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Late Sept. Spain trip planning advice requested

Late Sept. Spain trip planning advice requested

Old Jul 26, 2017, 1:27 pm
  #1  
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Late Sept. Spain trip planning advice requested

FTers have been helpful in past trips, so I would be grateful for advice on this next trip.

A friend and I are planning a trip to Europe and considering Barcelona as our base to fly in/out of. We have not yet done research on Barcelona but expect there will be plenty to do there for a few days. We were planning to visit the region somewhere around 8-12 days, so the question is what else to do.

Where this gets tricky is taking into account travel styles. I can be fairly aggressive in planning to do a lot and she is the opposite - she is perfectly fine staying in one spot 10 days and spending the day at the cafe. So we need to find a plan that will work for both of us.

Neither of us have been to Spain. From what I have read, it is an easy day trip to the Pyrenees. Having said that, one thought I had was to rent a car from Barcelona, drive to Andorra (country), stay a night or two there, then drive up to through the Pyrenees, staying maybe three nights, and back to Barcelona.

Is this too much to do in 8 to 12 days? Too little to do in 8-12 days? I am trying to not force too much but if there are other must-sees around, would like to know about them and see if they can work out too.

Also, I am wondering about how this trip works for two different traveling styles. It does provide time in each place where one can sit at a cafe all day and another one heads out to walk about town and sightsee, but is that realistic in the Pyrenees? Are there cafes to go just hang out? Is it realistic for the other person to go adventuring solo there or is this unsafe as I read about travel scams, etc? I would not say that situational awareness is my strong-suit but I am not super gullible either.

Last, I read here on FT that driving in Spain and the Pyrenees is not any more difficult than other European destinations, but it occurred to me that most car rentals are standard transmissions there. I am very comfortable driving standard transmissions - drove one for many years - but never was an expert at driving standard transmission uphill from a stop in windy hills where I tried to prevent it from rolling back (before going off a cliff backwards) but then would punch it too hard and burn the clutch a bit. How tight and narrow are these turns in the Pyrenees in terms of this driving issue?

All of that said, we also considered going from Barcelona down to Mallorca or Ibiza for the trip, but we do enjoy UNESCO world heritage sites and the Pyrenees seem like something not to miss in the area. But because we are not all that familiar with Spain, we also may not be considering other areas we should instead.

As for travel preferences, my friend likes museums and cafes, authentic people and a world heritage site. I like historic and cultural sites, beautiful landscapes, authentic towns, experiencing local foods, and local music (traditional, folk, classical, jazz or other). Neither of us are big drinkers and not into dance clubs, but would do jazz clubs or even a local rock band.

Last, I have diamond with Hilton and platinum with Starwood and Marriott, so I was hoping to stay at some of those hotels (for upgrades and use points maybe), but it looks like there is not any of those sorts of hotels in the Pyrenees. Is there a better Spain trip to plan to do so? I expect to not be diamond next year with Hilton so figure I should take advantage of it now.

​​​​​​As you can tell, there is much we need to figure out and can use help with. It is more of a hey-we-have-some-time-and-points-and-feel-like-going-to-somewhere-new-in-Europe-and-Spain-has-good-fares-and-we've-never-been trip more than a pilgrimage to somewhere in particular. Any help would be appreciated!! Thank you!!
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Old Jul 26, 2017, 4:42 pm
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Originally Posted by sinfonia
Neither of us have been to Spain. From what I have read, it is an easy day trip to the Pyrenees. Having said that, one thought I had was to rent a car from Barcelona, drive to Andorra (country), stay a night or two there, then drive up to through the Pyrenees, staying maybe three nights, and back to Barcelona.

Is this too much to do in 8 to 12 days? Too little to do in 8-12 days?
Not too much or too little. You can go at your own pace.

I've done a similar-ish trip with a few days in Barcelona followed by drive up to a friend's place in a village near Perpignan and a few days there. Being Europe-based we didn't need to tick off much sight-seeing, more relaxing and just walking around, but there's definitely plenty to see.


Are there cafes to go just hang out? Is it realistic for the other person to go adventuring solo there or is this unsafe as I read about travel scams, etc? I would not say that situational awareness is my strong-suit but I am not super gullible either.
Absolutely you can each do your own thing and you will find plenty of cafes to hang out. Barcelona is perfectly safe - unless you're a bit of a numpty you're not going to get scammed. Up in the Pyrenees it's a slower pace of life and again you'll be fine.

Last, I read here on FT that driving in Spain and the Pyrenees is not any more difficult than other European destinations, but it occurred to me that most car rentals are standard transmissions there. I am very comfortable driving standard transmissions - drove one for many years - but never was an expert at driving standard transmission uphill from a stop in windy hills where I tried to prevent it from rolling back (before going off a cliff backwards) but then would punch it too hard and burn the clutch a bit. How tight and narrow are these turns in the Pyrenees in terms of this driving issue?
Tight and narrow. To be frank, if you're used to American roads you may well find it quite daunting - especially parking. But that shouldn't stop you doing it. I would just recommend getting excess insurance for your hire car, just in case.
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Old Jul 27, 2017, 12:30 am
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Have you considered Madrid at all as your base? I think it meets your "authenticity" point better than BCN. Admittedly, Madrid has no beach but it is (i) a vibrant city way less touristy than BCN; and (ii) it also has plenty of UNESCO world heritage sites within a 2h drive. Examples: Segovia, El Escoria, Cuenca, Toledo..

I am a Spaniard myself so I can vouch for that. Although I was born in Madrid so clearly biased here
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Old Jul 27, 2017, 4:46 pm
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Heading to BCN next spring. For flights from the US, we've found that Delta/KLM through AMS worked best for us, but we're in the western US. I believe there's a few direct flights from JFK and other east coast cities. Your plan sounds good, not too much. If you want to see the Sagrada Familia church, you need online tickets/reservations. If you love Gaudi, see some of his other works afterwards, and let your companion sit in one of the numerous cafes while you tour.
I've heard food tours can be quite fun as well, and might appeal to both of you?
We'll only have 5 days, but are planning to visit Montserrat and the surrounding wine/cava country for one of the days. Bus tours are an option for that as well, if you don't want to take the rental car there. Many Catalonians will not see themselves as Spaniards, so it will be quite a different experience from Madrid. Enjoy!
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Old Jul 28, 2017, 9:33 am
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I haven't spent any time in the Pyrenees, but your plan seems like one that could work well.

A couple of other options would be to split time between Barcelona and surrounding areas, and Madrid and surrounding areas. If you end up being there around 10-12 days, in particular, you'd have time to explore both cities and perhaps do a day trip or two as well, and your friend could chill those days if they preferred to do that. As JFSV mentioned, there are lots of worthy trips in close proximity to Madrid.
There are also lots of places worth discovering at a short distance from Barcelona, and late September is still beach weather. Girona is a great city (and a Game of Thrones filming spot, if you like that show) with awesome food, Sitges is a good beach town to the south, and if you have a car, there are many wonderful places to discover just north of Barcelona on the Costa Brava, including Tossa de Mar, Cadaques and more.
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Old Jul 30, 2017, 9:45 am
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Thank you to all who have responded with helpful information!

Based on your responses, we have decided to consider adding Madrid to this as well!

I am also considering using the Marriott vacation package option to redeem X amount of points for 7 nights plus United miles for a flight for the trip. But if I do that, the seven nights have to be for one consecutive stay. So the question is: where would we stay for seven whole nights???? I rarely stay in one place that long. We were thinking if we were going to be in one hotel that many nights in a row, perhaps it should be Madrid since it seems there is so much to see around there, and instead go for a few days to Barcelona and the Pyrenees. Would you recommend more time in Madrid or more time in Barcelona (or somewhere else) if you had seven whole nights to use up in one place?

I am excited about many options listed here! I am a total sucker for any town/city I can walk the walls in, medieval cities, love the any sort of orchard/vineyard areas, food towns, etc. and it looks like there are many such suggestions here. Thank you! Also, I will be looking into the bus option for the Pyrenees. I am hoping we can take the bus up there, then stay there for a couple of days, and the bus back down.

Also, now that I have learned more about Spain, I also would love to see San Sebastian, Basque country, etc. If we have to stay seven nights in one place (and it will likely be Madrid), that gives us 4-5 nights other places. We would like to still see Barcelona/Girona/Tossa de Mar/etc., the Pyrenees/Montserrat, and possibly San Sebastian and Basque country. Am I being way too ambitious to think we can get all of those other places in within 4-5 nights???

Thanks again for the help!

Last edited by sinfonia; Jul 30, 2017 at 10:28 am
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