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30 Days in Spain in September

Greetings! I have put together an iten after many months of research, mostly on sightseeing and restaurants, and have regularly checked forum. I don't include the 2 long travel days at front and back. I am female traveling solo, stay in moderate lodgings, am huge foodie, love good restaurants and markets, love fine art, museums, churches, and Old Town's. I won't stay less than 3 days in a town, and love being on or near water. I will not rent a car and try to do most of travel by train. I am in good health and can easily walk 5+miles a day. Would love to hear your thoughts on city choices and some of the sightseeing highlights!

5 Days: Seville (day trip to Cordoba): Old Town; Cathedral; Real Alcazar; Barrio Santa Cruz; Musee Flamenco; Fine Art Museum; Bullring; Hospital de Los Venerables; Parque de Maria and Plaza de Espana

4 Days: Malaga (day trip to Nerja): Plaza; Mercado Central; Old Town; Roman Amphatheatre; Alcazaba and Gibralfara Castle

3 Days: Granada: Albacin neighborhood; Silk Market; Alhambra Citadel and Nazril Palace; Historic center churches; Alcalceria Market; Plaza Bib-Rambia

3 Days: Valencia: Plaza de toros; Cathedral; Plaza de la Virgen; bullring; beach day; Old Town; Central Market; Street Art

5 Days: Madrid (day trip to Toledo, day trip to Segovia and Avila): Museo National - "Guernica;" Old City; Mercado Central; Las Ventas bullring and museum; Merced de Anton Martin; Del Prado

4 Days: San Sebastian (Donostia), (day trip to Bilboa and Geteria, day trip to Logrono for Rioja): Mercadu de la Bretxa; La concha Beach; Basque Culinary Center

6 days: Barcelona (day trip to Montserret, 1/2 day trip to Sitges, 1/2 day trip to Girona): Museo Picasso; Las Ramblas; Mercat de la Boqueria; Salvador Dali Museum; Old City; Basilica of the Sagrada Familia; Casa Battlo House-Gaudi Museum; Park Guell; Mercat de Santa Caterina

Posted by
4180 posts

Timing seems good here, everything looks ok big picture.

The only thing that stands out to me is Valencia, seems like an outlier here, you'll have to back track to Madrid twice as there is not direct train from Granada to Valencia, it goes the long way around via Madrid. I'd drop Valencia.

Instead I'd take Valencia's 3 nights and spend them in Cordoba, which is my favourite city in Andalucía! With the amount of time you have to play with, you do Cordoba a huge disservice by only day-tripping there.

Also just looking at the order of things it seems a little bit of a zig-zag, go here and there. Instead I'd probably do:
Sevilla,
Cordoba,
Granada,
Malaga,
Madrid,
San Sebastian
(Zaragoza?)
Barcelona

PS: if you have any time left over, the train between San Sebastian and Barcelona stops at Zaragoza halfway, you should too. Zaragoza is a hidden gem and not well known with foreigners, despite having a Moorish palace, Roman Ruins, a great food scene, and the third best Cathedral in Spain. Definitely worth a night or two :)

Posted by
28102 posts

I'm not sure about the route you plan to take. Andalucia is likely to be very (unpleasantly) hot in early September, so I'd push that area--especially Seville--as close to the end of the trip as is practical.

I hate to see Toledo (especially) and Cordoba as day-trips, but you only have so much time, and I can see that you can't really afford to spend 3 nights in each of those places (though I thought they were worth it). I will note that in my view there's more to see in Toledo than in Valencia or Malaga. I'd be sorely tempted to eliminate one of those two. I enjoyed both of them on my most recent trip to Spain, but I had six weeks to divvy up between Andalucia and my second recent trip to Catalunya.

I doubt that Segovia and Avila are practical in a single day by public transportation. I imagine there are bus tours that combine them, but I don't recommend taking one of those. What pay extra money to be stuck with someone else's scheduled distribution of time between those two cities? I say Avila isn't worth visiting unless you're going to be driving past it in a car, in which case you can stop for an hour or so. Otherwise, it's just a wall. There's a perfectly good wall in Girona. You don't need to make a trip to Avila, and cut Segovia short, in order to walk on top of Avila's wall.

There's more to see in Bilbao than in San Sebastian, though the latter does have that magnificent beach. I would definitely not try to cram Bilbao and Getaria into one day trip. Is that some weird bus tour? Don't do that. There are frequent public buses between Bilbao and SS. Just use those. Zarautz/Getaria/Zumaia are pleasant places. If you had time, you could see all of them in one day by bus and train. But they don't hold a candle to Bilbao. The latter has a much larger historic center than SS, and with very few tourists.

Girona is in no way a 1/2-day trip. Or at least it shouldn't be. It's worth an overnight or two--but at least a full day: walkable wall, large historic center, art museum, two historic churches, Jewish history museum, and (apparently) a bunch of really good restaurants.

There is no Salvador Dali Museum in Barcelona. The Dali Theatre-Museum is in Figueres, farther north than Girona. There's fast rail service as well as cheaper service on slower trains. The DTM will not be a quick visit for you, as an art lover, and I recommend seeing the (included) jewelry collection as well. There's no way I'd want to combine the DTM and Girona on a single day-trip, though I know some people do that. It's a mistake if you're really interested in art (there's the art museum in Girona, too). Girona makes a nice base for visiting Figueres.

There are a couple of museums in Sitges as well. I think one of them may have very limited opening days. That doesn't seem like a 1/2-day trip either.

Skip the Ramblas beyond the time you will almost certainly need to spend on it to reach some of the places you want to go. It's just a wide shopping street popular with pickpockets. Spend your extra time in the Eixample, enjoying the sprinkling of modernista buildings.

Have you gotten hold of a guidebook covering your cities? Your list of sights reads like it came from descriptions of city tours. I think you're missing some things you'd really enjoy that probably don't get hit by tour groups. Just a few examples:

  • The Sant Pau modernista site and the excellent MNAC art museum in Barcelona. The latter has some wonderful medieval frescoes rescued from churches in the Pyrenees and an interesting modernisme collection featuring jewelry, furniture and decorative arts.

  • The Basilica of San Juan de Dios and the Rodriguez Acosta Foundation in Granada.

  • One or more of the Casa de Pilatos, the Palacio de la Condesa de Lebrija and the Palacio de las Duenas in Seville.

  • The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid. I haven't been there, but others have recommended the Sorolla Museum.

Posted by
7304 posts

4 days in Málaga sound like a lot, and there isn't that much to see in Nerja, so I would be tempted to spend 2-3 days in Córdoba instead. The extra day could be well spent in Madrid or Barcelona, given the day trips that you plan.
I also fully agree with the comment on Bilbao vs San Sebastián: Bilbao will work better as a hub for you.

As for the order of your trip: ideally you'd land in Bilbao and leave from Seville (North to south for weather reasons): Bilbao-Barcelona-Valencia-Madrid-Granada-Cordoba-Sevilla.
But I am aware that flights work better in/out of Madrid and Barcelona...

Posted by
1560 posts

I would completely skip Malaga, spoken from a person who has visited the area on several occasions, and distribute the time among the recommendations made by other forum members. Malaga has moved from being a quaint non-tourist town to being overwhelmed due to the expansion of port facilities and cruise ship dumps of thousands of tourists. From 2005 to 2015 we used Malaga as a destination to relax in a non-tourist environment and felt it easy to blend in with the locals. Sadly, no more.

Posted by
2267 posts

I agree with the thoughts to edit a bit. I'd argue for adding some time in Madrid. 5 days, minus two-day trips, and arrival/departure days—that maths out to a full day and two half-days. Certianly not enough time for what you propose, and your list for the city only scratches the surface of what the country's capital city has to offer.

In Barcelona, Sitges is great for a beach day—I've had many there. But I'm not sure it's worth the day trip if you aren't planning on renting a lounge chair and relaxing into it.

Posted by
2267 posts

Oh!... And!...

September 24th is the celebration of the patron saint of the city of Barcelona. The week leading up to that will be full of activities. Lots of Castells. Lots of that reedy wind instrument that is kind of obnoxious, but I love. Then... Fireworks... on my birthday! A great time to be in the city.

Posted by
81 posts

We just spent a week in Malaga and there is lots to see and do from historical sites you mention, beaches to great hikes and walks (eg Caminito del Rey), day trip to Ronda, day trip to Gibralta etc. I would say keep your 4 days and you won’t regret it! Also have to agree that a day trip to Cordoba won’t do it justice…we spent 3 nights which is 2.5 days and was perfect!! Oh and I agree about the cruise ships in Malaga but you can easily plan your stay to minimize cruise ship days by looking at the port schedule. We did same for Venice, Split and Dubrovnik and it works great!! Have fun!!

Posted by
1700 posts

I know I mentioned this on another thread but I do agree with CLKR about Malaga. There is so much to see and do there. The historical city center is beautiful. That's where you should stay. And don't judge Malaga by Rick's book on Spain. He treats Malaga as only a transportation hub. I totally disagree with Rick on that assessment. The walk to the top of the Alcazaba and Gibralfara Castle is stunning with beautiful views of the Mediterranean and the port. And lots of lush vegetation and ruins. There are lots of small art museums in Malaga, including the Picasso Museum. It really does have everything you are looking for, including some wonderful coastal ambiance.

I would spend at least two nights in Cordoba. It's another wonderful city with lots to do and see. I haven't been to Valencia but if you need to steal some nights to spend in Cordoba, perhaps take it from Valencia. I think Cordoba is a more important city, historically and culturally, than Valencia.

Posted by
44 posts

Thank you so much for your replies! I have much to think through. Sometimes the planning is as much fun as the trip!