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Spanish Honeymoon Itinerary - Help, Advice, Tips, etc.

Spanish Honeymoon Itinerary - Help, Advice, Tips, etc.

Old Aug 20, 2014, 1:11 pm
  #1  
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Spanish Honeymoon Itinerary - Help, Advice, Tips, etc.

Hello fellow flyertalkers! My fiancee and I are getting married in September 2015 and are planning to go on a honeymoon in Spain a few days after our wedding. This will be financed mostly with miles and points, so I am trying to have our dates and the basic outline of the trip set before the t-minus one-year window comes up. I thought I'd tell you all my ideas and see what kind of input I get regarding our proposed cities, how much time we're currently thinking about spending in each place, and how that all fits into the kind of vacation we want.

When it comes to travel, we enjoy walkability, history, great food and drink, night-life (we prefer quieter, lower key establishments but are ok going a little crazy once or twice on a longer trip), beautiful scenery and architecture, friendly/welcoming locals, and a measured pace. We're from Los Angeles, so we love being able to walk and use public transportation because we don't get to do it as much as we'd like at home! On our last European trip (18 nights) we didn't spend even a single minute in a car, and we hope we can do that this time as well (with one exception--see below). If it makes a difference, we are both 30 years old.

We are currently planning to spend approximately 16 nights on this trip, although that is flexible within a couple nights either way. The current itinerary we're thinking about is:

Fly to Palma de Mallorca
4 nights on Mallorca--specific location/hotel TBD (planning to rent a car for this portion of the trip)
fly to Seville
2 nights in Seville
train to Madrid
4 nights in Madrid, including day trips to Segovia and Toledo
train to Valencia
2 nights in Valencia
train to Barcelona
4 nights in Barcelona

This is all tentative, so any and all input regarding our itinerary, and how you might change it based on your knowledge and experience, is welcome. Some specific questions I have are:
  • Are we spending too much or too little time in any specific city? Note that we're not too keen on spending just one night in any given place--we did that on our last big European trip, and we didn't like how rushed we felt and how little of each one-night-stay city we got to see.
  • Should we think about moving our stay on Mallorca to the middle or end of the trip? Our thinking is that it would be really nice to have the relaxing/beach vacation part of our trip at the beginning, right after the hectic wedding and long overseas travel. It will give us time to adjust to the time zone and have a few days of R&R on Mallorca before we embark on the more touristy part of the trip. It also means one less airport hassle if the PMI part is at the beginning (or end) of the trip. But, we're open to alternatives if others think there are good reasons to move this.
  • Do the cities we picked generally fit what we're looking for/like to do when we travel?
  • Does the order in which we're planning to visit these cities make sense? If not, how would you change it, and why?
  • Are there any cities on the list you'd omit, or replace with others that aren't on it? If so, why?
  • Should we bother with the day trips to Segovia and Toledo from Madrid?

I think that covers most of my lingering thoughts on the matter. As stated above, any input is GREATLY appreciated. As the travel planner, it's important to me that I give my future wife an amazing honeymoon experience that we'll both look back on with great memories.

Thank you for your help!
kdoughboy is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2014, 2:43 pm
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Not a terrible itinerary but here is my advice:

I would skip Valencia all together and replace it with Granada. Personally I would probably do the beach end in Almera and then go directly to Granada and then Sevilla. Valencia is a really nice city, but it's the kind of place I wouldn't mind living at and I like going to because it's a 3 hour drive away. Your time is much better spent elsewhere.

Another option to add on would be for the AVE from Sevilla to Madrid to stop in Crdoba and see the old city. It's very nice and an afternoon does it justice.

The amount of time spent in any city is good. Madrid may be a bit tight if you want to do Museums, Segovia, AND Toledo. But even so, it's all perfectly doable as the city really comes alive around 8 or 9 at night and while there are some beautiful streets, this city is much more about the culture and the evening/night life than any specific daytime site. Both Toledo and Segovia are plenty interesting. The Segovia train stations are far from the tourist area so I would maybe think renting a car for the day may be worth it and you can stop and see La Granja de San Ildefonso in the morning by way of a nice mountain drive (that avoids tolls).

But yeah, the conclusion being it would be a crime to miss Granada and La Alhambra (book in advance).
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Old Aug 20, 2014, 7:14 pm
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One thing I would consider would be subbing in San Sebastian instead of Mallorca. There are nice beaches in and around (San Sebastian itself, but also nearby places like Zarautz), and the food is world-class. But Mallorca is also really nice.
What hotel chain(s) do you have points with?
Agree with Lupine Chemist that Andalucia is really worth some time. If you happen to have SPG points, the Alfonso XIII in Sevilla is spectacular. Starwood's hotels in Spain are really nice, in fact one of the reasons I originally switched from being mainly Marriott to mainly Starwood.
I LOVE planning Spain trips and all my friends send me their friends for travel planning there, so if you have any specific questions, DM me.
spainlover is offline  
Old Aug 20, 2014, 11:37 pm
  #4  
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Originally Posted by LupineChemist
I would skip Valencia all together and replace it with Granada. ... Valencia is a really nice city, but it's the kind of place I wouldn't mind living at and I like going to because it's a 3 hour drive away. Your time is much better spent elsewhere.
Thanks for your help!

I'm intrigued by the idea of skipping Valencia in favor of Granada, but I don't really understand your reasoning. It seems like you enjoy Valencia, so I'm unclear why you say our time would be better spent elsewhere. I'm definitely not unwilling to consider other alternatives, I just don't get why you are recommending against Valencia, so I'd appreciate a bit of clarification on that. As far as having a lively atmosphere and fun night-life, is Grenada or Valencia better? One reason we chose Valencia is because it has a good hotel option on points, whereas Granada would require a cash outlay (not a problem, but all else being equal we'd prefer to pay with points).

Originally Posted by spainlover
One thing I would consider would be subbing in San Sebastian instead of Mallorca. There are nice beaches in and around (San Sebastian itself, but also nearby places like Zarautz), and the food is world-class. But Mallorca is also really nice.
What hotel chain(s) do you have points with?
Agree with Lupine Chemist that Andalucia is really worth some time. If you happen to have SPG points, the Alfonso XIII in Sevilla is spectacular. Starwood's hotels in Spain are really nice, in fact one of the reasons I originally switched from being mainly Marriott to mainly Starwood.
I LOVE planning Spain trips and all my friends send me their friends for travel planning there, so if you have any specific questions, DM me.
Thanks for your help!

We definitely prefer Mallorca over San Sebastian -- the island is large enough to give us plenty to explore, and we find the idea of a mediterranean island vacation very alluring as a start for our honeymoon.

We have hotel points with SPG, Hilton, Club Carlson, IHG, and Chase UR. The Alfonso XIII does indeed look like a beautiful hotel, but it's kind of expensive on points... although there isn't another good points option Sevilla, so we'd probably just splurge on the Alfonso since it's only for two nights.

Would you choose Granada over Valencia, too? Just trying to see the logic here, and I'm more than willing to be persuaded. As I said in my previous post, Valencia has a good hotel option on points whereas Granada doesn't. Another thing I forgot to mention above is that we love the idea of a coastal train ride, which we'd only get from Valencia to Barcelona--but that's by no means a requirement of the trip, just a nice perk of that particular itinerary.

Last edited by l etoile; Jan 2, 2018 at 6:02 am
kdoughboy is offline  
Old Aug 21, 2014, 1:47 am
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Originally Posted by kdoughboy
Thanks for your help!

I'm intrigued by the idea of skipping Valencia in favor of Granada, but I don't really understand your reasoning. It seems like you enjoy Valencia, so I'm unclear why you say our time would be better spent elsewhere. I'm definitely not unwilling to consider other alternatives, I just don't get why you are recommending against Valencia, so I'd appreciate a bit of clarification on that. As far as having a lively atmosphere and fun night-life, is Grenada or Valencia better? One reason we chose Valencia is because it has a good hotel option on points, whereas Granada would require a cash outlay (not a problem, but all else being equal we'd prefer to pay with points).
I am just trying to say that while Valencia is a nice city, it's not somewhere I would say is very worthy of limited time as a tourist. The nightlife is infinitely better in Granada and Andaluca in general. The only problem in general is that Granada and Madrid don't have a high speed rail line. But you can actually fly directly there for cheap on Vueling or Air Europa directly from PMI and then head on to Sevilla from there.
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Old Aug 21, 2014, 12:27 pm
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Great, Mallorca is beautiful and you'll definitely be glad to have a car there. It would be difficult to see a lot of what the island has to offer without one.
As far as Granada vs. Valencia, it's been a long time since I've been to Granada. The one thing Granada has that is unmatchable is the Alhambra, which is spectacular and especially for somebody who enjoys history and architecture. Valencia also has some fantastic architecture, but on the other end of the spectrum, the modern Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias by Santiago Calatrava. You'll certainly enjoy either location.
Potentially I would only do one of Toledo and Segovia, or at least leave yourself that option. Since it's your honeymoon, you might be feeling like a chillout day a few days after Mallorca. If you only pick one, I'd opt for Toledo. I'm partial to it, but I just think it's more of a can't miss, and it's also just 25 minutes by train from Madrid.

As far as hotels, I'm mainly SPG and Marriott, with some Melia mixed in, so I can't help on most of the chains you named. I have stayed at Starwood properties (and others) in all the cities named with the exception of Granada, so here are my thoughts:
The Alfonso XIII in Sevilla is one of my favorite hotels ever. I also thought it expensive, and ended up using American Advantage miles - there was a special as Platinum it only cost like 17 or 18,000 miles for a night and at the time I had several hundred thousand miles. I was upgraded to a massive and exquisite corner suite.
In Mallorca if you want to splurge there's a St. Regis. There are two other SPG properties, both a few miles inland with a golf course on the property. I stayed at the Castillo Hotel Son Vida (a Luxury Collection). It's in an old castle, with great historic charm, a nice pool and nice scenery, though if you want your hotel to be on the beach, it's not.
In Madrid, the Westin Palace is a grande dame type hotel, and as central as you can get. It's across the street from the Prado and the Thyssen museums, and a short walk from the Reina Sofia museum, the train station and other tourist spots such as the Parque del Retiro and the Plaza Mayor.
In Barcelona, the Le Meridien is actually one of my favorites. I've gotten great upgrades and SPG Platinum status recognition, and I like being right in the center of the city. But if you want to be on the beach, the W is a wonderful hotel with "wow" views. For a lot fewer points, there is also a Four Points by Sheraton which is perfectly fine.
The Westin Valencia is a beautiful hotel, with modernist style from 1917 and a lovely interior courtyard. But if you are going to pick someplace to not use your Starwood points, I'd say here (or Mallorca if you aren't splurging on St Regis/want to stay on the beach). It's a great hotel but the options in Sevilla, Barcelona and Madrid are superior.
spainlover is offline  
Old Aug 21, 2014, 2:18 pm
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Knowing what I know (having been to both), I would certainly not skip the day trips to Segovia and Toledo. Both are fantastic smaller cities. We stayed in the Parador in Toledo, which is great. Segovia is really worth it -- the cathedral, the aqueduct, and the Alcazar (where much of the movie Camelot was filmed). Toledo also has great history.

Barcelona -- agree on le Meridien. Great location on Las Ramblas.

Sevilla -- my favorite city in Spain, the Starwood Alfonso XIII is by far the best choice.

Madrid -- we stayed at the Intercontinental. It was okay, but if I had it to do over again (and had not been trying to use up some Intercontinental free nights) I would have probably stayed at the Westin.

Have not been to Mallorca, so I cannot comment on that.

Granada and the Alhambra are definitely worth seeing, as well as Cordoba. You might think about trying to fit in an overnight in Granada, and stay at the Parador inside the Alhambra -- which is really special.

Congrats and good luck.
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Old Sep 1, 2014, 12:12 pm
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Thank you all for your helpful and informative replies! At this point we've decided to go to Granada instead of Valencia, so our trip will definitely be changing somewhat.

We're also reconsidering whether we should go to Mallorca or perhaps find a nice beach city on the Costa del Sol. We talked about things in further detail and decided that we'd really prefer not to rent a car, which seems like something you kind of need in order to fully take advantage of everything Mallorca has to offer. What we'd really like for that part of our vacation is a beach-front hotel (or a hotel with a shuttle to its own beach club) that is very close (~10 minutes on foot) to a town that has some history, nice architecture, lots of restaurants and bars, and a fun, lively buzz without being a straight-up "party" destination. If we can get that on Mallorca, then we could live with not seeing more of the island and we'd still be able to get the "exotic" island feel, even if we may be fooling ourselves a bit. If there are better places on the mainland, then we're open to those suggestions as well. It seems like Mlaga, Almera, and Marbella are good options on the Mediterranean side, and maybe Cdiz on the Atlantic side--although we'd really prefer to be on the Med, and we're definitely open to smaller/more obscure towns as long as they match what we're looking for. Any recommendations for places on Mallorca (still our first choice) or the Andalusian coast are greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for your help!

Last edited by kdoughboy; Sep 1, 2014 at 12:26 pm
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Old Sep 17, 2014, 2:39 pm
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Valencia

Too bad you have ruled Valencia out. It is my favorite destination! I frequently visit my cousin there (I live in Canada).

Valencia is a city of approximately 800 000 residents. It boasts Europes largest historical centre. It is a city that has everything to offer, while maintaining a rather small town feeling. For example, it has theatres, opera, the philharmonic, museums, festivals, shopping malls, parks, golf, zoo, aquarium and more. However, you will never get stuck in a traffic jam! The city is easy to move around in and find your way in whether by car, metro, or bus. There is also an app and website for the transportation service where you can enter your location and destination and the program maps out the best route and service to get you where you want to go. The promenade along the beach is nice and long. Ideal for long walks. There are chair and umbrella rentals along the beach.

It is a Mediterranean coastal city. However, its precise location in a small basin on lower ground surrounded by medium sized mountains gives Valencia a unique micro-climate in the region. Valencia has very little rain. It has very mild winters and very hot summers. You can be sure that you will not see very much rain.

Valencia is in a region with a lot of history. The most important figure discovered from the Ibero period (the people who populated Spain before the Romans) was found in the province of Valencia. The Romans founded Valencia and other towns on the Valencia coast. Original cross-roads, amphitheatres, monuments, museums, an oracle and much more can help you step back into time and imagine what life might have been like in the lands of this most important empire.

The more modern history is described by the Morish period (nearly 700 years) and the times since the return of the catholic kings. Medieval towns and villages cover the Valencian countryside. Within 1.5 hours, you can visit towns such as Xativa, Morella, Bocairente, Sagunto and Albarracin. In fact, these are just the well known medieval towns. There are many other, secret, villages doting the area with equal charm and historical interest.

Many of these villages have excellent hiking trails. The gastronomy around Valencia varies a little depending on the town. Indeed, many famous world-renown chefs from Valencia have taken their inspirations from the local traditions.

There are also many opportunities to kayak, sail, go wine-tasting and bike. Actually, there is an impressive network of bike trails that barely require road travel. The wine regions (ex. Requena-Utiel) are rich with excellent wines and grapes native to the region.

One final note about Valencia: Restaurant, food, alcohol, car hire, and transportation is cheap. Like, bizarrely cheap.
Its great to stay close to the beach as well. When I visit, we stay close to the beach as my cousin rents a flat out there. It is perfect!
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Old Oct 10, 2014, 7:51 am
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While in Majorca in might be worth a visit to http://www.cuevasdeldrach.com/?lang=en
Very nice, scenic, lovely boat bit at the end.

Don't go if your claustrophobia is bad.

Last edited by TheCapitan; Oct 10, 2014 at 11:36 am
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Old Oct 11, 2014, 3:17 am
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Glad you decided to count Granada in! It's a beautiful city, and a honeymoon in Spain wouldn't be complete without a visit. As everyone said, book in advance (Ticketmaster sells tickets that you can pick up at some of the ATMs in Granada or at the Alhambra itself). If you're looking for something a little different, the nighttime visit to the Nazari Palaces is fantastic and much less crowded than the daytime visits.

When you're booking a place to stay, be aware that the Alhambra and the beautiful old Albaicn neighborhood are on big hills -- and in the Albaicn, some of those tiny streets can get a little sketchy at night. If you just want to stop into the Alhambra and then move on, an overnight in a hotel up the hill next to the Alhambra might be your best bet.

If you're looking to spend more than a night in Granada, I'd recommend a hotel closer to the Plaza Nueva/Gran Via or in the city center. The nightlife in the city is fantastic, and be sure to visit a "tetera" (Moorish style tea house) while you're there.

As for your other destinations: Mallorca I don't know much about, though friends tell me it's worth a visit. 2 nights in Sevilla should be just enough to see the major hits (the cathedral and palaces -- fortunately, those are right next to each other). Madrid, Segovia and Toledo in 4 nights will be fast-paced but probably manageable (personally I might cut out Segovia, but that's personal preference more than anything else), and Barcelona is worth as much time as you can put aside for your visit!

And just one more note: You may want to start looking into other forms of transit besides the trains, since some locations (specifically, Granada) aren't all that well connected by train. Check out the Alsa bus lines (at alsa.es, I think). Their "luxury" buses are very comfortable, and for a lot of routes those only cost a few extra euros compared to the normal buses.

And finally: No matter how you plan this, it's going to be an amazing trip!

Last edited by l etoile; Jan 2, 2018 at 6:04 am
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Old May 17, 2016, 11:31 am
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Originally Posted by spainlover
One thing I would consider would be subbing in San Sebastian instead of Mallorca. There are nice beaches in and around (San Sebastian itself, but also nearby places like Zarautz), and the food is world-class. But Mallorca is also really nice.
What hotel chain(s) do you have points with?
Agree with Lupine Chemist that Andalucia is really worth some time. If you happen to have SPG points, the Alfonso XIII in Sevilla is spectacular. Starwood's hotels in Spain are really nice, in fact one of the reasons I originally switched from being mainly Marriott to mainly Starwood.
I LOVE planning Spain trips and all my friends send me their friends for travel planning there, so if you have any specific questions, DM me.
HI,

Me and my fiance are planning our Honeymoon in Spain. 13 Day trip and based on the suggestions above we have planned the following:

•Madrid (4 nights) – 2 days exploring Madrid, 1 day-trip to Segovia, 1 day-trip to Toledo

•Seville (3 nights) – 2 days exploring Seville, 1 day-trip to Cordoba

•Granada (2 nights) – 3 days exploring Granada

•Overnight Train to Barcelona

•Barcelona (4 nights) – 3 days exploring Barcelona, 1 day-trip to Montserrat

We would love your inputs/suggestions on the same along with any other places we should visit and the Hotels we can see in the places above
Acchint Singh is offline  
Old May 18, 2016, 3:32 am
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I would say try to make a stop in Ronda on the way from Sevilla to Granada.

Also, flying (there's a VY flight) is probably the best way from Granada to Barcelona unless you really want to do the night train for the experience.
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Old May 18, 2016, 8:53 am
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Good advice from LupineChemist. The flight may even be cheaper than the train in addition to being much faster.

Recommended hotels -- I've only stayed in a handful in each city, excluding many hostels in my poorer days, but I won't include those as I don't imagine you want those on your honeymoon A number of mine are Starwood or Marriott as I've been able to use points, but there are certainly many excellent boutique hotels.

Sevilla: Alfonso XIII - details above, SPG hotel
Madrid: My favorite is the ME Melia on the Plaza Santa Ana. Other nice high-end ones I've stayed in are the Westin Palace (SPG), and the AC Santo Mauro and AC Palacio del Retiro, both by Marriott. All are really nice. The Santo Mauro was actually incredible, but I only stayed there once when work was paying. It'd be a great honeymoon stay too.
Barcelona: I like the Le Meridien a lot (SPG), very convenient location for sightseeing. The W is also very nice if you prefer to be by the beach.
Granada: Haven't been since I was in college.

What time of year will your trip be?
spainlover is offline  
Old Jul 7, 2016, 10:57 am
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Originally Posted by Acchint Singh
HI,

Me and my fiance are planning our Honeymoon in Spain. 13 Day trip and based on the suggestions above we have planned the following:

Madrid (4 nights) 2 days exploring Madrid, 1 day-trip to Segovia, 1 day-trip to Toledo

Seville (3 nights) 2 days exploring Seville, 1 day-trip to Cordoba

Granada (2 nights) 3 days exploring Granada

Overnight Train to Barcelona

Barcelona (4 nights) 3 days exploring Barcelona, 1 day-trip to Montserrat

We would love your inputs/suggestions on the same along with any other places we should visit and the Hotels we can see in the places above
In Madrid, be sure to stop by Meson de la Torilla near Plaza Mayor. Cool cave-like atmosphere and amazing Spanish tortilla.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaura...la-Madrid.html
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