I am planning a trip at the end of april and Im debating on the itenerary- Shoudl we fly into Barcelona and then upto Provence and the French Riveria...we have approx 12 days or Barcelona and Mallorca. I have never been to Spain and we just finished a big trip though Italy and Paris. We were hoping for some culture, amazing food and good weather during late April early May. On our trip to italy I fell in love with Rome so I thought that a mix of a big city and then a relaxing island or area might be a good mix. Thoughts???
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
I think splitting the time between Barcelona and Mallorca would drive you nuts. Both are good only in small doses, especially Mallorca.
You're set up for a good trip if you fly into Barcelona, rent a car after a couple of days, and make your way along the coast to Provence. There's plenty to see and do along the way. When you're done, sprint back to Barcleona and leave -- it's less than four hours from Nimes. On the Provence end, you could hit the coastal spots and swing back through the southern Provencal interior.
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
Respectfully, I disagree with Ed (re his assessment of Barcelona and Mallorca) -- especially given WHEN you are planning on doing this. Summer would have been a different thing altogether though...
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
Hi,
You can "book-end" Mallorca with both Barcelona and Madrid, since flights to the island are easy in and out of both.
For the amount of days you have, this may be far more pleasant for you and a rental car would only be needed on the island to boot around.
Posted by
baton rouge, la, US
269 posts
I think it just depends on your interests and tastes. Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in the world -- I could spend weeks in the city. We went to Mallorca for the first time this summer/spring (early June) and absolutely loved it. I found it very relaxing; certainly, some of the beaches were crowded, but I didn't see the wild rambunctiousness I was warned about when we decided to visit the islands. I definitely think that you could do Barcelona and Mallorca comfortably in that time, and even potentially fit in a few days to Madrid.
You can get really inexpensive flights from Barcelona to Palma ... ours cost around 30 euro total, including baggage fees.
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Okay, okay. Truth in posting. I live on one of the best beaches in the world and refuse to dump bucks spending a lot of time on another one. I also don't think much of Barcleona.
There's more divesity of culture swinging through the Phonecian portion of SE France and the Roman and medieval stuff in Provence as opposed to Catalonia and more Catalonia. Also, the area from Perpignan and Sete to Aiques Mortes and on into Provence offers a slew of changes in grub.
Posted by
baton rouge, la, US
269 posts
I agree with you, Ed, that Pensacola is amazing, though I'd have to say the same about the beaches on Mallorca, too. It's a hard decision to make -- Perpignan is also really easy to get to from Barcelona and is a beautiful city. Tarragona, my new favorite place, is right "below" Barcelona and has amazing Roman history and ruins, if you're interested in that sort of thing. To be honest, I don't think there's really a wrong decision.
Posted by
OP
Phoenix, AZ, USA
9 posts
Wow! Thank you for all the great responses. So it seems that if we decide to do Barcelona and Mallorca that there would be time for Madrid. We are booking our flight to fly out on the last week of April. I think one of the deciding factors would be weather. Is the wether better in Barcelona/Balaeric Islands/Madrid end of April/early May or weather better in Provence/Riveria? If the weather is the same what destination is your personal preference- South of France or Spain?
Posted by
LaGrange, Ga, USA
1178 posts
I would recommend the following:
Nice -2 -3 days
drive to Caux (full day drive), near Montpellier, stay at the Stone House Bed and Breakfast in Caux,
one night
Drive to Castle Emporda, a few hours away in Spain.
Two days there
Then on to Barcelona for three days.
Have done this trip myself and enjoyed all of it!
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
Yes, you would have enough days. Depending on the fares and schedules you find, you can fly into Barcelona, back out from Madrid. At minimum, I would allocate 3-4 days to Barcelona (it's one of my favorite cities too), 2-3 days to Madrid, 4-5 days to Mallorca.
As for weather, that can be very variable. The climate can be quite similar between your two scenarios. You could have glorious beach days or a cooler late spring. Kinda hard to predict, as patterns are changing so much worldwide...
Pack for short-sleeve and sunbathing weather, but bring a light jacket. As for swimming, the Med will likely still be cool though, not having had the time to warm up lots. BTW, hotel pools will likely be colder at the beginning of May on Mallorca, so don't splurge extra just to get a hotel with one.
Here's my take on your situation: Since you have never been to Spain yet, what you plan to cover there would be a good introduction. If you like Spain, then you can plan a future trip to the south of Spain (Sevilla, Granada, etc.). Since you really liked Paris, another trip can be planned to combine a few days in Paris, with Provence/Cote d'Azur (easy to fly into Nice and leave from Paris).
... just my 2 cents (I will be flying into Nice myself at the end of April next year. It will be my second trip to Provence/Cote d'Azur. I have been to Barcelona 5 times.)