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Barcelona--Madrid--Porto
Posted on 5/8/24 at 3:08 pm
Posted on 5/8/24 at 3:08 pm
Heading to Barcelona in June where we have an Air Bnb with friends for 5 days. Plan is then to take the high speed train to Madrid for a few days, then hop a flight to Porto, Portugal for a few more days. 15 days total.
Been doing my daily Duolingo Spanish for a few years, and hitting up some Portuguese as well.
Been through all the big touristy things to do lists and videos, and also going to hit some wine tours outside of Barcelona and Porto.
Any tips appreciated.
Been doing my daily Duolingo Spanish for a few years, and hitting up some Portuguese as well.
Been through all the big touristy things to do lists and videos, and also going to hit some wine tours outside of Barcelona and Porto.
Any tips appreciated.
This post was edited on 5/8/24 at 3:09 pm
Posted on 5/8/24 at 3:24 pm to parrotdr
You really won't need it much in Barcelona as a lot of people speak English.
Madrid it is much more hit or miss. It is not as touristy a city and is HUGE, and the people there think they are a bit above it.
Both Barcelona and Madrid have world class restaurants so do your research. Insane food scenes.
Madrid has two of he best museums in Europe and I would do both. They are both amazing in their own right.
Personally, I do not love Madrid at all, but I loved Barcelona.
We did Seville as well which we both absolutely loved.
I have not been to Portugal but its def on the list. I'd love to hit up some Port houses and do the Duoro valley
Madrid it is much more hit or miss. It is not as touristy a city and is HUGE, and the people there think they are a bit above it.
Both Barcelona and Madrid have world class restaurants so do your research. Insane food scenes.
Madrid has two of he best museums in Europe and I would do both. They are both amazing in their own right.
Personally, I do not love Madrid at all, but I loved Barcelona.
We did Seville as well which we both absolutely loved.
I have not been to Portugal but its def on the list. I'd love to hit up some Port houses and do the Duoro valley
Posted on 5/8/24 at 4:17 pm to parrotdr
The thing about Barcelona is that they might be speaking Catalunyan which even Spaniards can have a tough time understanding. Outside of the city it gets worse but it can be hit or miss in the city.
I could spend a week in Sevilla and it's a great place to daytrip to Ronda (preferred for me) or Gibraltor.
quote:
We did Seville as well which we both absolutely loved.
I could spend a week in Sevilla and it's a great place to daytrip to Ronda (preferred for me) or Gibraltor.
This post was edited on 5/8/24 at 4:18 pm
Posted on 5/8/24 at 4:53 pm to parrotdr
We flew into Madrid last June and it was already hot as hell, which we knew it would be. So we only spent 2 nights there and then headed for cooler areas. But I could spend a few days eating at all the tapas places along de la Cava Baja and de la Cava Alta. The tapas in Madrid is the best I've found in spain and that includes San Sebastian.
We used this guy's Vids as a guide for tapas
We used this guy's Vids as a guide for tapas
Posted on 5/8/24 at 5:17 pm to parrotdr
Dont sleep on the vineyards north of Madrid if you are into wine. Ribero Del Duero.
Posted on 5/15/24 at 9:57 am to Ham And Glass
quote:
I have not been to Portugal but its def on the list. I'd love to hit up some Port houses and do the Duoro valley
That's the plan!
quote:
Dont sleep on the vineyards north of Madrid if you are into wine. Ribero Del Duero.
This one's a great possibility. Also have a tasting tour booked outside of Barcelona at Pares Balta, and just happened to find one of their wines last week at Fauborg Wines in New Orleans. Weird, because the owner says she never gets that one.
Posted on 5/15/24 at 10:35 am to parrotdr
Spend a few nights in the Douro valley if you can. A day trip doesn’t do it justice.
Quinta do Vallado and Quinta da Gricha were some of my personal favorites to stay at.
Booked a tour guide through LAB Tours that brought us to a few places including Quinta do Panascal and Quinta de Ventozelo.
For Porto recs: We did port tastings at Ferreira and Churchill’s. Wouldn’t book more than 2 of these as they are all more or less the same thing.
Ate at Terreiro and Adela Sao Nicolau.
Also ate at Gazela and got the cachorrinhos (it’s touristy, but really good, especially with a beer).
Eat as many pasteis de nata and drink as much ginjinha as you can.
Quinta do Vallado and Quinta da Gricha were some of my personal favorites to stay at.
Booked a tour guide through LAB Tours that brought us to a few places including Quinta do Panascal and Quinta de Ventozelo.
For Porto recs: We did port tastings at Ferreira and Churchill’s. Wouldn’t book more than 2 of these as they are all more or less the same thing.
Ate at Terreiro and Adela Sao Nicolau.
Also ate at Gazela and got the cachorrinhos (it’s touristy, but really good, especially with a beer).
Eat as many pasteis de nata and drink as much ginjinha as you can.
This post was edited on 5/15/24 at 10:43 am
Posted on 5/15/24 at 11:30 am to BlackCoffeeKid
We were planning a train out of Porto to the Douro, staying a night (two days at wineries) then training back.
Thanks for the great Porto/Douro tips and pics!
Thanks for the great Porto/Douro tips and pics!
Posted on 5/15/24 at 11:48 am to parrotdr
No problem, Portugal/Douro is an amazing place.
Also, make sure to try a Porto Tonico. It’s a Port Tonic made with white port. Really refreshing on a hot day.
Also, make sure to try a Porto Tonico. It’s a Port Tonic made with white port. Really refreshing on a hot day.
Posted on 5/15/24 at 5:33 pm to parrotdr
Been in Spain (Seville) for over 3 years, and have spent a good amount of time in Madrid, Barcelona and Porto.
In Barcelona, you need to visit the Banksy Museum - great way to spend half a day. Also, the Catalonia National Museum is fantastic and def worth a 4-5 hour trip. For food, highly recommend a middle eastern tapas place, Zirvab. Great Indian food at Swagatam. For great blues/jazz, check out Jamboree which is right off Rambla.
In Porto, there's a great tiny wine bar (seats maybe 8 people), Morro d' amores, located at Rua da Bainharia no. 99. Family that owns it has the 2nd oldest winery in Portugal, and they have wines at this bar that are unavailable anywhere else. Its up a steep hill in the heart of Porto, close to the river, so bring comfortable shoes, but its worth finding - also has some small plates for snacking. Spent about 6 hours in there one night last Nov. and it was an amazing experience.
Not the biggest fan of Madrid. The art museums are extremey nice, but everything else tends to be slighty touristy and lacking any true Spanish feel to it. Highly recommend that you spend at least one day in Toledo, which is reachable by train from Madrid (one hour) and has tons of great sites.
If you find your way further south toward Seville, let me know and I can provide tons of recs.
In Barcelona, you need to visit the Banksy Museum - great way to spend half a day. Also, the Catalonia National Museum is fantastic and def worth a 4-5 hour trip. For food, highly recommend a middle eastern tapas place, Zirvab. Great Indian food at Swagatam. For great blues/jazz, check out Jamboree which is right off Rambla.
In Porto, there's a great tiny wine bar (seats maybe 8 people), Morro d' amores, located at Rua da Bainharia no. 99. Family that owns it has the 2nd oldest winery in Portugal, and they have wines at this bar that are unavailable anywhere else. Its up a steep hill in the heart of Porto, close to the river, so bring comfortable shoes, but its worth finding - also has some small plates for snacking. Spent about 6 hours in there one night last Nov. and it was an amazing experience.
Not the biggest fan of Madrid. The art museums are extremey nice, but everything else tends to be slighty touristy and lacking any true Spanish feel to it. Highly recommend that you spend at least one day in Toledo, which is reachable by train from Madrid (one hour) and has tons of great sites.
If you find your way further south toward Seville, let me know and I can provide tons of recs.
Posted on 5/15/24 at 5:59 pm to parrotdr
Barra Alta in either BCN or MAD for dinner one night. One of the most underrated restaurants in Spain. Nice but not over the top, crazy good.
Little cafe in Porto called Sol y Sambra. Cash only. Terrific local sandwiches called bifana. Get two, they're small. Also Sabores Invicta is a great heavy breakfast spot across the square from the train station. Porto is very hilly and all cobble stones so don't wear heals or flipflops.
Little cafe in Porto called Sol y Sambra. Cash only. Terrific local sandwiches called bifana. Get two, they're small. Also Sabores Invicta is a great heavy breakfast spot across the square from the train station. Porto is very hilly and all cobble stones so don't wear heals or flipflops.
Posted on 5/16/24 at 2:12 pm to parrotdr
quote:
You really won't need it much in Barcelona as a lot of people speak English.
Madrid it is much more hit or miss.
Definitely hit or miss in Madrid. I was in Madrid a couple weeks ago at an irish pub. I was feeling lazy so when I got to the bar I asked the bartender in spanish if they spoke english. he said no. then proceeded to bitch for a minute or two in perfect english about me even asking to speak english in spain.
You can definitaly get by way easier in Barcelona with only english, but you should still learn some restaurant/store Spanish because its not guaranteed and you'll likely need it in Madrid. Its not so much your speaking part as in those situations you can get by with just:
una mesa / la carta / food or drink name / la cuenta / tarjeta each followed by "por favor"
but more so understanding their prompts to know what is being asked. in restaurants it usually follows the flow you are used to in the US but dont put it past them to seat you then just pull out their pen and pad and say "Dime" without even giving you a menu .
Porto is very cool. Definitaly take in a sunset and some cocktails at Jardim do Morro and don't forget to get a Francesinha.
This post was edited on 5/16/24 at 2:15 pm
Posted on 5/17/24 at 11:10 am to Fat Batman
quote:
You can definitely get by way easier in Barcelona with only english, but you should still learn some restaurant/store Spanish because its not guaranteed and you'll likely need it in Madrid. Its not so much your speaking part as in those situations you can get by with just: una mesa / la carta / food or drink name / la cuenta / tarjeta each followed by "por favor"
Thanks! I can get by with my small amount of traditional Spanish, which I understand they speak in Madrid (as opposed to other regions with their dialects). Learned a small amount of Portuguese too, although from what I gather online that's one of the better countries to get by in English...true?
Posted on 5/17/24 at 11:27 am to parrotdr
Been to Lisbon and Porto, and my experience in both was that you really need to speak Portuguese except in the heavy tourist areas.
Posted on 5/20/24 at 12:43 pm to parrotdr
quote:
Learned a small amount of Portuguese too, although from what I gather online that's one of the better countries to get by in English...true?
In Lisbon they speak a lot of English. When I was in Porto I was with some native Portuguese speakers so hard for me to gauge, but even in a small town like Nazarre there was a good bit of English speakers. Luckily as far as restaurants go its pretty similar and sometimes the same as Spanish. At the most basic level, you're listening for the waiter to say bebida/beber (what do you want to drink), comida/comer (what do you want to eat), uma mesa para dois (table for 2, s = sh sound), la conta (the check). But generally unless in some smaller restaurants/tascas I found that you should be good with English. If you want to try to learn some European Portuguese, Practice Portuguese, is good and was the best resource I found that wasn't Brazilian based.
Posted on 5/20/24 at 11:28 pm to Fat Batman
quote:
In Lisbon they speak a lot of English. When I was in Porto I was with some native Portuguese speakers so hard for me to gauge, but even in a small town like Nazarre there was a good bit of English speakers.
English is compulsory from at least 3rd grade on, some start earlier.
As a local told me, anyone under 50 who pretends they can't speak English is a liar. (It's probably not quite this ubiquitous, but pretty close)
Posted on 5/21/24 at 11:59 am to Sisyphus
We went to Lisbon and sintra and 90% of the people spoke English and were super happy to see Americans. Most of them are like tour guides too because they had a deep knowledge of their history. I can see why so many ex pats are relocating there due to the prices and the friendly nature of the people. Headed back to Porto in July. Can’t wait.
Posted on 5/23/24 at 3:29 pm to parrotdr
Pick up a mascarpone croissant at Patisserie Hofmann in Barcelona.
Posted on 5/23/24 at 4:04 pm to parrotdr
I'm booking a motorcycle trip for the fall that starts in Barcelona and his the coast.
Looking forward to getting back to southern Spain. It's a great area. Food is amazing.
Looking forward to getting back to southern Spain. It's a great area. Food is amazing.
Posted on 5/23/24 at 4:23 pm to parrotdr
I love Italy, but man Spain is one badass country. In another life I could most certainly get lost and live there.
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