Spain, Portugal & Morocco - 11 days

Posted by RRJ on 02/04/16 04:48 PM

We're traveling to Spain in late June for 11 days and are flying in/out of Madrid. We're more interested in smaller towns and villages and would like to spend some time in the Basque country, Andalusia and Portugal (and we do not need any significant time in Madrid and can bypass Barcelona). We also would like to see Rock of Gibraltar and 1 night in Tangiers (or day trip). We've read train system is not good between Spain and Portugal (but we did not plan to rent a car as we've always used trains in Europe). Any itinerary suggestions? We've looked at Seville, Cordoba/Granada, Malaga in the south, Lisbon and Porto in Portugal and Leon, Burgos, Pamplona and San Sebastian in the north.

We need to narrow down the list so we can plot our trip. Also, we are wine drinkers so would love to visit vineyards/wineries in Basque region. Thanks for your assistance!

Posted by Laura

Rick Steves' Europe

02/04/16 05:51 PM

16895 posts

From Madrid or any of your further north towns listed, the only train to Portugal is the overnight train, serving Coimbra and Lisbon. From Sevilla to Portugal, ground transport is by bus, or you can take buses in the north, as well. See www.alsa.es, www.eurolines.com, or maybe www.rome2rio.com; Spain has many different bus companies. See www.skyscanner.com for flights either across the border or within Spain.

I think it's unfortunate to fly in and out of Madrid if that's not your destination. From there, Toledo is a popular first stop, a shorter train ride following your flight arrival (33 minutes), but you still have to transfer to the train station, and Segovia is another worthwhile, smaller town near Madrid (2 hours away). If you stay an average of two nights at each stop, that only gives you five destinations possible and I would try to keep them within as tight a region as possible, to minimize transportation time. So that could be Madrid/Toledo and just one of your other regions. If you choose to connect two further regions, like Basque and Andalusia, you wouldn't really have time for all the places you mentioned in them. See https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain/itinerary for a bit of an idea on travel time and coordination.

Posted by David in Brisbane

Brisbane, Australia

02/04/16 07:13 PM

7175 posts

Porto or San Sebastián - 2 nights
Lisbon - 3 nights (day trip to Sintra)
Seville - 3 nights (day trip to Córdoba)
Granada - 2 nights
Malaga - 1 night

Posted by leoaica85818

04/22/16 01:40 PM

1 posts

Well if your trip might included surfing the basque is the place to be. There is a travel group that travel with a van through many small surfing villages in the basque. They take care of everything food camping etc. Its really a great combination package. And you get to see both spain and france so hitting two birds with on stone. http://stoketravel.com/trips/van-surfari-spain-france/ contact them they will help you out and they are super friendly ! i traveled with them and it was really a great time !