Planning for Spain

[MaryP]

Time is moving much faster than I am in planning a fall trip to Spain. It is one country that we know little about and have never visited which makes planning very different than our usual trips. We will have three weeks and can take more time if needed. Hopefully you can answer some of my questions. Our interests when traveling are primarily art, history and architecture. Enjoying the lovely european food and lifestyle is also at the top of our list. We especially enjoy the Mediterranean culture regardless of which country we are in.

We love Italy in October (less tourists and cool weather), is that also a good time to visit Spain, or is September a better month? Madrid is on our itinerary, we are very excited about visiting the Prado and other museums there. Also Seville and Granada are at the top of our list. I would love to see the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, but it seems a bit out of the way considering the location of the other places we are interested in. Your thoughts??

How is the train system in Spain, similar to Italy an France? I don't see a good reason for renting a car as we will be in city/towns. We normally hire a local guide for new areas we visit, especially if we want to go out of immediate city we are visiting, I would anticipate doing the same in Spain, especially Granada.

Hopefully we will find a nice one bedroom apartment in the center of the cities we are visiting and would want to stay 5 to 7 days in each. We live in Southwest Florida and have an abundance of hot weather, beaches, sand, water and beautiful views so we are not as interesting in the coastal areas as most visitors.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I need to get really interested in this trip and quit dreaming of "our" apartments in Venice and Rome.
Mary Pace

 

[Kathy (Trekcapri)]

Hi Mary, I love Italy too and can visit there many, many times. But I enjoy new places too. I traveled to Spain in 2008, concentrating mainly in Andalusia. It wasn't a very slow travel trip, but I just wanted to see so many places. I posted live on my blog if you want to check out in more detail where and what I did on my trip. Here's a brief summary:

- Spent 4 days in Madrid (visited the Prado which I really enjoyed). I also visited the Park.
- Day Trip to Toledo (really enjoyed this)
- Week in Sevilla (loved this town. There's so many things to see and do and I enjoyed seeing a Flamenco show in Barrio Santa Cruz). I rented an apartment here which was in a central location, but it was on a noisy street, so I don't know if I would recommend it. I used Sevilla5 and the location was near the Cathedral. I really like the Barrio Santa Cruz area. Very charming.
- From Sevilla, I did a day trip to Cordoba. I would really recommend this day trip if you have the time. Charming town to stroll around in and the Mosque was amazing.
- Then went to Cadiz for 3 nights. This is a coastal town, so maybe you are not interested. I loved it though.
- From Cadiz I went to Granada (4 days) to see the Alhambra & General Life Gardens. One of the highlights of my trip.
- Then went to a small town called Ronda for two days which was very enjoyable too.
- Then ended with a two night stay in Malaga before flying back home. I didn't think much of Malaga other than it was a convenient fly out city. But I actually ended up really liking the City a lot.

I really loved this part of Spain. Food, Tapas, Cava & Sangria, History, Culture, Architecture, Flamenco. I spent 3 weeks in November. The weather was amazing. Warm and sunny. It was only chilly in Granada and Ronda, but very comfortable. I had no rain at all.

I traveled everywhere by train. Took the AVE speed train between Madrid & Sevilla and local trains everywhere else. The trains are so organized. You can use the Renfe site to research train routes and purchase your tickets. In fact, I might even say they are even more organized than in Italy. I booked my tickets on line but for the day trips I had no problems getting on a train. But I was there in November so I'm not sure if other months are more busy.

I love Spain and have been wanting to return. I'll be returning this year but will be visiting Northern Spain this time around. Have a wonderful trip and enjoy the planning.

 

[Jan55612]

Mary,
My husband and I recently spent 3+ weeks in Spain. We divided our time on this trip between Barcelona (only 3 days, but we had previously spent 2 weeks in Barcelona), a week in a small town in the Priorat (great wine area in Catalunya), and 2 weeks in Madrid. We had never been in Madrid before and loved it.
Our interests are similar to yours. We love art, architecture, history, and great food and wine. Because we live in remote area of northeastern Minnesota, we prefer urban areas when we travel.
We enjoyed time in Seville, Granada, and Cordoba on an earlier trip. Each of these areas are worthwhile. If I were going to plan a trip to those areas knowing what I do today, I would spend a few days in Seville, 2 or 3 days in Granada, 1 day in Cordoba and a few days (with a car) driving in the smaller villages of southern Spain.
If planning a first trip, I could easily spend 2 or more weeks in Barcelona and 2 or more weeks in Madrid. The richness of the art and architecture in each of these cities is fabulous! I recently posted about our time in Madrid on this forum, so I won't repeat that information here. The food in both Barcelona and Madrid is good and fun to explore.
If you are interested in cooking, I can highly recommend the program we did with catacurian.com in Gratallops. Great food and wine, plus some other cultural excursions. (Gratallops in a small village in the mountains inland from Tarragona.) If you are interested in wine, one of the members of this forum does tours in Spain (as well as other countries). I can highly recommend her small tours. You can find her at grapehops.com. There are also great food tours in Madrid and Barcelona.
Have you considered focusing on one area of Spain for this first trip and then going back to another area the next time rather than trying to pack too much into one trip? We have been to Spain three times for 2 or more weeks on each trip and we have so many things we still want to experience.....so we'll need more time there in the future.
I haven't used the trains much in Spain, but I did use Vueling (a low cost air carrier) on this last trip to travel from Barcelona to Madrid. It was a good solution. The tickets were inexpensive and I liked the airline.
Have fun!

 

[MaryP]

Kathy and Jan,
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences in Spain, you really helped put the scattered plan that has been running around my head into focus. I think we have at least come up with a basic itinerary which we can adjust in the coming weeks. We don't tend to visit as many sites in a day as we once did so do like to travel at a leisurely pace. Since we are retired, time is not a big issue, other than after three weeks we start getting antsy to get home. We will probably spend at least five days to a week in Barcelona, train to Madrid for a week, and Seville for eight or nine days as there are days trips I would like to make from there.

It appears that the best flights for us will be into Barcelona and out of Madrid. I did look at the train schedules and as you said the site seems easy enough to use, we find traveling in Europe by train so easy. Jan, I have read your Madrid post and have it in my file for future reference. We also live outside of a small town and enjoy staying in urban areas when traveling. Kathy, I am hoping to find an apartment in the Barrio Santa Cruz area in Seville. Several of the towns you mentioned are on my list of possible day trips.

I am sure I will have more questions in the future, but thanks again for getting me started.
Mary Pace

 

[Shannon]

If you want to travel in late September and early October, you can get a couple of festivals into your plans. In late September Barcelona has the festival of La Merce. But at the same time, in the city of Tarragona one hour south of Barcelona, is the festival of Santa Tecla which is a more intimate festival. I love Tarragona and Santa Tecla and will be going back again this year to experience it again. Here is a blog post I wrote about Santa Tecla:
http://slowtraveltours.com/blog/a-festival-to-end-all-festivals/

If that does not work, maybe you could stop in Zaragoza on your way from Barcelona to Madrid for the Fiestas del Pilar on October 12. This is a much larger shindig than Santa Tecla and it is pretty extraordinary. They build a giant metal pyramid in front of the cathedral, and thousands of people bring flowers which are placed on the pyramid. Google it and look at some of the images. There are fireworks, and Zaragoza is a beautiful city - plus it is right on the train line from Barcelona to Madrid.

Happy planning!

 

[MaryP]

Shannon - thanks for the informations, the festivals sound amazing. Enjoyed reading about Santa Tecla on your blog, what a great experience.

Jan - Where did you stay in Madrid? I read mention of it on Slow Travel and it sounded like the area that we would like to stay in if we can find an apartment that is not too noisy at night.

Thanks,
MaryP

 

[Jan55612]

Mary, Our apartment was rented through Spain Select. While it had some pluses, including quiet sleeping and a central location, I gave it a mixed review because of an issue with lack of light bulbs in the entrance hallway/stairway area. We stayed for two weeks and Spain Select deemed it a "building issue" and said it would call the owner/manager to fix the problem. We had several near misses with falls due to the lack of lighting before the light bulbs were replace just a few days before our departure. I know others have been happy with Spain Select apartment, but I am not sure if I would rent from the agency again due to the poor response to a safety issue. I think when I return to Madrid I may try to rent a bit further out. My husband really liked the area across Retiro Park, too.

 

[Jan55612]

Mary,
After my last post I went in search of the review I did of Plaza Mayor III (our Madrid apartment) on Trip Advisor. The review had disappeared. I contacted Trip Advisor which told me that the property listing has been removed from Trip Advisor. Hmmmm. Spain Select has other properties still listed. Did it remove just this listing because of my 3/5 review? It is a mystery.

 

[MaryP]

Thanks for the information on your apartment. I am sure we can find something suitable. We have several "must haves" which makes it more difficult. We need an elevator, or no more than 1 flight of steps (husbands knees), Central location to avoid too long a walk to get to cafes & markets, air conditioning, and washing machine. The older we get, the longer our "must have" list gets.

I haven't had time to get back to my research, but should have more time this week. I will post my short list here for comments.

Thanks again,
MaryP

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

I am leaving for Madrid in several weeks staying in a Spain Select Apartment. Jan, I can't imagine your review being removed because of the rating. There are millions of reviews with lower ratings. I don't think Spain Select can remove it. A mystery for sure. Weird.
Mary, I've had good communication with Spain Select and decided on an after much searching. This is our apartment
Happy planning.

 

[MaryP]

Lisa, your apartment looks great, if my sister can join us for the week it would be perfect. I am anxious to hear about your trip and your experience with the apartment. Hope you are having a terrific. Thanks for the info, life got in the way for a couple of weeks, but I am back to trip planning now.
Have fun.

 

[Anubis]

Mary, Our apartment was rented through Spain Select. While it had some pluses, including quiet sleeping and a central location, I gave it a mixed review because of an issue with lack of light bulbs in the entrance hallway/stairway area. We stayed for two weeks and Spain Select deemed it a "building issue" and said it would call the owner/manager to fix the problem. We had several near misses with falls due to the lack of lighting before the light bulbs were replace just a few days before our departure. I know others have been happy with Spain Select apartment, but I am not sure if I would rent from the agency again due to the poor response to a safety issue. I think when I return to Madrid I may try to rent a bit further out. My husband really liked the area across Retiro Park, too.

I've given up on being native in any sense. It's hard to believe but our next trip in early Nov we are at the Intercontinental. Commercial, bland, white bread, not Spanish etc. Bottom line you know exactly what you'll get and what area you are in. Being adventurous has been , mostly, frustrating. We'll be in Madrid,Porto and lisbon in early Nov. Have not been there at that time before. Any comments?

 

[Jan55612]

I have been in Madrid in early November and the weather was lovely and the numbers of tourists somewhat decreased, I would say. I have not been in Lisboa or Porto in November, but I have spent time in both cities and liked them. I was in Lisboa in February for a month and in Porto for only a few nights in late May/early June. The weather in the winter in Lisboa was cool, but nice. I wore layers, sometimes covered by a raincoat. I found it very pleasant for walking around and sightseeing.

 

[Anubis]

I have been in Madrid in early November and the weather was lovely and the numbers of tourists somewhat decreased, I would say. I have not been in Lisboa or Porto in November, but I have spent time in both cities and liked them. I was in Lisboa in February for a month and in Porto for only a few nights in late May/early June. The weather in the winter in Lisboa was cool, but nice. I wore layers, sometimes covered by a raincoat. I found it very pleasant for walking around and sightseeing.

MANY thanks. Favorite restaurants in the 3 cities??

 

[Jan55612]

Porto:
Cantina 32, Cantinho do Avillez, Traca, Tapabento, PROVA Wine Bar.

Lisboa: (This is a cut and paste from an earlier post on Lisboa)
Lisbon Food
Obviously you will find lots of seafood in Lisboa. Other than seafood and pasteis da nata, you will also find eggs used in many ways. Also, don’t miss eating petiscos in Lisboa.

Mercado da Riberia http://www.timeoutmarket.com/en/
This is a large indoor market with lots of bar and restaurant food stalls and many tables. Pick one and sit at the bar or take your food to a table. A good place to have a glass of wine and/or some food, particularly if it isn’t at a usual meal time and you are hungry.

Pigmeu https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
(Take the tram)
All pork and quite good. http://www.sintra-portugal.com/index.htmlWe had lunch here with our friend Kathryn Rawlings, who I met through Slow Travel. She had retired to the Lisboa area and lives in Cascais, on the Atlantic coast, a few minutes train ride outside of Lisboa.

Frade Dos Mares http://www.fradedosmares.com/pt/restaurante.html
Our absolute favorite. We had dinner here three times in a month.

BA Wine Bar https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Good Wine Bar. Must reserve several days in advance. In the Bairro Alto as the name suggests.

Descobre (Belem) http://www.descobre.com.pt
In Belem, so if going there to see cultural sites, have lunch here. Very good food.

Casa Nepalese https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Not far from the Gulbenkian museums. We had a couple of great lunches here.

Bistro 100 Maneiras https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Well reviewed in a variety of places. We had a lovely meal, but if I had to pick between this restaurant and Frade Dos Mares, the latter would win every time. Bistro 100 Maneiras is also more expensive.

Pharmacia https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Near the Miradouro de Santa Caterina. This was close to our apartment, so we booked for our first night.

Restaurante Leopold https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Very creative tasting menu. We enjoyed this place very much. Near the Castelo de S. Jorge.

Taqueria Pistola y Corazon https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Seriously great shrimp tacos! I loved this place. Not fancy, but very good.

Landeau Chocolate https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Very, very good chocolate cake. We went a couple of times and split a piece and had coffee. More than one location.

Manteigaria https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
Pasteis da nata are so very good. Everyone raves about the ones made in Belem, but this place was close to our apartment and OMG I ate too many! Try to eat them on the spot with a coffee. Best when hot, still good when warm, and okay when cold.

Pasteis de Belem https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Lisbon_Lisbon_District_Central_Portugal.html
The bakery everyone makes a pilgrimage to in Belem. On the way to the monastery. Go inside and sit at any empty table and order a coffee (or wine) and a pasteis or two.

Jose Avillez restaurants http://www.joseavillez.pt/en/belcanto-2
This well known chef-creator has several restaurants in Lisboa. We went to the Cantinho do Avillez for lunch one day. It was good and filled with local businessmen and women.

Madrid:
Vinoteca Moratin, Vinoteca Barbechera, Restaurante lakasa, Casa Revuelta, Bodegas Ricla, La Otra Casa, Piccolo Diavolo. Some of these are just bars with casual food, some restaurants. We loved lakasa, but it is a bit of a schlep. Reserve for Moratin, Barbechera is good for anytime, Piccolo Diavolo is casual Italian, but very good at what it does. We had lunch there three times in two weeks. We took a food tour and found it very fun and worthwhile for learning the bar tapas places.