Recommendations for Spain/Portugal trip?

Question

I'm beginning to form a plan for a trip I hope to take to Spain and Portugal in the fall. No real details yet, but I'm thinking Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, and maybe some smaller towns. Can anyone who has had a great experience doing something similar give me some tips, or tell me what I musn't miss while I'm there? Not sure yet if I'll be driving between cities, taking trains, or what. Any recommendations welcome!

Answer 1

Best is Andalusia (South of Spain) with all the Moorish history (Granada, Seville, Cordoba and others)

Answer 2

go to hawaii instead

Answer 3

if you want to enjoy a lot i recomended you to visit costa de la luz. Is in south spain. You can visit cadiz and enjoy the beutifuld beach. If you want more information you can visit  www.dimehoteles.com. You can check all the palces that you can visit.

Answer 4

Here's a few things, along with the larger cities and sites you already named:

Go to Granada to see the Alhambra.

Sevilla has an excellent city center.

Make sure to take in the beach somewhere, La Costa del Sol has many beautiful beaches.

Go to Toledo, it feels like the year 1500 while you're there.

Take in some great art museums in Madrid, some of the best in the world.

It'll be tough, but I recommend the north and northwest of the country. Much different than Andalucia, it's much more green. Spain has much diversity in culture, take in as much as you can.

Answer 5

Must do because of the settings and history are Granada, Toledo, Madrid, Sevilla/ Lisboa.

Barcelona isn't the realSpain, and all there let you know it.

Travel Catalunia, the Basque Country aswell, just for the feeling of the different culture in the same counrty. Buy the Lonely Planet or Rough Guide. Best help on a trip. like that

Answer 6

go to the beach. south of barcelona is a largely undiscovered area called cabo de gata, in almeria. it's beautiful. madrid and barcelona are both nice. visit some of the smaller towns along the way, though. also, if you go to porto, in portugal, there are some interesting castles around the area.

I'm doing a portugal/spain trip myself this summer... but I'm staying with relatives and friends, so I have an inner track. good luck!

Answer 7

depending on how much time you will have.

a feasible 8-day long road trip that has worked included the following stops:

Lisbon, Badajoz, Trujillo, Toledo, Madrid, Zaragoza, Barcelona.

Answer 8

I was in Barcelona and loved the night life going to multiple tapa (Spanish apetizers) bars with our friends around 10:00 p.m.  We also stayed in the Hotel de Arts in the Pyrenes (sp?) mountains.  Extremely inexpensive and wonderful food, scenery, culture.  

Below is my friends trip throughout Spain.  She said Barcelona was her least favorite. (Barcelona happened to be where my friend was living.)  Not knowing anything but Barcelona and having my friend with me I loved it.  Oh be careful on the Rambles (pedestrian shopping) in Barcelona.  My friend saw that some vendors were not giving me back correct change.  

I loved Madrid and its city feel (definitely visit El Parque de

Buen Retiro and rent a rowboat there, we saw everything we wanted to see

in 3 days, minus a bull fight which didn't coincide nicely with our

itinerary), but loved Granada for its old world small city feel

(definitely visit the Alhambra and go to the bars in the caves,

especially the tiny Flamenco bar we visited, and Marbella was the most beautiful beach

and water I've ever seen (I could have just floated in the water all

day, although I don't think I'd want to spend more than a day or so

there because the main attraction there was the beach).  Gibraltar was

cool just for the fact that it was so unique, but again I don't think I

would want to spend more than 24 hours there...we literally did all the

tourist things in a few hours, and therefore, I don't see a need to ever

return, but I'm definitely glad I went.  Seville was also very cool

(definitely see a professional Flamenco show at the place we went to,

and wander through the streets and eat at a little cafe in a little

square, of which there are so many).

Enjoy!