Spain Itinerary question
 

I just found out I will have an opportunity to travel in Spain this summer for about 12 to 14 days after completing a short educational session in Salamanca. As I have already traveled in the Salamanca region of the country, I am hoping to see other areas of the Spain. I will likely go from Salamanca to Madrid, where I will meet my husband who will fly in a day before I arrive, so he can rest and acclimate to the time change - (we are from the west coast of the US) before we embark on our travels. This will be my second time in Spain, and my husband's first, although we have traveled extensively throughout much of Europe.

We plan to rent a car - I have driven in Spain before and find it easy - and would like to see some of the countryside, as well as historical and cultural centers. I know it will be very hot in July and August, but that doesn't pose a problem ... we actually like hot weather. We are in our mid to late 50s, very active, and enjoy good food and decent places to stay, but are not so fabulously wealthy that a reasonable budget is of no concern to us. I speak passable Spanish. We like historical sites, palaces, museums, beaches, mountains, small villages, big cities ... basically we are open to almost any adventures. We bike and hike regularly. We like spontaneity, but not at the expense of finding ourselves without a place to stay at the end of a long day ... so some planning is a must.

I realize this is a very broad question, but do any Fodorites out there with experience in Spain have suggestions of what would be an interesting itinerary for about 12 days? We are thinking of including one or two stays at paradores, but will probably have those as our "splurge" days. We would likely need to return to Madrid at the end in order to fly home, but perhaps could consider an open jaw flight, and leave from Barcelona ... other ideas?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions!

Segovia, Avila, Burgos, San Sebastian--including things in between and the coast--and then back to Madrid.

The first half of this album might give you some ideas:

http://www.photoworks.com/members/sl...626&key=mksfca

And this one for the Basque country:

http://www.photoworks.com/members/sl...391&key=mksfca

I recommend that you take a look at some of these itineraries: http://www.maribelsguides.com/
I have followed Maribel's itineraries of Northern Spain and the French Basque regions and we had an amazing time. You might have to email her for those. There is a beautiful Parador in Cangas de Onis; the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao was very worthwhile and we loved Donostia/San Sebastian and Hondoribbia and then into the Pays Basque. Her itinerary has great places to have the Basque version of Tapas called Pinxtos and beautiful drives up into France.

If you don't mind the heat and possibly mosquitos there's the South; especially Sevilla. Exotic, friendly, beautiful, incredible fun. There's also another favorite web site of mine: iescape.com where you can click on the area you want to go to and Nikki Tinto has great ideas for places to stay in the Pueblos Blancos. We stayed in Gaucin and enjoyed that area very much. Or, from Madrid, rent a car and drive to Portugal stopping at the lovely historical town of Caceres midway in Estremadura....
Just some thoughts...
Good luck and have a great time in Espana.

Sorry, that's http://www.i-escape.com/
not the other one.

I would not go south in the summer - hot as hell!. Northern Spain and Basque country would be my choice .

Get your Husband to meet you in Salamanca then hire a car, drive northwards to Galicia head along the north of Spain using either the “coastal route” or the "inland one" wherever you end up fly back to Madrid for the flight home.
Coastal route will include the Rias Altas of Galicia; Asturias and Cantabria at a push.
Or more inland the mountains of O Coural; Leon; Burgos etc.
These are rough ideas of routes.

I second Ribeirasacra suggestion that your husband meets you in Salamanca. From there I would go to León and then either east towards the Picos de Europa area and Basque area (Bilbao, San Sebastian) or west towards Galicia, ending in Santaigo de Compostela. In Leon I recommend the Parador San Marcos and in the Picos area the Parador in Cangas de Onís.

From either Santiago or Bilbao/ San Sebastian you can fly to Madrid to get your flight home.

Good luck,, what a great opportunity.

Okay ... I am convinced to head north. Any Galicia and Basque Country suggestions are welcome.

Just bought airline tix today, so I am definitely in plan mode now.

http://www.maribelsguides.com/
She is full of wonderful ideas for your holiday.
Don't hesitate to look.
And for me some highlights were the Parador at Cangas de Onis; San Sebastian-- we stayed at
Hotel De Londres Y De Inglaterra and liked the town and the Basque cuisine--all her eating recommendations for San Sebastian are wonderful; Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao--a must-- leave your car in San Sebastian and take the bus is best--nice restaurant in the museum; Hotel Obispo in Hondiribbia and the beauty of the French Pays Basque. The people are lovely.

SC, I could give you a list as long as my arm with things to see in Galicia…far too many. We need to know more about your interests i.e. do you like black or white yellow or blue! Once I know this sort of information then I can help you hone your itinerary.
As a first step is to purchase a good guide book or read the following website for details about Galicia. www.turgalicia.es. Here there are some downloadable PDFs that will give you a whole list of things to see do and where to sleep.

I would suggest also you hone your plans for either Galicia or The Basque country too as the distance between the two areas is far and you could end up watching the countryside fly past from a highway when doing 120 KPH (75 MPH) because you have to get to your next destination.

Wow - thanks for coming through with such great information. With all the expertise from posters here, we have really been able to look at what I hope is a realistic itinerary ... or at least the bare bones of one.

ribeirasacra and cruiseluv --- thanks for the input. I am sure you are right about not trying to rush about and see too many areas. We have decided to focus on Galicia, and leave the Basque region for another trip.

Rather than have my husband meet me in Salamanca (where I have stayed before and will be for the week prior to his arrival) I will meet him in Madrid, and we plan to rent a car and head for Leon. Even though I have stayed in Segovia before, I know he will probably want to stop and explore - this is his first trip to Spain.

After Leon, we will go west and stay just outside Santiago de Compostela for three days or so. I think I have found a good hotel to use as a base from which to explore the coastal area - Hotel Grande do Bachao -

By then we should have about five more days before we will need to be back in Madrid for our flight home. Anyone have suggestions as to good places to visit?

I would personally explore the countryside a bit more...but do you like that idea or do you prefer the cities?
There is so much more to Galicia than Santiago!

We are pretty much open to anything that sounds interesting. If we leave Madrid early in the morning and see Segovia, then perhaps stay in Leon for a night before heading to Santiago, I think we will have had plenty of big city-time. Perhaps my plan to stay near Santiago for three nights would be too long there?

What are some of the more rural areas, villages and natural settings, you would recommend? I have a guide book, and have begun to read about Galicia (history and natural resources), but this will be my first foray into this part of Spain.

I am very much looking forward to this trip --- the more I read and discover about Galicia, the more I am drawn to it. I only wish we had more time to visit ... but isn't that always the way it is when you are traveling ... sigh.

One thing ... I always like to travel light, carry-on baggage only, etc. I am now wondering if I should make room in my bag for hiking shoes. Perhaps there are some opportunities to hike or bike while we are in Galicia?

ribeirasacra - I appreciate any suggestions you have for places to visit in Galicia. What are some of your favorites? I would love to be spontaneous, just drive along and find a small inn or hotel to stay in wherever we find ourselves, but I wonder if that would be possible in August. Usually if I travel in summer, I feel compelled to book ahead, which then tethers us to a schedule. Is most of Galicia so busy in summer months that advance reservations are necessary?

I agree with Ribeirasacra that Santiago is not all there is to see in Galicia but it is a very special place. And given the number of days you have available to travel in the area, I would suggest that you stay at least a couple of nights in Santiago itself. My favorite time of the day in Santiago is at night, after dinner, to take a stroll on the huge and deserted Plaza do Obradoiro to look up at the Cathedral all lit up by the spotlights.

I wish I had been gutsy to rent a car the times I have gone to Santiago in order to explore more freely the surounding countryside and pick an additional base from which to explore Galicia. I am sure you will get suggestions from those that have done just that.

Thanks cruiseluv - we are thinking to do just what you seggested ... use Santiago as a base and then perhaps move to another coastal area and find a place there for a few days.

I had to laugh when you described our car rental as "gutsy." Having driven rental cars in Mexico and Italy, we found driving in Spain to be very easy and calm. We even venrtured into Portugal for a day with no problems.

LOL! When I was younger I didn't think anything of renting a car and driving on the "wrong" side of the road in Australia or South Africa. So I think this is a mental block I have. One of these days I'll get over it.

Pls come back and let us know about your itinerary once you know more about it.

Sorry been so long in replying but the house I run has been busy.
Ho my where to start!
The best part of Galicia to walk (IMHO) is O Coural. It is quite isolated and there is pressure at the moment to make it into a National Park, which gives you some idea of the beauty of the area. There are walks around, and a good casa rural should be able to give you enough information about local routes etc. So choose wisely!
For beaches I have heard that the best part is the area known as Costa Morte, the part of Galicia that sticks out westward from A Coruña. There are also seemly nice beaches to the east of the city too. I am not a beach person so it is hard for me to judge what is a nice place to lie and Sunday myself on. Turgalicia has a good guide to beaches in their PDF docs.
The city of Lugo is a nice place to stop off at too. Another place with cultural interests and walks is Taramundi, just over the boarder in Asturias.
http://www.taramundi.net/nuevaweb/index.htm
In Ourense there are hot thermal baths, the near-by town of Ribadavia
http://www.redjuderias.org/red/es/rv...via/index.html
If you pack light then make be wear your hiking boots and put your shoes in your baggage. Thus saving weight and space.

For the south I can recommend www.aurigacrown.com for cheap car hire and www.guiasandalucia.com for info on the area things to do.

There are some gorgeous places Seville's Cathedral, Granada's Alhambra (also has a stunning montain range as well as free tapas with every beer!!), Cordoba's Mezquita - 12 days might not be enough! Plenty of fascinating 'white villages' along the way - Ronda, Aracena, Antequera. Oh, and amazing beaches near Cadiz - Conil, El Palmar.

Hope you have enough time to fit everything in!!

Thanks for all the expert advice and suggestions for our itinerary!

I have put together a partial plan, and am posting it under a new title here on the forum. If you are interested and/or have any more ideas for us, please check out "Summer Spain itinerary plan - any ideas?"

Thank you!