LoriBehr

My husband and I are traveling to Spain over Easter (we will likely get there Holy Thursday) and leave Saturday April 2nd...so we'll be there for about 10 days. I am thinking we'd like to do 2 cities during that time to not be so rushed, but we are not sure what cities yet. From what i read, it sounds like doing a large busy city like Barcelona or Madrid for one half then a smaller area of city for the other half would be the best bet. I am thinking maybe fly into Barcelona first then travel to Seville and go back to Barcelona to fly out...or we can try to fit in 3 cities and fly out of Madrid to go home back to Chicago. Neither of us have ever been to Spain and are high energy and active people (we're 28), but also like to have some down time to explore the culture and chill. We are not overly obsessed with all the touristy things, but of course want to see the architecture and Olessa de Monserat and such.

Any ideas of what cities to visit and how crazy is Barcelona over Easter? I know it will be extremely crowded and we'd have to book everything early which is fine, but i'd like to know if it's doable or if we should go to a different area first. Thanks so much!!! Any insight would be really great

robertcoon

Hi, we went to Spain a few years ago. Barcelona was great, but we enjoyed getting into some of the smaller cities better - Sevilla and Granada in particular. We started our trip in Barcelona, took trains (with one overnight train) to Sevilla & Granada, and then finished in Madrid. The Moorish architecture - the Alcazar in Sevilla and the Alhambra in Granada - in the smaller cities is definitely worth the visit.

inspiredexplorer

If you are interested in experiencing/observing the Semana Santa celebrations, some of the best known and most elaborate celebrations will occur in Seville, Malaga, Valladolid, Toledo, Leon, and Salamanca.

With 10 days in late March, I would pair Madrid and Seville for an easy combination (only 2 hrs 30 min by train, versus 5hrs 28 min from Barcelona to Seville). Put more time in Seville to take advantage of likely better weather and consider if you want a second base in addition to Seville. With say 9 nights/10 days, I might recommend 5 for Seville and Andalusia, 4 for Madrid, or even 6 and 3 if Andalusia is calling to you most.

If you're really interested in Semana Santa, I would put Seville first and enjoy the Andalusian festival. If you are casually interested but not fully committed, put Madrid first, and then you can choose to take a day trip and experience the processions in Toledo or Valladolid, and if you decide not to then just stay in Madrid.

And you will definitely want to book in advance, as Semana Santa is a huge time for travel, especially in cities with famous celebrations.

Robert2533

The first thing you want to do is look at an open-jaw ticket, flying into one city and out of another (into Barcelona, out of Sevilla or Madrid would be a perfect example). Then you don't have to waste a day or two backtracking. the cost, in most cases, isn't any different then flying into and out of the same location.

Barcelona over Easter isn't anything to write home about when compared to most of the cities in Andalucia. Even Burgos is much more exciting.

If you want to experience Semana Santa for the first time, then Sevilla would be my first choice (www.exploreseville.com/events/semana-santa.htm).

kja

With 10 days, you might even want to consider spending all of your time in Andalusia -- Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, maybe Ronda, maybe Malaga, maybe Nerja....

kimhe

Thursday night into Good Friday is the absolute highlight of the Semana Santa/Holy week celebrations with the most important processions all through the night and into the morning/midday. Andalucia is the place to be during Semana Santa, fiesta and devotion hand in hand 24/7. Fabulous celebrations in Malaga, and not as many tourists as in Sevilla. And a huge international airport in Malaga. Semana Santa in Malaga.
http://www.andalucia.com/festival/easter/malaga.htm
http://www.semana-santa-malaga.com/e...ek-malaga.html

From Malaga it's easy to go to Sevilla or Granada, and you're 2h 30 mins away from Madrid with the high speed AVE train, city center to city center. And little more than an hour and a few euros from Barcelona with the low cost Vueling airline.

kimhe

... and here is wonderful malagueña Diana Navarro singing a saeta in Malaga main street Marques de Larios during Semana Santa a couple of years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0OkpfhZntY