I keep on remembering things to do in Spain. Spaniards are VERY into gin and tonics. If you like gin, you must try Nordes gin from Galicia. I bring back Nordes to the States. They finally sell Nordes in a shop in Brentwood, but at least in LA (and Binnys in Chicago), it’s very hard to source.
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Some good tips in this thread. Madrid, Sevilla and Barcelona are three wonderful cities.
Madrid: as many have suggested, Reina Sofia is worth the visit to check out te Guarnica and other works. This is a museum you can knock out in a relatively short time. El Prado has more stuff to see, I would budget slightly more time there (varies according to your level of interest in art). Plaza Mayor has plenty of spots to eat, though I would recommend going the tapa route…have something small at different places . The San Miguel is just to the West and probably a better food option than the places in the Plaza. As some have suggested, just walking around in Madrid is part of the experience. From your hotel to Plaza Mayor is a good walk: the Puerta de Sol area can get busy with all the tourists. Toledo is well worth a day trip from Madrid.
Sevilla: the cathedral, the alcazar and wandering around the streets are the highlights. Rooftop bars in the early evening can be great to wind down a day. This is a great spot for a flamenco show…I would shoot for places that have shorter shows (roughly 1 hour…think we went to a place called Casa de la Guitarra), but would have dinner elsewhere. The Alhambra is spectacular…well worth the effort (personally I would choose Alhambra over Toledo in terms of budgeting time).
Barcelona: a world class city with plenty of interesting places to eat. The private tour of Sagrada Familia is a must…skips the line and the guide will help you notice neat things. I’m not a big fan of the lower Ramblas, I find the part from Plaza Cataluña up towards Casa Mila much more vibrant and slightly less touristy. Having said that the Gothic quarter is kind of neat…the small Picasso museum has some interesting works. We loved Montserrat…takes up about half the day.
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I agree with this. But the trip from Seville to Granada isn’t simple by train, so you would likely need to drive (2.5-3 hours each way) or take a tour.
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Thanks for the info on the Alhambra everyone. It sounds spectacular.
But it also looks like it takes almost a full day with travel time, and we won’t be able to fit that in. Should have asked this group well before making any travel plans.
Oh well. Good reason to go back! You’re already packed with fun activities. Enjoy.
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We did a bike tour in Barcelona last spring and it was great - very informative and a fun/quick way to get the lay of the land. You have a lot packed into Barcelona; you may have to cut back there? Every place you visit will be very busy! Barcelona will also have many options to eat vegetarian and other types of food, whereas Seville will get more limited, as it is much smaller. Consider a Flamenco show in Seville.
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I went there many years ago and it is an incredible and opulent hotel! Would love to go back!
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Yes- it is incredible. It is in the heart of the old quarter and right next to the University. I used to see that hotel everyday going to classes, but never went inside because, well, I was a student!
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In Seville, you can be entertained by Flamenco dancers and acrobats most evenings, on Plaza Nueva, for the price of a few coins in a hat
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If in season, try to catch a soccer/futbol game in Madrid, Sevilla or Barcelona. Sevilla might be the best option on short notice for that. There is a Metro stop at Nervion. You can walk over to Sevilla’s stadium (Ramon Sanchez) and catch a game. Unless it is a rivalry game, tickets are not too hard to get. You can walk to the stadium from Juderia too.
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Recently went to Seville. A highlight was a day trip to Cordoba. I highly recommend it. We took a tour- we booked a small group tour in English online ahead of time and it was well worth the cost.
Seville is wonderful. Have a great trip. Report back!!
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Also, in Seville we saw fabulous Flamenco at Casa de la Memoria, which is nice because it is only flamenco dance and not dinner. So only 1 hour. You should book that in advance if you want to do that.
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Yep…its hard to fit in from Sevilla in one day (makes for a long day). Its just such a remarkable place; on our last trip we did a quick overnight visit from Madrid.
Toledo is much more manageable as a day trip destination.
We have 2.5 days in Seville, but the first day is arriving early morning from the USA, the second is our only full day in Seville, and the third day is an evening train to Madrid. So we have time to see things in and around Seville, just not a full day for a trip to Alhambra.
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Depending on timing (and how much luggage you have) an afternoon in Cordoba might work as it’s on the main train line to Madrid and the mosque/cathedral is a short walk from the train station.
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(Hot chocolate) With churros! We’ve done just about every day trip out of Madrid (by train) and our favorite by far is Toledo. It was magical and that’s where you can get wonderful marzipan. But having said that, any day trip from Madrid is worth it (El Escorial, Segovia, Cuenca, Ávila, Salamanca, Códoba, etc.) We loved figuring out the 2 train stations and Madrid is a great base for exploring.
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Can take a cab from the train station to the Mezquite too and save some time.
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Good tip. Thats exactly what we did. Made it in a two hour pit stop. The mesquite is well worth it.
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We’ve been to Barcelona and Madrid. Liked the hop-on/hop-off bus in both places. Really enjoyed our Tapas tour in Madrid. Barcelona was fun on our own (pre/post cruise) and even more fun with friends. We loved eating out together, often outside.
I am back and my family had a wonderful trip in Spain. I wanted to thank everyone for their recommendations.
Some of the listed recommendations that we did included seeing the Alcazar in Seville, making a day trip to Cordoba to see the Mezquita, seeing the Reina Sofia in Madrid, and seeing the Parasol in Seville.
We really enjoyed Spanish food. My son can’t get enough of Jamon Iberico, and we all feasted on the paella and tapas, and of course hot chocolate with churros. A lot of good restaurants, but the only one I remember by name is Rao’s in Madrid. We did try to book Christina Bistro online, but their system was down and we ended up elsewhere.
Madrid was awesome for museums. We stayed at the NH Hotel Collection Paseo del Prado (confusingly there is a separate NH Hotel Paseo del Prado just 800m away which is where the cab dropped us off). This hotel is directly across from the Prado and is within easy walking distance of all the museums. Unfortunately El Retiro park was closed due to some weather damage.
We also enjoyed learning about the influences of Muslim, Jewish, and of course Catholic influences on the country. Visited the historical Jewish quarters in Seville and Barcelona as well.
We had an awesome private tour guide named Marc in Barcelona who took us through Parc Guell and La Sagrada Familia, and he made those two spots the highlight of our trip.
We also hired a private photographer in Barcelona and she too was awesome, spending 90 minutes with us for a photo shoot and taking about 400 pictures. This is the second time we have done this, with wonderful results each time.
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