tls

My bf and I are using a BA companion pass and points, have round trip DFW/LHR Dec24-Jan8. I know this isn't the best time, but the ticket was about to expire, so I booked two weeks with the dates BA had available.

I've been reading FT and trying to decide a plan, but we have not settled on an itinerary because it's overwhelming. We'd like to spend most the time in Spain, as I was thinking this would be a little warmer (and he speaks Spanish also). We are very flexible. I've looked at several AirBnB, and hotels...many seem very nice and reasonable.

Any and all suggestions, advice, and opinions on transportation (trains?), sites, and lodging from London (maybe via Paris) to places in Spain and maybe Portugal are greatly greatly appreciated. Thank you for sharing your experience.

LupineChemist

Unless you specifically want to go over land for the adventure, you are far better off flying rather than taking trains.

Also, are you specifically after warmer weather? Lots of Spain (including Madrid) isn't that much warmer than London at that time of year.

BahrainLad

Fly to Madrid, do day trips to Toledo, Segovia, maybe even Cordoba and Seville.

Or, fly to Barcelona and have a few days, then take the train (2h40, city centre to city centre, - far better than flying, not sure what LupineChemist is on about) to Madrid.

You would need to fly between Madrid and Lisbon though.

You can, if you wish, take the train from London to Madrid in about a day - you leave London at 9am, go to Paris, get the Paris Barcelona TGV, then get the AVE from Barcelona to Madrid which arrives just after midnight. A very long journey though compared to a 2h flight.

http://seat61.com/Spain.htm#London_to_Madrid

LupineChemist

As far as I can tell, OP was talking about getting to Spain from London. At least that's what the "via Paris" indicated. I was saying that's a poor idea by train.

tls

Thank you for responding. I checked flights and that would be better than train. I hadn't thought about flying, so thank you, very helpful.
And we could take train while in Spain.

Do you happen to have suggestions about itineraries...I figure first and last full day in London, that's gives us 12 full days for Spain.

Dec 26-Jan 7:

I was thinking:
3-4 days Madrid (would like to catch soccer Dec 30 or Jan 3), Toledo
3-5 southern Spain - Seville, Gibraltar, Málaga, Granada, Murchia, Valencia
3-4 Barcelona (Epiphany festival Jan 5/6)

Or is that too much to try to fit in?
And a nice place for New Year's Eve?

spainlover

That itinerary will leave you exhausted and not give you time to see much in depth.
My suggestion:
Start with Barcelona for 3-4 days
Then do 3-4 days in Madrid and Toledo - Madrid is great for New Year's
Then 3-5 days in southern Spain - best spot for El Dia de los Reyes (Epiphany). I'd do Sevilla and Granada, and maybe Cordoba. More than that would really be stretching yourself thin. Sevilla's a great place for the Epiphany with processions and celebrations. Make sure to book early for the Alhambra in Granada (like now).

By flying to Barcelona first, you minimize travel time. 2 1/2-hour train ride from there to Madrid, another 2 1/2 hours from Madrid to Sevilla. You can fly straight to London from Andalucia.

CMK10

I was in Madrid last December and spent three days in the city, that was the perfect amount of time to see everything I wanted to see (I probably could have done it in two long days though). I like the day trip ideas others have suggested too.

tls

Thank you all.
I'm taking advice to do Barcelona, then Madrid, then Southern region.

This is plan, what do you think? We have more days in Madrid in order to catch a soccer game, and it appears to be a nice area in general. Flights are much cheaper than I expected and faster than train between BCN-MAD-SVQ. But is there a reason to take train instead of flying? And would we need to book trains now, or day of travel? Can book flights and everything today.

Dec 24 PM - Leave DFW
Dec 25 AM - Arrive LHR - spend day site seeing London (I know it's a holiday)
Dec 26 AM - fly to Barcelona
Dec 27-Dec 29 - Barcelona
Dec 29 PM - Leave Barcelona to Madrid (fly or train ?)
Dec 30 - Jan 2 or 3 - Madrid (soccer game either Dec30 or Jan3, weather permitting), Toldeo
Jan 2 or 3 - Leave Madrid to Seville (fly or train ?)
Jan 3-6 - Seville (Epiphany) and around (train)
Jan 6-7 - Gibraltar (how to get there?)
Jan 7 - Gibralter to LHR (fly)
Jan 9 AM Leave LHR to DFW

We really would like to go to Gibraltar, but I cannot figure out best way to actually get there. If it's a real pain, we'll be fine without going though.

MSPeconomist

London will be closed down on December 25 and 26 for Christmas and Boxing Day. IIRC even the tube will be closed. I'd go straight to Spain and plan to see London at the end of your trip--or even skip London and focus on Spain (and Portugal?) this time.

I'd allocate more time to Barcelona. It's a fun and fascinating city.

CMK10

While I believe you are absolutely correct about Christmas, it's not so much true for Boxing Day any longer. For instance, most of the Tube will still run.

That said, I think your suggestion is good. Portugal as a substitute is a great idea. Lisbon is an easy flight (or train if you're interested) from BCN or MAD and you could also do Porto if you wanted to see more of the country.

David-A

In Spain your public transport options are bus and train. Your objective is to get to La Linea de la conception, the spanish border town. Or Algeciras, the city on the opposite side of the Bay of Gibraltar. From there, getting to Gibraltar is easy.

Railway first:

To get to Gibraltar from Sevilla by train you would need to change trains in Cordoba. And then take the train to Algeciras. Total journey time would be 4 or 5 hours to Algeciras.

Algeciras is the Spanish city on the opposite side of the bay of Gibraltar. Algeciras bus station is right next to Algeciras train station, and you can eaisly get a local bus that goes round the bay to La Linea de la Conception. (La Linea is the spanish border tower).
The La Linea bus station is within sight of the border crosisng, a very short walk. You can't get lost, just walk towards the rock.

The line from Cordoba down to Algeciras is windy through the hills. It was actually built originally by British interests to provide connection to Gibraltar. A ferry used to cross the bay, but now it is bus service around the outisde.

You could potentially stop off at Ronda on the way, but keep in mind there are only a couple of services a day on the train.


The other long distance transport option in spain is busses (coaches). The best way to take a journey can also vary over the course of the day.

There is actually a bus all the way from Sevilla to La Linea (which is right next to the border as I said above).
http://www.tgcomes.es/horarios_33_english.htm

Other options would involve changing buses, etc.


If you are not originating in Seville, then bus services from La Linea also head in the other direction along the costa del sol. And ovenright services to madrid.
Trains from Algeciras head all the way to Madrid.
Fast trains connect Madrid to Malaga, which you can reach using bus services along the coast.

Hope that helps.

P.S. I also agree with the others, that it might make more sense to go stright to Spain, then see London on your way back through. In Spain they traditionally don't exchange presents until the three kings / Epiphany in early January. So shops will still be in full festive mode. (Of course the 25th december has made global inroads, so many Spanish children get presents on both!).
In Gibraltar, there are sitll many cross-border shoppers coming from Spain to buy presents right up until the epiphany. So retailers get a double surge with christmas for the local market first, then spanish shoppers.

tls

Thank you for the info!
I already have round trip tickets DFW/LHR, Dec 25/Jan9.
I needed to use the British Airways Companion Pass. Should have used diff places, but didn't have a good plan and was running out of days to use ticket.

TWA884

The trains go from city center to city center and you don't need to show up more than 15-30 minutes prior to departure time.

Do not wait until your travel day; buy your train tickets and book your seats in advance from Renfe, the Spanish railway company.

tls

I've been taking all of your advice and researching past week.
London 1 d
Barcelona 5 d
Madrid 3 d
Sevilla/Ronda 2
Gibraltar 2
London 1

So if I buy the 4 trip pass for Spain via the renfe.com site, is that usable for the AVE rail from Barcelona > Madrid > Seville > Ronda?
(I've rode a train maybe three times in my life in the US...and that was confusing. Lol)

That 4 trip train pass ends up cheaper than the short flights after the multiple fees. I'm sure you knew that.

Have a flight from Gibraltar back to London.

TWA884

According to the Renfe site:
There is no comparison between the AVE train, which travels at 300 kph (180 mph), and any train service in the North America.