casii
Drama Llama
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png)
Posts: 5,517
Jun 29, 2014 14:40:44 GMT
|
Post by casii on Aug 13, 2024 21:54:59 GMT
DH surprised me for my birthday, his birthday plus our anniversary with a trip to Spain in October. Yeah! And also, oof, he's asking me what I want to do as in he thought as far as buying plane tickets & that's it.
Flying in and out of Madrid. He is open to taking a train Barcelona and also short jaunts off from those areas. I asked him about going down to Tarifa or Gibraltar and taking a boat across to Morocco and he paled, so if anyone has done that and it was easy, please share so I can pass it on.
He recently realized that he likes the all day culinary tours or wine tours I've book us on previously after years of fighting anything that means a group. I think keeping it to a small group of less than 20, ideally less than 10, went a ways towards that.
I'll be asking my wine loving friend who travels to Europe fairly frequently for her input but she mostly sticks to Italy and France. Crossing fingers there.
|
|
|
Post by cadoodlebug on Aug 13, 2024 21:58:20 GMT
We had an awesome cooking class in Barcelona in 2018. I'll have to go look for the name. The owner took us to the market to buy all the ingredients. DH made gazpacho, I made empanadas, two other groups made other culinary delights. It was fabulous.
If you have the time, take the train to San Sebastian. It was our favorite stop of the tour. I don't know if it goes all the way, we took a bus for the last leg.
|
|
|
Post by Spongemom Scrappants on Aug 13, 2024 22:07:25 GMT
I'll be following this thread as I have a son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons moving to Spain in February. I'll be going along for the move itself and then making many, many visits there over the course of their time there so I hope to see much of the country. I know you will enjoy your trip casii. The wine and culinary tours sound fabulous.
|
|
pilcas
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,147
Aug 14, 2015 21:47:17 GMT
|
Post by pilcas on Aug 13, 2024 22:14:07 GMT
How long will you be there? Barcelona is definately worth it. Make reservations for Sagrada Familia with plenty of time. You can also visit Park Guel. La Pedrera or Casa Batlo are interesting houses also designed by Gaudi. Montserrat is a nice day trip from Barcelona. From Madrid you can easily visit Toledo, or Salamanca. If you are in the South of n Spain you can Visit 3 beautiful cities, Sevilla, Granada and Cordoba, all fairly close to each other. C From Seville you can easily go to Gibraltar. I know there is also a ferry for Morocco, not sure what city but it can’t be that difficult. My only comment to that is that there is so much to see in Spain that it may not be worth your while to go to Morocco. The weather should be great in Oct.There are fast trains from Madrid to both Barcelona and Seville. San Sebastian is lovely but may be a bit out of the way from the other places It’s about 5 hrs by train, a little less from Barcelona. You can also fly, of course.
|
|
|
Post by gillyp on Aug 13, 2024 23:05:09 GMT
We've done the ferry from Gibraltar to Tangier for a day bus tour. I wouldn't do it again. The ferry was filthy and we tourists were kept in a guarded area separate from the locals. The bus was rickety and had broken windows. When I compare where we were taken with photos by other tourists online, I would say we got a raw deal. We were constantly harrassed by kids wanting us to buy things and the tour guide was happy letting them do it. Hardly anyone in our group wanted to buy the carpets or scented oils we were shown and the shop owners got quite intimidating. I'm sure there are quite delightful tours of the area but I think the Spanish tourist office saw us coming. It was a spur of the moment trip and had we researched before hand, we would have been prepared.
|
|
|
Post by shanniebananie on Aug 13, 2024 23:17:24 GMT
We took the high-speed train from Madrid to Barcelona and it was so fun. Smooth, quiet and the scenery is beautiful. If you visit Barcelona, highly recommend a day trip to Montserrat - a highlight of the area!
|
|
|
Post by Darcy Collins on Aug 13, 2024 23:28:40 GMT
We loved Spain! We didn't spend a ton of time in Madrid as we were meeting my cousin who was in Granada so not much help there! I remember all the tapas bars fondly! We did a few days in Barcelona and really enjoyed it! We also squeezed in Sevilla and Granada) We really enjoyed them all and the food was fabulous so I'm sure the food tours will be great. We didn't go to Morocco, and my MIL could have written gillyp 's post above. A very similar negative experience and this was with a group tour, so I would definitely research thoroughly if you decide to go that route. Wow so many exclamation points - I guess I did like it! We went 17 years ago and are FINALLY going back next March so can't wait!\\ ETA oh and not sure if prices are still extremely reasonable on Iberian, but we did a lot of short flights to get to the different areas for extremely cheap prices.
|
|
casii
Drama Llama
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png)
Posts: 5,517
Jun 29, 2014 14:40:44 GMT
|
Post by casii on Aug 13, 2024 23:29:51 GMT
Thank you for the input so far everyone! We'll be there for 12 days, so I'm looking forward to some fun exploring. I'm taking notes from all of you to dive into research.
|
|
casii
Drama Llama
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png)
Posts: 5,517
Jun 29, 2014 14:40:44 GMT
|
Post by casii on Aug 13, 2024 23:33:01 GMT
We loved Spain! We didn't spend a ton of time in Madrid as we were meeting my cousin who was in Granada so not much help there! I remember all the tapas bars fondly! We did a few days in Barcelona and really enjoyed it! We also squeezed in Sevilla and Granada) We really enjoyed them all and the food was fabulous so I'm sure the food tours will be great. We didn't go to Morocco, and my MIL could have written gillyp 's post above. A very similar negative experience and this was with a group tour, so I would definitely research thoroughly if you decide to go that route. Wow so many exclamation points - I guess I did like it! We went 17 years ago and are FINALLY going back next March so can't wait!\\ ETA oh and not sure if prices are still extremely reasonable on Iberian, but we did a lot of short flights to get to the different areas for extremely cheap prices. I can see us loving it. Out of where we've been in Europe thus far, we've loved Portugal the most which was a surprise. France the least which is the bigger surprise. I've not been disappointed with anywhere we've been but we felt very connected to Portugal. But I'm really excited to finally be putting time just for Spain since we haven't been yet.
|
|
kate
Drama Llama
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png)
Posts: 5,583
Location: The city that doesn't sleep
Site Supporter
Jun 26, 2014 3:30:05 GMT
|
Post by kate on Aug 13, 2024 23:35:34 GMT
Alcalá de Henares is a short (half hour) commuter rail ride from Madrid. It is a charming medieval town, very walkable. I had some excellent food there and a very reasonable airbnb right in the center of the old town. It's a different scale and pace compared to Madrid. I loved it.
You could do a day trip there, but for me, part of the fun was pretending to live there for a couple of days. There are some tourist-trap kitsch shops (especially around the main square), but many more cafes and restaurants that serve everyday residents.
|
|
uksue
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,530
Location: London
Jun 25, 2014 22:33:20 GMT
|
Post by uksue on Aug 14, 2024 0:50:52 GMT
I can highly recommend a day in Toledo a short A/C train journey from Madrid. My daughter was at Castilla la Mancha Uni Toledo campus for a year studying Spanish Law. I visited her there 3 times and loved it. It's absolutely stunning with wonderful cultural joys inc a wonderful cathedral and museum. It's a beautiful place with an old and new section- a land train takes you all around Inc the wonderful river that runs through the town.
We're hoping to go back next year.
|
|
|
Post by nine on Aug 14, 2024 16:19:00 GMT
The Prado museum is wonderful. So is the Thyssen-Bornemissa museum. Also, the Reina Sofia. All excellent. I knew the Prado would be good but was shocked at the Thyssen. Have fun!
|
|
|
Post by fotos4u2 on Aug 14, 2024 17:16:48 GMT
Another following this topic as my youngest is moving to Madrid in mid-September to teach English for at least a year. I'm still paying off our trip to Italy where the same kid was doing an internship in Milan last summer so the trip may not be happening for awhile but oldest really wants us to figure out a way to go (youngest is a world traveler, oldest wishes she could be but has always been the responsible one).
Youngest also took a trip with her dad to Spain at the end of her internship and fell in love with it. Looking back looks like they started in Barcelona then took a trip to Madrid and then Bilbao (before moving on to France). Some of the things they did/places visited were La Sagrada Familia, Picasso Museum, Parc Guell in Barcelona; Catedral de Santa Maria and a place that had flamenco dancing in Madrid; Puente Zubizuri, Guggenheim Bilbao, City Hall, and they were there during Aste Negusia.
|
|
valincal
Drama Llama
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png)
Southern Alberta
Posts: 5,768
Jun 27, 2014 2:21:22 GMT
|
Post by valincal on Aug 14, 2024 17:51:10 GMT
We’ve done this Barcelona food walking tour twice and really enjoyed it. They also offer a variety of other tours. Spanish Trails
|
|
|
Post by beaglemom on Aug 14, 2024 18:33:19 GMT
Following along! We are going next summer. Dh has a race in Pontevedra in June that we will go there for a week and then do another week or two exploring! And we will probably have all 4 kids with us so I need to find lots to do!
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Aug 14, 2024 18:40:03 GMT
We visited a 900 year old winery, I think as part of our trip to Montserrat from Barcelona. Enjoyed it very much and they still make good wine!
Our favorite smaller city to visit was Malaga. Gorgeous, on the coast, three layers of history (Roman, Moorish, Spanish) to explore. Accessible via train from Madrid. Well-preserved Roman theater and Moorish castle. Great walkable old town and beautiful museum and cathedral. Excellent food and wine all over.
Something I did not know before we went is that the “old town” in Barcelona is not old. It’s a re-creation built for tourists in the 1970s. Disappointing for us as history buffs. But it’s still a beautiful city. We loved Sagrada Familia.
Spain is one of my favorite places on earth and I hope to spend significant time there in retirement.
|
|
|
Post by wordyphotogbabe on Aug 14, 2024 22:08:22 GMT
We spent 2 weeks in Valencia so if you end up headed that way, message me for recs! ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/images/MNrJDkDuSwqIMVw33MdD.jpg)
|
|
|
Post by ~summer~ on Aug 15, 2024 9:43:02 GMT
14 days is a long time - I would personally pick at least 3 cities to visit.
We are in Seville right now and it is absolutely amazing. Love the confluence of cultures here - particularly the moorish architecture and food. I highly recommend it. The narrow streets and alleys - all the little restaurants that line the streets- it’s just amazing.
We took the train here from Malaga which I also love. San Sebastián is also lovely.
😊 would first narrow down which cities you plan to visit.
|
|
sueg
Prolific Pea
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png) ![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png)
Posts: 8,417
Location: Munich
Apr 12, 2016 12:51:01 GMT
|
Post by sueg on Aug 15, 2024 10:02:01 GMT
From Barcelona, it is about half an hour by fast train to Girona, which is a really lovely old town for a day trip. It poured rain the day we decided to go, but we still saw a lot, just couldn’t do as much random wandering as we’d hoped. For anything Gaudi in Barcelona, book in advance. We were there in mid October and early January, and the lines for those who hadn’t booked were crazy - I can’t imagine how bad they’d be in peak tourist season! We also did a side trip to Montserrat which I liked. San Sebastian was lovely as well - it was our next stop after Barcelona and from memory it was 5-6 hours by train, so you’d need a few days for a side trip there. I still haven’t made it to Bilbao, but that’s not far from San Sebastián if you decide to go in that direction. Madrid - we spent an entire day at the Prado, there was so much to see. Side trips from there - first time we went to El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen. The palace was stunning, as was the massive church at the Valley. Lots of interesting history from the Franco era. Second visit we did a day trip to Toledo. I wasn’t impressed by our tour guide at all, but the city itself was stunning. I think we’d have done better just making our own way there, instead having to stop at tourist trap shops and restaurants.
|
|
|
Post by guzismom on Aug 15, 2024 12:02:23 GMT
I love Spain....esp. Toledo (the Cathedral is like visiting an art museum) and Segovia (the Roman ruins and roasted pig). Definitely go to the Reina Sofia in Madrid to see the Guernica by Picasso...stunning! The Prado is like the Louvre; you can spend the whole day there if you are an art aficionado. Don't miss the churros and chocolate at San Gines (I LITERALLY went there every day)!
|
|
|
Post by mncmom on Aug 15, 2024 14:16:11 GMT
I was in Spain last October. Definitely take a tour of the Sagrada. Also, we did a few tuk tuk tours. They're so fun and can get places a car couldn't get. Our guides were locals who knew everything about the city.
|
|
casii
Drama Llama
![*](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/stars/star_green.png)
Posts: 5,517
Jun 29, 2014 14:40:44 GMT
|
Post by casii on Aug 16, 2024 15:20:10 GMT
This has been so helpful, you have no idea. My one contribution to the conversation is that when we've traveled in Portugal, we've taken food tours with Culinary Backstreets in both Lisbon and Porto and loved our experiences. Small groups of 6-8 people, lots of history and loads of yummy food. Our Porto guide sent us a Christmas card with our group photo in a little bar where the owner looked like Stanley Tucci, so I may have been slightly crushing. I'd go back there, ha.
|
|
|
Post by gillyp on Aug 16, 2024 15:38:58 GMT
If you are heading Seville way or Malaga (my brother lived there for a number of years) then a day trip to Ronda is do-able. It's an interesting historical town.
|
|
|
Post by mncmom on Aug 16, 2024 18:56:32 GMT
The Prado is amazing.
|
|
|
Post by smasonnc on Aug 16, 2024 21:28:52 GMT
You can't see everything in two weeks so, whatever you do, take your time and enjoy the vibe. In Madrid visit the squares in the evening when everyone has wine and pintxos. In Barcelona, you've gotten some good advice, but don't race around to all the Gaudi stuff. Sagrada and either Casa Mila or Casa Batlo will do. Visit the Palau de Musica for a performance, just not flamenco. It's touristy and flamenco isn't Catalan. Have drinks on a rooftop or go on a jazz cruise aboard the Orsom. The funicular to Monjuic is a waste because the lines are really long for a very short ride. Take a bus or a cab. Have a wonderful time!
|
|