spain itinerary
 

I am in the early stages of planning a trip to spain for next spring (march 2004). My husband and 13 yr old son are going with me. We've never been to spain before but we would like to visit Barcelona and Andalucia. We have a total of 10 days (9 nights ) for this trip. Is this too much to cover in 10 days? We would like to see Seville, Cordoba and Granada aside from Barcelona. We are not planning to rent a car but just to use the trains or fly if needed. Can you please help me with a reasonable itinerary? We are planning to fly with open jaw tickets. I would like suggestions on what city to start and fly out, how may days to spend in these cities and suggest hotels,too. We are not big museum goers but would just like to soak in the atmosphere of each city. Thanks in advance

I'm just back from a Spain trip in May which included most of the cities you mention. I had about twice as much time as you, so to do it all would be pretty rushed, but it's possible.

I flew into Madrid, took trains from there to Sevilla and Sevilla to Granada, then flew Granada to Barcelona (on Iberia) and home from BCN. (I had planned Cordoba either as a stop on the train to Sevilla or as a day trip from there, but it fell by the wayside due to heat and exhaustion....)

Here's my trip report, which is primarily food-focused:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34426788

Covering Barcelona and Andalucia might be too much in 10 days. I am thinking of doing either Barcelona or Andalucia separately. for a teenager, which would you suggest? If we do Barcelona, are there any other nearer cities to visit? If we do Andalucia, is it better to fly out of Malaga? Thanks again for any advices.

My husband and I live in Barcelona and we are about to go on a 5-6 day trip to Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba. I think that you can do both BCN and Andalucia in 10 days especially if you don't feel the need to see all the museums and sites.

I've heard that Sevilla is lovely but that 2 days can be enough, that Cordoba is very nice but you don't need a lot of time there, and that Granada is truly impressive. I haven't been yet so I can tell you when I return in 2 weeks. You can take an overnight train to Sevilla or Granada which saves you from losing a day and saves money on hotels or sometimes you can find very cheap flights (we found a one-way ticket to Sevilla for about 30 euros).

There is plenty to do in Barcelona and I would try to spend at least 4 days there. There are also nice cities/towns close to Barcelona like Sitges. Good luck.

Thanks, Barcelona. Pls do let me know about your trip when you get back. What airline will you use to fly to Seville?
Is it better to fly to Barcelona from Seville or from Granada? Thanks again.

My husband and I did your plan last November, with the exception that we took an overnight train between Granada and Barcelona rather than a flight b/c the departure times for off-season flights were inconvenient. Ten days was plenty of time, here is what we did:

Day 1 -- Arrived in Madrid at 8 am. Took 11 am AVE to Seville. Should have booked a 10 am train. Checked into Taberna Del Alabardero ($144 night). Charming, small hotel with high end-restaurant.
Day 2 -- Explored Seville
Day 3 -- Day Trip by Train to Cordoba (disappointing)
Day 4 -- Day trip by Bus to Jerez and Arcos
Day 5 -- Train and Taxi to Ubeda. Checked into Parador in Ubeda. Explored Ubeda; Relaxed.
Day 6 -- Taxi to Baeza. Explored Baeza. Taxi back to Ubeda. Checked out of Parador. Bus to Granada. Checked into AC Palacio De Santa Paula ($132). Highly recommend hotel. Explored Granada at dusk. Sounds like a crazy day but it really, truly wasn't.
Day 7 -- BEST DAY: Toured Granada in AM. Visited Alhambra on afternoon ticket. Checked out of hotel, ate dinner, and boarded overnight train to Barcelona ($155 each for 1st class car -- recommended and book early. Slept remarkably well--wasted no daytime in transit.
Day 8 -- Arrived in Barcelona at 10 am. Taxi to Ritz ($277). "Tired" hotel-- disappointing. Toured Barcelona
Day 9 -- Toured Barcelona
Day 10 -- Day Trip by train to Monterserat
Day 11 -- Delta Flight Home from Barcelona (no extra cost of open jaw)

When I read over our trip it sounds like a lot (especially Days 6 & 7), but it really wasn't. We found Spain sleepy compared to other European countries we have visited.
Hope this helps,
Kate





Day 6

Kate,
Thanks for the info. We are planning to spend a day in Madrid then take the train to Seville. Is it worth staying one day in Madrid? I am just curious, was Cordoba that disappointing? Did you visit the Mesquita? We might take the overnight train from Granada to Barcelona. Thanks for anymore suggestions .

Hi Kate - Thanks for posting your detailed trip. It was just what I needed. I found out we will have 7-10 days in Barcelona at the end of a cruise and. I posted a HELP! message here, asking for advice and suggestions, but got no answers (sigh) but then I read this!
It is just what I had in mind. I have some questions. I will either ask them on the board or email you with them. Whichever you prefer. If you want to email me my email is: [email protected].
Our trip is in October - hopefully off-season. I particularly have questions about the trains. Where you found the schedules. How you book them. If you used a rail pas of some kind?
Hoping to hear from you, Carol.

igpjazz,
I've never been to Mardrid, so I can't comment on it. We found Cordoba disappointing for two reasons: 1) the Mezquita did not have human or audio guides (at least when we were there). So, we found ourselves wondering around this enormous, interesting-looking building, but had no idea what we were looking. The inside is dark and has few, if any signs, so it was hard to use written guides (must bring your own). If you go, I highly recommend finding a human guide (we did not see any) to take you through it. 2) There is not much else to do there. We visited a small palace, and other than that we were happy to return to Seville.

Brahmama -

Have you looked at the Destinations section here on Fodors? Frommers.com also has similar info, which might answer some of your general questions.

The Spanish rail site is www.renfe.es It has an English language option in the upper right corner of the main page.

Kate,
Is it the AVE train that you take from Granada to Barcelona? If we buy the spain railpass, do we have to make a reservation in advance?

To see if a railpass is worthwhile, you can check you itinerary on railsaver.com.

I just bought point-to-point tickets in Spain, a day or two before travel. (You can get them at some travel agencies for the same price as at the station, if that's more convenient.)

Brahmama:

I booked our AVE to Seville and our overnight train to Barcelona before leaving home through Rail Europe. I chose Rail Europe for peace of mind b/c I wasn't entirely clear on exactly what I needed to book when looking at the RENFE website. This decision did cost us more money, but I was able to speak to a real person and ask lots of questions. I was surprised to learn that even for off-season travel I still needed to book the overnight train a few months in advance (I did not get my first choice).

If you are a non-smoker, be sure to book non-smoking train cars.

For the rest of our transportation, I relied heavily on hotel people for advice and schedule information. They were always very helpful, even those that spoke little English (my Spanish is abysmal).

We found the guidebooks' complementary comments on Spain's bus system to be accurate. It really is good, and I was surprised by how well this worked out for us. It was really cheap and comfortable too.

Finally, we found taxis to be SUCH A GOOD DEAL. Shockingly cheap for farily long-distances and well worth each driver's knowledge of how to get to our hotel/site, which was always buried deep in the middle of each city we visited.

I know most people rent a car for Andalucia, but I have absolutely no regrets that we did not.

I'd be happy to answer any questions on this string.

Kate

igpjazz:
We took the AVE from Madrid to Seville. I did not buy a Spain Rail Pass b/c the rail system did not appear to conveniently serve the Andulacia's small towns. That's why augmented our train travel plans with buses and taxis.
Kate

Kate,
I appreciate all the info you gave. another question? what class night train would you recommend? Do we have to book it way in advance? Thanks again

igpjazz,
We booked a first class compartment, so that's all I can comment on. The bed was comfortable, we had a sink, and they provided bottled water. However, I just realzed that you will be traveling as a party of 3, and the first class sleepers are two to a compartment. I did get a peak at the standard class sleepers which sleep four. The bunks looked much narrower than first class, so they might not be as comfortable. Also, unless you book the fourth bunk, they may bunk someone with you! Or atleast that's what I've read on this site in the past. You might want to call Rail Europe, or the like, and ask. They have a 1 800 number. If you do choose the overnight train, I would book 2-3 months in advance
Kate.

Thanks for the suggestions, Leslie and Kate. Actually I have *not* checked the destinations for some reason. I have checked out about 5 other boards and neglected to check right here.
And I didn't have the Spain train schedule, so that will be handy. I do have a Europe schedule - it's German - very good for information except it does not give any prices.
I need to see prices so that I can see if it is cheaper to fly in some cases. With only a few days, time is money, of course.
We've pretty well set on 2 nights in 4 places. Seville, Ronda, Granada and Barcelona - flying back to the states from there. To save time, we may fly from Barcleona to Seville and Granada to Barcelona, using the train for the other portions.
Now I need to find some 3*** hotels that are well-located.
This is not a train-related question, but I was wondering about breakfast (!) I noticed there is usually an extra charge of about 3 euros for a continental breakfast and 8.5 for a full buffet breakfast. Just what do they serve on the full buffet? Is the continental the usual - coffee or tea, a pastry or roll and maybe fruit juice?
We will need to leave luggage in Barcelona and just carry a small bag. Any suggestions?
Thanks again for all help.
Carol

I do have some questions for you, Kate. Although we are doing our October trip rather in reverse, I am trying to copy some of your itinerary, since it *worked*!

This is our tentative itinerary - please make comments and suggestions:
Day 1 - Flight from Barcelona to Seville
Day 2
Day 3 Trip to Jerez so my husband can see the horse show.

(Did you see it? Any comments? There's a sherry tasting right across from it, and I'm looking forward to that too!)
There is a train also from Seville. Why did you choose the bus? And where can I find a bus schedule?

The following was what I didn't want to post - as I've read some very negative posts about it, but we're considering it!
Day 4 Get some how to Algeciras to meet our guide for a day-trip to Tangiers. We have a GREAT guide and although I know it's the Tijuanna of Africa, we want to have some experience of Africa.

Day 5 A hill town - don't know where yet
Day 7 Granada
Day 9 Flight back to Barcelona. Or night train on Day 8.

Like igpjazz, we are not planning to rent a car.
Any help will be appreciated.
Carol