Spending February in Spain

For warm weather at that time of year you'll probably want Andalucia--Seville, Cordoba, Granada, etc. Barcelona should be reasonably mild. Madrid would normally be quite a bit colder.

I've taken 2 3-week trips in February in recent years. . . both times mostly in Andalucia, 2-3 days in Madrid both times, once in Barcelona. The weather has been what I'd call mild, pretty chilly in the mornings and sometimes in the evenings, mostly sunny, some rain (mostly drizzle). Temps were 50's and 60's during the day. For me, the perfect time to visit. I had warm, sunny weather in Toledo, but on the same trip while the weather in Madrid was sunny, I passed on a day trip to Segovia because of the forecast for snow.

Cadiz has big celebrations for Mardi Gras (not nearly as big as Venice). Hotels jack their prices for that period. I stayed in Jerez (very nice) and day-tripped by train.

I would spend at least 2-3 nights in Sevilla, 2 in Cordoba, 2 in Toledo, 2-3 in the hills (white hill towns) and 2 Granada. Malaga is a pretty town with some interesting museums and Roman ruins. Barcelona has enough sights and day trips to fill 7 days easily, even if you're trying to cram it all in.

Thanks for your reply. But, if I wanted to spent, lets say two weeks to three weeks in one fairly warm area and do day trips, then move to another area to explore for two to three weeks, what are my options? Thanks again for your help.

In general Florida would be warmer than anywhere in Spain or Portugal for Feb/March. It’s Europe, it’s winter, and it’s mostly cool.

I've watched the RS Spain videos for Andalucia. He recommends a city that is on the Mediterranean coast for a "beach retreat". I didn't take note because I don't plan to go that far south. If you haven't watched the Spain videos (they are on this website, and PBS, and Amazon Prime) I recommend them. I find the videos very helpful for trip planning.

I have friends that stayed in a coastal Andalucia town and made lots of day trips, I believe, Sevilla, Jerez. Cadiz, and the hill towns. They enjoyed themselves. Personally, I like to stay in the towns I visit so I don't mind moving around more.

Thanks for your reply. But, if I wanted to spent, lets say two weeks to three weeks in one fairly warm area and do day trips, then move to another area to explore for two to three weeks, what are my options?

What do you determine as warm? Southern Spain will be nowhere near as warm as Florida in February however I've been to the Costa Del Sol in February and it's been shorts and T-Shirts weather for me (however anything above 15c and the shorts come out).

Your options for basing yourself and moving on are plentiful along the coast. There are many, many villas that we will be available for rent at quite reasonable prices in February along with hundreds of hotel rooms and resorts. My preference would be to look at renting a villa for a week or two somewhere between Malaga and Nerja but avoiding the hills as it can be very windy and chilly during February. Being close to Malaga makes it easy to fly into and not face a long drive to your destination. From there you can make easy day trips to Granada, Cordoba etc. I would then move West and base myself somewhere around Estepona or Marbella which makes for easy trips to Ronda, Gibraltar, Seville, Jerez and even Tangier if that appeals to you.

Sevilla is probably the most central and thus the best place in Andalucia to settle down, but it's hardly ideal. Cordoba and Jerez are less than an hour away by train, Cadiz and Arcos about an hour. I can't think of anywhere else that I'd go for a day.

I could see spending 2-3 weeks in Barcelona, but not everyone seems to be as enthusiastic about it as I am. There are enough day trips for variety - Tarragona, Girona, Figueres, Montserrat are the best-known.

I've been in Florida in February and March and it can be quite chilly. Like 60s, when its only the Minnesotans in the pool! Maybe you could tell the contributors what you consider warm.

For me, ‘warm’ is a day time temp over 25c. Less than 20c is ‘cool’ & 20-25c is just plain ‘mild’.

Thanks for the replies. I live in New York where it is below freezing for most of February and into March, which is why we spent some winter time in Florida previously. So, "acceptable" warm in February and March next year when we travel, is 60ish. I know Europe will not be as hot or warm as Florida. But as I said, we find Florida a bit boring and although we have traveled extensively we want to spend weeks at a time in different areas of Europe, starting in the warmest regions. We are now thinking of starting our trip with a two week tour of Morocco (we have never done a tour) and then heading to Spain, which I think will be the warmest place in Europe to spend February into March.

I appreciate any and all suggestions.

One more thing, should I rent a car for all the time I am in Spain, some of the time, or take trains??

It depends on where you want to go and whether you want to stay in a villa or similar lodgings in a small place that's not well-connected to your planned side-trip destinations. I use buses often in Europe; sometimes rail sevice isn't available or is slower. But I don't think it's usually a good idea to stay in a town without train service and use it as a base for day-trips unless you plan to rent a car.

If fhere's no train station in town, you'll have to take two buses or a bus and a train to get to mamy places you want to go, and that makes for too much travel time in many cases. I don't want to fool with a car, so I make sure my long stays are in towns with rail service.

You can check availability of rail service between pairs of cities you might need to connect by going to Rome2Rio.com. However, you should not trust what it says about frequency of trains and buses, how long a trip will take or how much it will cost. When you're ready to look at detailed rail transportation schedules and fares, go to Renfe.com or trainline.eu.