AboutVíctor Díaz Expertise I live in Madrid,and travel frequently to Valencia. I have also travelled to many places all over spain, if haven't been there i'd try to help anyway providing my knowledge and links.
I enjoy trekking in the mountains, and know pyrinees, Picos de Europa and mountains in the center.
Question My family and I are going to Spain on August 2010.we are arriving in barcelona , Spain. I am planning to in Spain for about 10 -12 days..How could i see a lot of places in 12 days.. Which places should i spend more days? Will i take the train? Could you give me an itenerary plan?
Answer Hello Manuel
You have a lot of time ahead for planning properly your trip
Most important cities to visit in Spain are (in no particular order) Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, Cordoba.
Pros: you visit the most interesting cities of spain, you visit three different ambients, mediterranean city with Barcelona, castillian ambient with Madrid and surroundings and the moorish influenced cities of Andalucia.
cons: Andalucia (sevilla, cordoba, granada) may be very warm in august, is not the best time to visit this place, but still many people visit them, just bear in mind that it's going to be warm and be prepared for that. This year august and july was too warm all over spain,with several waves, but for example last year was ok and with not very high temperatures.
Yoyu only not visit the north coast of spain, the green coast, with fresher temperatures in summer, but in my opinion this area are not for first time visitors. If you want to scape from the Andalucia heat, then Santiago de Compostela, Santander and San Sebastian may be other options.
For all of these places public transport, plane and trains are ok, except along north coast where you should also rely on buses or better renting a car.
With 12 days you have time to visit Barcelona, Madrid , Andalucia highlights as follows.
1-arrive to Barcelona
2-Barcelona
3-Barcelona and half day trip to Montserrat (with local trains)
4-Barcelona, move to Madrid with high speed train in the afternoon
5-Madrid
6-Madrid and half day trip to El Escorial (with local trains)
7-Madrid daytrip to Toledo or Segovia (with high speed train)
8-Madrid move to Sevilla in the morning (with high speed train)
9-Sevilla + daytrip to Cordoba (with high speed train)
10-Sevilla move to Granada in the morning (with regional train or bus)
11-Granada( Alhambra) and move to departure city in the afternoon (madrid by train, barcelona by plane)
12-stay in the city for departure.
This could be more or less a tour of spain, if you think it's stressing, then drop Andalucia for another travel in the future and stick with Barcelona, adding daytrips to Girona and Tarragona and more days in Madrid with more daytrips.
