My husband and I want to celebrate my 50th on a tour to Europe. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
How many days do we need in each city? I own a business and I can't stay one month away, we are thinking 15 days tops.
like to enjoy the city, some art, great food, we love good stuff so the hotels and transport has to be good. We don't eant to stay too long maybe 3 days tops.
Thanks!
Gm.
If you want to 'take a tour' RS has tours to Spain, Portugal and Greece. You can peruse them to see what you may like.
If you mean a DIY tour, you can get ideas from the RS tours to those locations to see what you may like.
Gm, I have spent 3-4 weeks in each of these three countries in 2016 or 2017, and each one is wonderful and diverse, with various cities and regions certainly worth visiting. With 2 weeks to travel, my recommendation would be to pick one of the countries, then have stays in 3 or 4 places, with additional day trips perhaps. If you are looking for a guided tour, Rick Steves has really excellent tours in each of the three countries. On any one, you will see and experience more than you could on your own, with fantastic guides and travel partners, but the pace would generally be more full and active, rarely “relaxed”. Your choice would also depend on the month you travel. Spring and fall would be best. Summer can be more crowded in all of them, and can be very hot especially in Greece and in Andalusia (Southern Spain). With more specific questions, and with an expression of your particular interests (such as history, art, food and wine, outdoor activities, big cities or small towns, etc.), we can provide more helpful responses. Happy upcoming 50th!!
Larry's post is great, and I just want to emphasize one part:
With 2 weeks to travel, my recommendation would be to pick one of the countries, then have stays in 3 or 4 places, with additional day trips perhaps.
If you want your birthday to be a celebration instead of an endurance test, please follow this advice!
If you go on an escorted tour, there are two week tours that take you to both Spain and Portugal. However, if you're doing it on your own, be aware that connections between Spain and Portugal are surprisingly skimpy. There are a few trains (often in the middle of the night), there are some buses, and there are flights. A car rented in Spain and dropped in Portugal, or vice versa, can have very high drop charges.
Connecting Greece and either Spain or Portugal will not only involve flights, but depending on where you want to go, would most likely involve connecting flights - meaning most of a whole day lost getting from one to another.
Summary: Pick one country, or at most two, and see it well, rather than trying to see a bit of all three and just being exhausted and frustrated.
gm,
I'm not entirely clear on your questions? In the heading you mention "tours" but the text seems to refer more to self-guided travel. Which are you asking about?
It's going to be challenging to see those three countries in a 15 day time frame, especially Greece as that's the outlier. As previous replies have mentioned, it would be better to choose one (or perhaps two) countries and see those in 15 days. Keep in mind that you'll have to allow one day each way for your flights to and from Europe. Depending on where you're travelling from, jet lag may also be an issue so you may not be up to full "touring speed" for a day or two after you arrive in Europe.
The most efficient way to make this trip would be with a guided tour (preferably a RS tour), along with a few days on your own either before or after the tour. The tours take care of transportation, hotels and some meals, and you'll also learn a lot about the culture and history of the places you visit. Some free time is provided on tours, so you'd be able to see specific sights you may be interested in.
You could (for example) take the RS Barcelona & Madrid tour (8 days) and then travel to Porto and Lisbon for the last part of your trip. There are several possibilities. Have a look at the list to see if anything appeals to you - https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/spain-portugal
Thank you all for all of the tips and suggestiosn. We narrow it to two countries.
Spain and Portugal. Makes sense all of the infor your all provided, I just hope we can find the best places to visit, tips, must do's, and what not to do. Also best month ot visit.. YEAH!
Hope this makes more sense..
TX
GM
Hello @gm,
I'm Portuguese and I have to say that your choice is a good one :D It would be better if you chose only Portugal and left Spain for another time... I say this because Portugal is much smaller than Spain and travelling from one place to another is faster... in other words, you could visit more places in Portugal and enjoy your time with your husband in a beautiful city, town, village rather than on the road...
Having said that, in Portugal you must go to Sintra (one of the most beautiful places in the country and very romantic) and discover other places like Coimbra, Porto, Lisbon, Guimarães...
Enjoy your stay ;)
