We are considering a family trip late May, 2020, to include a couple cities in Spain and a stop in Portugal. We will be flying from Nashville, TN, and our kids are 13 and 15 years old. We are looking for an immersive trip, not too heavy on monuments (kids!). We are thinking about flying into Barcelona, flying to Seville, and then flying to Porto, potentially. We have never been to either Spain or Portugal, but we do know: we want to visit both countries and we want to visit Barcelona. We will have about 12 nights. I would love some advice as to:
1. Which city to fly into first, then where to fly home to Nashville from.
2. Is Porto a good stop for families? (we thought this would be a more laid-back city, with potential for day trips)
3. Is flying the best option for getting between these 3 areas quickly?
4. Would you keep Seville in the itinerary or swap it out for another city in Spain - given our time there, interest in heading to Portugal, etc.?
Any other advice for planning would be great - we're in the early stages, so are prepared to make changes and go a completely different route if that makes the most sense. Thanks!
Posted by
11136 posts
Keep Seville over all the others! It is the most representative Spanish city, beautiful, fabulous food. Do a day trip to Cordoba from Seville, easy on the high speed train.
Usually travelers would visit Madrid with your itinerary instead of Barcelona as it is farther away in the NE section of the country. Since you want to go to Barcelona, which is in Catalonia, check flights and high speed trains, time and prices to Seville. Barcelona residents consider themselves Catalan, not Spanish. You have probably read about the Separatist movement there.
Lisbon is a wonderful city and offers more day trips than Porto. In Porto you could do a Douro River boat trip past vineyards and visit towns in the Minho region to the N and E.
Some Lisbon day trips are Sintra, Caiscais, Estoril, Evora, Obidos. Lisbon has a lot more to see and do than Porto.
But with only eleven nights choose carefully as I would personally only visit two places in that short time. Lisbon and Porto or Barcelona and Seville. I have spent a lot of time in those four cities and my favorite by far is Sevilla, followed by Lisbon.
Posted by
OP
11 posts
Thanks, Suki! Yes, Seville is quickly becoming a 'must do' for my husband as well. Would we be 'missing out' tremendously by just staying in Spain?
Posted by
Washington DC
27063 posts
No more than you are missing out by skipping France, Italy, Greece, etc. Every European trip requires selection of just a few of the many possible destinations. It's frustrating but unavoidable.
I would absolutely limit this trip only to Spain. You can spend many months in Spain. Going to Portugal is going to chew up a lot of time because of the ugly transportation links. Keep Portugal for another trip. There's enough there for several weeks (or more).
Posted by
Washington, DC USA
342 posts
Although I enjoyed Porto very much, I would not describe it as "laid back" and I think there would be more for your kids to enjoy in Lisbon and Lisbon side trips. I don't disagree with those who say stick to Spain, but if you are committed to going to both Spain and Portugal, 4 nights each in Barcelona, Seville, and Lisbon could work as long as you fly between cities.
Posted by
7642 posts
Seville is my favorite city in Spain, don't miss it.
Porto is great. If you can book the InPatio Guesthouse in Porto it is wonderful. The VERY BEST B&B ever. Book early, it only has five rooms.
You can do day trips from Porto, even to Santiago de Compostela in Spain (to the north). The Douro valley is wonderful, you can take a cruise or the train (train goes up the valley on the north bank of the river).
Getting from Seville to Porto by rail would be a mess. Also, car rental with a drop in another country is too expensive. Check flights.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15579 posts
Acraven has given you excellent advice.
It's 5.5 hours by train from Barcelona to Sevilla and there are a couple direct trains a day. I would choose that over flying. Total time is about the same - maybe flying is even more when you add the lead time at the airport plus getting to/from airports. Also there's less hassle, the trains are comfortable and you don't have to worry about lost luggage.
If you stay in Spain, consider flying home from Madrid - you may get a better price on tickets. You could spend your last 1 or 2 nights there and see a bit of another major European city.
Posted by
OP
11 posts
I'm seeing that flights are the most inexpensive to go in/out of Barcelona, but I love the idea of flying in to Barcelona, staying several nights, then taking the train to Seville for few days, and then leaving out of Madrid - but, I'm afraid adding Madrid may add too much expense as far as flights go...Maybe that will change? Right now, I'm looking closely at only Barcelona and Seville - so, will post some questions in the Spain discussion.
Thank you all for your advice, as you have all been very helpful in shaping our plans so far!
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15579 posts
I only suggested Madrid because it's a major air hub so you may find a better airfare returning from there. If not, skip it!