Spain for 20th Anniversary in Late April/Early May 2023

DEFINITELY do Seville! I love Seville its one of my faves.

Do the Rooftop tour of the gothic Cathedral. Totally stunning and incredibly interesting. Spend an hour or 3 at the Arabic baths, relax, get a massage, etc. Great experience. Do a tapas crawl in the old town. Visit the Bull Fighting Museum. Side trips to places like Cordoba to see the Cathedral (that was once a mosque).

Barcelona eat and drink. The food is incredible. Be extremely cognizant when walking Rambla, pickpocketing is rampant. DEFINITELY spend some time with Gaudi architecture: The Sagrada Familia will be one of the most stunning things you will ever see in your life, and going out to Park Guell early in the morning is totally worth it. If you get there early enough you don't have to pay.

This will sound boring but the opera house in Barcelona is totally worth a tour. It is absolutely beautiful with some amazing architecture (Palau de la musica). The Mercado de La Boqueria is a must do for lunch, walk around and sit at one of the counters and eat (we had one with foie gras, eggs and cava). El Xampanyet is a cool tapas experience.

I would spend by far the least amount of time in Madrid. It...kinda sucks. Its huge, its the capital, its really not super geared for tourism. Two of the best museums in Europe though. And some really amazing modern restaurants. I'd eat at StreetXO and Sala De Despiece for very modern tapas, both incredible experiences (no reservations you have to wait in some lines, the Spanish fricking love lines).

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DEFINITELY do Seville! I love Seville its one of my faves.

Do the Rooftop tour of the gothic Cathedral. Totally stunning and incredibly interesting. Spend an hour or 3 at the Arabic baths, relax, get a massage, etc. Great experience. Do a tapas crawl in the old town. Visit the Bull Fighting Museum. Side trips to places like Cordoba to see the Cathedral (that was once a mosque).

Barcelona eat and drink. The food is incredible.

I would spend by far the least amount of time in Madrid. It...kinda sucks. Its huge, its the capital, its really not super geared for tourism. Two of the best museums in Europe though. And some really amazing modern restaurants. I'd eat at StreetXO and Sala De Despiece for very modern tapas, both incredible experiences (no reservations you have to wait in some lines, the Spanish fricking love lines).

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Very much appreciated!

I think two days in Madrid is plenty. Do the Prado and the Thyssen museums, walk around a bit, eat at some great higher end restaurants.

I would spend the bulk of your time in Seville and Barcelona, maybe even a smaller place in between if you have time.

Thanks, man.

Yeah, the wife has talked about hitting Cordoba and Grenada, as day trips from Seville.

So how would 4 days each in Barcelona and Seville, and 2 days in Madrid sound? Would that be enough time in Barcelona and Seville (and surrounding areas)?

Someone told me to fly everywhere in Spain as it's cheap, while the trains are not the best. I drove all over Italy years ago - is Spain driving friendly for Americans?

I would definitely do Grenada.

We did a tasting menu at Restaurante Az-Zait in Seville and it was a great meal.

Restaurante Becerrita in Seville was also very good.

If I had to choose between the two I'd choose Az-Zait.

For our daytrip to Ronda we used GetYourGuide for a private guided trip. Cost was $420 for the full day. If you go to Ronda do not wear flip flops. If you choose there is a ton of up and down walking which I suggest you do because it gives you views of things like the old Roman bridge that can't be seen by simply standing and walking around up top.

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Rental cars are very expensive. We choose to rent private drivers through MyDayTrip which may have cost a little bit more but the treatment was first class. We were driven from Seville to Malaga in a Mercedes 500 sedan.

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Awesome.

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We also flew a lot as I tend to accumulate Iberia Avios so all flights were done on miles. If you have a pile of Amex points you can transfer them to Iberia and at times there is a 1:1.4 transfer rate.

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I do, so I will check into that.

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I'd stay in Seville near the river. There are walking paths along the river and you're close to a lot of things like the bull ring.

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Will check that out.

Thanks!

And always book first class on the trains.

Absolutely love Spain and just missed VaBuckeye as we were there in early June.

Flew into Madrid and then trained to Granada to Seville to Barcelona.

Had been to Spain a few times before but first trip into Andalusia. Seville absolutely stole the show. Hard to really put into words how neat of a city it is. It was built with tremendous wealth and then just has avoided a lot of the warfare of other European cities.

Granada I think you have to visit. The Alhambra and the Generalife gardens are just amazing to see in person.

As far as food, there is just incredible spots everywhere (but also some tourist traps). If you’ll be there even at all around Easter Holy Week May encounter huge crowds.

If you want to do some pre-trip reading, Ghosts of Spain is your friend.

ETA years ago we caught a musical
Performance in the Palau de Musica in Barcelona and it was definitely a highlight. Doesn’t matter what the performance is just go. And if there is an FC Barcelona match go there. Sagrada Familia also worth your time. Go inside and marvel.

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BlackenedOut

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Thanks for the rundown!