Suggestions for March 2017 travel, family of 4

I would opt for Spain, specifically Andalucia/Madrid as the weather will be better and the days a little longer. Here is one option:

Day 1 fly to Seville
2 Seville
3 Seville
4 Travel to Madrid via Cordoba. Stop off to visit the Mezquita and walk around Cordoba. This will take up the entore day.
5 Madrid
6 Madrid
7 Madrid
8 Fly home

You could also swap out Barcelona for Madrid as a lot of folks on these boards prefer Barcelona over Madrid. If you really want to see the UK, I would limit your cities to 2, maybe 3. You could easily spend the entire trip based in London and do a couple of day trips. If budget is a factor, Spain will be cheaper than the UK.

For a family of four its just not worth the expense and effects of trans Atlantic flights for 6 nights (??) in Europe. Wait til you can spend at least 2 weeks away again.

Hi, I have only been to England in the early weeks of April. It was cold and misty but I liked it, days feel long. Of course southern Spain is beautiful too. Nice to keep your location to something relatively small so you can still see and experience a lot in a short amount of time. But, I do agree that flying across the world is better to do with at LEAST 2 weeks (my personal minimum is 3 weeks)- anything less you spend most of your time recuperating from jet lag (not to mention the expense). I'd try to get more bang for my buck and hold out for a time when I can spend more time, if you can. But if that's the only time you have, pick a spot and stay in one area and I think it will be great.

I'm on the US west coast, and you are on the east - which means your transatlantic flights are 5 hours shorter than mine - so it's probably much easier for your family to take a shorter vacation than it is for mine :)

For a shorter trip I would recommend Portugal. It's a beautiful country with friendly people and you could see a good portion of it in a week. I think Rick has a video online that you can check out to see if you would be interested. As a bonus, flights to Portugal and expenses in Portugal will be lower than the others.

For either Spain or Portugal be sure to check the holiday calendar - the celebrations for Holy Week are a fantastic experience in Southern Spain but, can lead to crowds and difficulty finding lodging.

I would recommend Spain! We went last year late March and I truly loved it. We were in Madrid, Cordoba, and San Sebastian. It would be good to do Southern spain because the summer is so hot.

I have heard great things about portugal, don't think you can go wrong there either!

Kim

I live on the east coast and have taken many long weekends to the west coastal area of Europe including Paris, even as little as 4 full days. If you stick to the coastal area of Europe, you will have a lovely trip. Six full days will be a lovely respite. However, I wouldn't spend base time in more than two locations, but that's because I like to sit back and enjoy, and you will lose most of a day changing locations. Also, with girls the age of yours, they might also enjoy getting to know an area rather than changing bases a lot. If you stick to one or two bases, in one country, the girls might overcome any shyness and enjoy using Spanish or Portuguese, both would be even more superficial so that is why I recommend one country. So...I'd recommend Portugal as you will be arriving from Florida.

Barcelona and Valencia. Valencia has a huge festival in mid-March - Las Fallas. It's an interesting city and you can enjoy the beginning of the festival without too many crowds. It's about 3-3.5 hours by train from Barcelona and the train station is a 10-15 minute walk from the center. Even though Barcelona has so many different sights and activities, you could easily fill all your time there, I recommend Valencia for a couple nights because it the festival is so different.

I think Barcelona/Valencia will be "more different" from Florida than Andalucia, with its typically Spanish white-washed buildings and red tile roofs. Even on a longer trip, I wouldn't try to combine Spain with Portugal - they aren't well-connected.

Spain or Portugual. For only six days one or the other . Travelling with kids , its best not to make it the Bataan death march.

A little rain is one thing, but we visited London one March and it was freezing cold, blustery and even had wet snow/ sleet one day. Not fun. I come fron Pacific northwest area, brought a wool pea coat , and still had to buy extra clothes to keep warm, its so damp! Bring gloves and hat if you go UK in march.