Hi,

I have started giving some thought to going with my family ( myself, husband and kids aged 13 and 18) to Spain this Christmas. I have been to Spain many times but always during the summer.

Would appreciate suggestions as to city or town where we could celebrate Christmas with a nice dinner on Christmas Eve and then a special mass on Christmas day. Is it impossible to find restaurants open on Christmas eve/ day? I am thinking maybe a Parador would be a good option?

Any idea(s) are welcome!

christmas eve dinner is quite an event, size-wise, time-wise ( as you know) and price-wise.

unless you are late night eaters, and do not mind spending near 60-80 euros/person ( i am assuming) for a parador or other upscale xmas eve dinner, i would try to find local restaurants in a larger city for this evening. usually it will be a set menu,including all sorts of wine and after dinner drinks, similar to a wedding. young children will have a discount.

On the other hand, this may be what you are looking for... in which case a parador would be geat.

madrid was decorated very much at the holidays. in fact, some friends and i are making a point of going up for an overnight this year the week before.

some restaurants are open and do not obligate a fixed menu, and you can order a la carte.. but it can be a bit difficult to find any place special without the fixed menu.
maybe cova or someone has some ideas in her neck of the woods.

i could only help you in valencia.. and would be happy to do so, but not sure if you will be in this area.

good luck. if you want snow.. that´s one thing.. at the rate the weather is going, i doubt anywhere could guarantee that anymoe, even in december.

Thanks Lin,

My first thought was Madrid but I have been so much to Madrid in the last 5 years that I would like something different.

I would like it to be a city/ town with an impressive church for Christmas Mass.

What do you think of Leon or Santiago?

We just spent Christmas in Barcelona, and it was lovely. I am sure there will be mass held at the Catedral. There are other gorgeous churches as well.

We had a very nice Spanish dinner at the restaurant Set Portes, which was recommended to us on this site.

I can also recommend the Parador de Cardona, though I don't know about mass options. It's about 90 minutes from Barcelona. We stayed there in January.

Thanks Tim and Liz!

We spent this Christmas past in a pardor and it was a VERY low key affair.

It was quite remote; and we were required to sit down for dinner by 7.30pm. It became apparent this was so the staff could have a special dinner afterwards- and I don't resent that at all.

I would have wanted to go to Mass, but the village was 15 klicks away, it was 4 degrees below and we'd had a glass or two; so we didn't go.

The bar was closed after dinner although they set up a serve-yourself in the lounge. But it was VERY smokey- it doesn't take long to get used to smoke free bars, believe me. But then you suffer when plunged back into the dakr ages.

So, in a nutshell, what we did didn't work for me.

Que sera, sera.

Sheila,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, that is not what I have in mind. Sounds like a downer.

Which Parador were you staying at?

Thanks

i do agree that a parador will most likely be very tranquilo,( that´s one thing i like about them!!) and at best you will have a small village church for mass.. and perhaps no choir, etc.

any larger city/town should do.
if you do not know valencia, i am sure we can figure out a very nice set up for you. the city does some nice decorating in the main square and there are usually concerts and recitals around town, and plenty of masses to choose from. should b low season for hotels, too, and if the weather is not aggressive.. can be wonderful at the beach for strolls, skate boarding, biking, etc.

3 hours to mad, 3 to bcn.. perhaps a good base?

i really am not familiar with anywhere else during the holidays, except with friends in barcelona.. so, other tourists´opinions are going to be more interesting and varied than mine in this case.

i can´t imagine that santiago wouldn´t be gorgeous..

of course.. i always dream of going to austria or germany again during the holidays. it seems more festive there to me.
we did it once, just after xmas and it was magical.( the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence!)

have fun planning!

Hi Lin,

Thanks for your comments. I know that wherever we go it has to be cold . My kids say that if not it's not Christmas! I grew up in Puerto Rico so our Christmas were very warm but they ( and my husband) don't want any palm trees and beaches! LOL!

What kind of weather do you get in Valencia?

we have our heat on now.. and at xmas, but if the sun comes out it is pleasant, but once it goes down, no matter how nice it is durng the day.. it is COLD.

there CAN be a little snow an hour up into the mountains..

how about granada? you have the ski area just 30 minutes outside the city with frequent trasnsport up there.... so IF THERE IS SNOW in spain,you should have some to play in there.

plus, a good selection of things to see and do.. and bop down to the coast for part of the trip.. caves at nerja, etc.?

I agree with Lin, Granada is beautiful, has lots of churches but the cathedral is wonderful for the mass ( I suppose you know the big christmas mass is on christmas eve at night) and Sierra Nevada, which is a big ski resort..there should be a nice ambiance on Christmas if there's snow !

I don't know if you are really into the religious aspect of Christmas, but a really gala and rather inexpensive event is the Calbagata held on Jan 5. On that evening the three Kings and other parade through the streets before the children go to bed for receiving gifts on Epiphany. I don't know if your vacation allows for the 12 days of Christmas, but the Calbagata in other cities is special. The "best" is supposed to be Madrid.

For Christmas celebrations you have NocheBuena (24 dic), Navidad 25 dic, Dia de los Inocentes / April Fools (28 dic. NocheVieja (31 dic), Ano Nuevo 1 enero, Calbagata - name of the parade (5 enero), Los Reyes (6 enero), sales time!!! (7 enero). Are those enough special days to consider?

Yes, and the parador sounds nice.

We were in the Parador in Bielsa. And it was lovely in many ways.

We spent Easter in Seville and I can only imagine it would be just as special at Christmas...in fact,you have me thinking now..hmmmmm

It seems like Granada would fit your family's wishes...

But I wanted to add that we couldn't believe how Christmas-y it felt in BCN. Much more than it does here in Minneapolis. The streets were decorated and the mood quite festive. The Christmas markets in the squares were neat to see too.