part of the Schengen area so that would be an international flight.
My suggestion would be to stay in Madrid as your base, do day trips - Toledo, Segovia, Avila, El Escorial. Thanks to the AVE high speed train you can even do day trips to Valencia (about 1.5 hours) or even Seville (2.5 hours each way.)

Christina

I would never have thought of Istanbul for an easy 2 day trip from Madrid and Boston. The Canary Islands aren't Europe, even if owned by Spain, I don't know why you are even considering that if your goal is to experience something more of Europe. They are islands off the west coast of Africa. It would make more sense to go to Morrocco, it seems to me, if you want to go to Africa. But again, that doesn't have anything to do with experiencing Europe. If you want beaches and outdoors, okay (for the islands), but you can do that in a lot of places. You can fly to the Canary Is. in about 3 hours from Madrid, though, and you can find airlines that fly there direct, it is a vacation spot (Ryanair for one).

If you just want islands and not Europe, Canary Islands actually might be interesting.

I'd probably do Seville, even though it is getting hot in May down there (but not unbearable), or Lisbon. It is even hotter in Casablanca, of course. Tenerife being an island wouldn't be any worse than Seville, and perhaps better.

I like Easyjet, there are lots of cities they fly to direct from Madrid where you could probably get a flight home (much easier than Canary Islands, I would think). YOu could spend a couple days in London or Paris or Edinburgh, for example. They also fly to Lisbon.

tailsock

Christina stole my suggestion. you can easily see sunny Lisbon for the duration of your visit. very hilly with a castle perched on top of one of them... yellow trams and funiculars, the metro are all very inexpensive. tasty but simple dishes centering around pork and fish...festive and lively plazas and squares ugh i miss it. EasyJet does in fact take you from Barcelona to Lisbon but book early to save $

cruiseluv

Agree with Seamus, even if you dont care for Madrid itself (just curious, have you been there before?) , 4-5 days in Madrid afford you to do several day trips using Madrid as base: Segovia , Toledo, Avila, maybe even Sevilla or Cuenca are possibilities.

danon

Another trip from Madrid is beautiful Valencia ...1:45 min on AVE.

cruiseluv

This is great news, that Valencia is so close now! I'll need to do that next time I'm in Madrid. As much as I like them, there're just so many times you can do Segovia and Toledo!

Egbert

Toledo, Avila, Segovia makes the most sense. Seville deserves 3 nights minimum and it doesn't make sense going all the way there and skipping Granada. Why does everyone buy tickets to Barcelona? Lisbon is a good idea if you can fly out of there.

danon

cruise uv,

We finally visited Valencia ( after 5 trips to Spain) last Oct.
Fantastic beaches, beautiful old tow, a 9 km. green belt ,and amazing City of Arts and Sciences.
Situated between Madrid and Barcelona it is too often ignored- even by Spain lovers.

cruiseluv

Danon,

Thanks for reinforcing the sense I got during my very brief stop there a few years ago during a cruise. We just had time to stroll around the old town and visit the beautiful mercado central.

Christina

That's sounds like a good idea, certainly saves time and as long as you are in Spain, might as well see some other parts. And you do hve the beaches there if they like that.

I love Barcelona, there is nothing wrong with people buying tickets to go there, a lot of people like it. They obviously don't have tickets RT to/from Barcelona, anyway, so it doesn't make any difference where they first were, they don't need to go back there for any reason.

excited_confused

Hi all, thanks for the input. We have not bought tickets yet but since everyone in the family wants to see Barcelona, seems the natural choice to go there first. I know Istanbul doesn't make sense distance wise - just that I really, really want to go there & didn't want to wait another couple of years!
OK, so Seville or Valencia seem the top choices. Danon, thanks for suggesting Valencia - I had not thought of that. Lisbon is also still in the running - I have read a few TR's on Lisbon, would people agree that it is worth a visit or will Seville or Valencia be better choices? How are the beaches in Valencia?Seems like most people think that 2-3 days is not enough time for Seville & yet it has been suggested as a day trip as well so I am a little confused. We probably would not do it as a day trip anyway. Egbert, I see that you feel a trip to Seville should include a visit to Granada, does everyone feel that way? Unfortunately I don't know much about Granada - I did look it up online but am not really getting a feel for the place.
This is our first visit to Spain so I really do appreciate all the help & sorry if I don't seem so well informed. This trip has just come up & since we are booking award seats which fill up early, I just put the question out thereafter reading some posts & TR's on the cities I mentioned.
FYI, if we do go to Lisbon, the flight from Madrid to Lisbon would be included. We would have to buy tickets from Barcelona to Madrid which I gather can be by air or train.Please keep your thoughts coming on the 3 options above. Thanks!

cruiseluv

I dont agree that a trip to Sevilla must include a trip to Granada. When I first went to Sevilla i didnt go to Granada, came back a few years later and did. Sevilla in itself is a destination. I was there 4 days (with a day trip to Cordoba) but my parents did it as a day trip from Madrid and saw quite a bit.
I dont want to talk you out of Lisbon (and hope I will not incur the wrath of Lisbon lovers) , but I wasnt impressed with it at all.

Frankly, we're just talking here of 2 1/2 days, aren't we? In that case, IMO what makes must sense is to stay in Madrid and do day trips from there.

nvl325

Another vote for a couple day trips from Madrid. We took the big bus tours (this was our first time, we never do that) to El Escorial, and also Segovia. Fantastic! And that's with spending over a week there- we loved it, so much to see...the Royal Palace, for example...

Christina

I think it is silly to say a trip to any city must include a trip to a completely different city in the same country. They aren't right each other. It doesn't even make sense.

excited_confused

Hi, I think I will book our return from Madrid for now & then decide after more research if we want to go to Seville for 2-3 nights or do day trips from Madrid. I personally would rather go to another place, I am used to the packing/unpacking & one gets a better feel for a place by staying there. If anyone has any other suggestions for somewhere to go to from Madrid for the remaining 3 nights, please keep them coming. Thanks!

excited_confused

Hi, I am back for more advice! I was able to add a day to the trip & have booked our return from Malaga instead. I have until tonight to change that without a penalty so PLEASE let me know if that's a bad idea! I figured that way we could spend 2 nights in Seville after Madrid & 2 nights in Malaga. Maybe even stop in Ronda on the way to Malaga though I know it is not the most direct route. Just wanted to know if it makes sense to fly out of Malaga since it seems closer to Seville, rather than go back to Madrid for an overnight stay before flying out? Thanks!

danon

Malaga is lovely....good idea !

excited_confused

Thanks danon, that's good to hear!
Is the trip from Madrid-Seville & Seville-Malaga easy to do by bus/train? Would rather not rent a car but could do it if we had to.

danon

Train is perfect...take a look at RENFE
We took a train Malaga- Seville , 2 hours
Madrid- Seville, 2:30 min.
Spain's railways are great, but not cheap.