Although we have travelled extensively throughout Europe we have never visited Spain. Any comments on our proposed Itinerary would be appreciated. Accomodation advice would also be helpful. We will be travelling by car and have limited time.
Barcelona 3 days
Valencia 1 day
Granada 1 day
Seville 2 days
Madrid 2 days
Thankyou.

Hi

I would skip Valencia and include Cordoba if you have time. Also when are you going and what is your budget in euro for accommodation.

hi downUnder,

the forum seems full of aussies at the moment all trying to cram as much in as possible, and you're no exception!

have you looked at a map of Spain - it's vast. all right, not as big as oz, but your current itinerary has you spending a lot of time driving rather than doing.

rather than spread yourselves so thin, please try to prioritise what you really want to see. in 10 days, you could see barcelona, valencia and Madrid, or madrid, seville and granada. NOT all 5, you'll hate it.

depending on the time of year, I'd be tempted to forget about madrid altogether, and concentrate either on andalucia, or catalunya, both of which you could explore wuite extensively in 10 days.

when are you going?

regards, ann

Are the days inclusive of getting from one place to the next or exclusively exploration days? Where is the arrival/departure city? When are you going? What is your accomodation budget? Who are "we"? two people? three? seven? Off the bat, you are covering way too much terrain for 9 days using a car.

Thanks for your comments, just what I wanted to hear. Four of us will be travelling next September and with the Aussie dollar so low and probably not going to improve we just have to fit in as much as possible in a short time. Actually because of our distance from Europe that is the way Aussies often travel. We are also used to driving long stretches Melbourne to Sydney is a 10 hour drive and usually done in a day. The difference is there is not much to see in between. We fly into Barcelona and fly out of Madrid and like true Aussies we will then be travelling to Italy, France and then UK. I know those areas very well it is just that I want to get the Spain bit right and if you think We will be attempting too much we will certainly take notice. Our accomodation should be 150 euros per couple per night and we usually book on advice from other travellers Fodors or Trip Advisor. Once again many thanks.

ttt

"The difference is there is not much to see in between."
Hard to believe, but not much to see between Barcelona and Madrid either. I would skip Valencia and fly Vueling (cheap) from Barcelona to Granada.

Madrid is a huge city with world class museums, but you may not be interested in that sort of thing

You have to book tickets for Alhambra a head of time.
150 euros a night is o.k.
there are number of trip reports
from people here.
Also
http://www.maribelsguides.com/
should be helpful

Author: yk
Date: 10/24/2008, 11:35 am


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35111933

Thanks for those links danon and very much enjoyed yk report.
"not much to see in between" well I guess when you have driven that route many times it becomes all too familiar, even the odd kangaroo LOL. Most interested in the museums especially the Prado, but sounds like Valencia is a no no. I thought it has new architectural wonders, but I may be wrong as have only just started on the research. Actually checking with Fodors Spain book they suggest the route we have in mind and also a similar time frame, but reverse and driving direct from Barcelona to Granada. I will keep watching this forum.

Do you have a problem in spending more than 3 days in one location to actually see what you may be missing? I for one could not visit Valencia or Granada setting aside only one day. There is far too much to see and experience in so little time. Barcelona and Madrid are worth a week each, as is Sevilla.

Based on your forum handle, do you thing you could show someone around Sydney in one quick afternoon? It takes me that long to read the newspaper (Sydney Morning Herald).

Hi again

Valencia has the remarkable City of Art and Science - http://www.cac.es/galeria/arquitectura/cac. It depends what you're after. I was impressed by it but loved Andalusian Spain more. Cordoba has the world renowned Mezquita and also the Jewish quarter. I loved Granada and no visit to Spain is complete without visiting the Alhambra HINT: Definitely buy tickets online beforehand to make sure you get in. The Albaicin and Sacremonte districts there are wonderful. More info here - http://www.vivagranada.com. You write that there will be four of you. Have you looked at the option of hiring apartments? Generally more space and better value and kitchen facilties will make the dollar go further. Of course this is assuming 4 of you can live under the same roof

Robert253 of course we would like to spend more time in Spain but for us Europe is the destination and we have allocated 9 days in Spain, during the month away. If you came to Australia 3 days in Sydney would give you a good taste of the city that's why we have given Barcelona 3 days. Travel is expensive and the present economic situation has not helped. If we love Spain I know we will return someday and stay for the duration you suggest.

To see all of these cities by car will mean a lot of driving time. You might consider staying in Barcelona for 3 nights when you arrive, then take the AVE train to Madrid. Stay the 2 nights in Madrid and then the AVE again to Sevilla. You can drive to Granada, with stops in places like Ronda, Arcos. Then either drive all the way to Madrid airport (stopping in Cordoba?). The drive from Granada to Madrid is scenic, and you should enjoy it.

I would also recommend skipping Valencia and using this time instead to see more of Andalucia.

"If you came to Australia 3 days in Sydney would give you a good taste of the city that's why we have given Barcelona 3 days."

I understand that you travel from a long way and wish to see as much as possible in a short time.
As a matter of fact, we stayed in Sydney 8 days and would love to go back.
There is no doubt one can get a "feel" of the city in a short time although in Barcelona and Madrid one could could spend weeks .
We all do the best we can with our time and resources!
My advice would be to plan well, focus on what you are interested in.
Some people prefer to drive ( you don't need a car in Barcelona , Madrid or Seville ).
Since your time is limited, I would fly to Granada from Barcelona , drive to Seville from Granada( see some "white villages" on the way,
drop the car in Seville, take AVE (fast train) to Madrid (maybe stop
in Cordoba for a few hours (same train line). You might search the forum for info. on driving in Spain.

good luck!

Hi DownUnder!

I just came back from a two week trip to Spain - we spent the second week on the beach, but the first was a lot of running around. We didn't rent a car and were thrilled with that decision - the towns looked really difficult to drive around. With this much time you could definitely get really good deals on the trains just in case you were thinking about going that way.

I haven't made it to everywhere on your list yet, but when I was planning a similar trip (ended up with something totally different though!) everyone recommended I fly to Granada from Barcelona.

So, I guess what I would recommend is:

Barcelona 3 days
Granada 1 day
Cordoba 1 day
Sevilla 2 days
Madrid 2 days

Although I would probably suggest choosing Granada or Cordoba and spending two days - you save a lot of time that way (it can take ages to check into and out of a hotel between finding it and dealing with packing, etc.)

When I travel I try and run around as much as possible as well so I do understand the idea. I just think it might be a lot easier and less stressful to take the train around instead of having to worry about parking and whatnot. We did a combination of trains and buses and were really impressed with both.

Good luck,
PittPurple