Spent a fantastic time in Spain and France in March, am eager for my next journey. Something in fall or next spring, 3-5 weeks.
Currently thinking about visiting some smaller towns in Spain and would like to hear everyone's thoughts. Will be traveling by bus, I assume, as rail doesn't reach some of the more out-of-the-way places. I do speak the language.
You can read my recent trip report on smaller towns. Depending on where you plan to go, busses may not even go there. I do encourage visiting the smaller towns and villages as there are some nice things to see and few, if any, tourists. To me, traveling by car is a better option for visiting the small villages. The smaller cities should all be accessible by bus or train.
I agree with jaimeelsabio, a car is really the best option if wanting to visit smaller towns/villages. It can be done by bus but there will be a lot of leg work to make it work. Spain is a big country, is there a particular region you are interested in? What places did you already see? How small is small to you? 5000 or less pop?
I've visited several interesting, quaint, smaller towns that are on the train line. But note that my Spain trips have always been in November or December, so I can't judge their "tourism quotient" in high tourist season, if these towns even have one.
One of my favorites is Teruel, in Aragon, I think around 90 miles south of Zaragoza, which I saw in 2009. An aesthetic town, with a great renaissance-looking center, and medieval neighborhoods beyond. It's known (insofar as it's known at all) for its its late-medieval Mudejar towers, this being an architectural style developed by muslims "left behind" after the Christian reconquest. Other quaint medieval towns, like Albarracin, can be reached by bus.
In Extremadura, I've also visited Trujillo and Zafra, both of which I can recommend. There are several others in that province as well.
Hi Marty,
first I would suggest you take a look at Jaime´s trip report. He visited some fantastic little places.
Next, I would suggest that you spend some of your time in La Rioja. There is a bus from the T4 in Barajas direct to Logroño several times a day.
In La Rioja there is a good rural bus system. You can make day trips from Logroño to most of the places but it would probably be better to go to somewhere like Najera for a few days and explore the area. Other possible bases could be Santo Domingo de la Calzada, Haro, or Torrecilla en Cameros. You would want to visit Ezcaray and Casalareina.
