Waldemar

I am traveling with my wife to Spain next january.We are renting a car in Madrid for 8 days(have GPS)and are planning to stay at B&B(paradores)or small hotels during our trip,any suggestions on itinerary?
We are both fluent in Spanish,like wine ,good food and enjoy sightseeing.
Any advice on where to stay,eat,see?
This will be are first time in Spain and we realize that it will be cold and that it is a big country,but any advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Robert2533

With only eight days, you have to be practical and plan your route carefully. You don't want to spend a lot of time on the road. Madrid in January is also very nice in January, and if you forget about the rental car, you can take the train to València, where on New Year's Day this year the temperature was a balmy 59F.

The other choice, base on the limited number of days, would be to spend the first two to three days in Madrid and then take the AVE to Sevilla, with a stop in Cordoba.

blackduff

The best food in Spain is found in Andalucia and especially on the Atlantic coast. Since you are Spanish speaking you'll enjoy Cadiz, Sevilla, and lots of small cities in that area. Puerto de Santa Maria is great for a stop and the food is better.

If you drive over to the Costa del Sol, it will provide "Eurogruel" instead the true Spanish meals.

Oh, haven't I mentioned Sevilla before (LOL)? Then it's a great city to spend a few days. My choice in Sevilla is "Las Cuevas" for typical food and atmosphere. It's located in Las Remidios (sp?)section of Sevilla. Ambiance is the most valued requirement in Spanish restaurant and this place has bags of ambiance. Lunch is the best but the evening meal is great too.

Blackduff

Waldemar

Thanks for both of your replys Robert2533 and blackduff.The rental car was included in our package so we have to use it, even if it is limited.
We will definetly be going to Andalusia and maybe Sevilla.

Waldemar

NEDSIRELAND

blackduff writes: "The best food in Spain is found in Andalucia and especially on the Atlantic coast..." You should prefix that statement with something like 'IMHO!' Are you familiar with the Basque cuisine?? How about Galicia where I enjoyed the best grilled Pez Espada (swordfish) I have eaten in my life?? Or the Comunitát de Valencia with its Paella Valenciana (aka Paella de Marisco)?? Cantabria and Asturias with their great seafood and a bean stew known as Fabada Asturiana (Fava beans) or Cocido de Liebana (garbanzo beans)??

Granted, with a limited amount of time I can't recommend going north in January. The weather can be 'hairy!'

In el Puerto de Santa Maria the restaurant in el Monasterio de San Miguel (5-star deluxe Hotel) is one I recommend, as is the one in Sevilla's Hotel Alfonso XIII. For an inexpensive midday meal in Sevilla, I like el Mesón de la Cinta, adjacent to el Maestranza Plaza de Toros.

kenderina

Ned, Paella Valenciana has no "marisco" on it Someone from Valencia would have a heart attack if sees a single shrimp on his paella , hahaha

blackduff

Ned
I don't dispute that those dishes you mentioned are great, as well as those areas. But what about the Costa's and their bad restaurants. The food, to a great amount, it created for tourists. Finding boiled potatoes (which serves in the Costa's)doesn't sound very Spanish.

Paella is probably good in Valencia. Valladolid (sp?) is another place for good paella but paella served in route stops is crap. The squid is more rubber than Michelin tires. Other low budget restaurants serve paella and it's normally crap. Yet, many people think that this is typical Spain.

I still think Andalucia serves some of the best meals in Spain. The amount of fresh fish/shellfish allows the restaurant the best needs for the meal.

You know Puerto de Santa Maria has a "Longa" (sp?) or auction for the fish. The restaurant owners buying the freshest fish and even the small restaurants are buying there too.

A bit around the Bay of Cadiz is another small village-Puerto Real. Again, the fish is as still flipping in the ice cooler. I never went into this restaurant the first year I lived in that area. When I went into the crumbling walls, I found a photo from the Spanish King and his family. They went there for fish a few years back.

Andalousia has such a stupendous amount of good restaurants. You mentioned the hotel Monasteria. I lived there when the hotel was created and the food was good. But if you walk down to the river, that village has hundreds of very good restaurants.

Ventas cover all of Andalucia and mostly provide good meals. These are very low price meals but the quality is usually pretty good. Medina Sidonia is centered four routes around this village. These corners at each, have ventas selling meals with fowl. You can be served Partridge on a Sunday afternoon in one of the ventas. Yet the restaurants do not appear fancy. Good food yes, cheap food yes, ambiance yes, but it's not publicized.

I guess the reason about Andalucia's food, it's because there's so much good food. I haven't found this amount of good places elsewhere. I have travelled a lot of other places in Spain so I do have some tasting of the dishes you mentioned. I loved the Fabadas but Cocido wouldn't be on my plate anymore-if possible.

Blackduff

weber6560

I don't believe anything anywhere in Spain can touch Basque food. granted, the are totally different. southern food is heaveier and with ore frying. basque food is lighter with more sauces. BTW, I think the daily auction of the catch in Bonanaza just north of Sanlucar de Barrameda is more interesting than the auction in Cadiz.

weber6560

a terrific reference on travel in Spain focused on food and wine is Penelope Casa's book "Uncommon Spain". She is a food author and this book ferrets out those restaurants, large and small, in cities and villages, that are worthy of note. I have never been disappointed in any place she recommended. In addition to the food aspects, this book is probably as detailed as any out there on touring Spain.

nessundorma

I've not been in all parts of Spain but the food in the Basque country may be the best food in Europe, and Catalonia has marvelous restaurants, truly outstanding. Both regions far surpassed the food I had in Andalucia, although I quite enjoyed eating the food there.

I will also say I've eaten better in Madrid than I have in Andalucia -- and Galicians tell me I have lived until I've tasted many of their seafood specialties.

Andalucia is a marvelous place, most especially the Alhambra and the mosque in Cordoba. But were I going for a wine and food tour, I'd include Catalonia in January and if you are not bothered by gloomy weather and food is your biggest priority, head straight for the Basque country.

Waldemar

Thanks again to all for your suggestions and advice,specifically about the food.We thought of using Madrid as our quarters for 2 days and just do daytrips to surrounding towns instead of driving around all day.After reading your responses it makes us wish that our trip should of been 8 weeks instead of 8 days!