Need advice

Hi,

I'm planning a two-week trip to Spain with a couple of friends in May. As hard as I try, I am unable to fix a trip itinerary. We're all interested in art, culture, nature and clubbing. Could anyone please make a suggestion about the cpaces I should visit and how long I should stay? I am comtemplating the following:

San Sebatian -- Barcelona/Valencia -- Andalucia -- Seville -- Ibiza

Will I be able to cover all these places in 12-15 days? Should I give Madrid a miss? ANy other places I should visit? Please do helpppp!! :)

Cheers,
Rohini

Where do you plan to enter Spain? How do you plan to travel: car, public transportation? It is possible to combine Barcelona with Ibiza and then on to Valencia, by taking first a ferry from Barcelona to Ibiza and then from there on to Valencia to continue to Sevilla. Ferries do take some extra time though, although Ibiza-Valencia will only take a couple of hours

rohinig,

I have no idea of your experience, so I must state the obvious. Transportation time and how big a hole it punches in your two weeks, is key.

Generalising, at least two full days for each city's 'sites', but do you want to use those cities as bases for side trips as well?

Drop at least Ibiza, perhaps.

Best wishes.

Andalucia is a region, not a city, so keep that in mind. There are a lot of cities in Andalucia.

Posts like yours often get the obligatory "If you don't spend AT LEAST 7 days in Seville you are an idiot" type response. Seville is fine, but we spent one day there and it was enough for us. If you get any responses telling you that you MUST spend at least 7 or more days in one place, just ignore them. For my taste Cordoba was a much nicer and more interesting city and that's in Andalucia. One or at most 2 days in Valencia would be plenty.

One of my friends once described Madrid as having a New York City kind of feel to it and Barcelona as having a Los Angeles kind of feel to it. I think that's fairly accurate. Each has its fans. I'm American and I'll be honest with you I despise Los Angeles, but I loved Barcelona. Madrid is a good place to visit, but on a short trip you can't go everywhere. You can always go back to Madrid some other time.

I would Barcelona compare to San Francisco and not to Los Angeles In both Barcelona and San Francisco there are city centers that can without any problem explored on foot and by public transportation and they are fine night and day. There is an open atmosphere in both cities. I like both cities very much, but do not really care for Los Angeles.

Definately go to Madrid!
Much of the stuff in Art History books is at the Prado and Thyssen-Borzenstien Art Museums.
And the Royal Palace compound is not to be missed.

The "El Bosco Room" on the Prado is all Herronymus Bosch.

Ignore people who tell you that posts like yours often get the obligatory "If you don't spend AT LEAST 7 days in Seville you are an idiot" type response. The only poster on this forum who believes in that (to the point of obsession) is jman98, who spends most of his time on Thorn Tree repeating the same old crap that he already posted 100s of times before; also bear in mind that despite various requests from other regulars, he has never been able to provide a concrete example of the type of behaviour that he accuses others of (why? because he can't find one)

Sorry OP, I had to get this off my chest. As for your itinerary: given the distance between the places on your list, I think you probably enjoy your trip more if you concentrate on one or two regions, for example Barcelona/Catalunya and Sevilla/Andalucia (which ones you choose depends on what places attract you most, of course).
Madrid is the kind of city that grows on you the longer you stay there, and has a couple of world-class art museums and great nightlife, so it is worth considering if you're willing to give up some time in the other areas.

All guidebook safety chapters say money belt. Spain and Portugal have sticky fingers.

P.S.

One of my friends once described Madrid as having a New York City kind of feel to it and Barcelona as having a Los Angeles kind of feel to it
I suspect that friend has never visited any of those cities then. Barcelona having a LA kind of feel to it? Thank god that's not true.

Actually, I think comparing Barcelona/Madrid to Los Angeles/New York is a silly generalization; of little or no value.

jman98

I am sorry to say but I genuinely think your friend is wrong. Barcelona or Madrid have their own ambience. Just like NY and LA have their own atmosphere. No one place is like another.

rohinig You may be confused but we need you to come back fill in the many answers here before you can be helped any further.

I have only been to Madrid in Spain and it was a nice place during the spring ....

It has the palace, fountains in the street, artists in Park Retiro, also a couple of famous museums and generally a nice outdoor atmosphere with cafes , tapas bars etc....but Spain is a little too big to cover in one trip and Madrid is in the centre.....

As others have said, it's a big and very diverse country, and you would end up frazzled and frantic covering all that ground in that timescale. You could focus on a couple of regions, contrasting ones that offer both big-city and more peaceful attractions.

Thanks for all the responses! Jman, you're right, i do need to answer a few questions before I get more help! Here's some answers and more questions :)

1. I will be flying in or driving down from Hague; haven't decided yet.
2. I traveled quite a bit around Europe by road a few years ago, but this will be my first trip to Spain. I do not know what the travel distances are like between each region/city, hence I'm unable to fix the itinerary. For instance, how much time will it take by road from Barca to Seville?
3. How does San Sebastian -- Valencia -- Barca -- Seville sound? Is there enough variety in that itinerary? More important is two weeks enough for it? :)
4. I've also been checking up about the 'bus about' but haven't got much feedback from anyone. Have any of you tried it?

Lemme know.

Cheers,
Rohini

(P.S. Though I'd vote for NY over LA any day, Barcelona does sound more interesting)

1. You mean from Den Haag (The Hague) in the Netherlands? (Just being curious)
2. Have a look at [www.viamichelin.com]
3. Sounds doable, if you like driving. Better check travel times first. How many of you will actually be driving, by the way? And do you have your own car (I'm asking because if my assumption in #1 is correct, it will be very expensive to rent a car in the Netherlands and return it in Spain)?
   (P.S. maybe it's nitpicking, but no local would call Barcelona "Barça" - that abbreviation is reserved for the football club)
4. No, but I've seen some threads about it here in the past. Maybe you can dig up some old threads if the search function cooperates.

... besides Barca is a village inland Spain, a bit in the middle of nowhere... not usually included in itineraries as a highlight of the country! LOL

regarding "3. How does San Sebastian -- Valencia -- BarcELONa -- Seville sound?"
Honestly, sounds illogical to me if you are driving. You are going down to Valencia and then up again to Barcelona...
San Sebastian -- Barcelona -- Valencia -- Seville looks better, but driving Valencia to Sevilla is a good 8 hours trip non-stop (btw you can stop in Cordoba). And I'd like to include Granada in any trip to Spain... but I'm afraid you don0t have time.

Madrid or not Madrid?? I think you are already cramming too much (there are so many places in between to stop on the route above). But if you are driving your own car, maybe you can do a "U-shaped" trip like:
arriving to Spain via Hendaye - San Sebastian
Madrid
Sevilla
Valencia
Barcelona... and up to France via Portbou

Do you drive a lot at home? Why not "leave the driving to.." the pros. Drivers miss a lot of gawking. Driving in Spain is no holiday. An Aussie told me its terrifying.

AVE rapido trains are super fast. Barcelona to Cordova 2.5 hours±.

Long distance travel eats time and money. You've got little time to waist between ......

Rent a car locallty if you can't stand it. Train stations are not waisted time. They are a chance to see everday life.

Don't plan too much, too tightly. You need time to yourself and to just digest the constant sensory overload.

And give you guys slack to change itten. along the way.

This should be an adventure, not a rat race.

Three nights at each stop, gives you two whole days for enjoying. And you learn more about it as you wander a place. And museum hours are weird each place you go.

Thrilling. Isn't it?
{ 8oQ

"busabout" is a jump on jump off service, aimed at dropping backpackers from "highlight to highlight" and hostel to hostel. if you have never been to europe before, want to be nannied, want to mix with other back packers (not locals), etc this is the service that you want. if this doesn't sound like you it is not for you. also the schedule is fairly rigid. normally in the busier seasons at least it will pass through each place on the route every secoend day

This is the route I followed over the Christmas period - took 14 days - however part of it was "driven" by a local.
Barcelona, Madrid, then a long drive to Seville via Cordoba, and coming back via Granada, Valencia to Barcelona. There was plenty of variety as each city has a very different feel. It may be too much if you have to find the highlights and places yourself but I enjoyed it. Time constraints are a pain when theres so much to see and do and no one can make the choices really but yourself based on your interests.

San Sebatian -- Barcelona/Valencia -- Andalucia -- Seville -- Ibiza
Where were you thinking of fitting in the "nature" aspect of your interests?