Opinion on Spain/Portugal Itinerary

CaliMom,

I’d suggest asking your young adult children what their preference would be between your two options.

As to you spending a slow month in Andalucía….
As you may know, Andalucía gets extremely hot in the summer months.

Check historical weather for Andalucía and compare it to that of northern Spain.
You may want to consider Northern Spain.

Happy planning!

Thanks Priscilla!

The kids haven’t been to either place so don’t really have an opinion. They want to a combination of charming cafes, a museum and some hiking.

So I’m more interested in an easy fluid itinerary. Both offer everything we are looking for with regard to sights and experiences. But is one plan easier transportation, better proximity, a nicer flow?

So I’m more interested in an easy fluid itinerary. Both offer everything we are looking for with regard to sights and experiences. But is one plan easier transportation, better proximity, a nicer flow?

Well… Just looking at the distances involved, it looks like Lisbon > Porto > Santiago de Compostela would be easier.
Having said this, I don’t think you have enough time for these 3 destinations, plus a day of walking on the Camino ( if you only have 8 days to work with)
Consider how long it will take to travel from point A to point B, then to point C.
Will you (your children) need to backtrack to Porto, Lisbon, or Madrid to fly home?

Santiago de Compostela seems to be the outlier in both of your itineraries.

How will you be traveling? Public transportation or car? Which airports will you be flying to/from?

Many variables to consider….

I’ve not walked any part of the Camino, but hopefully others who have may chime in and give you their suggestions/ideas.

None of it seems close. Maybe the Santiago piece doesn’t fit.

I agree with Priscilla regarding the heat in Andalusia at that time of the year and also in Madrid. Santiago and San Sebastián are likely the coolest areas but, as you have realized, are the outliers in terms of distance. I would not go to Madrid or Andalusia in August! But, then I hate the heat.

In eight days you really only have time for two places IMO. August will be hot in Portugal and filled with tourists, but less hot than central or southern Spain.

There are a number of lovely places in the Galicia area and Basque Country of Spain. I would choose either that area or Portugal and not try to combine two countries in the eight days.

A month in southern Spain in August is a lot (relentless heat). Is there any way you could reduce that to three weeks, and add a week to your Lisbon-Portugal-Galicia plan? That would work.

I agree about the heat warning. I spent over 3 weeks in Sicily and Puglia during June and early July of 2015. I enjoyed all the places I visited, but it was draining. Southern Spain is considerably hotter, and the heat is likely to be relentless. In mid-summer a trip to northern Spain (Santiago de Compostela to Barcelona--in the mountains or sticking relatively close to the coastline) is a far better idea. I think you'll regret a southern-Spain itinerary long before your month is up.

Thanks all!

The week with our young adult kids would be the week of August 20. One of them is in law school so we are tied to a summer vacation with her.

The month for my husband and I would start the week of August 27 and go through September. This month would be much like the month we spent in Aix-en-Provence in 2021 where we just settle in, enjoy the city, work in the evenings, travel on weekends. Sevilla was going to be my next city to “live like a local” but perhaps we need to live in Sevilla when we’re not tied to an August vacation with kids.

We don’t have any other cooler cities in Spain or Portugal that we would want to spend a month. Suggestions welcome!

To me a month is a long time for one city. I'd happily do it in Barcelona (though it's not as cool at that time of year as points west). I'd split up the month and spend a good chunk of time in Bilbao (my preference) or San Sebastian (with perhaps more viable sidetrips, though more touristy and to me fewer sights). Really, though, northern Spain outside Catalunya seems more designed for a linear trip with stops of 3 or 4 nights in a bunch of places.

I wonder about the Portuguese island of Madeira. It's absolutely gorgeous. Despite being near the equator, it isn't usually terribly hot. You can see a lot from a base in Funchal, the capital. There's some bus service around the island. There's no naturay sandy beach, though, and a month would be quite a long time there, I think.

Thanks acraven. A month is a long time for a lot of people. We could do two weeks and two weeks.

I believe you spent several days in Aix. Do you know of other livable towns in Europe that remind you of Aix? We loved just milling about every day, the cobblestone pedestrian old town, the daily markets, finding a cafe to people watch daily, our favorite bakery, coffee shop, a fantastic bus station, access to the popular region of Provence with so much to see.

We know of many Tuscan towns like this but don’t want to go to Tuscany for 6th time.