7 days in Spain - June 2017 - Andalusia or Barcelona, Balearic Islands or Canary Islands

With only seven days ....
Barcelona & Balearic
Better still, Barcelona & Costa Brava.

With 7 days I wouldn't waste time going to and from an island. Both Barcelona (and nearby) and Andalucia have great beaches.

Which one depends on your preference. Barcelona is a bigger city and is very exciting. It is in Spain, obviously, but culturally it is different,being Catalan. Andalucia has smaller cities and towns and is the home of more traditionally Spanish things like Flamenco, sherry and bullfighting. Both places are wonderful.

Thank you, everyone! This was really helpful. I live in florida, so we have a fair share of beaches. If you've been to FL (Gulf Coast, Key West) - how would you compare Barcelona and Andalusia beaches to here?

More people. Less sand.

That's a general comment. I am not a beachgoer myself.

When thinking about Mediterranean beaches, you must remember that Europe is a densely-populated continent, many of whose residents live in areas that get little sun for much of the year and whose coastlines often aren't warm enough for swimming even if it is sunny. Northern and central Europeans like to soak up some sun on holidays, and a lot of them head south. Many of the European beaches are rocky rather than sandy. The sandy beaches that are reasonably accessible (i.e., don't require that you access them via boat, etc.) are likely to be packed if the weather is good.

Honestly, if you live in Florida, I wouldn't spend one minute of my precious 7 days in Spain on a beach. But that's just me.

Thank you! That is really helpful! I think we are going to stay in Andalusia for 4-5 days and possibly, head to Santiago up north for the last 2-3 days. And, then plan another trip back to see it all. We are in France for the first week and then a weekend in Rome, it looks like we should have allotted for more time in Spain :).

Yeah. Spain is huge.

Check skyscanner for flights between Andalucía (Granada, Seville, maybe Malaga) and Galicia (Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, A Coruna). I think there may be non-stops to SdeC from Malaga. The question is whether the time required to get to the Malaga airport would make the whole idea silly, even though the train from Seville to SdeC takes about 9 hours.

Are you sure you want to pair Santiago de Compostela with Andalucía? The logistics are challenging. There are some lovely cities in Madrid's orbit. Toledo and Segovia would be inexpensive to reach from Madrid, and Madrid would have a good choice of onward flights.

Yeah, never enough time for Spain. But a week in France and a weekend in Rome aren't enough either ☺☺. If you have good beaches at home, the Med isn't going to top them. Might as well see the stuff you can't see at home - and both Andalucia and Barcelona/Catalonia are full of it. Logistically, Barcelona may be easier because of good train connections. I haven't been to any of the islands.

Thank you all so much! This is very helpful. I think we are going to spend most of our time in Andalusia and just be in the moment, and if we get bored, then take a flight to Catalonia and experience Costa brava.