summer heat with 3 kids
 

we are planning a trip to spain this summer with our kids (17,16,10), we will visit Madrid, Sevilla, Granada Cordoba and other day trips via rental car and bus/train. My question is I keep reading how terribly hot it is in southern spain in summer. We've been to Italy in the summer and it was fine. We can only travel in summer because of the kids school. I am assuming many stores/restaurants have A/C because the summers are hot?.

Like we say: 'it didn't get to 100,' the Spanish say: 'it didn't get to 40 (degrees Celsius - do the math).' We got off a flight in Sevilla once and it was 42 degrees Cesius.

As for air conditioning: yes, but many do not! That's why they close from around 13:00 to 16:30. As Kipling wrote: 'Only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.' In Sevilla, we stayed at a 3-star hotel with A/C and a small swimming pool. After our midday meal we would 'take a dip' and a siesta. There's something to be said for that 'lifestyle.'

My advice to you is: when in Spain, be a Spaniard. Do your outdoor activities in the morning or after 5:00 PM.

We were in Spain last year the very end of May and first half of June.

Madrid, Granada and Barcelona were fine.

The temperature was 40 in Seville. A store clerk told me about when it's really hot at 45.

We went to a museum were were not interested in just to get into an building with A/C. It's tough to do very much walking in that. We stood in the shade at one end of a bridge trying to get up the nerve to walk/run across to the other side.

On the other hand, it was not very humid. What that meant was that whenever we were in the shade it was fine. Even sitting outdoors for a drink.

If I have a choice of sunny and too hot or raining and too cold, I'll take heat over cold. Just go very slowly and stay in the shade during the hot times.

Yes - it is incrdibly hot - routinely over 100 in the summer. And no - many places do not have AC - even many modest hotels. If you had a really young child - under 5/6 - I would reco not to do it at all.

In this case I would be sure your kids understand how hot it will be - and that in the afternoon you are essentially confined to the pool (make sure all your hotels have good AC - recently remodeled - and pools).

(We did this trip in late April one year - and it was plenty hot then - temps in the 80's - but at least it got cool at night. You couldn;t pay me to do it in the summer.)

Re Seville you might want to take a look at this website:

www.discoverseville.com

I recommend sandals with thick, cork soles. Otherwise, if you're out in the afternoon sun, the soles of your feet could get burned.

Motorcoaches (like tour buses) usually have A/C, but City buses may not.

I think to qualify for a 3-star rating a hotel has to have A/C; but I could be wrong. I haven't stayed at a 3 or 4-star hotel that didn't have A/C.

And, don't let anyone convince you that it isn't humid. It is. I remember one time wearing a sun dress that was black with little yellow flowers (bought in Spain)- it had been very hot and humid, and we'd been driving up the coast from Andalucia to the Costa Brava - that night I stripped off the garment and had to literally peel it away from my skin, and lo and behold, the pattern was left on the skin.
That said, as you should know, kids don't mind the heat and humidity or the cold.

Hi b,

Make sure that you drink lots and lots and lots of water.

((I))

Yes it is very hot in summer especially in the south. Finding a good cold room can be diifficult. I stayed in some nice hotels where the ac just did not work. Some turn on the ac july 1st or june 1st. Some turn the ac off at night midnight to noon or whatever. Some hotels fix the thermostat so the ac does not come on until it is 80 degrees or so. Really it is difficult to find a hotel with adequate ac. I was in spain most of last summer and it is almost always a battle to find a cool comfortable room. In august I gave up and went to the northern coast, where it is cooler and less crowded. An excellent choice for august.

Can you possibly go in June? July and August will be torrid! We were in Seville in late September and it reached 95 on two days - walking around in the sun is quite hot. Go as early as you possibly can and get an air conditioned hotel for certain.

We are travelling with teens at the same time. Which hotels are you considering?
Thanks