Family Trip to Spain in the Spring - Advice?

My son (21) is spending a semester in Spain this spring. Hoping to take the rest of the family (4 of us) and join him in March. I have been to France, Germany, and Italy but would love some advice for travel tips and things to do while there for about eight to ten days. They boys are 19 & 23 so they probably have differing agendas... Airfare help, hotel vs AirBnb, car rental or just Euro Pass, and things that you feel are a "must" would be awesome.

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!

We’ve only been to Barcelona…which we’d recommend! But it’s been a while.


This guy usually gives good advice…something to explore anyhow…

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/spain

We did a day trip to Mallorca during a vacation in Barcelona. Quick flight over, rented a car, hit some beaches and did a private dinner at a winery or something - it was a really cool experience.

8-10 days is pretty perfect for Spain, but you wont be able to do everything still. Seville is amazing, the food and the atmosphere, going to different restaurants and having Tapas every where. Barcelona is very cool, and is like two cities in one. Madrid is quintessential Spain, culture and history. San Sebastian will be some of the best food you will ever eat in your life. Hotel is the way to go in Spain, and renting a car is not a big deal (just be prepared to be going minimum of 80 on the highways). Make a plan for a road trip try and get to different cities, because they all have different flavors. Minimum two days per city. The boys will love Barcelona, Seville, Malaga and Valencia. You will enjoy Madrid and San Sebastian the most.

Thank you for the replies and the Rick Steves' website - very cool and helpful! Is it worth trying to cram in Portugal or Tangier, Morocco?

Sitting down at one of the really good Iberico joints in Barcelona and rolling through a wine-paired tasting is, like, the best thing ever.

I really enjoyed walking around Toledo for the day as well fwiw.

I haven’t been to Spain since 1994. It was nice. I remember the amazing Paella and the beautiful Alhambra. Also, the zoo in Barcelona or Madrid was atrocious.

Also idk if your kids are into art(I’m not generally) but I enjoyed the Prado more than the Louvre.

Highly recommend going to Mallorca as well. My wife and I spent 3 days there during our delayed honeymoon last month and it was one of our favorite places. We stayed up the mountain in deia, which was amazing but you may want to stay closer to the beach and city with kids depending on what type of experience you are looking for.

Ghostsurfer said:

Thank you for the replies and the Rick Steves' website - very cool and helpful! Is it worth trying to cram in Portugal or Tangier, Morocco?

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You can skip Portugal

This one is a bit out of the way, but if you’re going to travel south from Madrid toward Seville, continue on to Tarifa. It’s on the Mediterranean coast right next to Gibraltar. (Gibraltar is also great. But beware. The apes bite.)) We could stand on the balcony of our Tarifa hotel room and see Africa across the straights. Very cool. Next day, we took a ferry to Tangiers and went from there to Fez.

Also, I had one of the best meals in my life in Tarifa. We walked into this hole in the wall restaurant. The owner was the chef. His daughter was the waitress. We spent over two hours and it seemed perfect.

Find travel insurance that will pay off if either the US or EU has covid related travel restrictions.

Liquid Karma said:

Find travel insurance that will pay off if either the US or EU has covid related travel restrictions.

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This is smart. Spain treads the border of being a third world country and is really bad at covidding.

I've spent a considerable amount of time in Spain and would recommend making Madrid your home base if it's your first time. Hotel is the way to go imo. The metro in Madrid is good and being in a hotel you'll be more likely to be near a better metro stop. I like staying near Plaza de España if that helps at all.

I would say budget 4 days for Madrid. That's enough time to knock out the big attractions like the Prado, Retiro, the Palacio, etc. If you guys are sports fans and timing works out I would highly recommend grabbing tickets to a Real Madrid or Atletico match. The Bernabéu (Real Madrid) is super easy to get to and getting tickets shouldn't be a huge issue. Atletico has a more fun environment imo, but Real Madrid is probably a better introduction for a La Liga match.

From Madrid, I highly recommend making a day trip to Toledo. With the high speed rail it's only like a 90 minute (maybe less) train ride. Toledo has one of coolest cathedrals in the country.

Segovia is also an easy day trip by train. Cool cathedral (not as good as Toledo) and the Alcázar and aqueducts are really cool.

If you're trying to really split up your time, go north to San Sebastian. I can second what's been said about the food there. I have had the best meals of my life in that city and it's not even close.

In Sevilla, you'd want to see the large Cathedral there and La Giralda. It's a great city. La Alambra is great piece of history in Granada (fortress dating back to 800, this is where the last Moors were before being expelled by Ferdinand and Isabel). If you are driving, La Mesquita in Cordoba is a must as well. It is an amazing former mosque that was converted into a cathedral. The architecture will blow you away. All the Madrid recommendations were great.

Haven't been to Barcelona or San Sabastian, so not sure on those recs. Adding Morocco would be overdoing it I think.

Thanks a lot! I love these recs and we are super excited about the trip. First time on a plane for the kids - benefits of being a teacher's kid, I guess. : ( Hard to believe that their first flight will be almost 12 hours.

Love the recommendation about travel insurance! Fortunately, we are all Vaxxed and are getting the booster next week. Now, I'm toying with the idea of extending for 2- 3 more days and having to pay for my own sub.

We did AirBnBs in Barca, Madrid and San Sebastian and all were awesome. Especially since you are going to be with family, I would look for those rather than hotels since you can find something where everyone gets their own bedroom and you can still have a communal space to hang out.

Where is the student studying abroad?

Did Barcelona-Madrid-Lisbon once, and enjoyed it overall. My rankings on the experience:

1) Lisbon - great areas to walk around, friendly people that were comfortable speaking English and genuinely interested in hearing about our culture/country, cheap goods and services, nice beaches, felt safe
2) Madrid - was more beautiful than I was expecting. Great food and parks. People OK, made a huge difference to go out with a native who lived there.
3) Barcelona - Gaudi architecture was incredible and well worth any wait time. Overall, was disappointed. Seedier than I expected, beach was meh, there are lots of pickpockets and muggings are not uncommon (happened to me). That soured my experience a bit. I know people absolutely love this city, so maybe I just had an unfortunate experience.