Expert: Víctor Díaz - 12/4/2008

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I am planning on a trip for June 2009 of about 9 days to see Spain with 3 other of my medical school friends so that we will be 4 in total.

Here is a basic itinerary which I have sketched up using the tentative dates of 9 June to 18 June.

We plan to fly in and out of madrid and would like to see san sebastian and barcelona...

the basic aim of our trip is to spend some days in madrid, visit the basque country both for culture and beach, and then to spend the remaining days on a nice beach which is why we have chosen barcelona...

I am thinking if you can recommend some city other than barcelona which will fit our schedule that would have nice beaches I would really appreciate since I have already visited barcelona once before.

Also can you recommend some ways to save money in our travels...we are traveling by bus from city to city and are staying in hostels except madrid which we will rent an apartment for some days....

here below i have given you a rough sketch of how i think the trip will go...please comment and let me know what you think and please advise on matters listed above.

-Flight  from new York to madrid will cost 1,300 dollars
-Buses: 35 euros for three bus trips (from Madrid to san Sebastian to Barcelona) equals 105 euros about 140

-So transportation alone will cost almost 1,500 dollars.

-Lodging:

-Madrid apartment from 9th to 12th is 400 euros total about 520 dollars
   
Take midnight bus on 12th and reach san Sebastian      13th morning

-San Sebastian 4 bed mixed dorm from 13th to 14th is 400 dollars total

Take midnight bus on 14th and reach Barcelona on 15th morning

-Barcelona from 15th to 17th is 350 dollars total

Take midnight bus on 16th night and reach Madrid on 17th morning.
         
Madrid hotel 17th night is 125 total

So lodging alone will cost total of about 1400 dollars so that means per person 350 for 9 days


ANSWER: Hello Sravan

If all of you have already visited Barcelona then you may choose Valencia as alternative, in my opinion have better beaches IN the city that can be reached with public transport. Despite de Barcelona beach is not bad and was improved a lot for the year 92 olympic games, is not as good as some other beaches around the city. Seems that Sitges, to the south of Barcelona is a popular destination and have better beaches.

The main beaches of Valencia, Malvarrossa and Las Arenas (it's in fact the same beach that takes two names for the first and second half of te beach) located by the side of the America's cuo port. That beach is quite wide and sand is normally clean, water is safe but not transparent, i have visited it many times and is the favourite IN the city. Near Valencia are better beaches such as El Saler, Canet de Berenguer, but are difficult to reach by public transport.

The city has also some sights and the new CAC complex
www.cac.es
and it's ok to stay one or two days, also offers a vibrant nightlife, better than expected for a city of that size.

Some Valencia locations:
http://tinyurl.com/5o49o8

Another issue is if you plan to visit San Sebastian before Barcelona/Valencia is how to get from one place to the other. Barcelona beats Valencia by far in terms of communication and it's closer to Basque country than Valencia.

You could alternatively do Madrid-S Sebastian-Barcelona-Valencia-Madrid but may be you are running short of time.
Notice also that San Sebastian basque name is Donostia and you may find this city many times with both names.

I recommend you to check Maribel's guides for some tips
http://www.maribelsguides.com/


About buses
with Alsa Madrid-S Sebastian about 31euros
http://www.alsa.es
with Vibasa S Sebastian-Barcelona about 30euros
http://www.vibasa.es
with Bilman for San Sebastian-Valencia about 30euros
http://www.bilmanbus.es/
you have a couple of buses
dept/arr
09:00     16:55     
21:30    05:30


Check renfe website for any of these trips, because if you purchase tickets in advance and online you may opt for  Web or Star offers which are even cheaper than buses.
http://www.renfe.es/
No direct trains for San Sebastian-Valencia.

About hotels/hostals...
check tripadvisor for some other recommendation and different prices, also for reviews of the places that you have already chosen.
http://www.tripadvisor.com
http://forum.virtualtourist.com

To save money, choosing hostels and travelling by night is wise for saving money, also for having lunch try menu of the day in some restaurants and bars, may be not in basque country where food and 'pintxos' (tapas) are part of the tourism there.
If you are planing to visit monuments and museums check when are for free, one day of the week or some hours every day. You may also buy food in supermarkets and have lunch in parks. Tap water is safe all over spain but it have some 'taste' in coastal areas. Instead of buying bottled water in Madrid you may bring water from your hostal.
You may also want to experience the spanish nightlife, and can be a bit expensive.

You may ask me again for more details whenever you want.





---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thank you so much for all the detail which you have provided.

Can you tell me some beaches near Valencia where the water is transparent or close to transparent?

Answer
Hello again

The water on the beaches of Barcelona or Valencia may be not transparent but that doesn't mean dirty or unafe for bathing, in fact a couple of years ago Malvarrosa beach in Valencia got an european 'blue' flag given to those beaches that meet the requirements for services and cleaniless, beacehes are revised every year and last year that beach didn't get the blue flag, but it still a great beach.

Near Valencia are magnificent beaches, unfortunately most of them are not well connected by publi transport, some others have many ugly apartment buildings and are very developed focused for the sun and beach mass tourism.

An exception with very limited development and some restored environment is El Saler beach to the south of Valencia, but i personally don't like too much the beach as it's not too wide and have some stones as well.

Best beach in Valencia is located in Canet de Berenguer and Sagunto port area. I have been in the Sagunto beach several years and despite it's by the side of an industrial area and a port, with very limited traffic, the beach was very wide, clean and wsater was surprisingly transparent. It had a blue flag too.

Some other beaches are good too such as Cullera, Perellonet, etc.

Tourism information of the valencia region
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/
beaches
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/playas/playas1.htm
Canet beach
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/playas/playas3.htm?idmuni=359
Sagunto port beach
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/playas/playas4.htm?idplaya=92&origen=&prov=
El saler beach
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/playas/playas4.htm?nombre=&prov=&prov2=&bande


blue flag beaches
http://www.comunitatvalenciana.com/playas/playas2.htm?bandera=1

Some research about beaches near Barcelona would give you also very good and clean beaches. You may seek for Costa Dorada and Costa Brava beaches.

I hope this helps.