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Spain/France Christmas/New Years 2019

Posted by (Bend, Oregon) on

I’m in the “dreaming” phase of a trip next Christmas. We are two adults who’ve travelled extensively, and two kids (13 & 16) who have been to Europe once before.

Youngest son is in a Spanish immersion program and is fluent in Spanish. We want to go to Spain, but aren’t really interested in big cities. We love history. I’m fascinated by Moorish architecture. And we want to visit Christmas markets.

Older son is a HUGE WWII buff, and wants to see D-Day sites and Paris. DH and I have been to Paris twice, and love it. We can’t wait to share it with our boys, especially over New Years.

We always travel with the belief that we’ll return, so we don’t need to “see it all”. Musts for this trip: Christmas market in Spain, Normandy, Versailles, Paris.

Preliminary itinerary:
PDX to Madrid to Córdoba (train) 12/20
Córdoba 12/21: Christmas market
Córdoba 12/22: Mezquita
Córdoba to Granada (train) 12/23
Granada 12/24 Alhambra
Granada 12/25 Nativity scenes/rest
Granada to Malaga (shuttle) to Paris (fly) to Bayeux (car or train) 12/26
Bayeux: WWII tour 12/27
Bayeux 12/28 tapestry/town
Bayeux to Paris 12/29 (return car) Eiffel Tower
Paris 12/30 Versailles (train)
Paris 12/31 New Years where?
Paris 1/1 (many sites closed)
Paris 1/2 Louvre, Arc, Notre Dame
Paris to PDX 1/3

Questions:

Will Córdoba and Granada give us enough of a taste of Spain without seeing Madrid or Seville?

My biggest concern is getting from Granada to Bayeux. Any suggestions?

We’ll be looking to stay in two bedroom apartments (prefer 2 baths). Any suggestions?

Posted by
28105 posts

I see nothing wrong with focusing your Spanish time on Cordoba and Granada. You only have a few days for Spain, given that you want some time in France as well. Your pace is good. Why mess it up by trying to cram in another city?

The transfer from Granada to Bayeux does sound complex. Lots of moving parts = greater risk that something won't go according to plan and you won't actually get to Bayeux on the day you intend to. Perhaps you could plan to move to Malaga for your last night in Spain, reducing the number of travel segments you have to deal with the next day.

Check skyscanner right now to see what is on offer this year during the rest of the holiday season. Unfortunately, I imagine it may be awhile before you can get reliable information on flight schedules for the 2019/2020 holiday season. I don't know that flying out of Malaga will work well; you may find that current schedules show long connections. When you fly a budget airline, you typically pay separately for each of the flights, making the total not such a bargain at all. You may find you sort of need to head from Granada to Madrid on that last night in Spain.

While you're in Bayeux, you may have time to see the WW II museum, which I thought was quite good.

Posted by
6493 posts

Was just in Spain. I think your plan there is good. Madrid is nice enough, but so many more cities in Spain (like Granada and Cordoba) are more historic and interesting. It is a little complex getting out of Granada as things stand right now. Hopefully, their train tracks will be finished, otherwise you need to bus to a different city, Antequera, and then a train to your next step. Is there a direct bus or something from Granada to Malaga?

Posted by
2548 posts

Jules m, There appears to be a direct bus from Granada to Malaga airport in 2 hrs 16 minutes. We might do that the night before the flight, just to be safe.

Posted by
96 posts

We are in spain right now for the Christmas break and it has been fantastic! We also took our family to france a year ago last summer, and went to normandy (I am a huge WWII junkie myself!). Your son (and you) will LOVE normandy. The WWII history there is incredible. The beaches were surreal and the cemetery is extremely sobering. Our kids all loved that day, even though it was a more serious day on the trip.
As for spain - we have really loved the culture and history. The Alhambra was AMAZING!! Even though it is technically the off season, you will still need to get your tickets over 3 months in advance (it days 90 days on the website, but it opens early - I almost missed our tickets, and it was a few days before the 90 day mark).
If your son is a huge WWII junkie - Gibraltar I found to be a rare gem for some great WWII history. I doubt you can fit it in to your itinerary, but I just wanted to throw it out there since we loved our day in Gibraltar and I was fascinated by the WWII tunnels in the rock. So much to discover with WWII sites!
Good luck on planning your trip. We have had a wonderful time here!!

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