Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar - First trip to Spain

My wife and I are taking our first trip to Spain next week and I need general recommendations. Right now the plan is to fly into Seville then on to Barcelona and finally Madrid.

We will arrive in Seville at around noon on a Monday and have 8 total nights before departing Madrid at 1:00pm on the following Tuesday.

My wife will be 12 weeks pregnant at the time, which shouldn't limit us too much expect for her ability to drink alcohol. Definitely a bummer.

I know there is an almost limitless amount of historical and architectural areas to see. What would those of you familiar with Spain recommend as far as a breakdown of time?

I was thinking

2 nights in Seville
4 nights in Barcelona
2 nights in Madrid

I found airfare from Seville-Barcelona-Madrid for $120 per ticket all-in, but we're not opposed to taking the train. The flights are about 1hr and from understanding the train is about 3hrs.

The only thing I have booked right now is a cooking class and market tour in Barcelona. We definitely want to do the following

Eat well
See a bull fight
See some dancing
General building and museum viewing
Eat well

What are the can't miss places/restaurants? Would spend more/less time in any of these places?

Thanks

the bullfight you should see in seville.

the train (high speed) goes seville-madrid-barcelona, so if you are set on the order you picked, I'd fly from seville to barcelona and then train to madrid. the big benefits of train are the scheduling (if you miss it, you catch the next one) and the fact that it drops you off downtown and not way out in the middle of nowhere. i've never actually used those airports, but i hear they are all right but nothing special

I would suggest that seville has the least to see, but the best bullfighting and dancing. barcelona has best museums and outdoor things (gaudi stuff, sagrada familia, park guelle, picasso museum, etc). also lots of things that you can do outdoors in barcelona, and there is a beach if you like. and madrid has some good museums and palaces. it sounds like you are reasonably young (see comment: my wife can't drink which is a bummer) so this should apply pretty well to you.

in barcelona i very much recommend a bike tour company called fat tire bike tours. do that maybe your second day there, and you can acclimate yourselves to the city, see some of the places you want to go back to, and its leisurely. run by americans, and really a good time. i also recommend the restaurant in plaza real (i think) called "four feathers" - you'll recognize the square as its PACKED with tourists at night and there is a long line outside the restaurant. plus its right off Las Ramblas (the main strip).

the big benefits of train are the scheduling (if you miss it, you catch the next one) and the fact that it drops you off downtown and not way out in the middle of nowhere.

Well, not always. For example, Atocha in Madrid is strategically located right in the middle of the city, but the Santa Justa, the main train station in Sevilla, is not in the city centre, from which the airport isn't very far. Plus, AFAIK, the cheapest AVE (high speed train) tickets aren't that flexible.

Personally, for domestic travel in Spain, I've been favouring planes over trains, because of the low fares and miles/elite perks available.

For the itin in question, I would definitely fly SVQ-BCN, and choose mode of transport for BCN-MAD on price (i.e. I would go by train unless I could find a flight costing much less).

Well, not always. For example, Atocha in Madrid is strategically located right in the middle of the city, but the Santa Justa, the main train station in Sevilla, is not in the city centre, from which the airport isn't very far. Plus, AFAIK, the cheapest AVE (high speed train) tickets aren't that flexible.

Personally, for domestic travel in Spain, I've been favouring planes over trains, because of the low fares and miles/elite perks available.

For the itin in question, I would definitely fly SVQ-BCN, and choose mode of transport for BCN-MAD on price (i.e. I would go by train unless I could find a flight costing much less).

Does the AVE train pass through Valencia on it's way from BCN-MAD? Would it be worth shortening Barcelona from 4 to 3 nights and seeing Valencia?

Does the AVE train pass through Valencia on it's way from BCN-MAD? Would it be worth shortening Barcelona from 4 to 3 nights and seeing Valencia?
There’s this wonderful resource called Google Maps.

Have a look at Spain and see where Valencia is in relation to Barcelona and Madrid AS SHOWN HERE (http://maps.google.es/) once you’ve done this you might realise what a silly question this was.

I love Valencia and believe that the nightlife there is unbeatable. However, 4 nights in Barcelona and two nights in Madrid are nowhere near long enough to do justice to either city. Valencia would involve a hefty detour and I would advise you against it – save it for another time.

There’s this wonderful resource called Google Maps.

Have a look at Spain and see where Valencia is in relation to Barcelona and Madrid AS SHOWN HERE (http://maps.google.es/) once you’ve done this you might realise what a silly question this was.

I love Valencia and believe that the nightlife there is unbeatable. However, 4 nights in Barcelona and two nights in Madrid are nowhere near long enough to do justice to either city. Valencia would involve a hefty detour and I would advise you against it – save it for another time.


I did look at a map of the train routes and the map was evidently wrong, it highlighted the high-speed route as being through Valencia. That didn't make much sense, but I thought maybe there was something geographically, or ecologically that prevented a train from being routed that way.

Well, not always. For example, Atocha in Madrid is strategically located right in the middle of the city, but the Santa Justa, the main train station in Sevilla, is not in the city centre, from which the airport isn't very far. Plus, AFAIK, the cheapest AVE (high speed train) tickets aren't that flexible.


The supplement to our main ticket carried us from MAD-SVQ for $100, and we're already at the airport, so we just bought the ticket for that.

SVQ-BCN was $82 per ticket on Spanair.

We'll do the train from BCN-MAD as we're not sure how long we'll stay in BCN.

I did look at a map of the train routes and the map was evidently wrong, it highlighted the high-speed route as being through Valencia. That didn't make much sense, but I thought maybe there was something geographically, or ecologically that prevented a train from being routed that way.
Whatever you were looking at must be completely out of date now.

There’s been a high speed link between Barcelona and Madrid for some time now – journey takes under 3 hours.

Even before, it was still more viable to take the direct route between Barcelona and Madrid (certainly economically) and those wanting to do so quickly would use the ‘aero bridge’ – a system where airplanes are used as shuttles linking the two cities. One could visit Valencia using the high speed Euromed train (3 hours) and then go on to Madrid using the Alaris (3.5 hours) but, for the premium paid, it would have been hard to justify this choice over flying directly unless one wanted to purposefully visit Valencia.

Whatever you were looking at must be completely out of date now.

There’s been a high speed link between Barcelona and Madrid for some time now – journey takes under 3 hours.

Even before, it was still more viable to take the direct route between Barcelona and Madrid (certainly economically) and those wanting to do so quickly would use the ‘aero bridge’ – a system where airplanes are used as shuttles linking the two cities. One could visit Valencia using the high speed Euromed train (3 hours) and then go on to Madrid using the Alaris (3.5 hours) but, for the premium paid, it would have been hard to justify this choice over flying directly unless one wanted to purposefully visit Valencia.

That's good enough for me, we'll save it for next trip. I'm just finding out that we might have to miss the bullfight. We miss the Seville by one day arriving on Monday and the Sunday fight in Madrid is already sold out.

Does anyone know if they typically have scalpers outside of the ring selling tickets?

you might want to double check the bullfights anyways when you get there. when i got to seville the information at the airport and online was that the bullfight was the day before. however, when i walked by the stadium i discovered that there was to be one the next afternoon. so while YMMV, you may find out there is one after all!

you might want to double check the bullfights anyways when you get there. when i got to seville the information at the airport and online was that the bullfight was the day before. however, when i walked by the stadium i discovered that there was to be one the next afternoon. so while YMMV, you may find out there is one after all!

I had heard this was the case, we'll keep our fingers crossed. Friends who have been have told me that it is something that was interesting to see once, but the brutality would prevent them from going back.

I had heard this was the case, we'll keep our fingers crossed. Friends who have been have told me that it is something that was interesting to see once, but the brutality would prevent them from going back.
As a child I had little choice but to go repeatedly and I've more than had my fill (I still find it less brutal than the practices that go on behind closed doors to cows destined for McBurgers - bullring bulls have fantastic free range organic lives, as close to living in the wild as any domestic cow can. Given the choice, I'd much rather a crappy half hour at the end of a good life than be electrocuted after a lifetime of steroid fed incarceration... YMMV). Thankfully, the days of bullfighting chimps and persons of restricted growth employed in this sector are long gone*

The advice for getting tickets for the Fermin festival seems apt for the fights in Madrid and Seville
http://www.sanfermin.com/index.php/en/la-fiesta/corrida/como-conseguir-entradas-feria-del-toro



* Ouch! That might have just been wishful thinking: http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/cronica/2009/691/1231628405.html

As a child I had little choice but to go repeatedly and I've more than had my fill (I still find it less brutal than the practices that go on behind closed doors to cows destined for McBurgers - bullring bulls have fantastic free range organic lives, as close to living in the wild as any domestic cow can. Given the choice, I'd much rather a crappy half hour at the end of a good life than be electrocuted after a lifetime of steroid fed incarceration... YMMV). Thankfully, the days of bullfighting chimps and persons of restricted growth employed in this sector are long gone*

The advice for getting tickets for the Fermin festival seems apt for the fights in Madrid and Seville
http://www.sanfermin.com/index.php/en/la-fiesta/corrida/como-conseguir-entradas-feria-del-toro

I agree completely on the McBurger comment. There is a documentary coming out soon called Food, Inc. There have been others with the same goal, but I really liked the book Omnivore's Dilemma, and that author is a prominent figure in the movie.

Great link, everything I needed to know!



* Ouch! That might have just been wishful thinking: http://www.elmundo.es/suplementos/cronica/2009/691/1231628405.html

Expedia offered an option to book the bullfight in sombra, plus roundtrip transport, for $115 per person. That sounded a bit high to me so I held off.