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Advice on Spain/Portugal
Mon, 01/24/2011 - 21:12
Hello! I have two weeks to devote time between Portugal and southern Spain and am looking for advice! I can fly into Portugal on June 26 (and will be flying from a study abroad program in London so will not deal with jet lag) and am looking to best utilize my time. I am a 22 year old female and will be traveling alone so I am looking for places that will be fun for my age group and where I will be able to meet people. I enjoy getting up early to go sightseeing, but then partying at night. Last year, I backpacked through Europe and my favorite places were Barcelona, Munich, Rome, and the Amalfi Coast (to give you an idea of the types of places I like). This is what I am thinking:
June 26: fly to Porto and sightsee
June 27: Porto
June 28: leave Porto early and stop in Coimbra en route to Lisbon
June 29: Lisbon
June 30: Lisbon
July 1: side trip to Sintra
July 2: leave early for Lagos
July 3: Lagos
July 4: leave early for Sevilla (there is an early bus that would put me in by noon)
July 5: Sevilla
July 6: leave early for Tarifa
July 7: Tarifa and day trip to Tangier, Morocco
July 8: leave early for Granada
July 9: MUST MEET SISTERS IN MADRID – NOT FLEXIBLE
July 10: Madrid
July 11: Side trip to Toledo, Valley of the Fallen
July 12: Pamplona, running of the bulls
July 13: Pamplona, running of the bulls
July 14: leave early for Barcelona
July 15: Barcelona
July 16: Barcelona
Questions about this itinerary:
Is Porto worth going to? What about Coimbra? Am I using my time well in Southern Spain? I was also considering Cadiz, Malaga, and Cordoba, but read Sevilla and Granada are by far the best and I thought it would be cool to cross to Morocco for a day. I am trying to see as much as possible before I need to get to Madrid and want to make sure I am using my time well to get a good mix of big cities along with beautiful coastal destinations.
and if you want to give me advice on the rest of my trip…
July 17: sisters leave, fly to Ibiza for 3 nights
July 20 – fly to Brussels
July 21 – leave early for Brugges for the day/night
July 22 – Amsterdam for 3 days, 2 nights, take overnight train to Copenhagen on the 3rd night (I drink but don’t smoke pot…any recommendations for hostels where people will want to go to bars or clubs? Also, I am thinking about taking a day trip to Rotterdam or somewhere similar)
July 25-27 – Copenhagen, possible day trip to Malmo
July 28 – Hamburg
July 29 – Berlin
July 30 – Berlin
July 31 – Berlin
August 1 – travel to Frankfurt and check out the area
August 2 – Rhine river cruise
August 3 – Munich (only spending 1 night here because I was here last year for 3 days)
August 4 – Salzburg en route to Vienna (or should I stay the night here?)
Aug 5 – Vienna
Aug 6 – Vienna
Aug 7 – Budapest
Aug 8 – Budapest
Aug 9 – Budapest
Aug 10 – fly out of Budapest
I know this is cramming a lot in and I am moving fast, but I want to see a lot. I am considering cutting out Frankfurt/Rhine to have more time to squeeze elsewhere. Thoughts? Thanks for all your help!
I am leaving from London (will be there for study abroad) with $7000 for 46 days
Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon, Lagos, Seville, Tarifa, Granada, Madrid, Pamplona, Barcelona, Ibiza, Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest
Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon, Lagos, Seville, Tarifa, Granada, Madrid, Pamplona, Barcelona, Ibiza, Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest
Coimbra is nothing overly special. I like the day trip to Sintra. I think you should add another day to Seville. Seville and Granada are much more beauthiful and interesting than Cadiz and Malaga. Morrocco for one day is a bit touristy (do not under any circumstances let someone offwer to be your tour guide…you’ll end up looking in rug stores all day. Better to see if you can arrange something with a tour company). Salzburg can be done in an afternoon (skip Mozart’s house unless you are a real fan, instead go to the castle overlooking the town). The rest of your trip looks sweet. Enjoy
“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list”
Ok thank you! Do you think 2.5 days, 2 nights would be good for Sevilla and 2 nights in Granada? And have you been to Porto? I know that a day trip to Morocco will be touristy, but since I’m a girl traveling alone, I decided to save Morocco for another trip and just pop over to get a glimpse this time around. Thanks so much for your advice!
Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon, Lagos, Seville, Tarifa, Granada, Madrid, Pamplona, Barcelona, Ibiza, Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest
2 days for Granada and Seville is certainly doable — although I would go for longer.
Reykjavik, London, Lille, Berlin, Kraków, Lviv, Istanbul, Selçuk, Pamukkale, Kızkalesi, Göreme, Kars, Bat'umi, Akhalts'ikhe, Tbilisi, Telavi, Istanbul
Eurotrip Managing Editor
Porto is deffinetely worth going to, it iosvery-very beautiful, in fact it is on the list of all Portuguese tours. There are a lot of fun places,i’m also 22, remember that it is a homeland of Porto-most delicious wine in the world and it is sot expensive if to buy it on the open air market. I would also reccomend you to visit Porto’s museum of wine it is nothing like any other museum cause there you can drink