My husband and I are planning a trip to Spain in September of 2009.
Have to book this far in advance with AA miles these days!!
We would like to rent apartments in three cities for a week each and do day trips from those three cities.
We are flying into Madrid so would probably stay there for a week. Any comments on Madrid and is this a city to stay in or should we move on?
The other cities we are contemplating are 1. Barcelona
2.Seville 3. San Sebastian
Any comments regarding these cities would be appreciated and if anyone has any experience in renting apartments in Spain, that would be helpful.
Thank you in advance.

Madrid,Barcelona and Sevilla are fine for daytrips.

My opinion
Barcelona: 3 days for the city
daytrips:Girona, Tarragona,Montserrat

Madrid:2 or 3 days for the city (depends if you get into the prado, thyssen and reina sofia museums)
daytrips: Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial, Aranjuez, Avila, Salamanca, Cuenca, Alcala


Sevilla: 2 or 3 days for the city, daytrips to Cordoba, Ronda, Granada...

All of these daytrips with public transport by train or bus.

I am such an enormous fan of San Sebastian and so unfavorable to Barcelona, you have to take my advice in that context.

Madrid and Sevilla would both be on my list. The daytrip possibilities from each can be fine tuned to your personal interests, but I do want to say I believe that Toledo as a day trip from Madrid and Cordoba from Sevilla are exciting, beautiful and extraordinary.

If you are not a fan of urban capitals and their glamor, you might consider just 4 nights in Madrid and 3 in Granada at the Alhambra (book in the parador if you can).

For the third destination, for me it would be San Sebastian hands down, and I would take September as a fantastic time to go. Renting a car and exploring the Basque country, both in Spain and in France, as well as the foothills of the Pyrenees is just exquiste, especially if you like to eat well -- and I mean really, really, really well. I could actually just park myself in San Sebastian for a week. Period.

The only negative of San Sebastian is that it not quite as convenient as Barcelona, but I would recommend flying to Bilboa and renting a car. (The Guggenheim is skippable in my view.)

If you are very keen on Gaudi, you might want to spend a lot of time there. (The more interesting architect to me is Domenich I Montaner, but his work can be seen as a day trip into the city). Were I in Catalonia, which has many charms, I would sooner base myself in Girona and explore the foothills of Pyrenees and parts of the Costa Brava. It's not exactly hard driving, but the most charming places are a bit spread out. Day trips for me would include Calella de Palafrugell (just featured on the front page of the NYTimes travel section but mercifully otherwise not mentioned in the article) or Begur, Empuries (for its greek ruins), Vic (for its Placa Mejor, museum and Roman temple), and perhaps some of the inland Catalonian hilltowns of Besalu, Pals, Peretallada, Ripuit, etc.

Have a great trip.

Sorry, I should have typed: "If you are very keen on Gaudi, you might want to go to Barcelona."

I should have added that from Girona, it is simple to day trip into Barcelona with public transportation.

Thank you very much for all your help! I really appreciate all the detail. It sounds like spending a week in each of the large cities might get boring. It might be better to rent a car and do some driving from one city to another.
It is only about three and half hours from Madrid to Seville by car and you can see so much inbetween.

Hi k'bell,

picking up on the driving theme, it seems like a good idea to have some variety during your trip.

depending on what flight you can get, I would think about flying nito Madrid and staying for 4 nights [allows you time to recoever from jet-lag and to make a day-trip to Toledo,

then pick up a car, and head northish to segovia, Salamanca, [possibly] Valladolid, picos de europa, [bilbao] san sebatian. or you could go further west and take in Rioja.

then get train/fly down to andalucia. you probably only need 2 days in granada, followed by a day in Cordoba and 3-4 in seville. or vice versa depending on what flights you can get.

have you found www.maribelsguides.com yet?

regards, ann

If you do the above itinerary, you can catch a fast train back to Madrid from Sevilla. Another routing you might explore is to fly from London or Paris directly to San Sebastian, put Madrid in the middle. I would fly to Granada for at least 2 nights at the Alhambra (see it at night!!!!!!!) and then drive to Sevilla, and fast train back.

There is a small argument for being in San Sebastian first in hopes of snagging the best weather (and letting it cool down in Andalucia a tad) but weather is really just the luck of the draw.

If you don't mind picking up every so often, you could do a driving tour and still be very leisurely over 3 weeks, staying in some marvelous spots along the way. However, I don't think I would get bored in any of the cities you named (except Barcelona) for a week were I doing day trips using public transportation, although San Sebastian is the town most difficult to use as a base relying on public transportation. That said, I'd rather be in San Sebastian for dinner and walking home than be in San Sebastian for dinner and driving home -- and I always want to be in San Sebastian for dinner. However, the Spanish eat dinner so late, I often find myself making lunch the most important meal, and snacking at night.

I think key to whether you want a week in Madrid is how much the museums mean to you and how much you want Madrid's urban buzz.

hi again, K'bell,

oh yes, zeppole is dead right - it is well worth going to see the alhambra a night as well as during the day - and you MUST book to have any chance of getting in.

regards, ann

The food in San Sebastian is the best in Spain and the Basque Country is beautiful but Barcelona is a singular city. The charms of the Gothic Quarter and the moderisme architecture make it one of my favroite Spanish cities to visit.

Madrid is an excellent base to visit the many nearby worthwhile towns. I would go by bus or train and not rent a car however.

Well, my husband thinks that we might consider picking one or two areas of Spain rather than trying to do it all. In the past, we have tried to cover Rome, Florence, Siena, Portofino and Nice, France and came home half dead. We are trying to do this different this time. Rather pick a city that one could just BE in, enjoy living there, soaking up the ambiance rather than trying to hit 4 museums a day as we did in Italy.
As with Italy, we did not attempt to cover all of Italy. When planning this trip, we have also contemplated flying to Rome and doing the Amalfi coast. With that in mind----my husband was suggesting staying in small towns where it will not take you hours to just get out of the city. Staying in a small town and taking the train back into Madrid, Barcelona, etc.
I am so torn on picking only two areas. Andaluca sounds like you could spend two weeks there alone.
So, I will ask your opinion--if you had to pick just one area (flying into Madrid), which one could entertain you for two weeks? I love the beach but Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba sound fabulous. I assume they are large cities so possibly we could find a smaller town to stay in and take "day trips" to the larger towns.
Is this concept strange?????

This may sound strange but why don't you just book the trip now going through Madrid. This way you can plan your trip more thoroughly and can be flexible on your locations. If you choose the South it's a quick AVE to Sevilla or Malaga. If you choose San Sebastian you wouldn't be able to fly direct there anyways (at least from the US which since you're using AA miles I assume this is the case). If you choose Barcelona it may have been more advantageous to have flown into there but you wouldn't have had as much flexibility if you changed your mind afterwards. Besides, as you research more you may find other incredible areas to explore (Galicia, Extremadura, etc...)!

We will fly into Madrid from Denver, only one stop in Miami. Then off to one area for about 10 days and then another for 10 days and then back to Madrid for a few and then fly out.
Thank you.

I am with your husband in revolting against dashing about to try to see everything.

That said, it really gets very subjective about which one place you should pick, or which two places you should pick. But I agree that if you book your flights into Madrid, you'll total flexibility in sorting out the final answer over the coming year. Once you are in Madrid airport, you can either immediately head out for someplace else by plane or train, or head into Madrid and start your trip from there.

Like Italy, Spain is a country of stitched-together disparate cultures, under a federal banner that is more symbolic than real (and even resented). There is a big difference, culturally, socially and food-wise, between basing yourself in Catalona, Madrid or Andalucia.

To me, as a European tourist, both the Alhambra and the mosque in Cordoba are such startling, beautiful, illuminating sights, that if you have any chance at all to see them, you should seize them. But beyond that, I suggest that you look at guidebooks to decide whether the fantastic towns near Madrid hold more interest for you than the rest of Andalucia, or Catalonia, or the Basque Country, or the great --- truly great -- museums of Madrid, which are among the best on the continent.

I guess what I am saying is: I think your husband has the right idea to pick one geographically compact area of Spain and enjoy its rewards -- whether you are enjoying it primarily for food, scenery or art (and no part of Spain doesn't offer some proportion of all three, wonderfully).

That said, I would try to persuade him to save four days for a jaunt that includes the Alhambra and the mosque in Cordoba, even if it is the only thing you see in Andulucia. Perhaps you will want to spend all your time in Andalucia. But even if not, I do believe it is worth the extra energy to, at some point in your lives and travels, see these two sights. If it doesn't fit into this trip, try to make it another time.

Madrid, Seville, Barcelona would be my picks; we spent a total of 15 days between them and could have stayed longer....especially in Seville and Barcelona. At the risk of offending a great many people, I was under whelmed with Alahambra. Perhaps it was all the muslim engravings and being close to 9/11 but it was a big empty dusty place to me. Alcazar was just as interesting but that is just my opinion. We took 2 walking tours in seville that were great - let me know if you need info on them. Each was a half day - the first was a general into to the city and its neighborhoods, monuments, etc. The second was focused on the cathedral. Same tour group leader, Connie, who is outstanding.

Katiebell, my husband and I spent a 5 days in Madrid this June and had no time for day trips, there was just so much to see in the city, and we wanted to take it at a slow pace. For a reasonable hotel with a great location Maribels suggestions of the Hotel Plaza Mayor was perfect for us.

I would love to hear from zeppole why San Sebastian is so high on his list of favorite places. We found it to be much less attractive and personable than the French coast towns of Guethary, St. Jean de Luz and Biarritz. I'm wondering what we failed to discover when we were there this past May.

Deborah

"Madrid, Seville, Barcelona would be my picks; we spent a total of 15 days between them and could have stayed longer....especially in Seville and Barcelona. At the risk of offending a great many people, I was under whelmed with Alahambra."

I tend to agree .
Visited Alhambra long time ago and again last year ( day and night); it is worth seeing but ...

We loved, loved Barcelona - stayed
8 days and never left the city. Going again this fall !
If one has an interest in visiting museums and galleries, staying in Madrid 2-3 days is way too short.

happy to oblige!

I live in Camogli, Itlay, so perhaps I have a special feeling for the perfect seaside town, and San Sebastian/Donostia's "conca" is one of the most exquisite natural harbor formations in Europe. Added to that is the 19th c. grand promenade infrastructure, which makes the beachfront the democratic playground of everyone. Like the Seine in Paris, it is impossible to be in San Sebastian and not criss-cross the conca continuously, so the waterfront is very much part and parcel of the town, not just someplace you go to when it's hot to bake and swim, and then retreat home.

But, but, but:

It's the food, really -- and I'm not a foodie. The food is just so gaspingly delicious -- whether one eats formally or informally -- it is hard to leave, in my view. I walked into dives in San Sebastian and ate the food off the bars with a glass of inexpensive "tinto" -- and I was left speechless. I have never tasted ice cream as good as what I ate in San Sebastian.

Get in a car and head along the coast and the scenery is stunning (on the French side, too, the Cote Basque is stunning). Green, blue, rocky, pristine. I just wish it had the same climate as the Costa Brava or the Rivieras -- but then it would be as developed, as overtouristed and it just wouldn't be the same.

I much preferred Ciboure to St Jean de Luz in France -- because to me St Jean de Luz is packaged up for tourists in a neat bow, but Ciboure retains at least something of its sleepy indifference. I didn't make it as far as Biarritz and have never been to Guethary as far as I know (I went to Barcelona, through France, the Pyrenees and the Costa Brava from San Sebastian). The Cote Basque between Hendaye and St Jean de Luz is quite lovely, but it becomes more dramatic on the Spanish side, moving beyond San Sebastian.

All that said, I do believe if that you are not inclined toward a hedonistic vacation of crawling along the Basque coast in Spain, from Hondarribia or San Sebastian toward Portugal, focusing on food and being away from it all, then one's vacation dollars a better spent in areas with more monumental architecture and other manmade sights to see.

kakiebell writes: "... It is only about three and half hours from Madrid to Seville by car and you can see so much inbetween. ..."
Not likely! AVE, traveling at 150mph, takes 2.5 hours Madrid-Sevilla. I've covered it by NonStop MotorCoach in 5.5 hours. 3.5 hours is totally out of the question for driving that distance. And there's not much to see along that route.

For a 3-week trip to Spain in September, I recommend Santander (el Día de Cantabria, 15 Sept) with daytrips to Bilbao, Laredo & Limpias and los Picos de Europa; then I would head west, to Lugo & Santiago. Even if you haven't done a Pilgrimage, the latter is worth a visit

Granted, my itinerary doesn't visit Moorish Spain - It's more Castreño (Celtic) Spain; but that's the way I like it.

Wow, can we keep this dialogue going for a year???? I have learned more from everyone--cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. A perspective other than the travel books is so personal. Since everyone is so accomodating, I will ask another question. We do not like staying in big cities and trying to navigate around them. We went to Italy last year and loved staying in Siena and taking day trips from there rather than staying in Rome and taking day trips.
So, the question is, would it be feasible to stay in Toledo instead of Madrid and do day trips to Madrid and the other cities close to that area. Does the train run to all those towns. I have not used the train system in Spain--the ones in Italy are fabulous.
The same for Seville---maybe pick a small town outside Seville and do the same.
I am so torn about Barcelona---I get so many mixed opinions and that is taking me to the northern part of Spain. If I want to stay in two area such as Madrid and then Andaluca (and I do think I want to see the Alhambra), I think it might dilute my adventures in those two areas.
I can skip Madrid and go straight to Barcelona which was my original plan but then people talk about not missing Madrid.
I guess I am drawn to Andaluca because I lived in Morrocco for six months and have fond memories of their architecture, food, etc.
So, right now the big question is Madrid or Barcelona and is Toledo and suitable town to base yourself out of if I choose Madrid.
Thanks again for all the help!!!
Oh, Nedsireland, my mistake about the distance but when you live in the United States and it takes you seven hours to get from Dallas out of the state of Texas, none of these drives seems much of anything.

I'll try this as a way of putting you out of your misery:

Why not just mainly go to Andalucia?

By the way, Sevilla is not exactly a "big" city in feel, especially if you stay in the historic quarter. But you might consider staying in Cordoba.

I visit Madrid often because I like it, but I think you can skip it, given your description of yourself. If you feel obliged to do anything at all there, it would be visiting the Prado -- and feel free to skip it painting museums are just not your thing.

I don't think Toledo would make a good base at all, however, because what's you'd encounter is mobs of tourists in the day and too limited services at night -- plus very few transportation options. I can't go further in suggesting another possibility, however, because I'd don't know enough about places like Segovia or Burgos to know if they could be that way for you.

This site might interest you, but I think some of the distance for day trips are longer than I would like:

http://www.altrinchamfc.co.uk/valladolid.htm

In the other direction, instead of the noise, bustle and pollution of Barcelona, I do think you could happily stay in Girona and use it as a base for many day trips, although having a car would extend your range. But you wouldn't need one the whole time. You could easily fill more than half a week with sightseeing on public transportation, including trips to Barcelona, and then rent a car for 2 days or three to see the coast or the foothills.

But all you need to decide right now is your plane tickets -- and even if you don't want to stay in Madrid, flying in and out of there won't limit your subsequent choices.

But I wouldn't let myself be too driven by the calendar, in the sense that you have 21 days, but you don't need to divide them by weekends. But were it me, I would put in for a very relaxed and deep tour of Andalucia, and then fill out the rest of the days with sights in and around Madrid, maybe as bookends.

But I think you definitely want to make Andalucia, especially Cordoba and Granada, part of your journey to Spain.