[sandino]

Hi guys, I'm going to Spain this April to join a study tour (50 hours of Spanish) and then will go backpacking on my own for ten days after that. Now, I've chosen to go around the south of Spain and I don't quite know which places to visit.

*I'm sure people are going to think of telling me to go to Barcelona etc... I've been there. So if you have been to any of the pushpinned locations, can you tell me what to do there, and if there's anything to do there?

So the places are:
1.Sevilla
2.Valencia
3.Granada
4.Cordoba
5.Algeciras (for Tangier!)

I'm thinking of skipping Valencia completely, unless somebody here objects?

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

Hi!

You're gonna have a helluva fun on that trip. You can do quite well skipping Valencia, it's a nice town and for partying is great, but there're not as many interesting old buildings, museums and cultural offers as in the other towns. I'd also skip Algeciras (awful town) but if it's the way to Tanger... OK. Not many things to see in Tanger anyway, just some typical zoco and badly caressed buildings, tons of dirt... Certainly a different culture and lifestyle.

Granada is really wonderful and a must see. Sevilla, not bad, but far away of the great place Granada is. Cordoba is another must see, the Mezquita is unique.
From Cordoba you might enjoy a visit to Ubeda and Baeza, they're renacentist towns into Jaen's province, not very far from Córdoba, but not very well communicated. I suppose there must be some buses covering the trip.

If you're going to Madrid, then a visit to Toledo (it's only 90Km away from Madrid, a 30' trip on AVE, the high speed train) is a must. Were you staying in Madrid for several days, then go to Segovia, La Granja and Aranjuez. All at 100-150 Km from Madrid and reachable by road and train.
From Madrid at about 2h trip on AVE you can get to Valladolid, nice town indeed. It once was the capital town of Spain. Also Salamanca is a very interesting town, but it's not as well connected and you probably wouldn't be able to have a good visit in an awayday trip from Madrid, you'd need to spend one night there.

Enjoy your trip. And don't get discouraged about your Spanish if you have a hard time to understand people while at Andalucia (Sevilla, Córdoba, Granada, Jaen, Algeciras...), their accent is difficult to understand even for spaniards from the north.

Regards

 

[sandino]

Thanks Torpedo, that was very informative!

My school tour will include going around Madrid. I've been looking around online for hostels and transportation options. I really want to go to Tangier (So I can be the first person in the family to set foot on Africa!). Do you know any 1 or 2-day tours for Tangier? I found a 65euro weekend tour which includes hotel stay and breakfast which kinda appeals to me. I'm going to be pressed for time if I do that though, as I only plan to go around 10 days.

You've been around, you mind if I grill you some more for tips? Like, how many days should I spend in each destination (I was thinking of at least 1 night in each)?

And if push comes to shove and you have to remove one of these destinations from your (mine haha) itinerary, which one would it be? I don't party nor do I think I will be very sociable in this trip; first time backpacking.

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

Sure mate, let me know how's your school trip and where will you be with your partners those days, then I can give you a hand planning your ten days at leisure.

I understand you feel curious about Tangier. I think it's interesting you experience it by yourself, but being objective, there're more things worth your time to see in Spain. It all depends on if you want to see antique buildings, museums, etc. or experiencing a culture and lifestyle which can be very different from what you already know or you'll see in Spain. In this case the trip to Tangier can be very interesting for you. 65 euros is a very good price for a guided tour including the travelling and logding along a weekend. I suppose once in Spain you can find more of such tours at local travel agencies in Sevilla, Cádiz, Málaga or the own Algeciras. It all depends on the places you finally stay.

These days Spain is getting very expensive. Finding a decent hotel to spend one single night for 60 euros is really hard, specially in Madrid.

Regards.