Well, two days before we leave on a totally unreserved, unstructured vacation for 5 weeks, here is the rough outline of our trip to Spain and Portugal:

Day 1 Arrive Madrid
Day 2 See Madrid
Day 3 See Madrid
Day 4 Day trip to Segovia
Day 5 Day trip to Toledo
Day 6 Train to Granada
Day 7 See Granada
Day 8 Get Car, drive to Sevilla
Day 9 Stay somewhere between Granada and
Sevilla
Day 10 Arrive Sevilla
Day 11 See Sevilla
Day 12 See Sevilla
Day 13 Drive to Portugal via Southern route though Faro to Lisbon and North through all of Portugal
Day 21 Arrive Santiago de Compostela
Day 22-29 Drive through Asturias, Basque country and to Barcelona
Day 29-33 See Barcelona
Day 34 Fly to Madrid
Day 35 Fly Home to U.S.

Very general, rough outline, lots of room for flexibility. General idea seems good to us. Any thoughts?

Ken

Good luck!

do look into www.bancotel.com for hotels in the cities you are going to.
then youcan go to travel agent and buy a booklet of 5 nights in spain once you get here .

also, there are other coupon/voucher plans here that you can buy night by night.

"halcon viajes" is a travel agency that also has its own vouchers.they are all over the country.

hotels for only 50 euros plus tax.
a great find and off season youwil hae a lot to choose from.

have a wonderful time and check in once in awhile!

ther are TONS of "Pazos" and "casas rurales up north that are fabulous and adorable recoverted farm houses or country homes. i know you will have luck up there.

if you get NEAR north coast.. go to Cudilleros. neat little town and lots of nice lodgings in and around it.

so much to see!

barcelona will be your most expensive lodging destination, but the Balmoral Hotel is on bancotel many times.. and it is totally acceptable, and location is , too.

Food to try:
Patatas bravas
chipirones
croquetas
fabada (bean stew, central and north)

desserts:
flan, natillas, crema catalana
leche frita
arroz con leche ( in the north)
tarta de santiago ( almond thin cake)

also you can ask a bar to make you a Croissant a la plancha ( grilled croissant).
to DIE for. ( make sure they OPEN it and grill the INSIDE of the croissant.

have a nice vacation

You've some big gaps in your itinerary thru Portugal: I'm not familiar with south Portugal but north from Lisbon Coimbra is worth a stop (as is Fatima if you're so inclined) and Guimaraes (sp.?) near Braga is considered the Birthplace of modern Portugal.

When you cross from Valenca do Minho to Tuy (Pontevedra, Galizia, Spain) go left to a'Guardia and to Monte Tecla where you will see a 400 BC Celtic Village. Then you can dine at one of the restaurants on the beach near the Fishermens' monument. Continue up the Coast road past several Missions to Baiona: the Castle of the Conde de Gondomar is now a Parador. Up the Ria is Vigo, Galicia's busiest Port.

Snow, closed mountain passes and icy roads may be a problem unless you stick to the coast coming across Lugo, Asturias and Cantabria. You may not be able to make it to Covadonga but I would definitely recommend a stop at Potes, capital of Liebana. It is a jewel of a little village and getting there is half the fun (the gorge of the Rio Deva).

Between Basque country (San Sebastian or Bilbao) and Barcelona you will be 'skirting' the Pyrenees. It might be prudent to go a bit further south (Aragon) like many bus routes do.

lincasanova--thanks for the food and lodging tips. Ever been to Portugal? What did you like?

NEDSIRELAND--you're amazing, you've been very helpful to me on Spain and now you've got Portugal tips as well. Tell me more about Portugal if you want. The reason there are so many holes in the itinerary is that this was developed over a map and two bottles of wine with my neighbor last night. He has travelled through both Spain and Portugal and really encouraged us to not miss Portugal. Plus he drives more than I am inclined to do and suggested we get a car and do a longer road trip kind of vacation.

So I've just begun to think about Portugal.

Thanks

Ken

One night in Santiago is not enough, IMO!

Just booked a 5 night stay at the Derby Villa Real in Madrid. Maribel loved it, pretty good rate 140 for 3 nights and then 190 per night for the last 2. Any comments about this place?

I love it---great trip. I have done all of that except Asturias.
In Portugal, your stops need to include Lagos. Evora. Sintra, Obidos, and Viano do Castello. Actually, we have done all that in 6 trips but not just one. Look at the Peuguot buy back program via Autoeurope for your car--we did that one time from Madrid and saved a bundle.

Ken,

I have stayed twice in the Villa Real, last time in July 2005. I highly recommend it. Just be aware that the breakfast is very expensive. We usually went out for breakfast.

i was too young and too poor to give you any good tips about portugal!

other websites:
www.toprural.com
www.rusticae.com

www.solmelia.com
www.gtahotels.com

the www.paradors.com, ( mostly converted historic buildings..also have their own 5 night bargain or if one of you is over 60..good deals) and there are pousadas in portugal but don't know their website.

happy planning.

I don't know if you already have accommodations in Santiago. Last summer I stayed in a lovely boutique hotel, just steps from the Cathedral : Hotel rua Villar www.hotelruavillar.com.

Thanks for all the help once again...now it looks like we will reverse the itinerary and do Madrid, fly to Barcelona and then drive North to South and back to Madrid

Two questions re: Auto Rental

1. Driving out of Spain into Portugal a problem?
2. The advice I've read on the board is to book it in the States before you go since its cheaper, but it seems to me if you are booking on the Internet, you should be allright booking once you are in country. We still don't exactly know our plans.

Any advice on these two questions?

Ken

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you earlier: Spain & Portugal are both EU member states so when you cross from one to the other there is no Passport Control (Immigration), Customs or even requirement to change money (both are on the Euro). So there should be no problem driving across borders.

There are lots of Paradors in northern Spain: Limpias (just south of Laredo in Cantabria), Santillana del Mar has two, Fuente Dé in Picos de Europa may not be accessible unless you have a 4X4; then there's Hostal de os Reyes Catolicos in Santiago, the one I mentioned in Baiona and finally, there's one in Tuy (rio Minho - Portugal border).

In Portugal, east of Coimbra there's a region called Mealhada (mi al yada). On the old Lisbon-Porto route there are several roadside restaurants (Truck stops) that serve the best Roast suckling pig anywhere (better than Segovia; better than Botin's in Madrid).

Your itinerary reversal decision may put you in Andalucia for Carnaval: Ash Wednesday is 1 Mar. Cadiz is reputed to have the best Carnaval celebration in mainland Spain (better in Canaries).

Read my lips. Forget rental--do the buy back program for your timing--it will save you mucho dinero. Start and end in Madrid for the car.

Hey Bobthenavigator:

I don't know what you mean by "buy back program" Can you tell me more. Sorry for the ignorance.

Thanks,

Ken

Just hit the AutoEurope website and got the skinny on the buy back program. Thanks, anything I should know that's not on the website?

This looks like a great deal.

Ken

Great deal--glad you found it.
Brand new car, full coverage, roadside help, etc. Since you must pick up in Madrid you should drive to Granada. I would consider an overnite in Toledo as well.

Greetings to all...and thanks to all of you for your help and suggestions. In 10 hours, we get on the plane in Atlanta for our trip to Spain.
We have found great rates on hotels in Madrid and Barcelona due to the January promotions on the Derby website..especially good is the Astoria in Barcelona. 98 euros per night, which includes breakfast for two and a museum pass.

We are 4 nights in Madridc, 5 nights in Barcelona and then 26 days driving all the way through the North, Portugal the South of Spain and back to Madrid to fly out on February 23rd. Per our plan, no reservations other than Madrid and Barcelona.

Bobthenavigator...checked out the buy back and decided to go with the regular rental. The price difference is only $60 (they told me on rentals of less than 30 days, the price break is not that great), but the real reason we didn't do it is that you can't get tired of driving and amend your itinerary. With a rental, we can drop it anywhere in Spain. So we didn't want to lose our flexibility, which has been the key aspect to this trip we wanted to pursue. In our 50's, with our kids up and out, we want to "wander".

I'll post periodically and for sure do a report when we return.

Thanks again to all

Ken

Don't miss the Pousadas: de Sta. Marinha da Costa in Guimaraes; do Monte de Sta. Lucia in Viana do Castelo and especially the wonderful Parador in Baiona, Galecia, Spain.
Recommend www.discoverportugal2day.com
M

Well, wé´re in Spain, and having a great time. An initial trip report for those of you who helped us plan this wonderful trip...

Highlights of Madrid...walking en paseo like the Madrilenos, the incredible life of the street, everyone out all ages, all hours. It´s nice.
Today I had the traditional roast suckling pig at Casa Botin just south of Plaza Mayor and walked it off by touring the Prado...
A question:
Does anyone know if you can take a bus direct from Toledo to the Madrid Barajas airport. When we come back in a month, we will stay in Toledo and have a 11 a.m plane home. We want to be at the airport in plenty of time. They told us to be there 3 hours ahead of time. Is that really true? Anyway, we dont´want to stay in Madrid that last night, so need to figure out how to get from Toledo to Barajas. Any ideas?