fishskis

I am traveling to Spain in March. I will spending a few days in Germany before Spain, and then a few days in Paris after Spain. I am planning on spending between 5 and 7 days in Spain, starting in Madrid. I would appreciate any input as to a good itinerary, and logistics as well. I have been to Barcelona before, but never anywhere else in Spain. I love walking and discovering a city, architecture in general, old/ historical architecture, food, great restaurants, and nightlife. Though I appreciate art, I am not one who enjoys spending hours in museums, particularly if there are long lines and big crowds.

I am just starting to plan this, but I need to figure out how many total days I have in Spain since I am about to book my flights. I will be flying in from Germany (my current plan is to fly into Madrid), and then when I leave Spain, my destination is Paris, for which I will be booking a one way flight (or possibly train, depending upon where I end up in Spain).

I am thinking about two possibilities: firstly, spending about four nights in Madrid (including a probable day trip to Toledo), and two or three nights in San Sebastian; or, secondly, Four nights in Madrid, and then two or three nights in Seville.....Some questions: Do either of these plans make sense? Is this a good time of year to be in Northern Spain/ San Sebastian; I actually prefer when places are not jammed with summer crowds, but I do not want to be in a ghost town of a seasonal destination. Is there an itinerary that would maybe have all three destinations? I enjoy driving; is driving a good option, or are there good train options, or is flying preferable? Also, please note that I will need to get to Paris from wherever my last destination is in Spain; are there good one way flight options from Seville or San Sebastian (Bilbao?), like there are from Madrid? Is there a good high speed train option from San Sebastian to Paris?

Thank you.

kja

It depends on what you want to see and experience, but you might want to hold off on Sevilla until you have at least 10 days for Andalusia.

With one week, you could visit Madrid, Toledo (which I think deserves two full days), and perhaps Segovia and/or Avila.

A good guidebook or two should prove invaluable as you plan.

Aramis

First - you probably can't fit all three into 7 days comfortably since SS and Seville are several hours north and south of Madrid and there would be much backtracking involved.

4 days in Madrid with a day trip to Toledo makes sense. Segovia is definitely worth a look too.

I hear what kja is saying about time in Andalucia - let me put it this way. If you know you love Spain and expect to return, then seeing SS with the limited time you have here probably makes more sense. Not to diminish northern Spain at all, I love it, but there is more that draws people to Andalucia than to the north. You will probably consider returning to Andalucia in the future but unless you have a specific interest in northern Spain, it might be harder to find the "time" or space to fit SS into another, longer, Spain itinerary. For that reason I would lean to seeing it this time in the limited window from your Madrid gateway.

lincasanova

March.. I would go to Sevilla for those last three nights and fly to Paris from there. Plenty of flights including "Vueling".

Take the high speed train from Madrid to Sevilla. Enjoy the total difference between Spain´s capital and fourth largest city and hopefully have a bit warmer few days,too. However, I have found Sevilla also to be very cold/ chilly at that time of year more than once. it is very hard to predict weather.

lincasanova

You might also see if it is advantageous schedule or price-wise to fly into Sevilla first, then train north to Madrid and fly to Paris from there. You never know if those two new fights actually represent some significant savings.

fishskis

Thank you all for the replies. Since I posted, I have checked flights, and there are good one way, non-stop flights from all of these cities. I am feeling like Madrid for four days (including a Toledo day trip), and Seville for 2 or 3 days sounds good, and logistically easy. On the other hand, the reputation of the cuisine of San Sebastian and Northern Spain is tempting me.

So, back more reading and research. Thanks for the help.

lincasanova

Any place you go you will have a great trip..