My husband and I are planning a 10 week tour of Spain & Portugal. We are active 60+ers. I am looking for input and advice about our tentative itinerary. Are we spending enough or too much time in places? Are we missing something we should be seeing? What are the best ways to travel from place to place? I'll list the trip plans (so far) from beginning to end. We will be starting in mid-September and returning in mid-November. -Barcelona - 6 days rent car -Costa Brava (Cadeques) - 5 days drive north on costal road 260, then east across southern France on 117. At some point we'd like to drive south on one of those twisty roads through the Pyrenees, perhaps 933. Any advice? How long might that drive take? - 3 days? -San Sebastian, Pamplona, Basque Country - 6 days Fly to Sevilla Rent Car? -Sevilla, Granada, White Hill Towns, Cordoba, Cadiz - 16 days -Portugal - 3 weeks (Don't have a detailed itinerary yet. Suggestions?) Fly? or Train? to Madrid
-Madrid - 7 days I'd welcome comments and suggestions! This is an ambitious journey.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I think it's pretty darn good. In ten weeks you can really cover the peninsula. Miscellaneous thoughts: Barcelona for six days might be an overkill. Adding five centered on Cadaques certainly is. I'd give a week to the whole area. I don't know what the 933 is, but you've got the right idea. Make the drive on the French side and cut to Spain through the national park. My druthers would be using whatever parts of the roads that run from Pau to Biescas suit your needs. Three days is about right. You've skipped the whole northwest corner of Spain and you've got time for it. You're screwing up on the car business. Why rent twice when the daily rate drops on a longer term rental and you can drive from Bilbao to Seville in eight hours if you keep your nose to the stone. Slow down, and there's enough to spend an easy three days. Related to the above, you might want to make the trip south through Portugal. If so, think about sacrificing some of the guidebook stuff for the Alentejo. Once you start thinking, those hill towns might make you want to skip some of the Spanish ones. You can probably see most of the Algarve (including the interior) in a relaxed manner in less than a week.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Car amendment. Regarding insurance. Visa and MC cover for about thirty days consecutive. Amex for about forty. You're going to have to swap cars somewhere, make sure you do it in Spain to avoid a double second-country drop.
Posted by
OP
Bené, AZ, Usa
30 posts
Thanks! I had thought about driving to Seville but didn't know how long it would take. We may do that and go through Portugal, as you suggest. I'll have to take a look at our schedule. We need to be in Seville by the 1st week in October to meet up with friends.