Hello! A group of 4 of us (50-73, active elders) are going to Spain for 8 days in mid-April. Can anyone recommend what we MUST see? We can fly into either Barcelona or Madrid. We are interested in art, history, general culture and food, and perhaps a bit of the sea.
So, which city as our home base? Where else to visit?
Many thanks.

Well in only a few days you will be able to se just a small part of Spain. As for the beach, Madrid is on a high plateau in the center of the country and the coast near Barcelona is really too cold for the sea in April. For that you would have to go to Andalusia/Costa del Sol in the very south of Spain.

Hi; Best information on this web site for Spain. www.maribelsguides.com Enjoy iris1745/dick

I have just returned from 5 days in Barcelona ( my third time).
Spain is a big country with a lot of regional differences.
If you can fly into Barcelona and out of Madrid ( or vice versa), take a fast train between, spend a 3-4 days in each city (with a few side trips),you will find a lot of history, art and culture in both. Barcelona is on the sea but no place to swim in April.

I think the 4 of you have to decide what/where you really want to see/do. Spain is huge with quite diverse culture, esp Barcelona/Catalan section.

You can choose:
1) Barcelona and surroundings for 8 days
2) Madrid and surroundings for 8 days
3) Barcelona 4 days, Madrid 4 days - ie, fly open-jaw: into one city and out of another.

My husband and I considered flying into Malaga (south, beaches) and out of Madrid (center, culture) last December. Never did get to go. But with the 8 days we intended to spend there, we had a pretty tight schedule (we are 55 and 68 yrs old)

As for MUST, it's a bit of a personal choice. Sounds like you all would really find what you are lookin for in Barcelona ...?

Again, husband and I, finally did book a trip to Spain. We arrive April 21. I would suggest you hurry up with reservations. Many of the ones we were hoping to make were hard to come by, and some were already fully booked.
Enjoy your trip!

I visited Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada and Barcelona in 12 days, but I know how to coordinate train schedules and keep on the move.

With only 8 days, I would recommend using either Madrid OR Barcelona as both entry and exit point and staying in the region surrounding. I really wanted to see Andalusia, and the Alhambra, and discovered very beautiful places in Sevilla that I previously did not know existed.

You can start in Madrid and move south through Andalusia to the coast, or go to Barcelona and possibly Valencia. There are suprising differences in the architecture, character and language in the various regions.

I have plans to arrive Seville end of May staying 3 nights, might try to do a day trip to Cordoba before continuing to Granada for 2 overnights. I am hoping it will be easy getting public transportation to see these cities. I plan to then move onto Algarve Portimao staying 4 nights to relax some and see the areas before returning to Lisbon, taking a day trip to Fatima. Does anyone know the most direct route to use by bus from Granada to Algarve Portimao? Must I return to Seville by train to get the bus to Portimao? Or is there other route that is scenic taking me to Algarve. I will be staying about 12 nights and returning from Lisbon so hope I have not packed too much into my itinerary. Thanks for any help with the routes.

As mentioned; Barcelona, adding Valencia ( train between the two). Or Madrid,then perhaps Sevilla by train, or Madrid and surroundings, but you will hopefully get better weather adding Sevilla or Valencia to your route.

and to Cavangal.. seems your route is crossing . I would go first to Granada so not to have to back track later to Portugal.

With only 8 days your best best is to stay in one area. I suggest flying into Madrid and exploring southern Spain. This is easy to do using public transportation (bus or train depending on your budget). The art in Madrid is fabulous, as are the history, culture and food. This is also true of Seville and Granada. I don't think including the beach is realistic for this 8 day trip.

ENJOY!

If you choose Madrid you may want to look into the World Heritage Cities of Toledo, Avila, Salamanca, and Segovia, all about two hours or so by train - Avila is on the way to Salamanca. Caceres, another World Heritage City is a little farther away, but quite interesting. Cuenca, another World Heritage City that I have not visited, is also near to Madrid and I am told worth the time.

Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba are all reachable from Madrid in a morning.

Spain is an incredibly fascinating and as noted above quite vast. Four days in Barcelona would allow you to see most of the sites and four days in Madrid would be adequate for the city.

To lincasanova : I already have booked flight from dublin into Seville so planned starting from there as I have not been Southern Spain yet. My return flight will be from Lisbon and understand there are buses from Algarve to Lisbon daily. I realize from maps that if I include Granada that it might not be possible to avoid returning to Seville enroute to Algarve but will visit Spanish tourist office shortly to have them advise on best routes. Thank you for responing. Kate

looks good. I was not sure it was all booked already! Have fun! Looks like great itinerary.

You MIGHT find very cheap flight from Granada or Sevilla to Lisbon. Try www.rumbo.es for local flights, then the companies themselves.

maybe www.spanair.com, www.vueling.com, www.clickair.com