Tell me about Spain and Portugal

[bluejays]

I'm looking at booking within a few days to leave next month for just under 3 weeks down in Spain and Portugal. Flight there are fairly cheap given the days I'm looking at so I was looking at doing the below:

7 days Barcelona
4 days Valencia
5 days Madrid
4 days Lisbon

I'll be solo travelling, was thinking about Contiki but it was getting a bit much when starting to add everything up, so instead I'll just meet others in hostels and hopefully make a few friends to travel with. So my question then becomes how did others like the above cities? Any cities I'm missing? What interesting tours/places are must sees or tourist traps? I'm 33, so partying every night isn't too appealing, but that will happen. I'm looking to just see some cool stuff along the way. Travel will be rail between cities. All suggestions welcome and appreciated!

[Locke]

They're a standard part of the European continental landmass located on the South-Western tip, south of France but North of Morocco that enjoys sub-tropical weather for the majority of the year.

They are also part of the number of Countries that participate in the tradition of 'Siesta' where they sleep during the middle of the day which is when its at its hottest.

[cam_wmh]

San Sebastian is a must.

[FireGilbert]

I love Spain so very very much. If I could fly anywhere in the world right now that is where I would go. They have such a rich history and OMG the food! I could talk for hours about Spanish food but will just say one thing: Jamon Iberico is the greatest pork product in existence. A few comments based on your post:

-Good call on the trains. Definitely the best way to get around.
-With the amount of time you are spending there, you could easily add another city to the itinerary. Maybe Seville? San Sebastian would also be an excellent choice but is more difficult to get to via train from where you are already going.
-I actually liked Madrid and Valencia more than Barcelona. Don't get my wrong it is still a great city but we found it to be packed with tourists, the beaches were nothing special, and we were regularly in fear of pick pockets. Maybe it was just over hyped for me though.
-When in Madrid make sure to do a day trip to Segovia.
-Go to Toledo. I repeat, go to Toledo. You could do a day trip from Madrid but it is such an amazing place why not stay a night:

Spoiler!

[Flabbibulin]

7 days in Barcelona seems a little much no? 4 days was about right for me- maybe even could have cut a day, but depends on the individual. Agree on San Sebastian being a must and have heard some good things about Toledo.

There arent many cities in Europe that I think need a full week really. Mind you, I was always more interested in volume of locations- especially when I was by myself and didn't have to worry about companion bitching about the fast pace.

Ahhh, if I could only go back 10 years and do the solo travelling theough Europe again. Any type of travelling with the wife now involves a lot of arguing over where to eat and go etc

[FireGilbert]

^It is always a tough call deciding to see a lot of cities or a lot of one city.

If you spend a couple days everywhere you can see a lot of places but end up doing a lot racing around hitting up all the tourist spots. If you spend a week somewhere you can take things slow and get a better idea of what life is like for the locals.

[Fuzz]

Ya, it really depends on how you like to travel, and what you want to see. We were there last year. In 16 days we did Barcelona, Mont Surat, Granada(the Alhambra and hiked second tallest peak in Spain), Seville, Lagos Portugal (awesome beaches), and Lisbon. 3 days was enough or us in Barcelona. I hadn't heard good things about Madrid so we skipped that. Lisbon was OK, but it was at the end of our trip, rainy and a bit frustrating. We had 3 nights and that was enough there.

Let me know if you want anymore details, but our favourites by far were the areas around Lagos, Seville and Granada. Rental cars really make it easier to move around some of these areas.

[Dion]

Go see the Monument of Explorers in Lisban Portugal.

[JonDuke]

My 6 and 4 year old kids pronounce Portuguese as porkacheese.
I feel like it's their last childhood mispronunciation, and I will never correct them.
Sorry that this adds nothing at all to your question, but it needed to be shared.

[Sakic19]

Lisbon is great, but if you have time and need a few days of partying Lagos Portugal is a great choice

[nik-]

I would cut 4 days off of Barcelona, 1 off Valencia and 2 off of Madrid and use those days to head south. The things that people really identify as Spanish culture is really Andalusian culture.

Seville is a must see in Spain. I would also strongly, strongly recommend Granada. Also, in regard to a comment above, I really felt Barcelona was overrated and loved Madrid. If you like art at all, a half day in the Prado is a must.

Look into AirBNB for Spain. I used it for my trip and saved a ton of money.

[nik-]

Also, a day in Cordoba on the way south is worth it. The Mezquita and the alcazar are wonderful. And I really can't be strong enough about Seville. Seville, in my mind, deserves at least as many days as Barcelona.

[Fuzz]

Ah yes, forgot about Cordoba. Well worth it.

[burn_this_city]

Andalusia for sure, we went two years ago and it was amazing. Seville for the Alcazar and Cathedral, Granada for the Alhambra, and Malaga are awesome, Cordoba is ok for a day trip to the Great Mosque Cathedral. We also did Ronda for the bridge and Majorca in the Balearic Islands, which was our favorite place out of them all.

[nik-]

The Alhambra was the number 1 thing on my bucket list. After seeing the alcazar in Seville I was worried that I would be let down by the Alhambra. I wasn't, even remotely. I booked the half hour window twice, once to take pictures and once just to walk through and enjoy. I need to see it again in my life.

I would be very happy just to spend another full day on the grounds like I did when i was there.

However the Alcazar in Seville has the bonus of making every Dorne scene in Game of Thrones 25% more exciting.

[Amethyst]

I was in Spain a few years ago and it was one of my favourite places (and I've been a lot of places). I spent about two weeks there and mostly stayed in the northeast. I loved Barcelona and wish I had spent more time there (I was only there a couple days). One of my favourite things there was a cooking class. We went to the market first thing and bought and bunch of supplies and then came back to the class and were taught how to make some good Spanish dishes. The class was hands on and we got to eat a delicious meal at the end.

This is the company where I took the class.
http://www.cookandtaste.net

Pamplona was interesting and has a really cool old city with lots of bars and restaurants. I don't recommend running with the bulls, but we walked along the route. To get to the old city, you either need to climb a big hill or take an elevator up the cliff. We opted for walking. We arrived there mid-day and I thought it was a sleepy little town, but then when we came back to the main square in the evening, it was packed. That is siesta. Plan your day around it, because a lot of restaurants close at that time too.

San Sebastian was the city everyone wanted to see and it was great, but it is very popular and the beach was packed (although I did go right in the middle of the summer tourist season).

I broke away from my tour and went to Bilbao, because I really wanted to see the Guggenheim there. I really enjoyed that and wanted to spend more time there, but my friend and I had to rush to catch a bus back to San Sebastian to re-join our tour.

One other place I really enjoyed was a little village we went to, called La Guardia. Our tour guide added that at the last minute, because some other site we were supposed to go to wasn't available. It's a little village built on underground wine cellars. No cars are allowed in the village because of this. We got to tour one of the one cellars.

If you do go to San Sebastian and want to do a day tour, I recommend this company.
http://www.sansebastianurbanadventures.com

I would love to return to the Basque region again and want to get to the south. Just didn't have time in this trip.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. I totally agree with this statement. >>Jamon Iberico is the greatest pork product in existence. << Try it, several times!

[spiteface]

beautiful Islamic history in Spain… something that must be seen throughout the country.

[Table 5]

I too found the history of the Moops there quite fascinating.

[Swift]

I haven't been myself but my mother was in Barcelona last year, and they went on a day trip to a Montserrat. I saw the pictures. You need to go there.

Also, again I haven't been but Porto has always looked like a more interesting city to me than Lisbon. And if you're into books, it's got one of the coolest looking bookshops in the world

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I too found the history of the Moops there quite fascinating.

Moops!!