Help Needed 15-17 Days in Spain, from late April to Mid May 2024

[Johnny Canuck]

Hello fellow travellers

Four years ago, my wife and I were planning on taking a Transatlantic cruise from Florida to Italy, but that holiday was unfortunately cancelled due to Covid.

I sought advice here on Sloweurope and booked a couple of places to stay in Italy. One place in Rome gave us a full refund, but the place in Florence would only give us a credit that expired after a year, so that wasn’t much good.

Our next adventure is a Celebrity Cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Barcelona arriving on Saturday, 27 April 2024 and we will have 33 days in Europe and UK (with family and friends) before travelling back to the west coast of Canada. We are looking for recommendations of where to stay for 3-4 days when we disembark in Barcelona. Neither of us is familiar with Spain and as tempting as it may be to venture all over southern Europe, I feel we should limit our travels and stop overs to nor more than 4 or 5 places in Spain to take up about 15 -17 days.

My wife and I are in our late 70’s/early 80’s and although we would have considered ourselves to be reasonably fit 5 years ago, I wouldn’t say that we are in that category now. We are part of the ‘SWALLOWS’ group (Short Walks and Long Lunches on Wednesdays and Sundays), so whilst we like to amble around taking a rest now and again, we are not up to hilly walks or anything too strenuous, or walking for periods of time much longer than half an hour.

I’m busy doing research on which areas/cities we should visit and have 3 months to finalise a plan. We would welcome any and all recommendations for accommodations, so if you’ve had some terrific experiences and would be willing to share, they would be gratefully received.

Looking forward to the experience.

 

[Amy]

Can you give more information about your interests and travel plans? I’d suggest at least five days in Barcelona, if not more to have a more relaxed pace and get to know it better. From there…how will you be traveling- car rental or train? Are you comfortable in big cities, or prefer smaller ones?How much luggage will you be bringing? What are your interests? Art, culture, architecture, landscape, food and wine, any particular periods of history? Are you museum people? Any tourist Spanish? Are walking hills occasionally a firm no go? Also, since dinner in Spain is quite late by North American standards, would apartments where you could prepare your evening meals suit better than hotels?

 

[Colo]

You have chosen wisely! Spain is a lovely place to enjoy the culture, the beauty, and the food of a magical place - And it deserves at least two weeks. Our last visit was in the Fall of 22 when we traveled from Porto to Bilbao in three weeks. The good thing about Spain is both the roads if you decide to drive or the train/bus system are great. In fact, you may want to consider doing a Barcelona to Porto transit.

We laugh and tell our friends when asked about the trip - we say that we did the Camino de Santiago… backwards… in a car… stopping at wineries and restaurants frequently. It was a great trip! We did an abbreviated Trip Report here on Slow Europe and our full blog can be found here: October in España

If you want to really go all out since you started with a transatlantic cruise maybe a train ride across northern Spain - little pricey but wow what a way to go!

On a previous trip we went on a day trip out of Barcelona to Montserrat. Some of the most amazing views ever! Absolutely beautiful. There are plenty of day trips there, but try to get on the earliest one possible.

How you answer Amy's question will allow all of us to provide more information.

Safe travels

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Can you give more information about your interests and travel plans? I’d suggest at least five days in Barcelona, if not more to have a more relaxed pace and get to know it better. From there…how will you be traveling- car rental or train? Are you comfortable in big cities, or prefer smaller ones?How much luggage will you be bringing? What are your interests? Art, culture, architecture, landscape, food and wine, any particular periods of history? Are you museum people? Any tourist Spanish? Are walking hills occasionally a firm no go? Also, since dinner in Spain is quite late by North American standards, would apartments where you could prepare your evening meals suit better than hotels?

Hello again Amy,

Apologies for the long post.

It might be best if I outline my strategy for this trip before getting into the details, but I understand why you're asking about our interests.

We were born and bred in the UK and lived there until our early 30s and then we emigrated to the west coast of Canada, where we have lived for the past 45 years.

For the first 15 years, all our holidays were spent in the UK, catching up with friends and family and thereafter, we tried branching out a bit more and have subsequently travelled quite widely.
Unfortunately, age and some health concerns are now catching up with us, and despite the fact that our minds are still active and exploratory, our legs are not so much inclined.

Sadly, this could well be our last 'big trip' and a transatlantic cruise has been on my bucket list for quite a while, so that's where we started. Since the cruise terminates in Barcelona and we have about a month before we fly back to Canada from London Heathrow, we thought we would divide that time roughly in half and spend the first part in just one country. We don't know Spain, so we will stay there for that 15-17 days.

Having made that decision, its just a case of where to go and how to get there. On our last trip in 2017, I rented a car in Munich and drove through seven countries in Europe, but this time, most if not all transportation will be by train. We may want to rent a car for the odd day here and there, but I'm likely to avoid that if I can, as my eyes are slower these days and driving in a strange, congested city is a challenge. Plus, I might not even be able to rent one at my age.

The geographic location of the cities is going to determine where we go and in what order, so to avoid flying within Europe, we are thinking of visiting the following cities in this order:
(1) Sevilla upon disembarkation
(2) Cordoba
(3) Granada
(4) Madrid
(5) Barcelona

This not yet set in stone and could be modified. Any suggestions, additions/deletions would be considered. The number of days per stay might reflect the comparative cost of staying there.

We have not decided on any accommodation yet, but we want to get on with booking that. Considering our last experience, refundable would be preferable and we are investigating mid grade apartments and hotels; quiet in a good area preferred. A kitchen might be handy for preparing snacks and light meals, but we won't be spending too much time cooking. We do plenty of that at home.

As for interests, smaller cities over bigger, but we feel we shouldn't miss Madrid.
We'll each have a backpack and one mid size piece of luggage.
We value culture, nature, landscapes and appreciate art, museums and architecture in limited doses. (Physical exertion.)
Food, wine and people watching is high on the list. We normally eat dinner about 6:30 - 7:00pm, but since they eat later in Spain and we want to be part of this experience, we'll have to alter our daily routine.

My tourist Spanish is very rusty, so I will have to polish that up if I can.

Regrettably, I think hills are going to be out of the question, though getting up is always easier than going down. Inclines would be OK.

That will give you an idea of where my mind is at the moment.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

You have chosen wisely! Spain is a lovely place to enjoy the culture, the beauty, and the food of a magical place - And it deserves at least two weeks. Our last visit was in the Fall of 22 when we traveled from Porto to Bilbao in three weeks. The good thing about Spain is both the roads if you decide to drive or the train/bus system are great. In fact, you may want to consider doing a Barcelona to Porto transit.

We laugh and tell our friends when asked about the trip - we say that we did the Camino de Santiago… backwards… in a car… stopping at wineries and restaurants frequently. It was a great trip! We did an abbreviated Trip Report here on Slow Europe and our full blog can be found here: October in España

If you want to really go all out since you started with a transatlantic cruise maybe a train ride across northern Spain - little pricey but wow what a way to go!

On a previous trip we went on a day trip out of Barcelona to Montserrat. Some of the most amazing views ever! Absolutely beautiful. There are plenty of day trips there, but try to get on the earliest one possible.

How you answer Amy's question will allow all of us to provide more information.

Safe travels

Hey there Colo,

You seem to have had a lovely trip. I'll read your reports a bit later.
You'll see from my reply to Amy what we have in mind and I don't think we can veer too far off that schedule, as much as I would love to.

I'll investigate a trip to Montserrat. I've already looked at a trip to El Brull, NE of Barcelona, but haven't decided yet.

 

[Penn251]

Seville is about a 6 hour train ride from Barcelona. Seville and Cordoba are relatively flat cities and the various sites are in easy walking distance from each other. Grenada is hilly but visiting the Alhambra (which is the most important thing to do on Granada) should not be a problem if you either taxi to the site - or better yet stay at the Parador de Granda which is on the Alhambra property https://paradores.es/en/parador-de-granada.

Seville is a great place for food (tapas make a good early dinner) and for people watching. Spend an evening on the Alameda de Hercules to see all stripes having a beer, eating tapas, playing on playgrounds and just hanging out. It's fun to watch how lively the people of Seville are.

I would see what you want to see in Barcelona upon disembarkment and then travel South and then end up in Madrid rather than go back to Barcelona. From Madrid you can head to the UK easily. Train from Barcelona to Seville (about 6 hours) then to Cordoba (about 45 minutes) and then on to Grenada (about 1 hour and 45 minutes) and from there to Madrid (especially if you get a direct train - about 4 hours).

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Seville is about a 6 hour train ride from Barcelona. Seville and Cordoba are relatively flat cities and the various sites are in easy walking distance from each other. Grenada is hilly but visiting the Alhambra (which is the most important thing to do on Granada) should not be a problem if you either taxi to the site - or better yet stay at the Parador de Granda which is on the Alhambra property https://paradores.es/en/parador-de-granada.

Seville is a great place for food (tapas make a good early dinner) and for people watching. Spend an evening on the Alameda de Hercules to see all stripes having a beer, eating tapas, playing on playgrounds and just hanging out. It's fun to watch how lively the people of Seville are.

I would see what you want to see in Barcelona upon disembarkment and then travel South and then end up in Madrid rather than go back to Barcelona. From Madrid you can head to the UK easily. Train from Barcelona to Seville (about 6 hours) then to Cordoba (about 45 minutes) and then on to Grenada (about 1 hour and 45 minutes) and from there to Madrid (especially if you get a direct train - about 4 hours).

Thanks Penn
There is some really good information there, so thank you for that.
We have decided to stay for 5 days in Barcelona after disembarking there. It makes more sense to explore Barcelona first and when we're ready to travel, book an earlyish train to Seville, so that we don't arrive there too late.
I'll investigate the Parador de Granada
I've been using a website called Rome2Rio.com for planning the train travel and have found it to be an excellent planning tool.
In addition, I want to give a shout out to the railway specialist website seat61.com, that I have been using for years for advice on train travel. It's unsurpassable and gives very clear and succinct tips on travelling by train and buying tickets.

 

[BC Brenda]

Hello Johnny Canuck - a fellow Canuck here. We have stayed in Barcelona twice. Both times we stayed in apartments rented by BCNGotic. When it was just two of us we rented #50 - on the rooftop. I don't think the apartment location can be much better - right in the Gothic district. The apartment is fully furnished - has an nice size elevator - and when we were there, it had an onsite manager as it appeared the majority of the apartments in the building were part of their rental group.

We were able to pick up some fresh food from some of the stunning markets and have some meals at home. As mentioned earlier, dinners in Barcelona are very late.......sometimes too late for us.

It is walking distance to one of the main train stations - If I remember correctly we either walked from this station when we took the train from France.

I also recommend the trip to Montserrat.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Hello Johnny Canuck - a fellow Canuck here. We have stayed in Barcelona twice. Both times we stayed in apartments rented by BCNGotic. When it was just two of us we rented #50 - on the rooftop. I don't think the apartment location can be much better - right in the Gothic district. The apartment is fully furnished - has an nice size elevator - and when we were there, it had an onsite manager as it appeared the majority of the apartments in the building were part of their rental group.

We were able to pick up some fresh food from some of the stunning markets and have some meals at home. As mentioned earlier, dinners in Barcelona are very late.......sometimes too late for us.

It is walking distance to one of the main train stations - If I remember correctly we either walked from this station when we took the train from France.

I also recommend the trip to Montserrat.

Hello Brenda,
Nice to hear from you. We'll certainly be walking through the Gotic area at some stage, but just last night, I reserved an apartment in east Eixample.
There is a well equipped kitchen, but we don't really anticipate doing any heavy duty cooking. We're trying to have a break from that, but I'm sure we'll prepare a few snacks. We have decided that since we will be in Spain for a couple of weeks, we should maybe try and alter our whole routine and learn to eat late, maybe even have a siesta to help with that. If it doesn't work, there is always tapas.

 

[Jan55612]

I have had several extended stays in Barcelona (6-8 weeks) and a couple of shorter ones. We have always booked apartments in the Eixample and love the area. Our interests are centered on art and food. As, for walking, you will get plenty of that in Barcelona! Some of our favorite restaurants are in Eixample and Gracia. We love Embat https://embatrestaurant.com/ and Santa Gula https://www.santagula.es/. Barcelona has Menu del dia luncheon menus on working days, so if you want to eat mid-day (3 courses, including beverage) you can have your main meal between 1 and 5.
We had a two week stay in Madrid several years ago. It is rich with art, food, and history.
Granada, of course, for its Moorish history, including the Alhambra. And, Cordoba for the Mezquita. We also have enjoyed Sevilla.
I echo Amy's comment. Don't try to include too many locations. You will spend too much time in transit and eat up the time you could have been enjoying one of the locations you choose. I would probably only do two or three locations and give myself time to absorb.
Enjoy and please ask if you have more questions as you plan your trip!
Jan

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I have had several extended stays in Barcelona (6-8 weeks) and a couple of shorter ones. We have always booked apartments in the Eixample and love the area. Our interests are centered on art and food. As, for walking, you will get plenty of that in Barcelona! Some of our favorite restaurants are in Eixample and Gracia. We love Embat https://embatrestaurant.com/ and Santa Gula https://www.santagula.es/. Barcelona has Menu del dia luncheon menus on working days, so if you want to eat mid-day (3 courses, including beverage) you can have your main meal between 1 and 5.
We had a two week stay in Madrid several years ago. It is rich with art, food, and history.
Granada, of course, for its Moorish history, including the Alhambra. And, Cordoba for the Mezquita. We also have enjoyed Sevilla.
I echo Amy's comment. Don't try to include too many locations. You will spend too much time in transit and eat up the time you could have been enjoying one of the locations you choose. I would probably only do two or three locations and give myself time to absorb.
Enjoy and please ask if you have more questions as you plan your trip!
Jan

Thank you so much for your comments, particularly your restaurant recommendations. After all, there are only so many meals one can eat and if you pick the wrong restaurant for the first 5 meals, you might never get to experience a really good one.
We have anchored the first 5 days in Barcelona and are currently planning to go directly to Seville with the intention of spending 6 or 7 days there. There are some day trips we can do from there, one of them being to Jerez.
I'm still investigating Granada and Cordoba trying to figure out how much time to devote to those places. Madrid will most probably be our last stop.
We are trying to heed everyone's warnings and our own experience from previous trips not to visit too many places.

 

[Penn251]

There are some day trips we can do from there, one of them being to Jerez.

Cordoba is an easy day trip from Seville. If time limited, I would choose Cordoba over Jerez.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Cordoba is an easy day trip from Seville. If time limited, I would choose Cordoba over Jerez.

Thanks Penn.
It's the attraction of the birth place of Sherry that is the attraction of Jerez. Haven't done any research other than that basic long time held knowledge.

 

[Penn251]

the birth place of Sherry

Not only the birthplace but the only place. The mold in the air surrounding Jerez is what makes Sherry. Several Bodegas have tours of their production faciities. Another thing in Jerez is the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. They raise and train "dancing" horses - think the Lipizzaner Stallions of Disney movie fame. You can see a show while there. https://www.realescuela.org/en/visits-shows/show-how-the-andalusian-horses-dance/