Hello to all...
Currently in the midst of planning out my first real solo trip to Spain not including a couple days spent in Madrid over twenty years ago on my way to Italy.
With the somewhat extensive research I've done so far and approximately fifteen days plus for actual travel throughout the country, I've come up with a general idea for an itinerary that's pretty thorough if not maybe a bit too ambitious.
I may need to fine tune it a bit and have come here for assistance in a similar way that I did this past spring when I was planning a two week trip to Japan.
Keep in mind that on these types of trips since I am traveling solo and that I don't really mind squeezing as much as I can into a relatively limited amount of time.
I generally don't mind the movement from place to place much though I'm also thinking I'd like to do this Spain trip at not too frenzied of a pace so that I can take in the places I do visit at a slightly more relaxed pace.
At the same time I'd like to see as much of the core places I plan to see and squeeze as much as possible in to get the most travel experience bang for my buck.
All this being said here are the cities I plan to visit in 15.5 days of travel in late May into early June of 2015.
Overnight flight from NYC into Madrid arriving approx 6:30 am on a Friday morning.
Planning to spend the following 3 days/nites in Madrid seeing as much art and sights of the capital city,
From Madrid I then plan to head down to Toledo via AVE train for a day and possibly an overnight on the 4th day.
Day 5 from Toledo to Seville via AVE for 2 days/2 nights.
Day 7 was planning to go from Seville to Valencia for 1 day/1 night on the way to Barcelona but now thinking about forgoing Valencia and heading from Seville to Granada for 2 days/2 nights instead since I would really like to visit La Alhambra perhaps a bit more than seeing Valencia this time around.
Day 9 train or flight from Granada to Barcelona for either 2 days/2 nights or 3 days/3 nights though I feel I could probably keep Barcelona to 2 days/nights.
Day 11 morning train from Barcelona to Figueres & Cadaques to take in the Dali museum and residence.
Later on Day 11 make my way via trains from Figueres over to San Sebastián for 3 nights/2 days taking into consideration that I don't want to be there on a Sunday or Monday when all the primary eating establishments will more than likely be closed.
Morning of day 14 train from San Sebastián down to Salamanca to culminate the trip for 2 nights/1 day leaving from Salamanca back to Madrid via morning train on day 15 to catch an early evening flight at 5pm back home to NYC.
So I know Spain is a very vast and diverse country but am I crazy to think that this itinerary is still doable in this amount of time?
I realize it's a lot of traveling around but I feel it's important for me to get in a visit to Basque Country for some serious gastronomy in San Sebastián in addition to the two major cities and a bit of Andalusia.
So the layout as it stands now is:
Day 1-3 Madrid
Day 4 Toledo
Day 5-6 Seville
Day 7-8 Granada
Day 9-10 Barcelona
Day 11 Figueres day trip
Day 12-13 San Sebastián
Day 14-15 Salamanca
Day 16 leave from Madrid back to NYC early evening 5pm.
I would greatly appreciate any and all input, suggestions, revisions, additions or subtractions/changes from experienced Spain travelers and Spanish locals/residents in regards to this itinerary as well as any travel/train/flight/sights/accommodation and food tips for the cities listed.
Thank you to all in advance and Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
Peter B.