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Itinerary Help for Spring

Posted by (Seattle) on

Greetings!

I'm at the very beginning of planning our first trip to Spain for late March through mid-April (18-21 days). Ideally I'd prefer to stay at 3 base locations for 4-8 days each with day trips from each base (2 or so day trips each location). I'd love some suggestions for the three best "base" locations - along with recommendations for day trips from each place - in order of preference (and why). I'd also love to hear if veterans think this is a good plan (or not).

I was thinking Barcelona, Madrid, and somewhere in the south??

My husband and I are in our mid-50's and traveled to Italy for 3 weeks last spring and stayed in ~5 places for 3 to 5 days each. I loved getting to know a place a bit better (as much as you can in close to a week) vs. staying somewhere for just a night or two. I'd love a mix of city and village/countryside. Would prefer traveling by train/bus, but could rent a car as I read that it's easy to drive in the south countryside of Spain.

Any tips welcome!!!

Thanks,
Tracy

Posted by
7175 posts

Seville is your "somewhere in the south", but that leaves out Granada and the Alhambra, which you just can't do.

Barcelona (5 nights) - day trip to Montserrat, or Girona+Figueres
Madrid (5 nights) - day trips to Toledo, and Segovia+Avila
Sevilla (4 nights) - day trip to Cordoba
Pick up hire car
Arcos de la Frontera (2 nights) - day trip to Jerez, or Cadiz
Ronda (2 nights) - day trip to pueblos blancos (Grazalema+Zahara)
Return hire car in Granada (3 nights)

Posted by
15584 posts

The best sights in Madrid are the wonderful art museums - Prado, Thyssen, Reina Sofia. If you want to spend days enjoying European painting, that's the place to be. It is convenient for day trips, but you'll be day-tripping with everyone else. For a better experience, I'd suggest leaving your luggage at your Madrid hotel (or the train station) and taking an overnight bag to Toledo if you really want to enjoy that city.

Barcelona is an excellent base with varied sights and varied day trips, easy by train. Visit Tarragona on your own. There are organized day tours to villages and wineries.

Andalusia is too spread out to visit from one base. It is much better as a progression of 2-3 night stays, partly by train, partly by car.

Posted by
7175 posts

Using trains (and buses) only ...

Barcelona (5 nights) - day trip to Montserrat, or Girona+Figueres
Madrid (5 nights) - day trips to Toledo, and Segovia+Avila
Sevilla (6 nights) - day trips to Cordoba, Arcos de la Frontera, and Jerez
Ronda (2 nights)
Granada (3 nights)

Posted by
187 posts

you are doing just about the exact same thing that we are. Here's my rough itinerary and if you have any questions, ask away!

Fly into Malaga, stay 4 nights. One day trip to Cordoba. We've talked about another day trip Granada but we really, really, really like Malaga so that would take away from our time there. We've all been to Granada too. Plus it's a 2 hour bus ride. yea, not happening. If we had more time in Malaga, maybe. High speed train to Madrid where we'll spend 5 nights. Might do two day trips, one to Segovia (a must since we didn't go there last time) and another to Toledo. I adore Toledo but I would rather skip it. hubby and kidlet are really keen on going there again so we'll see. Then we'll spend our last 4 nights in Barcelona and fly home from there.

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