Three Weeks in Spain-- Itinerary Feedback Desired
 

My husband and I will be taking our first trip to Spain this May/June (2011). We are 30, speak Spanish, and are primarily interested in history, culture, food (more rustic than fancy or expensive), wine (both grew up in wine regions in the US), and architecture. We like to see a lot when we travel, but definitely like to relax at times and do not enjoy a total whirlwind. My husband is more interested in Toledo, Salamanca and Moorish Spain, whereas I am most interested in the food/architecture of Barcelona and the the area north of Barcelona.

We prefer relying on buses and trains entirely (no intra-country flights-- my own issue with flying), but would consider renting a car for a short period if it would absolutely allow us an experience we couldn't otherwise get. After reading a couple of guidebooks and perusing some online forums, we have sketched out a potential itinerary (no lodging or other details worked out at this time). We are wondering if more knowledgeable people think this itinerary is a: do-able, b: comfortable, and c: contains any crazy oversights?

Also, we fly into and out of Madrid due to the deal I found on our flight.

Any feedback or recommendations would be wonderfully appreciated!
.
21-May Arrive Madrid 7:30AM
22-May Madrid
23-May Madrid
24-May Madrid
25-May Toledo
26-May Toledo
27-May Sevilla
28-May Sevilla (Day trip to Cordoba?)
29-May Sevilla
30-May Arcos
31-May Ronda
1-Jun Granada
2-Jun Granada
3-Jun Salamanca (University is important stop for us)
4-Jun Salamanca
5-Jun Barcelona
6-Jun Barcelona
7-Jun Barcelona
8-Jun Girona (Side trips to Figures/Cadaques?)
9-Jun Girona (Side trip to Coast?)
10-Jun Girona --> Barcelona -->Madrid
11-Jun Depart Madrid 10AM

Thank you!!

I think the itinerary is certainly doable, I just added my own personal critiques/suggestions below. I've been to all of the places except for Girona (and the possible side trips you mentioned). Just a note about trains, with the exception of the Ave (their high speed train), Spain is not know for their train service (often slower, less options, etc). Their bus system is pretty good though. I would recommend taking the AVE back to Madrid from Barcelona as service began between the two cities a couple of years ago.

Since you'll be on the go so much throughout your trip, I would recommend axing Cordoba from your itinerary. It's a great city and the Mezquita is one of the most impressive sites I have ever seen, but I would probably just devote that day to exploring Sevilla more, being able to have one more day in a place. Also, I wasn't the biggest fan of Ronda but I know that people either love it or hate it. I would probably take that day and add it somewhere else.

Good luck, wish I were going :)

traveltalesfromtheredheadedtraveler.blogspot.com/
(My travel writing blog!)

I think that the order has to be changed. It should be Toledo, Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla because I bleieve that the most direct way to get to Salamanca is via the Extremadura and Sevilla is geographically closer to that route. If I were you, I would consider driving, which would save the time of sticking to public transportation schedules and give you the freedom to do some detours. Here's what we did in three weeks back in 1985:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7622975757180/

I geo-tagged most of the pictures so that they can be relocated on a map.

Agree with Michael; Granada after Toledo makes the route more direct.

Salamanca ot Barcelona is about 9 hours of driving. Were you going to take the train, drive or fly that portion?

You might consider going directly to Toledo after arriving and starting your trip from there. Then you can do Madrid after Salamanca, which will both shorten the leg to Barcelona and give you more options of getting there.

Cordoba was our favorite place in Andalucia and I eocmmend at least a day trip if not an overnight.

The train from Madrid to Salamanca is less than three hours and near by is a most intersting architectural town Avila.

There is now a high speed train between Madrid and Barcelona.

Thank you so much for the replies so far! This is very helpful. Aramis: we were definitely planning to take the train from Salamanca to Barcelona. But, after reading your replies, maybe something more like the below(I cut the White Hill towns out, still not sure how to efficiently work those in)?

21-May Arrive Madrid 7:30AM, head to Toledo
22-May Toledo
23-May Granada
24-May Granada
25-May Cordoba
26-May Sevilla
27-May Sevilla
28-May Sevilla
29-May Salamanca
30-May Salamanca
31-May Segovia
1-Jun Madrid
2-Jun Madrid
3-Jun Madrid
4-Jun Madrid --> Barcelona
5-Jun Barcelona
6-Jun Barcelona
7-Jun Barcelona
8-Jun Girona (Side trips to Figures/Cadaques?)
9-Jun Girona (Side trip to Coast?)
10-Jun Girona --> Barcelona -->Madrid
11-Jun Depart Madrid 10AM

I realize that we will lose some time and freedom by not driving, but it's almost always our preference to not drive when traveling. I actually have not been to Europe before (and my husband not since he was 12), but I am hoping that the trains in Spain are at least better and more reliable than those in North/Central/South America... since it wouldn't take much :)

That said, we are just as happy to take buses as trains (just no flying).

Thanks again, and please keep the suggestions coming if not too much trouble!

My personal preference would be to lump together all nights in Madrid at the end of the trip.
The train from Segovia to Barcelona does take you via Madrid, but it looks a bit inconvenient to do the "find hotel, check-in, unpack, pack, check-out" procedure twice in the same city within a few days.

To see the White Villages in Andalucia would be the only leg when a rental car made sense for 1-2 days to visit them on a drive from Granada to Sevilla.

Public transportation is in general excellent in Spain. The high speed AVE rail network is the largest in Europe: http://www.spain-holiday.com/blog/hi...in-the-ave.php

I have been to all the places on your list. The only area I drove in was the area north of Barcelona. I think it would be difficult to get to Cadeques by public transportation for example. But then if you are renting a car just for that I would skip it. In a lot of the areas buses were much better (faster, better schedule) than trains and they are very comfortable.

I did trip reports for all those areas (four different trips actually to cover what you are doing - but I still think your itinerary, while fast, is very doable). I review the hotels we stayed in and talk about transportation. So if you are interested -

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tral-spain.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...and-france.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...p-report-1.cfm

Michael and Isabel, thank you so much for the photos and trip reports! I plan to go through all of those today for ideas.

And to all others, thanks for continuing to help us think about the puzzle of the itinerary. I know it is not the most efficient thing to fly into and out of the central region of the country when we also want to hit the North, but it was worth the good deal on direct flights.

Many thanks.

Your itinerary is doable - a little rushed using public transportation but not too bad.

I travel to Spain using public transportation for most of my trips. One lesson I learned after a couple of trips was to do as much research ahead of time as I could on bus and train options. Train schedules on renfe are quite reliable. But bus is often the way you may be traveling and some guidebooks are not always accurate. Now I check the bus schedules on the internet prior to leaving then verify when I arrive in each city. I had a couple of itineraries in my first trip where the buses were limited and I had to plan around them - I didn't know this until I arrrived.

We spent 5 days in Barcelona this past October; then we rented a car & drove up Costa Brava, overnighted in Cadaques (one of our favorite places), then spent 2 nights in Girona & spent a day driving through Northern Catalonia (including Pyrenees). We loved every portion of our trip. Driving was very easy. You can click on my name to read my trip report if that helps.

Sounds like a great trip to me!

Cowboy has a good point.
you might consider a cheap Vueling flight from Seville or Granada to Barcelona... explore that area, take a train to Madrid and finish your stay there( visit Segovia and Salamanca from Madrid)
To take a train to Granada or Seville you'll have to get beck from Toledo to Madrid first . Not a problem because AVE takes only 1/2 hour from Toledo. You can take AVE to Seville and make a stop in Cordoba. After a stay in Seville , take a train or bus to Granada ( about 3 hours), fly to Barcelona. Visit around Barcelona, AVE back to Madrid. From Madrid you can make a day trip to Segovia and an overnight trip to Salamanca.
It would be easier, if you can arrange for an "open jaw"
ticket, i.e flying into one city and leaving from the other.

Sounds good. You will be exhasted just from all of the traveling around.

Thanks again for all the replies! After looking at train schedules and all of the advice above, I have a revised itinerary that looks like this:

May 21: Arrive Madrid 7:30AM, head right to Sevilla (train)
May 22: Sevilla
May 23: Sevilla (daytrip Cordoba via train)
May 24: Sevilla
May 25: Sevilla --> Granada(train)
May 26: Granada
May 27: Granada
May 28: Granada --> Barcelona (overnight train)
May 29: Barcelona
May 30: Barcelona
May 31: Barcelona
Jun 01: Barcelona --> Girona (train)
Jun 02: Girona (daytrip Figueres via train)
Jun 03: Girona (daytrip to Coast via bus)
Jun 04: Girona --> Salamanca (train via Barcelona)
Jun 05: Salamanca
Jun 06: Salamanca --> Toledo (train via Madrid)
Jun 07: Toledo --> Madrid (train)
Jun 08: Madrid
Jun 09: Madrid
Jun 10: Madrid
Jun 11: Depart Madrid 10AM

I realize it would be easier/quicker/cheaper to fly to Barcelona from Grenada. However, we love trains, are used to long distance trains, and my preference is not to fly in-country.

Also, Salamanca is out of the way, but it is an important stop to my husband (as is an overnight in Toledo).

Aside from the above two points, is this itinerary more logical?

Thanks!

looks better.

trains like AVE are not cheap...try to book on line and get discounted tickets. Booking on Renfe is a pain, but worth it $$$$$$

So you are taking the train from Girona to Salamanca in the day?

That is a 9 hour drive and I'm not sure if it's faster by train.

Yep. It's a full day of travel by train (1.5 hrs to Barcelona and then 8 to Salamanca). It's not efficient, but we didn't want to drop it, and we take long distance trains in the US frequently, and have no illusions what a day (or three days for that matter) on a train entails :)