SPAIN/Morocco

[OilersBaby]

Anyone ever been there and have any travel tips? Unfortunately we're not going during peak season..we're going in the winter..but we're going to spend one day in Madrid, and the rest of the time in Seville and Malaga for 4 days total and then cross the border and spend 2 days in Morocco...

Anyone been to any of the above cities and have advice on what to check out and where to go???

Thanks!

[BlackEleven]

I've been to Seville, Malaga and Madrid. A few other cities as well, I spend about a month travelling around Spain and Portugal. We were going to cross into Morocco as well, but that was a few days before a bombing of an embassy there in 2003, I'm not sure if anyone remembers that.

If you're like me, my advice would be to spend more time in Madrid and less in Malaga. Madrid is rich with culture and charm with a ton of things to see and do. There's no way you can see it all in a day. Make sure to see the Palace Real while you're there; the oppulence the royal family enjoyed is astounding.

Malaga is more or a resort town with beaches and hotels; there's a couple sites to see, but no where near Madrid. It may be just me, but more than a day or two on the beach too much for me. The coolest thing I saw in Malaga was one of those old mud fortresses, the Alcazaba. Definitely worth checking out. If you're interested in the beach thing though, I think the Canary Islands are the best place in Spain for that, and you can get a cheap flight out of Madrid directly there.

Seville is really cool. There are lots of too churches that were turned into mosques when conquered by the Moors and then back into churchs went taken back by the Christians. Worth going just see that. There are tonnes of tapa bar there as well and are really popular among locals and tourists. Lots of nice pubs and that sort of scene as wel. The locals don't show up anywhere though until 11:00pm or later. Before that, its all tourists.

If you have any more time, Lisbon is one of my favourite cities in that area. Its very beautiful and a lot cheaper than Spain. And if you want to party it up, Barcelona is the place to go for that. Night life starts around midnight and carries on until 9:00am. The city is touristy and expensive though (and lots of pickpockets), be forewarned.

Other than that, if you have any specific questions, feel free to post them and I'll do my best to answer.

Hope you have a great time.

[MagicallyAdept]

Malaga is a bit of a dive to be honest. It is very touristy mostly because of the airport there that serves the costa del sol. Its a dirty town and can be tolerated in the summer because of great weather and lots of fun to be had. I have never been to Spain in the winter but i bet it is it quiet during the off-season. Madrid is great all year as it is their capital city, try to go to a soccer game at the Bernabéu, totally amazing experience. Morocco is really nice but i am not sure of the weather the time of year you are going. You can trek out and spend a night in the desert on camels which is amazing. Our guide cooked us diiner on the campfire, we had some tea then smoked a bit and went to sleep under the stars. Try not to get distracted by all the people trying to sell you stuff in the markets and whatever price they offer you halve it as they try to rip off tourists. There is some great stuff to see though. Have a good trip.

Magic.

[OilersBaby]

Thanks for all of your advice so far...I hadn't been able to log onto CP for a few days so I just read your responses now. Well, I dont have a choice about staying in Malaga, my parents in law got us a timeshare there, so we have to stay there in terms of spending the night, but I think I will plan several day trips to Seville and other parts of Southern Spain as there seems to be more to do in the other cities.

Other than the mosques that were converted from churches, what else would you recommend in Seville??

[Addick]

Originally Posted by OilersBaby

Other than the mosques that were converted from churches, what else would you recommend in Seville??

Shopping!!! I can't remember the name of it but there was a relatively popular pedestrian street that I became quite fond of. It was probably in the Santa Cruz quarter and it combined two of my favourite things: exploring vibrant urban spaces and shopping. I guess one of the things I can recommend for Sevilla is to get a general idea of where things are, then ditch the map and just walk around. Taking the direct paths may not lead you through the pleasant little side-streets that have interesting and active mini-squares. That leads me into another tip, don't eat dinner when you normally would. In Spain, and a fair bit of the Mediterranean, they push things back a little and have dinner later on in the night. To fully enjoy the ambiance wait and dine at the same time the locals do.

In regards to Morocco... I don't really know what to say. Hopefully you'll be going with a tour guide and in that case they know best. It's an interesting place, especially the Medina quarters which everyone will, rightfully, tell you to check out. Moving on to Madrid, have dinner in the Plaza Mayor! If you’re not going with a tour guide what you should do is take a spin around town in a taxi at night. It’s a wonderful sight to see all the fountains in the middle of the roundabouts and the extravagantly lit buildings. If I can find some of the pics from my trip I’ll post them later, maybe you can show them to the taxi driver and ask him/her to take you there.

[OilersBaby]

Originally Posted by Addick

Shopping!!! I can't remember the name of it but there was a relatively popular pedestrian street that I became quite fond of. It was probably in the Santa Cruz quarter and it combined two of my favourite things: exploring vibrant urban spaces and shopping. I guess one of the things I can recommend for Sevilla is to get a general idea of where things are, then ditch the map and just walk around. Taking the direct paths may not lead you through the pleasant little side-streets that have interesting and active mini-squares. That leads me into another tip, don't eat dinner when you normally would. In Spain, and a fair bit of the Mediterranean, they push things back a little and have dinner later on in the night. To fully enjoy the ambiance wait and dine at the same time the locals do.

In regards to Morocco... I don't really know what to say. Hopefully you'll be going with a tour guide and in that case they know best. It's an interesting place, especially the Medina quarters which everyone will, rightfully, tell you to check out. Moving on to Madrid, have dinner in the Plaza Mayor! If you’re not going with a tour guide what you should do is take a spin around town in a taxi at night. It’s a wonderful sight to see all the fountains in the middle of the roundabouts and the extravagantly lit buildings. If I can find some of the pics from my trip I’ll post them later, maybe you can show them to the taxi driver and ask him/her to take you there.

Sweet! The hotel we're staying in is at the Plaza Mayor..I didn't realize it was such a highly recommended area! As you can tell, Im not done doing my research. My trip isn't until January, so Im taking it slow...

We MIGHT ditch the Morocco part of the trip and spend the extra couple of days iN Madrid. Since we're only going for 9 days total, it might be too hectic to squeeze in Fez or Marrakesh Morocco in as well. We bought our tickets through frequent flier miles and are luckily able to change it without penalties..so we might just extend the stay in Madrid and skip Morocco. Seems like it's the right thing to do since y'all are sayin that there's a lot to do in Morocco.

What I found interesting is that if you have a Canadian passport, you have to get a visa to go to Spain, but if you're American, you dont. I thought it would be the OPPOSITE!!!!!