This Spain itinerary is the recap of our fantastic two week Spanish vacation late last summer. While planning, we discovered just how big Spain is and how many great places to see. Knowing that we couldn’t go for more than 2 weeks, with so many potential stops, we did consider a number of options. Looking back, I think that this itinerary offers a good balances of seeing and experiencing as much as possible without having to sacrifice too much time to traveling from city to city.
Days 1 to 4: Barcelona
Our direct flight to Barcelona landed at around noon. After a quick wait at passport control and a few more minutes for our luggage, we were on our way to the hotel. While in Barcelona, we stayed at the Cotton House Hotel. Wonderful hotel and in walking distance to many attractions.
While in Barcelona, we did an evening e-bike tour of the city, visited the Sagrada Família and Park Guell. We ate delicious food and spent some time shopping on La Rambla.
We took a day trip outside of the city to Montserrat. Our time in Barcelona was short, but we have a few more days at the end of the trip to explore a bit more.
Days 4 to 7: Madrid
On day 4, we took the 2h45 train ride to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid just before noon and headed straight to the hotel to drop off our bags. While there, we stayed at the JW Marriott Madrid. It’s a wonderful hotel, in a great location and their restaurant Qú has great food!
We packed a whole lot in the short time that we did spend in this marvelous city. We ate lunch at Restaurant Botín, which is apparently the oldest restaurant in the world. Delicious. Took in a Flamenco show, did an evening tapas and historic tour. Toured the city via Tuk Tuk and and of course, a visit to Madrid’s Royal Palace.
Madrid might just be our new favorite city. And, what surprised us the most is just how many parks and green space there are. We’ll be back!
Click here to read about how we spent our time in Madrid.
Days 7 to 9: Granada
On day 7 of our trip, we traveled from Madrid to Granada. This train ride is fairly quick, about 3h42. We arrived mid-morning and headed straight to our hotel, Hospes Palacia de los Patos.
The room wasn’t quite ready so we dropped our bags and headed out for our private Segway tour. Since our time in Granada was short, we thought it would be a great way to see more of the city.
While there, we headed to the Sacromonte neighborhood for one of their famous Flamenco shows in a cave. And, indulged in many tapas. Granada is famous for its free tapas culture. When you order a drink at many bars, you often receive a complimentary tapa which is just a small plate of food. This tradition allows you to taste a variety of local flavors while enjoying a drink, making dining out an affordable and enjoyable experience.
The highlight of our Granada stay is definitely our visit to the Alhambra. The Alhambra is an exquisite palace that showcases the grandeur of Moorish art and architecture. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world. Built between 1238 and 1358 it’s now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was a wonderful experience that definitely deserves its own post.
Fun fact: Granada is the Spanish term for pomegranate and so the tasty fruit is a popular symbol for the city.
Click here to read about how we spent two days in Granada.
Days 9 to 12: Seville
On day 9, we took an early morning train ride from Granada to Seville. It was fairly quick, only 2h30. After leaving the train station, we headed straight to our hotel, Querencia de Sevilla to check in.
Since it was still early, we headed out to explore. First stope was coffee and breakfast. We then made our way to Plaza de España. We spent the rest of the day walking around until our late afternoon Tapas and Flamenco tour.
Seville is considered the birthplace of flamenco and is filled with flamenco venues and flamenco dancers dancing just about anywhere.
The rest of our stain in Seville was spent, exploring by foot. We stopped for a visit at the Metropol Parasol also known as the ‘mushrooms of Seville’, shopped for ceramics, ate plenty of delicious foods, enjoyed a few tinto de veranos and vermouths.
We were supposed to only spend two nights in Seville, but Mother Nature had other plans. Our plans has us taking the train back from Seville to Barcelona, but due to extreme flooding in near Madrid, many trains were cancelled. So after our train got cancelled, our best option was to book a flight back to Barcelona, but everything was sold out until the following day. So back to the Querencia de Sevilla we went. They were very accommodating, even allowing us to go back to the same room.
The only real casualty, due to the change of plans was our private Paella cooking class planned. And, this has just reinforced that our plan to have a few days in Barcelona on the tail end of the trip was a good plan.
Click here to read about how we spent two days in Seville.
Days 12 to 14: Barcelona
On day 13, we took a short Ryanair flight from Seville to Barcelona. This time, we opted to stay at the Barcelona Edition hotel.
With not time to spare, we headed out to explore. We stopped in for a visit at the Picasso Museum and spent some time walking the streets of the Gothic Quarter. That evening, we enjoyed dinner and some cocktails at the rooftop lounge of our hotel. The view from there was fantastic.
Day 14, and our journey back home, came way too soon. We headed refreshed, in love with Spain and having consumed way too much Jamón.
Before ending this post, there are few more thoughts around this trip to Spain that I thought would be good to share.
Hotel vs Airbnb
For all of our stays during this trip, we chose to stay in some pretty nice hotels but take advantage of our Bonvoy Point to help reduce the costs of the trip. However, if you don’t have that luxury, based on our research, there are some great Airbnb options available at reasonable prices in all destinations.
Train vs Plane
When we planned our trip, our intent was to have all of our travel within Spain be by train. It’s easy and safe without the hassles that come with airline travel. However, Mother nature did have other plans for us, but we stand by our choice to travel by train. We booked all of our trains well ahead of time via Rail Ninja.
Conclusion
Spain is a beautiful and culturally rich country with so much to see. In our two weeks there, we were only able to scratch the surface. And, stay tuned for more content! We have a lot more to say about this trip. See posts below:
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