we have 10 nights and had made plans to travel with friends(by car) to zaragoza&haro and then alone to San sebastian, france (espelette , ainhoa),
alquezar,cardona and back to barcelona. Because 1st 3 nights with our friends , there is not enough time to visit all of the sites in the south that everyone says should be seen on first trip to spain
thinking of scrapping all north plans and trying to see if we can take trains/bus or car to\
Zaragoz,Madrid, toledo, cordoba, seville , fronterra de arcos, granada. Lv from Barcelona
Iwould need help with itinerary.
I am changing plans as this has been very frustrating to me to try and find places in the north i could stay in for a night or two. I just keep finding small villages to drive thru on our way back to barcelona. Lots of beautiful scenery but i feel i will be missiing out on all the history in the south. We live near the ocean in CA, so being near beaches is not a priority. My husband loves castles etc.
Help,please.....
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
I see that you have posted a new version of this question today, focusing on the south. But I don't see any reason to change your plans in the north, if you had some planning done. You have to decide what is of most interest to you, instead of what "everyone" says to do, partly since "everyone" will never all agree.
For an idea of about the fastest way you can connect various regions (allowing two nights and one full day at most stops) see http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/itinerary. That is moving fast. Your new "dream" list has 7 or 8 cities in 10 days, which is too much.
Posted by
OP
10 posts
Thanks Laura
I am just finding few of my hoped for " must see/do" places in the north vs south. After I hv done more research,I hadhoped to find more to be excited about. Seems a lot of small villages and lots of driving for last part of trip. Had hoped to base ourselves for 2 nights in places. We do hv2 nights in SS/hondarribia area
This trip was last minute due to fare reduction on transatlantic cruise.
I am sure we will enjoy spain - no matter where we go
Thanks for your response
Patricia
Posted by
Wilmington, DE, USA
19 posts
I know this is late - but two cents in - We are in the middle of a two month Spain adventure - have been here four prior times. Honestly, the distances are not too great, so you might check drive time online. At any rate, we were simply blown away by Zaragoza - we are now in the Narvarra - about an hour south of Pamplona - it's delightful and a very under visited part of Spain. Not many tourists - which is delightful. We head out tomorrow for the Rioja valley and points north. I want to agree about not listening to others about the "must see" agenda. If everyone is doing the must see - then there is a whole lot of Spain to be explored without much competition. We are in love with Cordoba - so I must recommend that. Anyway, as my husband says - it's all a new experience so there is no wrong answer. Best travels. Lynne