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Spain itinerary

We are planning our first trip to Spain for 3 weeks time frame. This is my first draft of planning that I would like to share with you all and get some feedback and get into detailed planning after that. We are planning a trip in mid-Sep to the first week of October. We would prefer to spend enough time in each city and not feel rushed.

Here are my first thoughts:

SFO to Barcelona

Barcelona
• 6 nights
• Day trips to Girona or Montserrat?
Cordoba: (Train from Barcelona to Cordoba 5 hours)
• 2 nights
Seville: (Train from Cordoba to Seville 1 hour)
• 6 nights
• Any day trips recommended?
Granada: (Train from Seville to Granada 4 hours)
• 3 nights
Madrid (Train from Granada to Madrid 4 hours)
• 6 nights
• Overnight or Day trip to Toledo
• Any other Day trip recommendations?

Madrid to SFO

I am also thinking if we would add one more week to Portugal at the end, will that be a good idea?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions

Posted by
27092 posts

Transportation links between Spain and Portugal are surprisingly limited. I'd not be inclined to subject myself to that hassle for just a week in Portugal. The country deserves more time than that. And you can easily spend the extra week in Spain.

Five nights in Barcelona as your arrival city is only four days, and you may not even be in great shape on the first full day in the city. I question whether that allows you enough time for a day trip to Girona, much less two day trips.

Additional good day trip destinations from Madrid include Segovia, Salamanca, Cuenca and Alcala de Henares. Whether you have time for any of them will depend to a considerable degree on how much time you spend in Madrid's art museums.

I thought Carmona made a nice day trip from Seville.

Posted by
6887 posts

Portugal and Spain are surprisingly poorly connected, so you'd basically have to fly from Madrid or Seville (or take long bus rides). Also, Portugal as a whole deserves longer than a week.

This said, with 1 week, you could take the train from Madrid to Santiago de Compostela, stay there for 2 nights, and continue to Porto (by bus) for 4-5 nights, then fly home from Porto if possible.

Regarding your itinerary:
- I'd add a night to Barcelona, taken from Seville. Otherwise you will not have enough time for day trips to both Montserrat and Girona.
- Definitely spend a night in Toledo, maybe right after Granada.
- do the 6 nights for Madrid include provision for an overnight in Toledo? 5 full days in Madrid is long; it gives you time to visit Segovia as well.

Posted by
4341 posts

i think your plan looks great, but as far as Portugal goes, it would be fine, but I'm a huge proponent of one-country trips. I think renting a car and going to some small villages would be a nice contrast to the cities and big deal sites.

Posted by
3897 posts

Don't miss our annual city festival in Barcelona called La Mercè, which is on Sept 21-25. It's a city wide festival with 100s of cultural events spread throughout Barcelona's squares, streets, museums, and parks. This is something that we put on for ourselves, not just for tourists so it's great opportunity to experience our Catalan culture like a local, at least for a few days. The best part it's free!

Posted by
115 posts

Thanks for the wonderful suggestions. In Barcelona, I am planning only one day trip either to Girona or Montserrat. Need to research what each city offers and finalize only one of them. but any recommendations?

6 nights In Madrid includes overnight in Toledo. Still debating doing either day trip or overnight in Toledo.

Posted by
2267 posts

That looks like a really well-paced plan.

Proponents of the overnight in Toledo usually cite the crowds of day-trippers as a primary motive. I doubt the town would be inundated on a weekday in early October.

Seeing (and appreciating) the pace at which you travel, I'd say you could add 5 days for "Lisbon", but not a week for "Portugal". And that would really ony make sense if you fly Lisbon-SFO. Otherwise, if you're itching to stay out a week I'd suggest you add more Spain—a week would do well for about half of the north coast: Galician side or Basque side.

Posted by
27092 posts

I've only been to Girona, not Montserrat. I like Girona a lot. I guess one argument for choosing Montserrat instead would be the opportunity to be outdoors and do some walking up there. Your itinerary is very city-focused.

One reason I recommend at least one night in Toledo is that it allows more time in that city. Toledo is sight-rich, plus the medieval district itself is quite large and somewhat hilly. In addition, it takes some time to get up to the historic center from the train station and return there at the end of your visit unless you opt for a taxi. I wouldn't want to try to knock Toledo off on a day trip.

Posted by
15582 posts

First, there's enough to see and do in Barcelona to fill all your time there. Montserrat is a monastery visit and hiking with views. Girona is an interesting town with an impressive cathedral and a well-preserved, albeit rather small, medieval center. The Jewish museum is worth a visit because it details daily life in the middle ages. However if you're short on time in Barcelona, Cordoba and Toledo have more of the medieval to offer. Another day trip is to Figueres to visit the Dali Theatre and Museum and the jewel collection.

There aren't many options for a day trip from Sevilla. You could go to Jerez by train to see a show at the Royal Equestrian School and take one or two sherry bodega tours. Cadiz can also be a day trip by train. You could go to Cadiz for half a day from Jerez, but the horse shows (at least back when I went) were from about 11 to 1, and it may be hard to get a taxi back to the train station. That leaves you an hour or two before the show to see a bit of the city's center, maybe one sherry tour, before leaving for Cadiz. The center of Jerez is about 15-20 minutes' walk from the train station, but the horses are quite a bit farther and there aren't a lot of buses, especially right after the show, when most people are looking to leave. You could also visit Arcos, train to Jerez then bus. There are a very few buses from Sevilla to Arcos, but most of the time the schedules aren't convenient. Another suggestion is to visit the Roman ruins at Italica by bus. Some of the mosaics are very good and there's enough of an amphitheatre and a few buildings left to make it interesting if you are especially interested in Roman ruins.

I'd take at least 1N from Sevilla and add it to Cordoba. While the highlights there, Mezquita and Juderia, can easily be enjoyed in a day, there are plenty of other sights to fill more than 2 or 3 days.

I find Madrid to be the least interesting city in the area you're covering and among the least interesting of European capital cities. If you love European painting you will want the best part of 2 full days for the art museums, and one more day for other highlights. A popular day trip is Segovia. Toledo is much much better as an overnight, or even 2N. There's enough to fill 2 days there.

I agree that Portugal really needs 2-3 weeks on its own and it wouldn't be hard to fill 4 weeks there. Unless you think you'll never ever get back there, I would just keep it on the list for another time. If you have another week, add it to Spain. There's a lot you won't see in 3 weeks. More Barcelona, a few days in Valencia and/or Malaga, rent a car between Sevilla/Cordoba and Granada and spend 2-3 days in the scenic hills visiting some of the pueblos blancos like Ronda, Arcos and Grazalema - just a few of the many options.