I have a trip planned to the Andalusia area of Spain for the last week of April and first week of May. I’m having buyers remorse and am thinking of changing it to Portugal. I have a whole itinerary for Portugal because we were thinking of going a few year’s ago but dh didn’t think he wanted to do 2 weeks in one country. So I’d just need to book lodging.
The impetus for this years trip is we had points that had to be used by end of April. I wanted somewhere warm, which is how I chose Andalusia - not for any real yearning to go to Spain. Now I will say I’m happy with the trip I planned and have been looking forward to it. On the other hand, even though I’ve got a good mix of locations, everything seems so similar. Whereas if we did Portugal we could see most of the country, and the areas seem more different.
Current trip has us flying to Madrid and taking a puddle jumper to Granada. It would be easy enough to change that to Lisbon. All my airbnbs are cancellable w/o penalty. The only $$ we’d be out is tix to the Alhambra. My one concern is weather. Seems Portugal in April can be rainy and still cool. I don’t think that should be my priority but I’m not going to be happy if we have two weeks of rain either.
Has anyone been to both countries that can help me decide? I’m driving myself crazy. Dh says no travel for a couple of years so I want this to be great.
We spent about 8 days in Portugal and 4 days in Seville the summer before the pandemic and enjoyed both. We only saw Lisbon and the south coast (stayed outside Faro) so I can’t speak to most of Portugal. We all loved Seville despite the hot weather (it was the end of June) - it’s very beautiful, good food and a lot to see. I think southern Portugal would have similar weather to Andalusia, but my understanding is that some of the prettier parts are further north and I don’t know about the weather. We liked, but didn’t love, Lisbon - it is very gritty in parts. I think it will be great either way.
My first Spain trip was to Andalucia and absolutely loved it (long ago though). Granada and Cordoba are unforgettable. I see Rick Steve’s site has a good itinerary although I’m sure you’ve already got one. I haven’t been to Portugal for comparison but you can’t go wrong sticking to your present travel plans.
I loved Lisbon when I was there 20 years ago. Happy to go back. The Alhambra (esp at night) was unforgettable and I liked other things in Spain too but given a choice I’d go back to Portugal. I didn’t care for Seville much but possible it was just an off couple of days. I think the weather will be similar in both countries. Portugal is less expensive and a bit more laid back.
Big yes, to Granada, Cordoba,… (we did that by rental car)
And depending on interests in culture/arts, a few days in Madrid can also be fun. Just the lush interior of the train station is a sight by itself (we used the high speed train from Barcelona and the Costa Brava; we had booked an open-fork itinerary)
I suspect either country is worth a trip - but I don’t think you’d be disappointed if you stick with what you have in place.
Yes that’s my concern. We wouldn’t be going to the Algarve, which will have the best weather at that time. Interesting you say Lisbon was gritty as that’s the word I’ve heard several times to describe Granada. Either way we are not big city people. We tend to hit them for the highlights and then get out of dodge. Probably not long enough to se the gritty.
I only scheduled two days in Granada and no time really for Cordoba or Madrid (just enough time for the Prado and a nice meal the day before we fly out).
Uh, I misunderstood - so how long will you be on the continent then?
If I only had a long weekend in Spain, not really enough time to add local travel, I would probably spend it in Barcelona. Between the Ramblas, Park Güell, La Sagrada Família,… there are so many sites. For a day trip out of town, we rented a car, went north on the Costa Brava to the Teatre-Museu Dalí, and on the way back found a nice little beach town to enjoy a few hours in the Mediterranean Sea.
So how many days? I’m sure you’ll have a great time no matter where you go but if you have a limited amount of time (and not sure you’ll be back soon) the suggestions may change.
Oh no, sorry, we’ll be there for 2 weeks. I was just giving times on the cities that were mentioned. Here’s our itinerary:
Two nights Granada
Two nights Capileira (hiking in Las Alpujarras)
Three nights Almogia (hiking and day trip to Malaga)
Two nights Ronda
Four nights Seville (day trip to Cadiz)
One night Madrid
I love that you set time aside for hiking. While the cities and sites are gorgeous, being able to get into and immerse yourself in the countryside is a real treat.
Since you have four nights in Seville, you can always choose “on the fly” to grab the high speed train to Córdoba and back. It’s an easy day trip, under an hour each way, if you want to get out of the “big city”.
In Seville, I highly recommend the Hotel Alfonso XX! Incredible hotel (and yes it is worth the cost even if you have to stay in hostels the rest of the trip).
We really enjoy going to some out of the way places and love hiking on vacation. Re Cordoba, we could also stop there for the day on our way back to Madrid. Which would mean no Prado but they do have a patio decorating contest going on which is supposed to be very pretty.
Yes, but it was many years ago. I remember having 6 waiters waiting on us!
Portugal is also great. Was there more recently and Lisbon is a neat city. It did not seem gritty to me. Walked late at night and seemed pretty safe. We took a day trip to Sintra which is really worth seeing. If we go back, would like to see Porto.
I’ve only been to Spain and I loved it! I can’t wait to go back.
I’ve never been to Portugal, but everyone I know who has been has had nothing but good things to say about it. I have a co-worker who was born and raised in Ireland and her sister used to run a bed and breakfast in Portugal. She has since retired, but still lives in Portugal. My friend has gone to visit her sister in Portugal several times and they’ve always had a great time!
There is a company called Petrabax that does a lot of great trips to Portugal and Spain. They have a lot of good hotel listings on their website. I’ve never used them, but I know people who have. At the very least it could be a good resource to get some ideas.
