Timing for Spain and Portugal
 

We are planning a first visit to Spain and Portugal for March - April of 2008. We enjoy country areas and beaches with a smattering of art museums and historical buildings mixed in. Eating, drinking, and music also interest us.

I know that this is a very general question, but to help us get started, how would you suggest that we divide a four week trip between Spain and Portugal? Thanks, your advice is appreciated.

If you're intent on visiting both countries I would spend either one week in Portugal and three in Spain, or two weeks in each. The thinking behind the first is that Portugal is so much smaller and you don't have the great distances between places of interest. Alternatively, I would spend a fortnight in Portugal doing it in more depth, followed by two or three places in Spain [as bases for day-trips]. I don't think March-April is good for beaches, and I wouldn't recommend the Spanish beach resorts. [We were lucky in Portugal in March 2002 when we experienced a heatwave in Portugal in mid-March, and the beaches near Porto looked inviting, but we were lucky.]
Are you travelling by car or bus/train/plane?

Thanks for your reply Suelynne.

Your note about distances is thoughtful. Our mention of beaches is not really about swimming. We just like to explore pretty ones, searching for shells. We also enjoy good seafood restaurants which we may find nearby.

We are at the beginning stage of planning. Our thought was to fly from the US to Barcelona and pick up a car when we depart there. Then, travel by car, ending the trip and flying home from Lisbon. That said, we are not opposed to flying or train transport except that we do want to experience the countryside, provided there is anything worth while to see.

Portugal's the place for seafood! I haven't driven in either Spain or Portugal, but have friends who've driven around Andalucia happily, and only complained of narrow streets in towns. It is much easier to cover the distances in Spain by car than it is in the UK for instance, where the motorways are clogged and the country roads so narrow. I haven't been to NW Spain but would recommend the hinterland of Andalucia and the countryside bounded by Salamanca, Segovia and Madrid. I've done Porto to Salamanca by bus and don't recall too much road traffic, but I don't know whether you want to take a hire car across the border.

Hi Suelynne,
Your comments are wise ones. I had not thought about the question of dropping a car in Lisbon that we picked up in Barcelona. I will call a couple of rental companies before we proceed further. Thanks.

Most of the car rental companies will allow you take a car across the border but will add a large drop off fee. We had a seaparate car rental in each country-Portugal and Spain- and had a driver take us across the border to avoid the drop off fee.

Late April will probably be OK for beaches on the Costa del Sol (we had temps in the high 70's/low80's and the hotel pools were open and being used). Other parts of Spain or any earlier and it's probably still too cool for the beach.

How to divide the trip depends on your interests. We did just Lisbon/area (4 days) and then headed across to Merida, down to Andalusia, Costa del Sol and then up to Madrid in 3 weeks. We could have spent more time everywhere except Lisbon (and could then have seen more of Portugal). If you want to do Barcelona or other parts of northern Spain that would need more time.

GBC, If I was in your shoes and interested in doing both countries, I would spend three weeks in Spain and one in Portugal. For Spain, IF you exclude the east (and I am NOT saying you should), consider reviewing http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34954915 for ideas. For Portugal, I personally would want to spend time in Lisbon and then go to/near Porto. If you use the search function here, you will find plenty of past threads.

Thank you all for your replies.

ComfyShoes - I located the notes of your trip and will work my way through it - lots of information there.

IMHO Spain has so much to offer that as first approach I think that 4 weeks are not too much for this beautiful country.

GBC, Anytime! Also, if lobo_mau is suggesting only Spain, I would take his advice seriously because I know he loves Portugal (and Spain and other places).