Portugal and Spain

Posted by marticab (USA Palm Beach, Florida ) on 05/21/22 06:07 PM

Hello
We are a family of four (2 teenagers) we have visited the major cities in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Seville) We are planning a trip in late Sept to October of about 4 to 5 weeks and would like to start in Portugal (Lisbon) and visit a couple of places and the off to the South of Spain. We have never been to Portugal. We would like to be able to do most of it via train (hopefully between Portugal and Spain. Spain is husbands choice, mine is Portugal! We love cities that have night activities (shows, good tabernas) and most of all are foodies. We would love to visit Seville again (best oxtail ever) and would also want to visit Malaga, Cordoba etc.

The second choice would be doing Greece and Italy... WE haven't been to Greece and would love to also visit Italy (Capri, Positano)
We have been to Venice, Rome, Florence, Naples, Cinque de Terre. We did go to Capri but were on a cruise and is just too beautiful to not see again..

We will stay at AirBNB and always try to stay away from the tourist traps.. Love to get the real feel of the people.
We are flying out of Miami...

Thoughts?

Posted by marticab OP

USA Palm Beach, Florida

05/21/22 06:47 PM

168 posts

Thank you, that is very helpful :)

Posted by marticab OP

USA Palm Beach, Florida

05/21/22 07:02 PM

168 posts

This is my first draft of a 4 night stay in each of these cities

We can do Lisbon / Portugal/ Caceres / Sevilla / Gibraltar / Malaga / Valencia / Madrid
Lisbon for Arrival and Madrid for departure

Thoughts?

Posted by Chani

Tel Aviv

05/22/22 05:49 AM

15584 posts

Lisbon / Portugal/ Caceres / Sevilla / Gibraltar / Malaga / Valencia / Madrid

"Portugal" where in Portugal?
Gibraltar for 4 nights seems like a lot. It may not be practical for daytripping.
Malaga is nice enough, but definitely second-tier compared to Granada or Cordoba.

Posted by marticab OP

USA Palm Beach, Florida

05/22/22 06:04 PM

168 posts

On the South side what cities in Spain should we visit?

In Portugal- WHat other city should we do after Lisbon?

Stay is approx 4 to 5 weeks.

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

05/22/22 06:23 PM

27120 posts

For me the biggies south of Madrid are clearly Toledo (rail link only to Madrid), Cordoba, Seville and Granada. Each of those is worth multiple nights, but Seville is the largest, so that might help you estimating your time needed in the others. Other very worthwhile destinations in that area are Cadiz, Malaga, Ubeda/Baeza (bus transportation better than train) and Ronda+white villages (far more efficient with a car). There are lots of day-trip possibilities (including Carmona from Seville and Priego de Cordoba from Granada), but if you're going to try to combine Portugal and southern Spain in just 4 or 5 weeks, you probably won't have time for them.

I don't go to Europe for beaches and have never been interested enough in Gibraltar to go through the hassle of getting there, so I cannot comment on the small coastal towns or Gibraltar.

If you decide to go to Valencia (nice city but ranking behind Toledo, Cordoba, Seville and Granada), I'd recommend a night or two in Cuenca, which is right on the rail line between Madrid and Valencia. It has a very atmospheric, hilltop medieval district with houses right up to the edge of the ravine. Valencia is awkward to approach from the south; you basically need to travel back to Madrid and then head east; that's faster than taking what looks from the map like a better, more direct route north from somewhere like Granada.