Will be hugging the coast (pretty much) from Lisbon to Pisa. Tarifa to Barcelona is quite a trek so we are looking for a good place to spend a night in between.
Posted by
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
34 posts
This will be a great trek because there are so many great places to see. Malaga is wonderful, but passing Granada and the Alhambra would be a sin. It would be a highlight of your trip if you include it. Valencia is an obvious city to include. How many days will you have?
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
52 posts
Well, to borrow Rick Steves' phrase - we will be doing the whirlwind kamikaze routine. After Pisa, we go inland to Florence, Milan, Immelwald, then catch our breath in Paris and vicinity before heading home via London - all with 15 full days on the ground. Yawn. We will research your recommendations - thank you!
Posted by
Boston
23 posts
I had a similar route up the coast of Spain. We spent some time in Granada then took an overnight train to Barcelona. We were kind of playing it by ear at that point.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
How are you planning to travel....car, train, plane?
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
52 posts
Good question; we are free spirits and like to get off the beaten path so we have chosen to travel primarily by car - with a possible side trip by bus or train . . .
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
In that case, I too would recommend Granada, which is about 3 hours from Tarifa, IF you take the AP-7 toll highway...taking the older A-7 along the coast will probably add an hour to your time, since it always seems to be jammed with traffic! Make sure you book your tickets for the Alhambra well ahead of time (www.alhambra-tickets.es). But be prepared for a long day following, since it's about nine hours to Barcelona, without stops.
BTW, I assume you know you'll be charged a rather hefty drop-off fee for renting a car in Lisbon and dropping it off in Italy or France?
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
52 posts
Still pursuing the coastal Lisbon to Pisa trek. After checking with a car rental company (I forget which one at this writing) we were told that we could only drop off the rental car from where we rented it - which was going to be Lisbon. Any similar experiences/suggestions?
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
Stephen...your only other option would seem to be to bus/train it to Sevilla, rent a car there, turn it in in Barcelona...train into southern France, rent a car there, turn it in before you get to the border...and so on. It depends on how attached you are to having a car, spending the extra time running back and forth to car rental places. Be aware that the train journey from Barcelona to Pisa will take you more than 24 hours and several changes....so if you train that route, be prepared to stop a couple of nights along that stretch to break things up. If you need to save time, you may want to consider discount airline flights from Granada-Barcelona and Barcelona-Pisa (Spanish discount airline Clickair flies both those routes), or the overnight train from Granada to Barcelona.