Barcelona and Spain for 2 weeks...suggestions please!

Hello TT posters! I am going to Barcelona from mid-November to early December, to visit my sister, who is studying abroad there. She has an apartment in Barcelona, where I will be staying for a week or so, but since this will be my first time in Europe, I want to venture out by myself for a few days. I know that lots of travelers run the risk of trying to do too much in too short a period of time, so I want to be careful to avoid falling into that trap. What I would really like is some advice about short trips in Spain (or even Southern France?). I'm thinking I will spend a week in Barcelona using the Les Cortes apartment as a base, but would like to travel around for the other week, staying in hostels if I can or hotels if I need to.

Because I'll be in Barcelona, I don't necessarily have to go be in other big cities like Madrid, for instance, but I wouldn't be against it if someone told me it's definitely worth it. I also have zero idea about travel times, so I thought for just a week it might be better to stick to northern part of Spain or possibly the southern part of France. I'll be traveling by myself (don't know if that matters), and some of the things that have looked interesting so far are things like cathedrals, monasteries, or castles. I like museums but I definitely don't want to spend all my time in them--the Guggenheim in Bilbao is one I thought I'd like to see and I also thought Guernica might be worth visiting. I thought about going to Andorra for kicks, but I'm not really big on skiing and from what I've read it probably wouldn't be worth a visit as a result. I like beaches but don't know if there will be a point to visiting any since it will be cold in November. I do like to hike and literally "sightsee," and I thought tours of vineyards would be a lot of fun too. I love pubs and live music, etc, but don't HAVE to go out every night. Anyway I hope this isn't too vague, and any suggestions are really appreciated!

Bilbao and San Sebastian are both worth a trip (around 4 or 5 hours by bus from Barcelona, I think). It's unlikely to be beach weather that time of year, but you could easily stop off somewhere in la rioja for a tour of a vineyard on the way up the basque country.
For live music in bilbao, check out cafe antzokia (http://www.kafeantzokia.com/esp/).

Thanks for your reply. I'm glad to hear that Bilbao is worth visiting, and I checked the website and it looks like a neat place. Any other suggestions are still greatly appreciated as well!

Bilbao is worth visiting but the bus trip from Barcelona takes 7 hours, not 4-5. The train is more comfortable but it's going up to 9 hours. Just to avoid last minute surprises.
If you rent a car you can drive (around 6 hours) but stopping on the way in La Rioja where you'll have plenty of vineyards. For trekking possibilities without getting too far (ie: Pirenees or Picos de Europa) you can go the mountains around Bilbao (Urkiola is a good start).
I hope this helped.
Enjoy your trip.

Adding on to the trip above I'd pop into the national park of Aigues Tortes Sant Maurici (the twisted waters Saint Maurice?!?!?) as well. It's a bit like Yosemite and is in the Pyrenees not too far off your route. It's quite close to Andorra so you could go there as well. That way you'll have been to a country no one else has ever heard of and you can compare their "border controls" witht those in the US. When I went the police were having coffee so they left the border open.

Hi
The towns of Girona (old city) and Figueres (Dalí Museum) 1-2 hours train/busN of bcn
Roman city of Tarragona 2 hours train/bus S of Bcn
Medieval citadel of Carcassonne (S France) 3 hour car drive from Bcn
If you get to Bilbao don´t forget San Sebastián, it is much nicer. Gernika is tiny, but vey cute.
I don,t reccomend goin to the North in Nov, climate is horrible. it can rain for days.

Maybe a 3-4 days hike in the Pyrenees starting from Olot (nice volcanic landscape), Besalu (old town, bridge), or Puigcerdá (lake). These towns are connected by train and bus with Bcn
Another alternative considering your situation is taking a cheap flight or a ferry to Mallorca and spend a week there, it has cheap hotels in Nov, beautyful hiking in the Costa Nord, pine forests, nice little towns, (Valldemossa, Deiá, Soller), markets towns (Sineu) some of the biggest limestone caves in Europe with a subterranean river (Drach), an old railway that crosses the mountains (tren de Soller) the old city of Palma with the Cathedral, medieval castles (Bellver) and a lot of nightlife.
Let me know if you want further information. you can also take a daytrip to Ibiza.

buen viaje!

Thanks so much for all the info! It all sounds like so much fun. I wasn't sure if ferries would be running in November or not. The other question I have is whether or not it will be a problem that I will probably be by myself? I'm not so concerned with things I know I can take tours on (museums, wine tours, etc), but more with hiking or going out at night, like if I went to Palma. I guess I should say that my first concern is safety and the second is whether will it be any fun? Or maybe I will be able to hook up with some nice people who can go with me? Any ideas/suggestions?

I'll have a friend in Barcelona (she will probably want to go to Girona, Figueroa, day trips) and my sister, so I'm referring to the time I'll be traveling by myself.

Ferries do the Bcn-Palma connection al year round except when the weather is very bad.
Going alone in spain is no problem, you just have to avoid the wrong neighbourhoods at the wrong times. Palma has a disco area for teenagers and people in their 20´s at the Paseo Maritimo and a pub and jazzclub area for people in their 30-40´s near the LLotja, in the old fishing quarter. Both are safe. Going out at night if you don´t know anybody is a bit of a bummer, Maybe in the hotel you can hook up with someone or convince someone in Bcn to join you.
Ibiza has a great all-night-long club atmosphere and you make friends very fast. I think it has to do wth the little coloured pills the clubgoers keep swallowing. ;-) The problem is, apart from that, there is not much to do when it gets too cold for the beach
Hiking alone is never reccomended, you can have an accident or get lost and nobody will know. Try to get in contact with a compaany organising hiking trips. Sóller is a good place for hiking, but not for nightlife, I am afraid. Maybe you can combine both towns, 3-4 days on each one., My experience is after a day of hiking you don´t have a lot of nightlife in mind.

Also, Mallorca has nice beaches, it is too cold for swimming, but you can stroll along and maybe do a bit of basking and sunbathing.

I just came back from an 8 day trip to BCN. Les Corts is a bit of a way out of the centre, places like La Rambla, Barri Gotic and Raval if you are going out either sightseeing or out at night. You may have to rely on the Metro to get you to those places. But it would be criminal for you to miss FC Barcelona and its tour of its museum and ground the Camp Nou around the corner from Les Corts Metro stop. Even if you don't like football/soccer it's worth a visit to see the biggest stadium in Europe (I think) and a place of fervent Catalan pride and nationalism since the Franco days and even now. If you get that hooked, you can even buy a match tkt.

Thanks for all the tips! I think what I've decided to do is do more "sightseeing" stuff when I'm by myself, maybe join a group to go hiking (I did like the sound of the national park) and maybe Andorra, along with Bilbao and San Sebastian. I think I'll save the nightlife scene for when I'm with my friend and/or sister. If anyone else has any tips to add, please do so. Otherwise, thanks for all the help and ideas! I can't wait!

Hello,

I travel to Spain at least once a year just to decompress. I use BCN as my entry as it is easy for me. Last year I traveled from Barcelona to Santiago de Compostela by train and bus. Took about 10 days and could have easily used a few more. If you are thinking about staying north I would heartily recommend Haro for a drop or two and Bar Otono in Pamplona for bites that are made in heaven. I found Zaragosa interesting but ultimately one of those places that you would have to be from to want to go back.

I didn't care for the Guggenheim (I'm not a fan of modern art...if you are going to draw a picture of a horsie then please make it look like a horsie. Don't paint a series of vertical lines and then make me read an explanation telling me it is a horsie.) And I found the Dali Museum quite disturbing (he was heavily into genital mutilation).

Sitges is always good to see how the other half lives.

I will be in BCN again in October and plan to visit Cadeques (sp?) then drive west to take in Galicia and then down through Portugal and Andulucia.

In BCN I would recommend Irati for easy and cheap bites (don't throw away to toothpicks) and Hostal Rita for a good sitdown lunch that is muy barrato. I also enjoy Bodega de las Palmas for a late night tipple.

happy trails

If you are heading up to Bilbao and San Sebastian and want a stop along the way I highly recomment a night in Logroño. It has one of the best tapas scenes in Spain! There is a whole block of bars and you can wander between all of them. And best of all, as its in the La Rioja area they have fantastic wine and its really cheap! Its a really cute town too and the local tourist office lends out bicycles for free which you can ride along the river. Really nice place, I loved it :-)

I am sure trains in Spain are excellent but if you are open to flying, Clickair has excellent fares. We are going to Spain in a few weeks and booked flights from Bilbao to Barcelona for Eur 35 one-way