2 week Spain trip!

[elkos]

Hi there,

I'm looking to plan a 2 week trip to Spain in June. The places I'm interested in going are: Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Seville, Gibraltar. I'm wondering if this trip is a doable, or a bit too ambitious for my timeline. Also what are other must-sees in Spain? What is the best way to travel? How many days should you spend in one city?


Thanks :)

[rca215]

I think going into Madrid, then down to Toledo, Sevilla and Granada is doable in 2 weeks. Not sure if it's sensible to go all the way over to Barcelona as well.

I've only been to Sevilla and Granada (in two weeks I'll add a bunch of others!), and I think that 3-4 nights in Sevilla and 2 nights in Granada is sufficient. You could find tons of things to do for longer, but if you want to cover more area that's probably a good amount of time for each.

I've heard that Gibraltar isn't that great, but maybe that's just my friends!

Book your Alhambra tickets well in advance.

I took the train from Sevilla to Granada, which was a very pleasant experience through some beautiful countryside. Trains are fairly reliable for all your target cities, I believe.

However, my train trip through the countryside, and some advice from the world's friendliest taxi driver in Granada, has inspired me to rent a car and really set out to see more of the rural areas. So renting a car might be nice, but it'll be 100% useless while in the cities themselves.

[Juanjo]

[quote=rca215;45034]
I've only been to Sevilla and Granada (in two weeks I'll add a bunch of others!), and I think that 3-4 nights in Sevilla and 2 nights in Granada is sufficient.

Stop in at Córdoba as well- the Mezquita, Juderia and Alcázar are well worth visiting, especially the first!


I've heard that Gibraltar isn't that great, but maybe that's just my friends!

Well worth missing (IMHO)!:)

[zuri]

How many days should you spend in one city?


Thanks :)

No matter, its never enough.;)

[elkos]

Thanks for the advice!!! The thing is I really want to go to Barcelona as well! My friend told me about Vueling (I think it was called) that offers really cheap flights internally in Spain. So I was thinking of flying in to Barcelona, spending a couple days there, then flying to Sevilla or somewhere in the south and touring around there. I'm not sure if it makes any sense to do that, as I'm not a very experienced traveler. I think I just want to see a little bit of a lot of places, decide what I like and then go back and spend lots of time in those places on a subsequent trip. But other must-see places would be appreciated!

[Legazpi]

Sounds like you are based in the UK right? In which case I can't see the point in including either Madrid or Barcelona in your itinerary since you can easily do weekend trips to those cities from the UK at a later date anyway, for a similar price as flying between them with Vueling.

If you've got 2 weeks then why not use it to concentrate on places that aren't so accessible? On your list that would be Granada, which is where I happened to spend my first 2 week holiday in Spain. I spent the mornings at a Spanish school and had the afternoons free to enjoy the city, while at the weekends I did excursions to Rhonda and Sevilla. It was very fulfilling. You could also do an excursion to Gibraltar if you wish, but I can't see why you would want to.

If you really want to travel around more of Spain, then some new high speed rail links have opened up this year (see http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/ingles.html) and Easyjet also do some internal flights, along with Iberia of course.

[tomc52]

I once took an overnight train trip to Madrid from Barcelona and slept on the train. I saved one nights hotel expense and woke up in Madrid.Plus there was a bar on the train. If you don't have kids It's an option.
Plus there was a bar on the train.
Also the train had a bar.

[lenox]

From Gib you could whizz over to Tangiers. Buy a rug.
Probably recommend Granada as not only a great city to visit but also very nice people, and full of the esencia española.
Madrid is wonderful, stay in the old part somewhere and stay up late. Seville is pretty (but I don't like it much. It's the European capital of corruption).
Valencia is wonderful...

[Juanjo]

Seville is pretty (but I don't like it much. It's the European capital of corruption).
Valencia is wonderful...


No..... Brussels has that title (and not as pretty either)!;)

Juanjo

[elkos]

Wow I'm so confused because I've heard a million things from a million different people about each and every place. I think my latest list includes: Barcelona - Madrid - Toledo - Seville - Granada. Is this doable in 2 weeks?

[elkos]

And I'm not based in the UK. I'm from Canada, and I've never been to Europe and I'm not sure when I'm going to get to go back. I'm really interested in going to Spain though, and get a real sense of it, but also visit a number of different places! I was thinking about going to Morocco as well, but I don't really know much about it. Is it safe for 2 young women to go there alone?

[rca215]

I once took an overnight train trip to Madrid from Barcelona and slept on the train. I saved one nights hotel expense and woke up in Madrid.Plus there was a bar on the train. If you don't have kids It's an option.
Plus there was a bar on the train.
Also the train had a bar.

I've heard there's bars on those trains. Can you confirm?

Wow I'm so confused because I've heard a million things from a million different people about each and every place. I think my latest list includes: Barcelona - Madrid - Toledo - Seville - Granada. Is this doable in 2 weeks?

I think that's a great list (but I've only been to Spain once...going again in a week!) and doable in 2 weeks. Have you thought about Cordoba? I've heard it's great (but probably similar to Sevilla, to a degree).

And I'm not based in the UK. I'm from Canada, and I've never been to Europe and I'm not sure when I'm going to get to go back. I'm really interested in going to Spain though, and get a real sense of it, but also visit a number of different places! I was thinking about going to Morocco as well, but I don't really know much about it. Is it safe for 2 young women to go there alone?

Don't know much about Morocco. Most people I know who have gone with tour groups on day trips...not sure if that's absurd.

[tomc52]

I've heard there's bars on those trains. Can you confirm?
I don't remember, I was drinking heavily.