Spain help for 2 wks at end of July
 

Our 16 year old daughter is going to Spain for a month of Spanish Language Immersion School. She is going to fly into Madrid, then stay in Aranjuez, then Santiago de Compostela then back to Madrid. My wife and I are going to meet her in Madrid and vacation for two more weeks with her. This will be the end of July into August. Question- Madrid and Barcelona OR Madrid and Andalusia. Never been to Spain. I understand that this is probably the worst time of the year to go. Also, daughter's school was big $$, so cheaper travel ideas would be great. Thanks!!!

Madrid of course!!!! witout doubt... TOLEDO is just less than one hour by modern train.. great and probably less hot than Madrid in july or august....

between Barcelona or Andalucia... the second one.. !!!!!!!!you have a 2 hours fast train from Madrid-sevilla and it is the nice city in spain.. real , authentic and so spanish!!! Barcelona is most european...

it coulb be hot period however after sevilla you have cadiz.. where the beaches are so great, nice seafood and nice FINO WINE!!!

never is worst time to go to Spain... just enjoy it and ...olè!!

The north coast of Spain is very nice - and "cool" (cooler than most places in Spain at that time).

July/August in Madrid and Andalucía - I don't know. Tres meses de invierno - nueve meses de infierno. Unless you come from a hot climate like Southern Arizona, you can have problems to adjust to the heat.
Barcelona - won't probably be THAT hot, but I would only do it if I had a vacation home or hotel at the sea (near Barcelona), and not a downtown hotel in the big city. Vacation homes or apartments usually rent by the week, and are can be much cheaper than 7 nights at an average hotel.

Be prepared for VERY hot weather in Spain - and no a/c at many hotels, restaurants, shops, museums.

I would strongly suggest to avoid Andalucia. Andalucia is wonderful, but NOT in July. It is too hot. Better go to the North, like Barcelona. It will be much cooler there. And Barcelona IS a beautiful city. You may consider traveling to the Costa Brava as well.

Read my trip report here on this forum:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35086408

Definitely Barcelona...there is so much to see and do and I was there in August last year and although it was hot, it was not unbearable. I would be sure to get an air conditioned hotel though :)

Thanks for the help. I am planning on part Madrid and part Barcelona. Saving Andalusia for another time. I'm sure I will have other questions as my trip planning progresses, but thanks for the input.


Jim

My husband and I were in Spain at the end of July last year. My kids are 16 and 11. We spent three days in Barcelona, which left us underwhelmed. We then spent about five days in Granada, Cordoba and Sevilla. Although it was extremely hot, which did reduce our enthusiasm, we really enjoyed ourselves there. We only spent one night in Granada, enough to see the Alhambra. We were two nights in Cordoba, which is a very compact, walkable town. My daughter and I took a night tour of the city, which was a great way to get oriented without being out in the heat. The Mezquita was fascinating, as was the palace, which I believe was called the Alcazar. Sevilla was a lot of fun too, very walkable and easy to get around. We were, however, very grateful to find an air-conditioned Starbucks across the street from the Cathedral. We booked our hotels through Venere.com, with the help of Rick Steves, and had uniformly nice hotels with space for four for about 120 euros a night. Our hotels were all air-conditioned. Food was not too expensive. It took us a while to work up the courage to try tapas, and once we did so we were hooked. I was afraid that we would end up spending way to much money, but they turned out to be very reasonable, and a great way for my two kids to try out new foods.

I hope you have a great trip.

Some years ago I was in Andalusia and Madrid in August. Madrid was hot but somehow more bearable than Andalusia ( hot as hell). Barcelona is great city, plus - it has a beach.