krisa02

Has anyone traveled solo to Spain and Portugal. A friend and I are thinking of traveling with Solar Tours or Gate 1. Just wondering if there were any other recommendations.

thursdaysd

Not sure I understand the question. If you're going with a friend you're not going solo, right? Going with a tour isn't really solo travel either.

If you're asking if anyone has traveled in Spain and/or Portugal on their own, no traveling companion, no tour, the answer is yes.

krisa02

Sorry I meant that we were 2 singles females traveling to Spain/Portugal and pretty much trying to do all the planning and booking ourselves rather than go with an escorted tour. Solar Travel and Gate 1 have independent travel tours that just book the flight/hotel for you and the rest is up to you. I was wonder what if anyone had used them before. We wanted to go to Lisbon, Seville and Barcelona but from what I'm reading the travel between each pt. might not be all that simple.

travisblue

I did that on my own for a good part of the way. I did Lisbon on my own for 4 days, then flew to Madrid for 2 days, then a flight to Barcelona where I picked up a tour. The flights were booked here in the US by a travel agent. I did the hotels with Bancotel vouchers. I spent 3 days on my own in Barcelona, but to see more of Spain without the hassle of trains and my luggage, I booked a tour (Globus?) in Barcelona after a few days on my own. The bus tour took me to Seville, Costa del Sol and a couple of other cities. I haven't used the tour group you note in your post. I didn't care for the tour part, but it was nice being able to just hop on a bus and have it take me where I wanted to go.

thursdaysd

No reason you can't do that on your own. Either cheap flights (see whichbudget.com) and/or trains (see seat61.com, bahn.de and renfe.es). See this forum (Europe section) or tripadvisor.com or a guidebook for help in picking hotels, which you can book directly by email. I traveled to Egypt with Gate1 - good guide, reasonable hotels - but prefer independent travel.

I did not find the trains to be a hassle, but I travel light. Avoid the night train from Madrid to Ronda, otherwise the trains were fine.

betsys

I have traveled with my DH to Portugal with no agent and no tour three times. Most recently was a year or so ago, and it is so easy. The Portuguese are wonderful and seem to love Americans. I can recommend the Hotel Metropole in Lisbon, for a very affordable hotel in the middle of everything, or if you want the best, I like the Ritz which is a bit further from the center, but chic as can be. The Posadas are pretty terrific everywhere in the country, and it would be a shame to see only Lisbon in Portugal, which is a more interesting country than Spain in many ways, sort of the way Ireland is more interesting than England. (OMIGOSH what have I said???)

lazy

What are the must-sees and must-dos in Portugal and what is the best way to get around. I have 10 days and a limited budget and will be travelling as a family (with 3 teenage kids). Any advice?

zhimple

if you decide to travel solo you'll be amazed because you will see many other people travelling alone. so when you're travelling alone you're the only Decision maker and the advantage of travelling alone you will meet new people and make new friends
have a great trip

Avelyn
WebMaster
s9.com - Biographical Dictionary contains information on 33000 notable people from ancient times to the present day.

thursdaysd

lazy - you're posting on the Solo Traveler board, you'll get more responses if you repost on the Europe board. For my trip reports on Spain and Portugal see www.wilhelmswords.com/rtw2004.

suze

We use "solo" here meaning a person who is traveling by themselves.

I think a better term for what you are asking about would be self-planning or "independent" travel.

If all the tour company books is the flight and hotel, I'm not sure why you'd need them. Why not do that part yourself as well? Those are the two easiest things imo!

Do post over on the Europe forum too.

Tashulina

Try not to miss Spain and especially Salamanca. Few legends have as long a tradition in Salamanca as that of the legend of the Cave of Salamanca. The legend tells that for a long time there has existed a place in Salamanca,
in the area today known as the Carvajal Coast, where the arts magical were practiced, such as divination, necromancy and many others.
I visited last year Salamanca and I was fascinated by this legend, learned about from http://www.gosalamanca.info/about/history.aspx. My advice is to find out first as many information as you can get about the spots you want to visit and then to go there.

kaudrey

Hi,

I did a two week solo tour of Spain in 2004. It was fantastic. I used the train, rented a car, and flew around to see Madrid, Sevilla, Cordoba, the white towns, Granada, and Barcelona. It was fabulous. I just researched things on the internet and booked everything myself.