Spain Itinerary with Parents: Madrid + ?
 

Warning, long winded itinerary question below.

Am trying to plan for approx 10 days in Spain with my parents in November over Thanksgiving period. Since all my travel plans have been put on hold as we renovate our new apt, I convinced my parents that it was the same price to go to Spain for a week rather than have them stay in a hotel in NYC for 4-5 days over the most expensive period of the year and they have obliged.

I was initially looking at splitting the time between Madrid and Seville as Madrid is easiest to use our FF miles on, I am pretty set on part of the time there.

Initial thought was fly into Seville and out of Madrid arriving on the Nov 19th (give or take a day) , stay for 4-5 days, then go to Madrid and stay 4 days, leave on Nov 28th (give or take a day). I also picked Seville as my mom expressed some interest in Cadiz. We would have a car to tool around in.

None of us have booked flights yet, so now I am contemplating swapping Seville for someplace else (not BCN). Am open to pretty much any city suggestions, with one caveat - we plan to only stay in apartments, either renting 2 studios or 1 bedrooms, unless we can get a large apt with 2 full bedrooms and baths, I can deal with 1.5 baths. This narrows the city choices.

Some background: My parents have only been to Europe once, 2 years ago they train travelled Italy for almost a month. Other than that, they just travel extensively and often to California wine country and to see their granddaughters in Dallas. The husband and I average 4 trips abroad/year except this year. Because we bought a stupid apartment that needs a gut reno. Everyone in the group travelling is active - dad is 72, mom 61, The husband and I are in our mid-late 30s.

Anyhoo, I chose Spain as it is fairly inexpensive, food and wine can be outstanding, dad is kinda a francophobe but speaks Spanish so I figured this was an easy convince. It was. Oh, and because I seem to quite like Spain (as far as where I have been, at least).

In Madrid I am set on what to do, I know they will love the whole tapas scene and I have a wine shop owner who will pick wines for us to bring back. I am just rethinking Seville.

Any thoughts on what city you would swap Seville for, or reasons to keep that on the itinerary are welcome.

Wine and food and architecture are top priorities for all, art, churches, museums are draws for the non-lazies in the group who would rather not spend all day drinking in cafes.

Thanks for any help, aware this was a long-winded question, so don't snark about that in your responses.

I think heading south is a good decision weather-wise, and can also offer some more of the typical "Spanish " atmosphere one expects.You could add Granada and small towns after Sevilla with a rental car.

You would enjoy the AVE from Madrid to Sevilla.

I agree with Lin. Seville seems like a good choice .
Day trip to (or stop on the way ) Cordoba?

Yeah weather is why I chose south, though now I am thinking north. My parents are all worked up about it being cold. They live in Minneapolis, no matter north or south, it is not going to be colder!

Though, no train for me - I hate trains! I ride the subway daily. My parents would take the AVE from their Madrid flight. If we went with Seville we would fly NY-->Seville with a connection in Madrid. Then just fly out of Madrid direct home.

A car we would get to tool around then drive it to Madrid (aware train is faster)

No nays on Seville yet?

I think Madrid/Sevilla is a good combination. Besides being partial to Sevilla, the weather will be quite comfortable and the Ave train makes it extremely easy to visit these 2 cities.

As lincasanova suggests, I would also be tempted to add 2 nights in Granada so you could do something like 4 nights Madrid, 3 nights Sevilla and 2 nights Granada. But it is a little more moving around and it may not be as easy to find an apartment rental for a shorter stay. Everything's a trade-off!

If you do end up staying 4-5 nights in Sevilla I'd visit a sherry bodega in nearby Jerez, since your parents seem to enjoy wine tastings. Cordoba is an easy stop along the way from Sevilla to Madrid (luggage storage at the bus station across the street from the train station) And of course, Cadiz is personally my favorite city in Spain :)

I don't know why I forgot about sherry, ok, that shapes this better.

if you are thinking north - think not so much cold, but (possibly) non-stop rain!

If you are really into wine, maybe the north would suit you fine. You may or may not be lucky with the weather anywhere..( snow predicted for 500m hilltops next week in Cantabria.. so go figure!) so I guess just choose what you want to see. Small towns, castles, wineries, architecture?

The entire country has something for everyone.. it is so diverse. You can have a wonderful vacation no matter which direction you go.

rain/"cold" who cares, there is always indoors and wine to warm!

Iincasnova: where north are you thinking other than Rioja? Which does not fit the apt requirement so much. Also isn't November kinda crappy time for winery visits on the northern end? I could be wrong. I know Spain is vast and very different depending on location and maybe simplicity is best considering the circumstances. I don't want to dick around to much with my parents or with another set of people regardless of relationship who may have different travel style.

I'm kinda thinking my dad will be pleased to hang out with a fellow lazy traveller who just wants to chill and drink while my mom can drag the husband on her tourist excursions. Also to note: I only see my parents once a year most and that is if they come to NYC.

I am just thinking aloud and probably overthinking.

With the interest in architecture and art, don't miss Toledo (wonderful cathedral), even if just a day trip from Madrid, plus the Alhambra in Granada would be really exciting. I would keep the focus on Seville, rather than North at that time of year. It seems to makes more sense with only a week. I also like Cadiz (based especially on interest in Lord Nelson), but would choose Granada over Cadiz and would choose other small towns and/or villages instead.

If I understand correctly the OP was going to do a daytrip to Cadiz but use Sevilla as a base. This is probably why she mentioned Cadiz - which is still a little long (for me) at 2 hours one way as a daytrip. But Granada is even further out to try to do as a daytrip from Sevilla (and I definately wouldn't recommend it as a daytrip). The issue is with just 10 days the temptation is hard to try to squeeze too much in.....

I was thinking Rioja.. and yes.. who knows about the weather, but seemed you were very interested in wine, that's why I threw it in.

There are also wineries sprinkled across La Mancha. See my report,

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ton-heston.cfm

But if you only want two bases.. getting too far off track will make more than one long daytrip kind of a pain.

Sounds like you will have fun no matter what. You and dad can sip wine leisurely anywhere.. but I am not too sure Sevilla is a good base for daytrips other than Cordoba and Carmona.
Not staying in Granada would be too much of a drive for ME back to Sevilla after seeing the Alhambra . I think it is worth moving on from there.

Sevilla is very nice, and in November it will still be quite warm, and Cadiz is also suposed to be nice, bit I haven´t been.
But I would recomend you to go to Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, an autonomous region within Spain. I´m sure you've heard about Barcelona, and it´s lovely buildings, good food, etc. They have a lot of vegetarian restaurants as well and good seafood. There is also the fats AVE train from Madrid, and the weather will be warmer than Madrid, but cooler than Sevilla, but still nice, not too cold, maybe some rain.
It´s lucky you are going in November as there will be no bullfights going on, wich is the worst thing to visit! it´s torture to animals! I´m an antibullfighting person! Hurray!
Luck,
adam.

Sevilla would offer loads of great food, extraordinary architecture, museums etc. A wonderful city with a vibrant atmosphere and one of the best tapas scenes in all of Spain. Here's a great site about going for tapas in Sevilla.
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/

I recommend to also try some places outside the more touristy and beautiful Santa Cruz district. Perhaps go a bit north to the city center, to the Alameda/Macarena district or across the river Guadalquivir to the former Gypsy quarter Triana.
http://azahar-sevilla.com/sevilletapas/

Apartamentos Murillo might be a good suggestion for accomodation in the Santa Cruz district:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/es/sevi...hotel_currency

If you stay in the bohemian Alameda/Macarena area north of the more touristy Santa Cruz district, make sure you are inside the city walls (la Muralla), as parts of Macarena is outside (the outside area is called Hospital de Macarena). The main street in Macarena within the city walls is San Luis. Also look for Plaza San Marco and Encarnación. In Alameda, look for the streets Feria and Torneo. Close to everything, local food market, bars, restaurants etc.

In Triana, you may want to stay close to Puente de Triana/Puente de Isabel (Triana bridge). The C/Betis along the river is very popular.

These sites might give you some ideas of apartments:
http://www.sevilla5.com/apartments/feria.html
http://www.sevilla5.com/apartments/triana.html
http://www.welcomesevilla.com/see_apartament.php
http://www.embrujodesevilla.com/engl...tsseville.html

A great site with all kinds of information about the city: http://www.exploreseville.com/

And being totally lost on flamenco, I can recommend the performances at Casa de la Memória in the midst of the Santa Cruz district. Young, up and coming artists every night. Sometimes, some of the very best perform here, such as Pastora Galván, Rafael Campallo, Adela Campallo, La Choni etc:
http://www.casadelamemoria.es/eventos.htm
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractio...Andalusia.html

Given your interest in food, I would make it my business to sneak in a day or two in the Pedraza/Sepulveda area.

If you make this your last stop, you can drive easily to Barajas from there in time to make your flight back to NY. More details will follow if you are at all interested.

Just following up - I am choosing places I have been prior for ease, but am rethinking that option other than the Madrid portion which I am not taking out. BCN is not an option I want to consider for this trip, I quite like the city, but it doesn't serve this particular plan and I don't want to do standard BCN-MAD "top cities" trip. I would consider Valencia, however not sure if that is the best time to go.

I'm not a big day tripper unless I am bored senseless, which is rare. I can just see my mom getting restless and wanting to go to more than 2 cities, I suspect she suffers from "once in a lifetime" syndrome or some such nonsense. (I am trying to cure her of this and force them to travel more as they express interest but never bother, that is the point of this whole scheme!) If she wants to go off for a few hours driving around, that is fine. But given I am planning, 2 places/bases is what they get as that is what I do.

Anyhoo, back to rethinking choosing a 2nd option where I have not been. Thus, I am gonna nix Rioja here.

Ekscrunchy, would be interested in your plan...

Lincasnova, am also interested in your itinerary...I took a glance at your report, what would you consider to be a good base here that is large enough to occupy 4 days without having to spend everyday driving around?

I think you were right on track originally if you wanted to only choose one base for 4-5 days in Andalucia for 4-5 days. I usually agree with lincasnova but not on this: "I am not too sure Sevilla is a good base for daytrips other than Cordoba and Carmona"

Possible daytrips from Sevilla (using public transportation):
Cordoba
Carmona
Cadiz
Sanlucar de Barrameda
Jerez de la Frontera
El Puerto de Santa Maria
Osuna
Ecija

Plenty to do in Sevilla for 4 entire days or venture out if you want to see other places.

Ok, depending on which days of the week will close your trip (hopefully on a weekend or near the end of the week when there is some activity in the towns; in some hotels there will be a two-night minimum on weekends) you should book two nights either in Pedraza, where I stayed, or in Sepulveda, which is not far away and is a bit bigger (I had lunch here, at Tinin) ; both are within an easy drive of Segovia, which could occupy you for a full day.

The focus of the visit will be to feast on the famous lechazo, or suckling lamb, and when I tell you that this is worth a trip to Spain, I am not kidding! Take a look at these reports and see what you think:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...nd-segovia.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...erra-52007.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...on-part-ii.cfm


More:


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...a-question.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...f-thats-ok.cfm

I have one more question and have an itinerary ironed out.
We arrive 2 days prior to my parents and they are staying 1 day after us, which is fine.

They required an Andalusian itinerary, which is fine.

The husband and I will arrive in Madrid and immediate train to Seville (despite my hatred of trains) unless I can get a last min cheap flight from Madrid. This is what I currently have:
Stay Seville 11/20-26
Parents arrive 11/22
-------
Return to Madrid 11/26-29, Parents stay until 30th.

I have to add Granada in here for my dad to go to Alhambra. It could be done in a day by leaving early in the morning and returning in the evening. Yes, I am aware this is quite short. Should I instead have it as an overnight and if so, where should I put it?

I am willing to shave off a day in Madrid, but really prefer not to as my wine vendor of choice and is there and if we arrive on the 27th, we risk missing shop close. I have a new larger Eurocave to stock and my priority is to bring back cases of wine.

Thanks in advance.