Spain Trip Recommendation
 

Hi all,

My girlfriend and I are taking a trip to Spain from September 21 to October 8. We are landing in Barcelona and are planning on spending the first 5 days there. We are looking for recommendations on where to spend the rest of our trip (within Spain).

We are in our mid twenties and are looking for a combination of cities with good nightlife, history, food, and culture. As of right now we are thinking of a combination of the following cities: Seville, Valencia, Granada, Cordoba, and Bilbao. We're thinking of spending about 3 days max in any combination of these cities, with possible day trips to other smaller cities.

Thanks for your help!

I would leave out Valencia and add in Madrid. Valencia is a smaller, less beautiful version of Barcelona.
Seville and Granada are fabulous. 2 nights in Granada would be enough.

Heading to Barca tomorrow for exactly the same reason as you, except we are in our (older than you years).

Will report on anything outstanding that we experience....

Just a piece of advice on language:
Barna = Barcelona the city
Barça = Barcelona the football team
Barca = boat

aha - thank you for the lesson.

I guess I am nearly correct as I am going to the Camp Nou on Wednesday for the game v Osasuna :)

Yeah, I would say add Madrid (it is very different from Barcelona and worth it in its own right even if not as tourist oriented) and then go either north or south but it would be a lot of hassle to combine the two.

I would say Andalusia would be a good option and do a night in Cordoba, then a couple days in Seville and a couple in Granada. You can take the VY flight back to BCN directly from Granada.

Or a village in Castilla y León... :)

But even Google insists (without offering a choice) that I surely must be looking for information on Barcelona when I search for "barca", completely ignoring the fact that there is no relation whatsoever between "Barca" and "Barcelona".

On the question: yes, drop Valencia; Sevilla is a must; Madrid is good to add with your description; two nights in Granada is enough (so that you can start early at the Alhambra); and do not make the mistake of only stopping in Cordoba on the way from Madrid (or Barcelona) to Sevilla - stay at least a night there as well; and keep Bilbao for another visit.

Buy a copy of Rick Steves' Spain 2017 (cheaper on Amazon). Best $20 (or less) you'll spend for questions like this.

I'd agree you should skip Valencia, it's a poor man's Barcelona. The Arts and Sciences complex is a bit run-down, we used to have family passes but let them expire because it just wasn't worth it anymore. Beaches are ok, nightlife is fine, one issue is the local government refusing to fine people that let their dogs do their business everywhere. I just walked in from the main tourist plaza and overheard a couple of tourists complaining about the dog sh**. Just great.

If you decide to head this way, definitely see Peñiscola and/or Albarracín.