Hi everyone. I am heading off to Spain for an 18 day trip at the end of July and early August. We are flying in and out of Madrid. This is the second part of a honeymoon trip and we want it to be a combination of relaxing, enjoying the culture, and siteseeing. We absolutely loved Provence and Nice and were hoping on spending a few days there. We were hoping to head over there and do a big circle. Our tentative plan is as follows: Madrid: explore Madrid, Toledo, Segovia Barcelona: 2 days in city, 1 to do Montserat Arles: 2 days to explore area Nice: 4 days to relax on waterfornt, explore area Provence: 3 days to explore Provence and get to San Sebastian San Sebastian: 1 day to explore, plus Gugenheim in Bilboa
Madrid: end trip here Any thoughts? Is this too much? Are we missing out on Seville and Granada? One comment I heard was to hit those sections of Spain at a later/cooler date. Any thoughts? The Rick Steves suggested Spain itinerary in his book looks amazing and very tempting. That being said, we just loved Nice and Provence. Thanks in advance to any advice!
Posted by
Atlanta
3250 posts
Do you already have your plane tickets? If not, you could fly open-jaw into Madrid and home from somewhere in France. This seems ambitious for 18 days. In May, we spent 1 week in Spain dividing our time between Madrid, Toledo, and Cordoba. From Madrid, we flew Ryanair to Marseilles and took a train to Avignon to pick up a rental car to explore Provence. You could expand your time in the Madrid area and spend the rest of the time in Provence. I'd consider cutting Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Bilboa and save them for another trip. Just a thought...
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, USA
55 posts
We loved Granada. Seeing The Alhambra was a dream come true for my husband. Sevilla, not as much. We were in Spain for 12 days and did Madrid (loved it, could live here), Toledo (1 days is definitely sufficient). From Madrid we took the train down to Sevilla and then on to Granada. When we were in Granada, we took the bus to the coast and spent a day in Nerja. Your itinerary looks ambitious to me, but it you like to be on the move, you may be ok. Just know that it's a long train trip back to Madrid. Have fun!