DH and I are looking to get back to Europe and we have a limited schedule (Spring break as I'm in school and we both work for universities) that will allow us to travel from roughly March 15 - 27. This will be a short trip (for us) but we've missed our second home. We just can't decide on where to go! We've been to most the big cities and don't really want to repeat (we've been to Paris, Munich, all over Italy, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Copenhagen, Prague, Barcelona, etc). Thinking about Vienna/Budapest but concerned that the weather mid-March might be really cold. We've also considered Seville/Cordoba/Malaga, but hubby wants enough time in that region to visit Portugal and Gibraltar. We'll have roughly 10 nights and don't mind moving every 3ish days, so any thoughts?
Both Spain and Portugal will have mild weather during that time (estimates in March are low of 50 to high 65), but with 10 days you won’t have time to do both. I am partial to Andalucia and there is plenty to see and do in Seville/Cordoba/Malaga for 10 days, although most people go to Malaga for the sea. If you have not been to Granada, you may want to consider substituting that for Malaga. Granada not only has the Alhambra, but it is a charming small town. We stayed there last year for 3 nights and honestly, it was too short.
I'd opt for Andalucia too. If you base yourselves in Malaga (the entire ten nights could be spent here) you'll be within a 2 hour drive from Gibraltar, Seville (slightly longer), Cordoba, Granada, Ronda, Marbella, Nerja and many other delightful towns and villages. There's plenty to occupy your time and by staying in Malaga you remove the hassle and time wasting of changing accommodation, allowing you to focus your time on exploring.
We're often further along the coast in Estepona during Easter which sometimes falls quite early in April. The weather we've experienced is frequently warm and sunny although the evenings and early morning can be fresh but we've also experienced rain (one depressing time for four days straight). I'll always be in shorts and t-shirt but that's because I'm a typical Brit who will shed their clothes at the slightest glimpse of the sun and a temperature exceeding 15c. What the weather will allow you to do is enjoy exploring the area without the oppressive heat of summer, if it's not raining then it will be perfect weather.
I'd suggest that fitting in Portugal would be difficult and deserves a dedicated trip in its own right. Gibraltar I'd skip personally but I know that other people like it. It depends on what your husband's interests are and whether there is something specific about Gibraltar that he wants to see. It can certainly be done in a day trip and can easily fit into your schedule if needs be.
Is there any way to do the Malaga region without a car (or hiring a driver)? Without putting too much personal information on the internet, driving may not be an option. I can't drive a manual (and don't really want to learn in Spain) and hubby may not be released for driving by his doctor by this trip.
I was in Greece this past March 8th-14 and it was perfect weather. I know you didn't mention Greece, but it was wonderful. We didn't do the usual trip - Athens and an Island. We did Athens and hired a driver and spent the next 3 days traveling the Peloponnese. Ancient Mycenae, Olympia and Delphi. It was truly magnificent. I have been to Hungary in October twice and that is my favorite time of the year to visit Hungary.
You can easily get between Seville, Granada, Córdoba, Malaga, and Ronda by train/bus. Smaller towns also have bus service but you would need to be aware of times and frequency. Basically I can say that the bigger towns/cities are fully doable without a car but getting off into the hill towns/countryside would take more work and not everything would be possible.
I’d do Seville/Granada/Córdoba. I don’t love Malaga (it’s nice just not as interesting as the others to me).
Portugal is also a good idea. People always want to combine the 2 countries bc they are close geographically...but connections between them are tricky. On a short to medium trip I’d pick either but not both
Just FYI that renting an automatic car is easy if you reserve ahead from a bigger location (airport or train station, usually). So if you want to drive you can. I don’t drive manual but have driven in Spain, Sicily, Italy, France, Greece, and Iceland.
Andalucia is a great choice. But just to put a "wild card" out there have you considered Malta? Weather will be okay (-ish), there is loads to see in a short time, but in 10 days you can really see it and not think you're short-changing anywhere, which with 10 days in Andalucia you inevitably have to. Food in Malta is massively improved compared to just five years ago and it is very tourist friendly for getting around. Personally, I'd save Malta for May, but it's worth a thought in March.
Sorry, I knew I was forgetting a city.. we were in Athens two years ago and while I'd love to go back, we want to go when the islands are up and running.
If we do Spain, we aren't planning on spending much time in Malaga, just using it to fly in/out of. Hubby seems to be almost sold on Andalusia, but keeps saying but what about Cadiz, Tarifa, Tangier... oh my gosh! We love to drive in Europe and have driven all over Italy a few times (and hubby drives a manual)... but I'm not big on driving so I'd have to consider the fact that I may end up having to do all of it (plus, I can't parallel park to save my life..). I did see that several places had automatics for reasonable prices, so at least that would be an option.
We started out this vacation planning with me saying I didn't want to plan anything. I threw out the idea of Fiji.. but somehow we're both stuck on going back to Europe. I personally love the idea of Budapest/Bratislava/Vienna because we can train and walk the cities.. but I've seen posts about snow in March and eww, SNOW (we're in the Midwest and I hate snow).
I've never had a problem getting an automatic in Spain, most of my rentals are an automatic because I opt for larger cars and like to spend a bit more on a good German one. I understand that driving abroad is completely subjective but for me, being used to driving on the left, I can switch to driving on the right instantly and in Spain I find the driving less confrontational, competitive and aggressive than the US. There are plenty of options to park in large car parks on the outskirts of the city/town/village, parallel parking is only really going to be an issue if you're going to be driving in the centre. THe big towns and cities have plenty of underground parking lots but these are suited mainly to smaller cars and can be quite small and tight, if you're of a nervous disposition then I would avoid these.
I have no experience of public transport in Andalucia as I've always driven. It's not something that I would consider as driving is so easy there and the freedom it provides cannot be beaten.
For Vienna/Budapest: I've been in Budapest a half dozen times in March. I can think of one time when it was fairly cold, especially near the river that channels the wind. Usually cool, but not so much that a coat is necessary. I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to visit because it was March.
Andalucia is THE perfect place to choose in March. I was there a couple years ago and it was the height of spring, warm weather - not hot - and the air was redolent with the scent of orange blossoms everywhere. With 10 nights, you could easily add Granada (the Alhambra!!). I just came back from a two-week tour of Morocco that never went near Tangier - nor did any of the tours I looked at beforehand. It is NOT Morocco, just a waste of a couple of days you could spend enjoying Spain. AFAIK Tarifa is mainly for wind sports and a way to Tangier. OTOH Cadiz is a reasonable day trip from Sevilla by train.
I'm so glad Chani's back with that straight talk about Tangier. It really is a waste of time unless you have far longer than ten days and are somehow limited to sleeping every night in Andalucía.
Personally I would skip Gibraltar too, it's a bit too tacky for my taste, others would disagree, I think there are more interesting things to see with only 10 nights.
I would also opt to skip Tangiers, here is another forum post that I feel communicates my reasoning accurately: Please help with itinerary from Madrid to Granada (look for David's first reply)
Here is a potential Andalucía trip for 10 nights. I have focused the itinerary down, so it looks more like this:
Fly into Madrid
Train to
Sevilla (4 nights) with a day trip to Jerez or Cádiz via 1 hr train
Train to
Córdoba (2 nights)
Bus to
Granada (2 nights)
Bus to
Málaga (2 nights)
Fly out of Málaga to Madrid and then on to the U.S.
If you try to squeeze in Tarifa, Gibraltar, and Tangier, most of your time would be spent traveling in a complicated mix of public transportation and rental cars. By focusing your itinerary and giving the cities of Andalucía the time they deserve, I feel you will have a deeper and more rewarding experience than if you speed through with 1 night in many different places. It's like going to a buffet and trying 20 different small plates of food, by the end everything will taste the same.
If you haven't already done it, this is where you might want to spend some time on one of the weather sites, looking at "average" temps for various places you're considering. Sure these are only averages but they will give you some idea, and don't just look at the average daily high temp because that high temp typically won't be reached until 4 or 5 pm and the rest of the daylight part of the day will be somewhat cooler than the "average high."
" We've also considered Seville/Cordoba/Malaga, but hubby wants enough time in that region to visit Portugal and Gibraltar."
Just to emphasize what's already been said. I can't speak to Gibraltar. But while we in the US think of Spain and Portugal as practically one country, they are surprisingly hard to combine in a single trip. The transit links between them are quite skimpy - a very few trains (often at odd hours), some buses (fewer than you'd expect, often with changes needed) and flights (more than you would expect, to make up for the dearth of other options). If you're driving, a car rented in one country and dropped in the other will incur substantial surcharges.
Furthermore, Spain is larger than it first may appear (again, from a US perspective), and is highly regional, which means it takes more time to see than you may expect.
Summary: in 12 days, seeing the highlights of Andalucia - with or without a car - is a very nice trip. Trying to add Portugal or Morocco will turn this into a NOT nice trip.
Thank you everyone for your help! We decided to book...Andalucia! We’re flying directly into Malaga (RT Chicago where we have a few nights after to visit friends). We ended up with 12 nights to play with but haven’t started planning the actual itinerary. We don’t plan on spending much time in Malaga (most likely first and last night) and will be renting a car. Thoughts are Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Cádiz (a few hours along the way), and possibly Ronda. I also told hubby we could maybe day trip to Tangiers if timing works out, so he’s happy! Now off to plan! Any good hotel or restaurant suggestions? We prefer locally owned hotels (and generally stay around $100-$150/night).
Thanks!
I'd also urge you to drop Tangier. We took a trip there earlier this year but we've be visiting Andalucia for a few years and this was one trip that we hadn't been on so we decided to hire a guide in Tangier. We were staying in Estepona which is a 1.5 hour drive away. We left in good time but spent ages trying to find a parking space with the result being we missed our ferry however we managed to get on to the following one.
Our guide met us from the ferry and we were whisked off around the city and main sights in a minibus before being taken to a restaurant for lunch followed by a tour around the souk where we were introduced to friends/associates of the guide in the hope that we'd buy some goods at highly inflated prices.
All in all I was very disappointed with the place. With the exception of the royal and presidential residences up in the hills the city was dirty, chaotic, unattractive and nothing redeeming about it. There wasn't much that was of interest apart from parts of the kasbah. The food was a real disappointment particularly in comparison to all the excellent food we'd been eating in Spain and we just didn't feel that we were experiencing Morocco.
Be aware also that the ferries regularly get disrupted by the wind in the Strait of Gibraltar and it's common for them not to run for days at a time. March can be windy so if you are intent on going then be prepared to have a back up plan. Personally I'd stick to Spain and I'd give Tarifa a miss, it's an unattractive industrial port town.
After reading JC's description, I completely understand why the 10-14 day tours skip Tangier. I didn't see any place, be it big city, small town, or remote village, that was dirty or unattractive. Our group met lots of inflated prices, but we quickly learned how to bargain and rarely paid even half of the original asking price, and often only 20-25%. Logistically, going to Tangier will probably use up 2 days of your short trip, even with a car - one day getting to/from Tarifa, another for Tangier.
Jennifer, unless you want to spend a couple of days seeing the white hill towns around Ronda, I don't think a car will be an asset. The trains are fast (usually faster than driving), comfortable, and reasonably priced if you book when tickets first go on sale - usually 2 months ahead. You will not drive in any of the cities and parking will be difficult to find and expensive. Just take taxis to/from train stations. Cadiz is not "on the way" to any of your other cities - unless you have a car and go to Tangier, but then will you have enough time for your other places?. As I said before, Cadiz is a reasonable a day trip by train from Sevilla. The Cadiz train station is a short walk from the historic center and the sea shore.
Personally, I'd stay further south. Not just for the temperature but for the length of daylight hours. Up north is cold and the days are noticeably short.
Fire festival in Valencia (las Fallas) will be March 15-20, 2019. If you choose Andalusia, it's worth looking into. I went to Spain in April, which was great, but arrived just after this festival so haven't been yet.
Mardi Gras will be early March in 2019. A friend went to Venice for it. His advice was to get a ball ticket. Otherwise you are in a swarm of people moving slowly around a circular walking route and can't really see or do anything.
Day Tour from Seville to Tangier through Expedia: https://www.expedia.com/things-to-do/guided-day-tour-of-tangier-by-ferry-with-lunch.a373624.activity-details?regionId=201&semcid=US.MULTILOB.GOOGLE.AT-c-EN.TSHOP&semdtl=a11345517908.b153620168546.r1.g1dsa-497511626357.i134298014757.d1296195958636.e1c.j19032003.k11009987.f11t2.n1.l1g.h1b.m1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsMDeBRDMARIsAKrOP7FusPY_FXIKklf-8NeizJNJ9k_0sXoEEqi_XmFGTl6UGMaI6CuFsc0aAvyYEALw_wcB
Other info on Day tours to Tangier from Spain: https://www.tripsavvy.com/excursions-to-morocco-from-spain-1644413
Viator.com has tours to Tangier form Spain: https://www.viator.com/orion/searchResults/all?text=Tangier%20from%20Spain
I don't know what Brad means by south vs north. All of Andalucia is south :-) Here are the dates for Carnival in Cadiz. AFAIK it's the only place that really celebrates Mardi Gras. I was there on a day trip 5 years ago on the first Sunday. It was fun during the afternoon, mainly groups of young people (2-3 to a dozen or more) in coordinated costumes. By about 7 pm the drinking was getting serious. After watching a very colorful sunset over the Atlantic, I slowly made my way back to the train station, and the crowds were getting a tad too spirited for my "old lady" comfort level. At 8.30 there were more young people arriving than leaving and I was glad to be in the latter group. Great fun, though.
2 years ago I was in Valencia for Las Fallas, that Brad mentioned. It was quite an experience. The first couple of days, it was easy to walk around and see many of the Fallas, huge, elaborate, fanciful paper-mache creations. By the 3rd day, the crowds were growing to claustrophobic proportions at times. There's a friendly party atmosphere. I left early on Day 4. Day 5 is the culmination, with the burning of all the Fallas in the evening. If you were going to Barcelona, I'd recommend spending a couple of days in Valencia, but it's a much longer train ride from Andalucia. Here's a link to some of my photos.