Help Needed 33 days Spain and Portugal

[Barb]

We are planning a trip to Spain and Portugal.. We have two tennis events we are planning to attend and so are locked in somewhat to 2 of the days in Barcelona and Madrid.(days 3, 4 and 16,17) but are flexible on the rest. We tried to do what is most logical order. We are in our mid 60's early 70"s (H) in good health and active (for the moment

We love architecture and beautiful scenery like some museums but not huge fans (I get bored after a few hrs) Live in NYC so don't want to feel like we never left home

We did a multi city trip two years ago (Amsterdam, Bergen, Stockholm, Copenhagan, Bruges, Ghent) We loved Ghent and Bruge and Bergen but AMsterdam although beautiful in some ways felt too hectic and too much like home and Stockholm except for the old town area we did not like) I feel Barcelona will be very different as well as Lisbon. Not sure about Madrid. All that said..

looking for feedback on number of days spending in each area.. too much to little? We had to cut out some places already as transport to from looked complicated and limited. We decided to just do some day trips from Lisbon so wont be spending all of our days in Lisbon.

We are not driving unless we have to will fly when it makes the most sense and when we can train or bus. Considering the length of the trip we are trying to cut costs where we can but not at the expense of the stress level (so rather take one mode of transport if another requires three changes for example) Will stay at Airbnbs though some posters have told us that there may be a problem with these as they are cracking down on them particularly in Barcelona.. THe only reason we can do a long trip like this is that these are affordable and allow us to make light breakfast and take out local food for dinner and save on food.. We do eat a good lunch out as we are always touring. We have only just started to put this together and have not purchased any tickets yet.. any feedback would be appreciated. THanks!

Day 1 depart PM from NY
Day 2 Barcelona arrive AM
Day 3 Barcelona
Day 4 Barcelona
Day 5 Barcelona
Day 6 Barcelona
Day 7 Barcelona
Day 8 Barcelona to Majorca
Day 9 Majorca
Day 10 Majorca
Day 11 Maorca
Day 12 Majorca to Valencia
Day 13 valencia
Day 14 Valencia
Day 15 Valencia to Madrid
Day 16 Madrid
Day 17 Madrid
Day 18 Madrid
Day 19 Madrid
Day 20 Madrid to Toledo day trip
Day 21 Madrid to Grenada
Day 22 Grenada
Day 23 Grenada to Cordoba
Day 24 Cordoba
Day 25 Cordoba to Seville
Day 26 Seville
Day 27 Seville
Day 28 Seville to Lisbon
Days 29-34 Lisbon
Day 35 return home

 

[Pauline]

I don't know Spain, but I would think of combining the Grenada, Cordoba and Seville days so that you have a week in one place. I think you can day trip by train between them.

You might want to take some of the days from Madrid (which may be too much big city, like NYC where you live) and add them to Lisbon. Although Lisbon is also a big city, several members of these forums love the city and it would be nice to have a few days there.

I might also drop off Majorca. Isn't that a younger party destination? I may be wrong. Search the posts in this forum for Barcelona. Some people have talked about beautiful towns in the countryside near Barcelona. It might be nice to stay in one of them.

Barcelona, not that I've been there but from what I have read, can be very crowded. But everyone I talk to loves it. The current terrorist strike there is very upsetting.

What time of year will you be traveling?

 

[Barb]

Hi Pauline
THanks so much for your input.. At this point we are in Lisbon for 7 nights I ran out of room so put days 29-34 Lisbon so you really don't notice that at a glance.. yes we want to do some day trips from there but a few others on another site suggested Porto for a few days so may take some time away from Lisbon and now may skip Valencia and add another day in Portugal and two more days in Andalucia. we don't mind staying two- three nights in each place I know you can train hop but if I want to spend two days for example in each touring the cost of the train back and forth each day adds to our expenses and trying to keep the costs down.. two- three nights is ok since its only a few times..
As for Majoca.. well we wanted some diversity.. not sure about the "party destination" but will need to check that out.. we also needed to fill up some time before heading south as we are going two days to the tennis open in Barcelona and two days to the one in Madrid which we will be attending May 9 and 10 and that locks us into those days there so although it seems like we have a lot of time in those cities not so much really also plan to do a day trip to Toledo from Madrid as we have to go back to Madrid to get to Grenada..
We will be traveling end of April and most of May so shoulder season .. Barcelona is one of the cities we really want to see as it is like no other and a medium size not like NY (did not so much want to see Madrid but since going for the open wanted at least two other days to see major sights) . I hope that gives some insight as to our plan and thanks for the advice we will look into Majorca. I think we definately need more time in Grenada, Cordoba and Seville and will look into that as well!

 

[Dennis]

Wow! an embarrassment of riches regarding days available. You have put a lot of thought into planning already. Pauline is correct that Majorca, especially the town of Magaluf, has gained a reputation as a package tour "party" destination. You may wish to consider time in the Catalonian countryside prior to seeing Valencia as an alternative.

Rather than spend a night in Cordoba, one can easily see that city's major sites by catching the early morning AVE from Seville and returning to Seville the same day (trip is under an hour).

We too are the same age as you and have found driving, other than in cities, not a problem. You mention you enjoy scenery; your present itinerary does not offer much in that regard. Consider some time with a car rental to experience the countryside. You mention you could forgo Valencia and if you don't visit Majorca you have a week to tootle the countryside. Perhaps locating yourselves in one of the smaller pueblos blancos and taking day trips to other ones is an option.

Your itinerary is a classic one for first-time visitors. You will find enough to occupy yourselves. You did mention you liked Bergen and some smaller cities. Perhaps on a subsequent trip you could consider northern Spain. I'm a big fan of Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria. They are less "touristy" and not quite as expensive as what many see as traditional Spain.

As your planning moves along you will have more questions. Please do not hesitate to ask them. Members here will help if they can
Dennis

 

[jonathan]

You mention the recent problems with AirBnB (and other unregistered rental apartments) in Barcelona. We've had a lot of success with AirBnB in many different locations, but when booking our Barcelona trip for March this year, I went with Inside Barcelona, after reading recommendations from several posters on the old Slowtrav site. And the apartment worked out very well: simply furnished (mostly IKEA); good cooker & shower, and a nice little terrace.

There's a lot more useful Barcelona info in the thread I started here when doing my last-minute planning: good tips on what to see and where to eat, from regulars here on Slow Europe: thread

 

[Barb]

You guys rock!! This is all so helpful. Dennis, It looks like we have more time in the cities than we actually do.. we have two days of tennis in each (Barcelona and Madrid) so that leaves two days to tour Madrid and that will be enough for me. We have decided to drop Valencia to give more time to Andalusia but do still want to do Majorca.. we looked into it and it appears that Ibiza is more the party island and at time we are going seems things will be fairly quiet.. will get a car on majorca so will stay further out from the main area. Lisbon although big city..we plan to do day trips from there so we have a chance to see some smaller towns. We really don't want to drive much.. but may just take day tours from the bigger cities once we start to investigate that more. I think we are ready to start planning
Johathan, thanks for the info on Barcelona we will look over that link and your posts as it seems like you did a lot of work.. why reinvent the wheel Visit a City is a great site we used for our last Europe trip its a great tool and it helped us immensely.. it plans out an itinerary for you with major sites and then you can add and delete and customize with what you want to do..and you can add your restaurants, where you are staying and it will tell you how far away your next sight is and average time to spend there.

 

[veronicafrance]

I'd chop a day off Madrid and add it to Seville, which is a wonderful city. A day is enough for Granada; once you've seen the Alhambra (which is at least a half day thing) there isn't that much more to do. And yes you can day-trip to Cordoba from Seville. Valencia's a lovely city too; we've spent two weekends there and didn't see all we wanted.

 

[Anubis]

We are planning a trip to Spain and Portugal.. We have two tennis events we are planning to attend and so are locked in somewhat to 2 of the days in Barcelona and Madrid.(days 3, 4 and 16,17) but are flexible on the rest. We tried to do what is most logical order. We are in our mid 60's early 70"s (H) in good health and active (for the moment

We love architecture and beautiful scenery like some museums but not huge fans (I get bored after a few hrs) Live in NYC so don't want to feel like we never left home

We did a multi city trip two years ago (Amsterdam, Bergen, Stockholm, Copenhagan, Bruges, Ghent) We loved Ghent and Bruge and Bergen but AMsterdam although beautiful in some ways felt too hectic and too much like home and Stockholm except for the old town area we did not like) I feel Barcelona will be very different as well as Lisbon. Not sure about Madrid. All that said..

looking for feedback on number of days spending in each area.. too much to little? We had to cut out some places already as transport to from looked complicated and limited. We decided to just do some day trips from Lisbon so wont be spending all of our days in Lisbon.

We are not driving unless we have to will fly when it makes the most sense and when we can train or bus. Considering the length of the trip we are trying to cut costs where we can but not at the expense of the stress level (so rather take one mode of transport if another requires three changes for example) Will stay at Airbnbs though some posters have told us that there may be a problem with these as they are cracking down on them particularly in Barcelona.. THe only reason we can do a long trip like this is that these are affordable and allow us to make light breakfast and take out local food for dinner and save on food.. We do eat a good lunch out as we are always touring. We have only just started to put this together and have not purchased any tickets yet.. any feedback would be appreciated. THanks!

Day 1 depart PM from NY
Day 2 Barcelona arrive AM
Day 3 Barcelona
Day 4 Barcelona
Day 5 Barcelona
Day 6 Barcelona
Day 7 Barcelona
Day 8 Barcelona to Majorca
Day 9 Majorca
Day 10 Majorca
Day 11 Maorca
Day 12 Majorca to Valencia
Day 13 valencia
Day 14 Valencia
Day 15 Valencia to Madrid
Day 16 Madrid
Day 17 Madrid
Day 18 Madrid
Day 19 Madrid
Day 20 Madrid to Toledo day trip
Day 21 Madrid to Grenada
Day 22 Grenada
Day 23 Grenada to Cordoba
Day 24 Cordoba
Day 25 Cordoba to Seville
Day 26 Seville
Day 27 Seville
Day 28 Seville to Lisbon
Days 29-34 Lisbon
Day 35 return home

We are planning a trip to Spain and Portugal.. We have two tennis events we are planning to attend and so are locked in somewhat to 2 of the days in Barcelona and Madrid.(days 3, 4 and 16,17) but are flexible on the rest. We tried to do what is most logical order. We are in our mid 60's early 70"s (H) in good health and active (for the moment

We love architecture and beautiful scenery like some museums but not huge fans (I get bored after a few hrs) Live in NYC so don't want to feel like we never left home

We did a multi city trip two years ago (Amsterdam, Bergen, Stockholm, Copenhagan, Bruges, Ghent) We loved Ghent and Bruge and Bergen but AMsterdam although beautiful in some ways felt too hectic and too much like home and Stockholm except for the old town area we did not like) I feel Barcelona will be very different as well as Lisbon. Not sure about Madrid. All that said..

looking for feedback on number of days spending in each area.. too much to little? We had to cut out some places already as transport to from looked complicated and limited. We decided to just do some day trips from Lisbon so wont be spending all of our days in Lisbon.

We are not driving unless we have to will fly when it makes the most sense and when we can train or bus. Considering the length of the trip we are trying to cut costs where we can but not at the expense of the stress level (so rather take one mode of transport if another requires three changes for example) Will stay at Airbnbs though some posters have told us that there may be a problem with these as they are cracking down on them particularly in Barcelona.. THe only reason we can do a long trip like this is that these are affordable and allow us to make light breakfast and take out local food for dinner and save on food.. We do eat a good lunch out as we are always touring. We have only just started to put this together and have not purchased any tickets yet.. any feedback would be appreciated. THanks!

Day 1 depart PM from NY
Day 2 Barcelona arrive AM
Day 3 Barcelona
Day 4 Barcelona
Day 5 Barcelona
Day 6 Barcelona
Day 7 Barcelona
Day 8 Barcelona to Majorca
Day 9 Majorca
Day 10 Majorca
Day 11 Maorca
Day 12 Majorca to Valencia
Day 13 valencia
Day 14 Valencia
Day 15 Valencia to Madrid
Day 16 Madrid
Day 17 Madrid
Day 18 Madrid
Day 19 Madrid
Day 20 Madrid to Toledo day trip
Day 21 Madrid to Grenada
Day 22 Grenada
Day 23 Grenada to Cordoba
Day 24 Cordoba
Day 25 Cordoba to Seville
Day 26 Seville
Day 27 Seville
Day 28 Seville to Lisbon
Days 29-34 Lisbon
Day 35 return home

Hi: We lived @ Lincoln Towers for many years. Madrid is a world class city. We will be there this November. The three great museums are well worth a visit. Stay a few hours and then return. They are on a level with the MET. The city is vibrant and beautiful with the downsides of any large city. Avoid the really pricy restaurants like Zalacain; never a value in my view. Good food abounds.
Tomar is a little known gem. It has a really outstanding Templar castle. There is a day tour from Lisbon which we will take this November. Arthur

 

[Barb]

Thanks for all this advice.. we are getting closer to a final plan and really need to as things are booking up already! I am struggling with the seville, Granada Cordoba part... I have 7 days in that area at first I was going to do 3 Seville 2 Cordoba and 3 in Granada but the travel arrangements are becoming problematic as no trains go to Granada direct from Madrid and no flights go out of Granada to Porto our next stop. There are flights to Porto from malaga so now thinking to cut off a day from one of these cities and spend a night in Malaga ...perhaps do just a one day trip to Cordoba from Seville then go to Granada then on to Malaga for a day leaving the next day for Porto.. so that would mean one day Cordoba --one day Malaga 2 days Seville and 3 days in Granada ...I have gotten mixed opinions on Granada .. someone said one day is enough others said two days was not enough time So hard to decide.. i realize everyone has thier favorite places and it all depends on what one wants to see.. I know we will want to do the Alhambra but I think one full day there and I will be done.. not sure about the rest of that area..

 

[veronicafrance]

I would definitely switch to 3 days Seville and 2 days Granada -- Seville is a far more fascinating city, with so much to see and do. The Alhambra will take up most of one day, giving you another to explore -- more than enough IMHO. Málaga is a pleasant city and I think it makes sense to do as you suggest regarding the travel. Granada is quite badly connected as you have discovered.

I'm off to Seville for 4 days soon as the 3 days we spent there in February weren't enough ...

 

[Barb]

thanks!