Traveling with another woman the first week in Nov.for 8 days. First time to either country. Interested in churches, castles, museums and some R & R. Love mountains.Willing to drive and see some out of the way places.

I notice my message does not have the two countries!! Spain and Portugal. Thanks

Hello, my first suggestion is to go to Gibralter in Spain, not owned by Spain, but never the less. I spent the best new years eve up there, illegaly, but that is not the point!!! Beautiful views over Spain and the mediteranean and really nice hiking. You can even see monkeys, which was very thrilling to me.You also must see Northern Portugal. Coimbra is a really neat University town with old cobbled (how to spell???) stone streets. Sintra, 45 minutes out of Lisbon is an amazing small town with a 2 castles and one fortification up this very steep but beautiful hill (small mountain). Marvao had a beautiful castle and really really neat small backwards town. Evora had some neat museums and Roman Ruins, good shopping if you like that. There really is a lot to do and see. We had a great time while there and so will you. One hint, bring rain gear AKA pants and jacket, it rains almost everyday (only for a little while though) and pack some sweaters ok!!! Have a great time.

I would do Ronda/white villages route, Antequera area and Granada/Sierra Nevada area. I find the planned length of your stay perfectly suitable for this trip, the weather is still nice, with probably the first snowfall in the mountains. There are plenty of interesting buildings/monuments, the most wonderful castles in Spain, The Alhambra and Lacalahorra both in Granada and beautiful mountainous landscapes as El Torcal near Antequera, Sierra Nevada, Ronda Gorge or Grazalema peaks and gorges area. Some interesting caves as well as La Pileta near Ronda or Nerja 1 hour away from Granada. You always can reach the coast by driving 1 hour so this in my opinion makes it even more attractive. <BR> <BR>Another really interesting route would be Madrid and satellite cities ( Toledo, Segovia, Avila, La Granja, etc ) but the weather there could be harder and the mountains are not so impressive.

It comes to my mind the so-called Ruta de la Plata in Spain, it goes from Sevilla to Asturias ( from South straight to North )and you would drive through some of the most varied landscapes and wonderful cities in Spain. Also there are beautiful Paradores in all the below mentioned cities: <BR> <BR>Sevilla-Zafra-Merida (incredible roman ruins)-Caceres (World Heritage List old town)-Plasencia-Salamanca(the most beautiful square in Spain and the most impressive cathedral)-Zamora-Leon (outstanding gothic cathedral and nice old town)-Oviedo (nice place to stroll around, delicious food)-Picos de Europa area.

Pedro et al, what about other transportation on Ronda/white villages route ? We will be going to Spain in Sept or Oct (how's that for last minute planning?) and will probably not have a car. Many thanks. This site is so useful because of all of you.