That topic title is the best I could come up with, as this is the very early stages of planning and would like input.
We are traveling from July - Aug, 23 full days on the ground. Flying in/out of Barcelona. We will meet one of our party on 7/19, who will be in s. spain already, so the earlier arrivers have 2 days before we can all embark together.
We are 5ppl total, with three tw/eens. Eldest loves culture, museums, etc. Middle hates them. Youngest is in between. We are outdoorsy, athletic, carry-on backpack type of travelers. More interested in mountains, rivers, museums and culture than beaches (although beaches are fun to visit).
We prefer to end in Barcelona because Id rather not have a one night stay before departure (but Im open to have my mind changed). We like to have more structured plans (keeps the kids motivated) and moving from place to place every two days is fine to accomplish this.
The two-day wait is my first puzzle piece, because where we meet up will affect the rest of planning. Hubby suggested that we don't do anything cultural until eldest joins us because she would hate to miss it. On the other hand, we don't want to just go to a beach for the two days to wait. One idea was to go directly to Girona and maybe Figueres for those two days (we arrive early, so it would be 1 ½ days, 2 nights), and then return on the 19th to BCN to meet her and then head out for the north coast. Another idea is to train to Toledo for those days/two nights and then meet her in MAD, to where she could bus from south, and then head north with a rental car. She would hate to miss Toledo, Girona, and Figueres, and I would hate for her to miss them, but I cant think of something else that I would want to do, so I think I need to get over it.
The larger picture then looks something like this: loop (the direction depends on where we meet up) from Barcelona to Basque country, along the north coast and into the Pico de Europa, going as far west as Oviedo, then south to Toledo then train back to Barcelona. That said, Toledo is really an add on if I make an itinerary I like and still have 2 nights to play with. If not, the loop would start and end in BCN, but we would go out and back on different roads; maybe drive out and stop in Lleida that first night after meeting her on the 19th etc etc to the coast, and then return on a train along the main route through Burgos, Logrono and Zaragoza (not that we would stop in all of these, just discerning the different path of the return). In this case, she would meet us in BCN, we would loop from there out toward San Seb, along the coast and in the mountains to Oviedo, and then loop back along the inland route through burgos and back to BCN for the last 4 days (probably). If there were time, we would drive from Oviedo to Toledo and train back to BCN.
So I think Im looking for thoughts on where to meet. I guess its an issue of whether to include Toledo.
After that, Im going to post again about specific town choices, so if that comes into your advice, that works too ;)
Thank you
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6493 posts
Well, I'll put in a plug for Girona, we absolutely loved it. You could do more than 2 days there with some daytrips. We took a day trip to little, charming Besalu. For me, I'd make my decision based on the person joining you later. What is he/she really wanting to see and what wouldn't they mind missing. With four kids, we have had the love/hate museums issue as well, though it depends on the museum. I recall when I took my youngest two to DC. visited the history museum for a short time and then headed over to the space museum. One was done with the space museum fairly quickly so she went with instructions and a cell phone back to the history museum on her own. It would depend of course on the age and capabilities of the one splitting off and you do have the added issue of being in a foreign country. Even when not splitting up, I make sure, that in a big city, for example, we have a plan and that everyone has a metro map, knows where the hotel is and the name of the metro stop by the hotel, in case we accidentally get split up.
Posted by
OP
1230 posts
Thanks Jules, good to hear from you (we lived in the twin cities for a few years ;). It helps so much just to talk. I think my gut is saying Girona and Figueres, and my daughter (16) will have to miss them, even though she would love them. She is the one who outlasts all of us in museums and cultural sites, so the kids with whom we will visit G and F (14, 11) will not enjoy them as much, alas. But hubby and I will, and the logistics make sense.
Also the reminder about what to do when separated is great. It has happened
Posted by
Washington DC
28105 posts
I think Toledo is fabulous, but not at the expense of really compressing the rest of your schedule. I try to focus on making each day as nice as possible rather than on the places I don't have time for. There are lots of interesting destinations in the stretch of northern Spain between Barcelona/Girona and Oviedo:
- Leon: lively, bustling city with a very pretty historic area now turned into a restaurant/bar district.
- Vitoria-Gasteiz: capital of the interior Basque region, with a large, evocative medieval district on top of a hill.
- Laguardia: atmospheric hill town between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Logrono.
- Hondarribia: fair-sized coastal town east of San Sebastian, practically on the French border. Fishermen's district with restaurants on the waterfront; historic district uphill.
- Zumaia/Getaria/Zarautz: trio of former fishing villages west of San Sebastian, now developed for tourism. I walked between two of them (don't remember which); perhaps one could walk all the way from Zumaia to Zarautz. There's bus and/or train service as a back-up plan.
- Olite: non-touristy town with a "forgotten" air and a really cool castle.
- The Pyrenees. I haven't gotten up into the mountains, but it's an obvious possibility in the summertime when some parts of Spain are miserably hot.
Hot-weather warning: Zaragoza can be beastly in the summer. So can the places in the Cerdanya Valley (including the very pretty hill town of Puigcerda). Leon is far enough from the coast that it can't be relied on for the moderate temperatures (and clouds, and rain) you're likely to experience a bit farther north. I'm not sure about Burgos, which I visited before the hot weather really settled in.
I don't know what to suggest about the meet-up location, because let's face it: all those places are wonderful.
Posted by
OP
1230 posts
Thanks acraven, Many of the places you mention are on my list to visit, if not stay a night or two. Ive ruled out some of them already too. I think I should start making lists and see which seems better (places/nights). I want to get the flight soon for the person who will be joining us so want to have a rough draft of the itinerary soon ;p
Thanks again
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6493 posts
Jessica, hello back! I think your younger teens will love Girona! Make sure to walk on top the city walls at dusk. Stunning! Also, the bridges and river are very pretty and I would think the kids would enjoy walking the area. FYI, one of the bridges was designed by Gustav Eiffel! I know a lot of Game of Thrones was filmed in Girona, though your younger kids might not have watched them (It's too much for me, too) But, I feel like other movies have been filmed there, I thought a heard Star Wars?? The Basilica of St. Felix is pretty interesting. I thought the free audioguide was fairly good. I hope I don't sound sacrilegious, but there is some history there that young teens might find intriguing (or creepy). The roman baths are a quick and inexpensive stop.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
7163 posts
In Picos de Europa, the entire area around Covadonga and Cangas de Onis is an outdoorsman paradise. Along the north coast, but further west than you want to go, Cathedral beach is nice, especially if you get there at low tide. My guess is it’s very busy during the summer. Heading south from Oviedo, assuming you’ll have a car, Leon is nice. Other places worth stopping at are Tordesillas and its Convent of Santa Clara, and Medina del Campo and Arevalo for their castles. Near Toledo is Consuegra with a castle and windmills. Again, you’d need a car.
Posted by
OP
1230 posts
Thanks everyone.
Yes Jaimie, Picos is attractractiv for that reason. We do live in the mountains, so the sea/ocean and cities are fun, but we will definitely do some hiking there. And I know the beach you are talking about, and yeah, its further west than we plan to go, but its not off the list yet ;)
Jules, thanks for the reassurance. I bought the ticket for her today to meet us in BCN, so we'll go to Girona and maybe Figueres. Ive been reading the forum for the past few weeks in anticipation of maybe taking this trip, and seeing your posts, which is why I greeted you familiarly. Also, hearing from someone else with kids helps a lot. Traveling with the different interests is a challenge, especially when they are so unrelenting about them (ehem, Im looking at you 14yo)
acraven, I look forward to hearing about the towns that I have in mind. Olite is on my list, and Im weighing many of the sea villages against each other so will be interested to hear your views when I come back with a rough draft. Im also (ones you didnt mention) thinking about Lekeitio and Ribadesella. I saw that seaside hike/walk from Zarautz and will look more at that. I need to read about the particulars of different places, so if one town has a particularly interesting building or site or vista, that would weight it more against others, for example.
This thread helped me make the first choice about meeting, so now to do some reading and make some possible itineraries.
Ill be back ;)