indiancouple

Thanks amsdon. Wish we had known about it before our trip.

wmaxwell

bookmarking

Travel_Glutton

Bookmarking

claire50

Wonderful trip report. It's making me rethink some reluctance to go back to Spain. Thank you for your careful descriptions, and your wonderful attitude.

rbsny

Thank you for this detailed report.

indiancouple

rbsny, you are most welcome.

cin_sg

Hmm. Reading bits of your trip report kinda made me want to consider doing just Southern Spain for my 8 full days there, rather than try to manage 2-3 of it in Barcelona then a train down to Madrid & nearby towns for the next 5.

TPAYT

Loved reading your detailed report.

We have spent most of our European time in France and Italy, but your report makes me want to explore Spain and Portugal also.

indiancouple

cin_pg and tpayton, it has been a year since I posted this trip report. Glad to know it is still being read and appreciated.

lifeofmytime

I'm just back from a trip to Greece and Rome, and have set my sights on the next one (though likely a few years away). I'm thinking Spain and/or Portugal, so I'm enjoying this immensely. I'm only halfway through, so I'm bookmarking to finish later. Thank you for such an entertaining and well-written report!

indiancouple

lifeofmytime, I can say we sure had the time of our life in Spain & Portugal. Memories that linger long are those of Seville, the Sintra castle, and the bullfight !

cin_sg

indiancouple
as per an earlier post, I had planned to just go just Barcelona and Madrid so 8 days wouldn't look so crazy. But after reading your TR, I really felt I couldn't touch down in Spain without putting a foot in Andalucia, even for just a day or two!

indiancouple

cin_sg, if you are going to be in Andalucia for only 1-2 days, let those days be spent in Seville. It is truly a magical city. Have fun !

cin_sg

indiancouple

my exact plan - Seville. But I feel horribly pressed for time and wonder if I should just stick to Barcelona/Madrid this trip and leave the south for another trip. 8 days is barely enough to scratch the surface of Spain, it seems.

Original plan was to fly into Barcelona (stay 2 nights), then fly to Seville (stay 2 nights), and finally to Madrid (4 nights) with a day trip to Toledo &/or Segovia. Was hoping to catch some bullfights or flamenco along the way but after some research, realised that the bullfighting season is well over by the time I'm there (Oct30-Nov6)!

On 2nd thought, maybe I should just divide my time between Barcelona and Madrid with day trips out from there. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated!

indiancouple

With only 8 days, and Barcelona and Madrid being on the top of your list, it would make sense to leave out Andalusia for another time. I have not been to Barcelona, but I hear it is a fabulous destination, and probably deserves more than 2 days that you are budgeting. At least 4 days.
And Madrid is easily worth 2 days by itself, plus an extra day for each daytrip. Since you are planning daytrips to Toledo and Segovia, 4 days in Madrid is also fair.
I am sure you will be intoxicated enough by Spain to want to come again, when you could spend your entire time in Andalusia, visiting Granada, Malaga, Ronda, Seville, Cordoba etc. We missed out on Barcelona, and we do plan to visit that city sometime; perhaps combine it with a trip to France in the future.

cin_sg

On hindsight, I should have planned to spend 8 days in Madrid and parts of Andalusia. But greedy me, I've booked my tickets to fly into Barcelona and out of Madrid (can't change anymore) so I think what you say is more do-able for my trip than the original "fantastic" itinerary I imagined I could do!

Indeed, doing Barcelona and France together sound very feasible, geographically-speaking. Well, I hope you'll get round to do this trip soon then!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Hasta Luego!

insearchofheaven

Hi

I saw ur extensive report on spain and portugal.many thanks.We are from India too and are travelling from NY to India in November and are planning to spend a week in southern spain ..we have a one year old and feel that it will be convenient if we make one place a base and take day trips from there..which would be best u think...seville or malaga or Granada..
Thanks alot,

samuell

indiancouple,
I have been reading and enjoying your report....it's better reading than any guide book I have come across, it's like walking the streets and taking the trip along side with you, just fantastic.
We will be in Spain in two weeks for two weeks, covering Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla and Barcelona.
Question: I have not made any transpotation arrangement except Vueling flight from Sevilla to Barcelona as I like the flexibility. You did the same on your trip, how did that work out for you, looking back, would you have done anything differently.

Great report.

Sam.

indiancouple

insearchofheaven, sorry for the late response, but I was travelling the past few weeks. I can understand your predicament with a one-year old, but IMO it would make sense if you have two base camps instead of one. One should definitely be Seville, as Seville itself is wonderful, and you can easily do Cordoba from there, and even Ronda. The second could be either Granada or Malaga; either one is good enough, and they are pretty close by anyway. However, having only one base camp point may be difficult, as Seville and Granada/Malaga are quite far apart, and not doable from one location to another as a day trip.

indiancouple

Samuell, my apologies for not responding for so long, as I was travelling. I guess by now you may already be in Spain. No, I don't think we would have done it differently with the benefit of hindsight. Flexible travel in Spain is the way to go, and there are a multitude of travel options available, none of which require advance booking.
Saying that reading my report was better than a guide book ... well that tops the best compliment I have ever received on this forum. Thanks for taking me over the moon, however undeserved !