My wife & I would like to spend some time in Spain in 2004. We would like to stay in 3/4* hotels or paradors, eat well & visit most of the cultural tourist sites. We will probably rent a car and or travel by train. We don't intend to spend a lot of time in Madrid but rather travel around the countryside visiting major towns & cities. Excluding our fares to Spain, could we realistically achieve this on $US300 a day? We have considered an organised tour but would prefer to travel independently.

I think it is a pretty realistic budget - - though others will say that I have a lot of nerve answering, since it has been 9 years since I have been to Spain - - but I have been back to Europe 15 times in the meantime. And Spain can't be that different from other places I have been.

As you clarified, I am assuming that you are not amortizing the air travel costs into that daily budget.

And no automatic transmission E-class Mercedes...

Best wishes,

Rex

Ranald,

What season are you travelling? High or low? How old are you (over 60?) and do you qualify for the Golden Days discount at the paradors? Otherwise you can structure your trip to use the 5 day discounts or the 2 nights discounts and get some great values (if it is not high season at the most popular paradors).

If you travel as we do which means we usually enjoy a sumptuous breakfast buffet in the parador, have a picnic lunch or tapas for midday and then go for a larger dinner or more elaborate dinner then you can save lots of $$$'s and calories!

If you are in Madrid, Barcelona or Sevilla accomodations and restaurants are more pricey. In smaller towns and off season you can feast and live like kings for a lot less.

Maria

Maria,

We intend to be in Spain in late April/early May for about 3 weeks.

I am 62 & my wife is 57. What exactly is the 'Golden Days' discount & would we qualify? I don't seem to be able to get the Parador website in English. Can you advise the web address in English?

Thanks

I second the advice given concerning the spanish paradors.
Their website is located at http://www.parador.es
On the opening page in spanish, click on "english" in the upper right corner for their complete english version.
In order to get the approx. 40% discount under their "Golden Days" program you should reserve well in advance as the number of available rooms is limited and certain dates are excluded. You only have to show your passport for proof of age (60 or older) when you check in.
Another excellent source for quality lodging at reasonable prices (through the use of prepurchased coupons) is at http://www.bancotel.com