My husband and I will be going to Barcelona in September and looking at 6-7 nights there. I have been there a few times and did my study abroad there like 9 years ago. But it will be new for my husband. I am concerned if it's too many nights in this city. My thought is maybe take some day trips to like Sitges and Montserrat and be stationed in Barcelona. Or should we explore the Basque Country which I have never been. But if we do this do we need to spend the night in another town? We are not much for musuems but love the cultural and natural beauty aspect of traveling.
Any suggestions in finilizing my itinerary would be sooo helpful!
Thanks so much!
Posted by
Kirkland
223 posts
Rae, my wife and I spent 6 weeks in Spain and Portugal last Sept/Oct. We spent 1 week of our trip in a rented apartment in Barcelona, located in the El Born district. Like you, we'd also spent time previously in Barcelona and were concerned 1 week was too much. Turned out to be perfect! With the apartment as our base, we did fewer things per day, but enjoyed each place for a longer time. Not nearly as frenetic as travel in Europe (for us) used to be. We're already thinking of reasons to go back!
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
695 posts
Rae, i think 6-7 nights in Barcelona is not too much since there is so many things to see and do. We did day trips to Montserrat (loved it) and the Penedes Valley. We also spent a few nights on the Costa Brava and that was also very nice. After 5 nights in Barcelona there is still lots of things we have not seen and we would really like to go back.
Posted by
baton rouge, la, US
269 posts
I actually think that's right on target. We spent three nights there two years back and would have killed to double the time. But I do understand the concern of not wanting to spend too much time in one place. But, if you get antsy, there's the rest of Catalunya, including Costa Brava, just waiting to be explored.
Posted by
OP
Chicago
2 posts
Thanks for your comments, it's reassuring. I have been doing some research and I am really looking into possibly going to San Sebastian during this trip. Would it be a better idea to fly in to either city and fly out of the other? Or should we just book a roundtrip to Barcelona and make the trip to San Sebastian during the middle of our trip. I think there might be a fast train that goes through there (TGV).
I'm thinking we just hit San Sebastian and Barcelona and leave the rest of the Basque country for another trip. Any thoughts on going in this direction?
Posted by
Ottawa
237 posts
Hi Rae
We spent five nights in Barcelona last Aug with a side trip to Montserrat. There is always more to see in any city. From Barceloa we flew to Bilbao and then bused it to San Sebastian. We opted not to take the bus from Barcelona to San Sebastian because of the travel time.
We flew with Clickair to Bilbao and on exiting the airport there was a bus departing for San Sebastian so we were in San Sabastian an hour after our arrival in Bilbao.
San Sebastian is a wonderful place and it is one of the places we will return to in Spain.