Planning a trip to Portugal and southern Spain, flying into Lisbon and out of Seville, for a duration of 1 week in June. I am UK based and planning this trip a little last minute, but trying to make it all work, just want some R&R. Our trip is bookended by the cities of Lisbon and Seville (a couple nights in each) and in between we want some beach time and to see the white hill towns of Andalucia. I have Rick Steves' guidebooks, but it all sounds so good, I'm having trouble deciding. Between the Algarve coast in Portugal and Andalucia in Spain, which region would you prioritize? I definitely want to see the white hill towns in Andalucia, so I'm wondering if the Algarve coast will be too much out of the way for the limited time that we have. I'm also specifically trying to figure out where to prioritize beach time. We'll probably only do one beach day and I'm considering either the Algarve region in Portugal (near Lagos) or southern Spain (near Cadiz)? Which region would you recommend for beach time? Thanks in advance for any tips!
Posted by
Pittsburgh, PA
162 posts
I have never been to the Algarve, so I can't comment on that.
But I can tell you that Andalucia is astonishing place for the average tourist. One could literally spend a month there and not see everything.
There's the Alhambra in Granada, the Mezquita in Cordoba, Sevilla, los pueblos blancos, Cadiz, several national parks (including Cabo de Gata-Níjar), Jerez, Nerja, Malaga, Costa del Sol and much, much more.
Andalucia is such an magical area for sightseeing that Rick Steves is crafting its own tour just for this unique region. There aren't many other regions in Europe that can say that. There's also a Lonely Planet guidebook devoted to just Andalusia.
A week is a very short time to make it from Sevilla to Lisbon. Your best bet may be to stay in Sevilla for a few days, make a trip to Cordoba, then fly direct to Sevilla. I have no idea how you can include beach time into such a short itinerary.
Whatever you do, you're going to an amazing part of the world, so enjoy!
Posted by
Sevilla
1290 posts
But you only have a week, so I think you need to be realistic and not add new places. You could, for example, have 3 nights in Lisbon and include a beach day-trip. Followed by 4 nights in Sevilla including a white town day-trip. You'd probably need to fly between the two, but that will be dear this late. If you try Lisbon - White Town - Beach - Sevilla, or something smilar, I fear much of your holiday will be travelling, not R&R.
Sevilla doesn't have a beach, but it does have a great park you could spend the day relaxing in - it will be warm, spacious, and have choices for getting snacks, drinks and ice cream during the day. If the beach is essential you could consider easy day-trips to Matalascañas or Cadiz.
Posted by
7643 posts
Haven't been to the Algarve. Others have told me that the beaches are OK, but nothing fantastic.
35 years ago, when touring Spain, I spent a couple of days on the Costa del Sol and the beach was nothing to brag about. We did love Seville, Granada and Andalucia.
Posted by
OP
Belfast, UK
13 posts
Thank you Nathan, Nick, and geovagriffith for responding! I'm so sorry for my delayed reply. I read your advice and then got busy planning, forgetting to respond, lol. In hindsight, I agree that going from Lisbon to Seville in a week is probably a little too much, but we had already purchased the flights and couldn't easily change that. But we have made the best of it and come up with a pretty good itinerary for this trip, I think. I realized that there is so much in Spain that I would like to see (that we won't have time for) so planning to save most of Spain for another future trip. For this trip, we are going to start in Lisbon and spend a few days there. Then head to the Algarve for some beach time for a couple days. Then conclude the trip in Seville for a couple days. The Algarve seemed like the most reasonable way to break up the long distance between Lisbon and Seville. So, that's our plan and just wanted to thank you again for your tips and advice! We have everything already booked and are very excited! (Saving the white hill towns of Andalucia for another trip. As Rick says, "assume you will return," right?). :)