10 days in visit the must sees in Spain....any suggestions

Hi there...I am on the last leg of my amazing journey...leaving Serra di Estrella in Portugal on 9th March and taking the plane out of Madrid on 19th March. I have been backpacking for 7 months...staying in youth hostels or volunteering on farms..been awesome. But now I have accumulated a 2nd suitcase of winter clothes so am not as light a traveller as before!! This is going to restrict me somewhat as I am on my way home and have all my luggage with me....and being a 50something female nomad, I would like to keep it easy for these few days. I would like to see some of the "must sees" of Spain. Will be travelling by bus or train from Castelo Branco, and other than the heavy bags I am pretty flexible...could possibly store my baggage in Madrid or other large city with such facilities while I go off for a few days adventure!!

Any tips/suggestions please

Muito obrigada

barcelona, san sabastian.

Quoting Gypsy Lee

Hi there...I am on the last leg of my amazing journey...leaving Serra di Estrella in Portugal on 9th March and taking the plane out of Madrid on 19th March. I have been backpacking for 7 months...staying in youth hostels or volunteering on farms..been awesome. But now I have accumulated a 2nd suitcase of winter clothes so am not as light a traveller as before!! This is going to restrict me somewhat as I am on my way home and have all my luggage with me....and being a 50something female nomad, I would like to keep it easy for these few days. I would like to see some of the "must sees" of Spain. Will be travelling by bus or train from Castelo Branco, and other than the heavy bags I am pretty flexible...could possibly store my baggage in Madrid or other large city with such facilities while I go off for a few days adventure!!

Any tips/suggestions please

Muito obrigada

Hi Gipsy

Seville is well worth visiting. The Giralda, Cathedral, Alcazar: loads of beautiful places.

Don't miss The Reine Sofia Gallery in Madrid with Picasso's Guernika (and cool glass outside lift)

Barcelona is also interesting, with all those amazing Gaudi buildings, esp. his temple della Sagrada Familia

Hope this helps

Allie

[ Edit: Edited on 14-Feb-2011, at 02:48 by hallyally ]

Hi,

I think that "must sees" is down to personal taste.

Seeing how you only have 10 days, incumbered by heavy baggage and probably on a budget I would suggest you take the bus/train to Madrid and see some nearby towns.

My recomendations are:

Toledo (one of my favorite cities in Spain)
Avila
Segovia

Oh and Madrid itself of course

I went at a similar time of the year, it wasn't quite warm enough for the beach atmosphere, so I'd recommend the following cities/inland places:

Barcelona: lively, cosmopolitan, historical, lots to do and see
Seville: a smaller city, but still very lively, and quite 'Spanish', a few historical buildings, can see a bull fight, etc.
Granada: a small town with plenty of charm, and the Alumbra castle with the snowcapped hills is in the background quite stunning.

hi everyone!! Thanks for great feedback...I have decided on Barcelona...I can get a really low cost flight there from Lisboa, and Montserrat is calling me, as well as Gaudi masterpieces of course!! Will take a quick recce of Madrid as well and then the other amazing places are 1st on my itinerary when I return to Spain.

Awesome days to all of you

Quoting Gypsy Lee

hi everyone!! Thanks for great feedback...I have decided on Barcelona...I can get a really low cost flight there from Lisboa, and Montserrat is calling me, as well as Gaudi masterpieces of course!! Will take a quick recce of Madrid as well and then the other amazing places are 1st on my itinerary when I return to Spain.

Awesome days to all of you

Montserrat is a definite 'no miss' place - try to go on a Sunday when they do the Catalan dancing outside the Basilica (at least they did when we were there in May a few years ago!)

Enjoy!

Allie

Everything Gaudi in Barcelona!

Hi Gypsy,

Why don't you mail your second suitcase of winter clothes home? Will save you having to carry it around with you everywhere.

As I have just suggested to somebody else on another thread ryanair do pretty cheap flights to lots of other Spanish cities. if you can find a solution to your baggage travel with just hand luggage on ryanair, keeps the price down.

Barcelona, Valencia, Santiago or even Ibiza are no more than 1.5 hours flights away.

Have fun!

Thanks Besalu....just what I had in mind but the cost to mail a suitcase is almost as much as a flight home!!! I have decided to do a quick 5 day trip to barcelona on Ryanair...soo cheap!! Then I will be free as bird! beautiful day for you.....