Spain to France - Help Navigating the Rabbit Hole Itinerary!
 

Hello All!

I'll be traveling with my boyfriend to Spain and France in March. We expect to fly into Spain and depart from CDG in Paris. He's an architect, I'm an urban planner - I'm a seasoned traveler, he is not- but ready to try. Looking for places with lots of walkability, hoping to eat well, beaches to explore, gorgeous landscapes. Don't anticipate renting a car- would rather rely on train if that's smart.

I've never been to Spain, so am trying to choose locations on a 2 week (roughly) itinerary. Would love ANY help or input. I'm not sold on Seville and Granada - almost thinking we could do one instead of both, and would love to spend more time in France, but not sure that's possible. Also wondering if Madrid is just another big city - do we need to spend 3 days there? So much thanks.

Currently thinking:

Day 1-3 Fly into Madrid
Day 3-4 Seville
Day 4-6 Granada, include a trip to the Alhambra
Day 6-10 Barcelona. Include a trip to the Dali museum as a day trip
Day 10-13 Paris. Include a day trip to Versaille
Day 14 - Fly back to USA

>>do we need to spend 3 days there?<<

To get 3 days you'd need to stay 4 nights -- and you don't have 4 nights) Is day 1 the day you depart?

If so your plan is really:

Day 1 Fly to Madrid
Day 2 Arrive Madrid (half a day)
Day 3 Seville (About half a day)
Day 4-5 Granada (1.5 days)
Day 6-9 Barcelona (3.5 days)
Day 10-13 Paris. (3 or 3.5 days depending on f you take a train or fly))
Day 14 - Fly back to USA

(If you actually depart the States day '0' and arrive Madrid day 1 the you have1.5 days there)

I agree with the itinerary above. I dont know if you will be driving but when I took the train from Madrid to Granada, it was part train and part bus to the trip took longer than expected. It would be best to get to the south of Spain as soon as possible, so you can enjoy the sights and the weather.

Madrid has a lot to offer, but given that you are going to Paris, you do not need to spend a lot of time in both. Just focus on Paris.

My only suggestion is that you get the eurorail pass. Get a two country pass(France/Spain) and given how far away airports are from the city centers in Europe, you should definitely travel by trains. I took the train from Barcelona to Paris, yes, it took 6 hours. But there is no penalty for a heavy suitcase and when you arrive Paris you are in the middle of everything.
Given how long it takes getting to the airport, and checking in, it is a lot easier showing up 20 mins before the train.

Enjoy your travels and hope you have a lovely time in Europe. Spain is definitely my favorite place.

>>My only suggestion is that you get the eurorail pass.<<

I wouldn't touch a eurail pass for this itinerary.

I would never pass up Seville for Granada, if anything, I'd drop Granada if pressed.

Forget beaches in March, just forget it, it's not close enough to summer yet. The avg sea temperature off Malaga is only about 60F in March, unless you just want to look at it and walk by it, of course.

I really like Madrid and don't regard it as "just another big city". But some people are tepid towards it, you can never predict whether you will be or not. IN theory, all your places fit the itinerary but it seems a lot of moving around for only 14 days, it would tire me. I'd probably either drop Paris or Madrid (and/or Malaga). I could see Seville, Barcelona, Paris or just Spain.

These are so helpful. I'm worried about all the moving around too. I think the concept of 'getting to the south ASAP' is really valuable - weather is better, out of the city, and buys us a couple days. Thanks all! Eager to hear any more anyone has to add. This is a great start.

I'd save Paris for another trip. Why not just focus on Spain?

If you are going in mid-March, maybe you can add on Valencia to partake in Las Fallas.

http://www.visitvalencia.com/en/what...ies/the-fallas

You can make a part-loop Madrid-Sevilla-Granada-Valencia-Barcelona. And fly home from Barcelona.

With only 12 days on the ground, you will be hard pressed to enjoy 5 different locations, all of which require you to travel at least part of the day. Flying into Madrid, you should consider either dropping Andalucia (Sevilla and Granada) or Paris from your itinerary. If you want to include everything in this trip, then adding another week would help.

First of all - not sure why you want a beach in March - when it's too cold for sunbathing and definitely too cold to go in the water.

Agree that you are trying to stuff too many places in too little time. Lay the trip out day by day - where you will start, any travel on that day and where you will sleep. I think that will show you how much time you are spending in transit versus actually doing or seeing anything.

Then I would try to stretch your time to a full 17 days - 2 weeks and 3 weekends.

And then you need to focus on what you really want to see and do.

I'm not a fan of Madrid so would not bother - versus Andalusia and Paris which I think are both way more interesting.

But that's a decision you have to make.

I would save Paris for another trip as well. It's a long way to go for just 3 days, one of which you want to spend in Versailles.

I would absolutely not get a rail pass for this trip.

Seville and Granada are both fabulous - I wouldn't pass up either.

I, too, am no fan of Madrid. I just revisited it, to see if I might have been mistaken the first time, and didn't change my opinion. Barcelona, however, I liked much more this time, possibly because I was staying in the Eixample area.

So not, on any account, drop Granada. IMHO the Alhambra is the single best sight in Spain. Make sure to visit in the evening as well as during the day.

Do not buy a rail pass of any kind without checking the prices for point-to-point tickets bought ahead of time from the Spanish and French railway companies, NOT from Rail Europe. See seat61.com for info on European train travel.

You also might consider spending all of your time in the south of Spain -- Seville, Granada, Cordoba, maybe Nerja or Malaga, maybe Ronda... I consider the Alhambra and Cordoba's Mezquita among the finest places in the world; I would be sure to include both. YMMV.

Skip France (this is hard for me to say, after 20 visits.) Spain has more than enough to satisfy two weeks, particularly with your interests. Northern Spain should be a must, for Bilbao, the Guggenheim and the effects on a city that such a major project can assert. It has a pretty good, if often overlooked, beaux-arts museum too, and an international airport. The Alhambra is a mystical/magical experience and a key crossroads for east-meets-west sensibility. Aside from its spirituality, it demonstrates the North African ability to engineer water. Gaudi in Barcelona and the Prado in Madrid will hold both of you for a day each. The Picasso in Barcelona is okay but not central to his career; Juan Miro is more important, if not to my taste. And there is plenty in between.

I love Madrid but in March (it is high up and can be v cold) and given your time pressure I'd fly straight out day 1. Seville/Cordoba treat them as a pair and walk the back streets. You could drop Granada but that building is so pretty (plus it is worth reading the history of the building and the society that created it).

Bilbo (or Bilbao) is a relatively small river based city, in my mind the Beaux-art museum is pretty good while the Guggenheim merely shows what happens when a large amount of money smashes into an architect (an accident) and the building is better than most of the art held in it. Given your plan I don't think you have time for it.

Barcelona new town is a good example of town planning and I'm sure you've read about it. The Olympics area (one of the few that have been used twice) shows you what can be done and the old town shows you how people lived before the combustion engine.

So, I'd drop Madrid, add Cordoba day trip by train and keep the plan

All wonderful ideas. Madrid has successfully been dropped. I hadn't thought of Cordoba... it looks fabulous.

Can't let Paris go. I love it too much.

thank you thank you thank you.

<He's an architect, I'm an urban planner [...] Looking for places with lots of walkability, hoping to eat well, beaches to explore, gorgeous landscapes.>

Given your interests, I agree with Southam that you should give Bilbao a serious thought. The Basque Country is also beautiful landscapes, a local culture that people take great pride in as well as the culinary heartland of Spain. Many of the finest restaurants in the world are up here, and there are myriads of plain fantastic "normal" restaurants and pintxos bars: http://www.euskoguide.com/places-bas...ilbao-tourism/

And Cordoba is a very good idea, only some 40 mins from Sevilla (the undisputed queen of the cities in the South) with the high speed AVE train: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfGdpF55Uk