Two week vacation in Spain without Barcelona

If you rent a car, you can do a fairly reasonable day trip to Tangier by ferry from Tarifa. If you are relying on public transportation, a day trip seems to eat up the best part of 3 days. I nixed the idea on my first trip after I read that going to Tangier to see Morocco is like going to Tijuana to see Mexico. If you want to spend a few days in Marrakesh, look into flights.

I recently had a long conversation with a fellow I met who lives in Bilbao. He said September - October is one of the best times of year to visit the Basque area and Galicia. Andalucia may still be hot, but not the blistering heat of summer.

@suzyqtaos, you seem you've made up your mind already so I won't insist much.... but, you are aware that Barcelona is just the capital city but the whole region, Catalonia, has a lot more to offer, right? Saying so because sometimes it appears some visitors ignore that there's life beyond main cities, LOL!

Juuuust in case:

Welcome to Catalonia
Catalonia Experience
Routes and getaways

(and all of this is within a territory the size of Maryland)

It is refreshing that you are not trying to fit in far flung destinations of Spain. Your idea of Madrid/region and another region is a good one that should allow plenty of time to see sights and relax. Either north to Basque or south to Andalucia would work well with 2 weeks. If I headed north, I'd think about renting a car in order to see more of the towns besides just Bilboa and San Sebastian. If south, you can easily see the main cities (Cordoba, Sevilla, Granada) by train.

PS - If your name indicates your are from Taos, NM - you'll find a lot of similarities of the landscape and architecture - especially in Andalucia.

Murcia is not my favorite region in Spain, but it should be fine for a couple weeks. I enjoyed Cartagena the day I was there because I watched some archeologists on a dig. I saw nothing redeeming about the city of Murcia. The year we went through there, it was early September and it was still extremely hot. For the rest of your trip, In addition to Madrid, Toledo and Segovia, Leon, Burgos, and Santiago de Compostela are nice to visit. With 13 days, I’d stay up north (including Bilbao and San Sebastián if you want to see them) rather than heading south again. Less travel time for you. If you rent a car, there are plenty of small villages worth a stop. If you’re staying overnight in places, consider staying at a Parador. They are government run hotels. Many are in historic buildings. Their price varies from place to place but are in line with other hotels in those locations. www.parador.es/en

I think we have decided that we will spend time in Madrid and visit Toledo and Segovia. Not sure how many days we will allot to this, nor am I decided whether we will home base in Madrid and do day trips to the two aforementioned cities. From there we will head to San Sebastian where we will probably find an airbnb and explore around San Sebastian to include Bilbao.

We like the idea of relaxing, beach time and we are thinking perhaps we would drive into France .

Always appreciative of suggestions for this still sketchy itinerary.

Suzy Taos

1. Meet up in Madrid (5N)
2. Madrid
3. Day to Toledo
4. Madrid
5. Day to Segovia
6. Train to San Sebastian (3N)
7. San Sebastian
8. San Sebastian
9. Pick up car & drive (in to France) via St Jean de Luz to Biarritz (1N)
10. Drive via Bayonne to St Jean Pied de Port (1N)
11. Drive via Roncesvalles to Pamplona (1N)
12. Drive via Vitoria-Gasteiz to Bilbao (2N) & return car
13. Bilbao
14. Depart Bilbao