Possibly going to Spain this summer, looking for a good place to go

[Colin]

The wife wants to go to Spain this summer, wants a place where she can relax and hang out. I would like a place with a fair bit of history as it's the wife and kids first time to Europe. Any advice on a good town/city to go? also are Airbnb's a thing over there, or is their a better way to find a reasonable place to stay?

[sunday]

13 minutes ago, Colin said:

The wife wants to go to Spain this summer, wants a place where she can relax and hang out. I would like a place with a fair bit of history as it's the wife and kids first time to Europe. Any advice on a good town/city to go? also are Airbnb's a thing over there, or is their a better way to find a reasonable place to stay?

Have you got a good tolerance for hot weather? If yes, Andalusia could be very interesting. Granada especially, with some of the best Islamic architecture in the world in the Alhambra. Then Cordoba is quite near. Seville is always a treat. You can get to Granada, Cordoba, and Seville by high-speed rail from Madrid.

Madrid in summer is a bit unbearable, but there is a excellent mass transit system with lots of air conditioned places, and Museo del Prado has one of the best art collections in the world.

Sadly, Barcelona is a bit too much dangerous for the average tourist.

For a cooler weather experience, Northern Spain is the place to go. Galicia especially.

There is airbnb in Spain, but I have not used it.

[seahawk]

But in Catalunya you could go to Girona and maybe stay near the coast. 

Mallorca is also an option, but not one I recommend for the summer as it is overrun by British and German tourists at the time.

In summer I think Galicia, Asturias or the Basque country are all solid options. The positive thing is that there is not one part of Spain, that is not worth at least one visit.

Edited February 10, 2024 by seahawk

[Josh]

When I was ten, I was amazed by the aqueduct of Segovia.

[Josh]

I’ve also hung out in the Basque country since my brother in law was from honderabia (spelling?). Balboa has an amazing gugaheim museum.

i think anyone who thinks Barcelona is a dangerous city has never been in a city in their life.

Edited February 10, 2024 by Josh

[Ssnake]

What's your heat tolerance?

There's beaches all over Spain, but some are in the north where it's tolerable, and some are in the south where you can expect 40..45°C (that's about 110 in Freedom Units).

• Segovia has that awesome aquaeduct, but that's good for maybe half a day or so
• Barcelona has history and, above all, architecture (check out Andoni Gaudí, if you never heard of him)
• Cordoba has lots of history, no beach, and searing heat since it's down in Andalusia
• Madrid - lots of history, museums, zero beaches. But since it's likely that you enter and/or leave the country through its airport, it might be worth extending your stay before traveling to other places
• Zaragossa is also nice; from there, day trips to other places are possible. The Piedra monastery was nice to visit, particularly since I found a route that was extremely fun to drive (take the detour through Hoces de Jalón)

[bojan]

8 hours ago, sunday said:

...Sadly, Barcelona is a bit too much dangerous for the average tourist...

Has it really gone that bad? I was there in 2009 IIRC (damn, that is 15 years...), and it was pretty OK.

Edited February 10, 2024 by bojan

[sunday]

26 minutes ago, bojan said:

Has it really gone that bad? I was there in 2009 IIRC (damn, that is 15 years...), and it was pretty OK.

When Ken Estes came here, back in 2011, we used Barcelona Metro quite a lot, and his wallet was pickpocketed. Perhaps we should not have been using English to talk, as that was the only instance of me being witness to a robbery in Barcelona mass transit.

There are neighborhoods more risky than others, of course. Recent migratory movements have made dangerous to go out with a recognizable luxury watch, for instance.

Then, this: https://metropoliabierta.elespanol.com/sucesos/20210526/reyerta-entre-menas-turistas-franceses-por-un-robo-en-el-born/584191726_0.html

Or this: https://casoaislado.com/seis-menas-asaltan-y-atacan-brutalmente-a-un-turista-japones-en-barcelona/

It is a pity, as I think I could be able to arrange a very good visit to Sagrada Familia with an architect, former teacher of mine in high school, and now dedicated to Gaudi.

[sunday]

3 hours ago, Ssnake said:

What's your heat tolerance?

There's beaches all over Spain, but some are in the north where it's tolerable, and some are in the south where you can expect 40..45°C (that's about 110 in Freedom Units).

• Segovia has that awesome aquaeduct, but that's good for maybe half a day or so
• Barcelona has history and, above all, architecture (check out Andoni Gaudí, if you never heard of him)
• Cordoba has lots of history, no beach, and searing heat since it's down in Andalusia
• Madrid - lots of history, museums, zero beaches. But since it's likely that you enter and/or leave the country through its airport, it might be worth extending your stay before traveling to other places
• Zaragossa is also nice; from there, day trips to other places are possible. The Piedra monastery was nice to visit, particularly since I found a route that was extremely fun to drive (take the detour through Hoces de Jalón)

Granada in summer is tolerable, as it is in the mountains. This is a pretty good video in English about Andalusia:

Saragossa is not. Hot and humid, continental climate with a large river nearby.

There is the list of Rick Steves' videos on Spain: https://www.youtube.com/@ricksteves/search?query=spain

Edited February 10, 2024 by sunday

[Colin]

My wife does not do heat well, which is funny as she is a tropical girl. 

[sunday]

7 minutes ago, Colin said:

My wife does not do heat well, which is funny as she is a tropical girl. 

Then:

Edited to add:

An idea for an itinerary, but by rental car as this train-cruise is really expensive: https://eltrentranscantabrico.com/en/

Edited February 10, 2024 by sunday

[bojan]

   

Just now, sunday said:

When Ken Estes came here, back in 2011, we used Barcelona Metro quite a lot,...

Pickpockets are... IDK, part of the experience. Bonus point if you twist their finger during attempt. 

Ironically out of all the cities that I have been or lived in I think that only in Belgrade none has ever tried to pickpocket me*. Paris was probably worst, in the metro during rush hours at least 3 or 4 unsuccessful attempts were made.... Wallet in the front pants pocket, your hand over it is a pretty decent defense. Or during colder months in the inner jacket pocket. No sympathy for people who carry wallet in their rear pockets or fanny packs.

*Most pickpockets here avoid larger males as a victims. Survival instinct probably.

 

[sunday]

1 minute ago, bojan said:

   

Pickpockets are... IDK, part of the experience. Bonus point if you twist their finger during attempt. 

Ironically out of all the cities that I have been or lived in I think that only in Belgrade none has ever tried to pickpocket me*. Paris was probably worst, in the metro during rush hours at least 3 or 4 unsuccessful attempts were made.... Wallet in the front pants pocket, your hand over it is a pretty decent defense. Or during colder months in the inner jacket pocket. No sympathy for people who carry wallet in their rear pockets or fanny packs.

*Most pickpockets here avoid larger males as a victims. Survival instinct probably.

 

Well, Ken is not the smallest person I know...

[sunday]

Also, talking about cruises: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/itinerary/7-night-northern-spain-from-southampton-on-independence/ID07U232#step=0

[bojan]

2 minutes ago, sunday said:

Well, Ken is not the smallest person I know...

Difference is, you probably have a law that is actually applied against people beating pickpockets if caught.

[sunday]

3 minutes ago, bojan said:

Difference is, you probably have a law that is actually applied against people beating pickpockets if caught.

We do, we do...

[seahawk]

Maybe Girona is really a good alternative. Artigas Gardens in La Pobla de Lillet gives you a bit of Gaudi with a lot less people and an amazing landscape. 

[RETAC21]

49 minutes ago, Colin said:

My wife does not do heat well, which is funny as she is a tropical girl. 

Then you should avoid Seville, Cordoba and Saragossa (heat+humidity). Granada has the same climate as Madrid.

Madrid, depending on the dates, may be bearable (3rd week of July to 2nd week of August likely to be warm) but if you are going to go to museums and such, then it's fine. You can do Segovia, Avila and Toledo from Madrid as there are connecting trains, Toledo is ahead as it also has the Army museum, but all 3 are good specially for culinary reasons.

If good temperature but possible bad weather is not a problem, then Galicia - Santiago is spectacular but overrun with tourists, La Coruña offers good hotels and you can rent a car to move around. Moving to Asturias, Oviedo is a beautiful medieval city and Gijon has a good beach, both within a stone throw of each other. Bilbao has good connections to everywhere and has become quite touristy in the last 20 years. San Sebastian and Pamplona, thanks to Hemingway, are overpriced.

On the South, Cadiz has very nice weather but tends to be on the expensive side in the summer. 

 

[urbanoid]

1 hour ago, Colin said:

My wife does not do heat well, which is funny as she is a tropical girl. 

Oh, that's the same as a certain Spaniard who prefers colder weather.

[Ssnake]

Well, last week in Cordoba it was a nice 16°C in the afternoon (that's 61 in Freedom Units), and pretty much everybody walked around in coats, duvet vests, I even saw someone with ear muffs on. What Spaniards call "colder weather" is, well, distinctly skewed.

[Colin]

Thanks for all the input. Couple of other questions if possible:

I like to take them to see a real Castle and roman ruins (The aqueduct is one possibility) as they have never seen either.

My daughter besides being Type 1 Diabetic is also suffers from Celiac disease so can't have any Gluten or Lectain (tomato's etc, which is frigging cruel as she used to love them) How hard/easy is it to find non-Gluten foods in Spain? Also if we need to get more Insulin, how strict are the pharmacies there for foreigners needing drugs?

[sunday]

26 minutes ago, Colin said:

Thanks for all the input. Couple of other questions if possible:

I like to take them to see a real Castle and roman ruins (The aqueduct is one possibility) as they have never seen either.

My daughter besides being Type 1 Diabetic is also suffers from Celiac disease so can't have any Gluten or Lectain (tomato's etc, which is frigging cruel as she used to love them) How hard/easy is it to find non-Gluten foods in Spain? Also if we need to get more Insulin, how strict are the pharmacies there for foreigners needing drugs?

Castile means land of castles, so that is a easy thing to do. You can go to Segovia, see the aqueduct, have the best roasted suckling pig in the world (if you want), and visit the Alcázar (english wikipedia entry). It is from the late Middle Ages, and an inspiration for Disney to build Snow White castle:

On buying insuline in Spain: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/insulin-in-spain, but I'll ask in my local pharmacy.

Edit to add: There is a state-owned hotel chain in Spain, with properties in historic buildings. Some of those are former castles. There is a map of those castles turned into hotels in this article. Here is the english webpage of one of those hotels, called Paradores.

Edited February 11, 2024 by sunday

[Ssnake]

There's castles everywhere in Spain, similar to the Rhine and Mosella valleys. The most famous one would probably the Alhambra (Granada). Near Cordoba is Almodóvar del Río, which they used in Game of Thrones (maybe your family liked that show) for Highgarden (and also for Casterly Rock, so three castles for the price of one ). These two suggestions are, of course, in the hot south. But who knows, maybe you're going there after all.

Cordoba has "the inverted Hagia Sophia", if you will. A huge (=gigantic, actually) mosque (of which half is still standing), into which a cathedral was built later: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosque–Cathedral_of_Córdoba

But like Sunday already wrote; you can hardly throw a stone in Spain without hitting something historic.

The food thing shouldn't be much of a problem - as long as you can articulate it in Spanish. These days, many Spaniards, expecially in the tourism industry, will speak some English. But there's no guarantee for that, so for this important point (and the insulin thing) you'll need to find a way to communicate that.

[sunday]

Roman ruins:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarraco

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Theatre_(Mérida)

Also, on the gluten thing, it is not rare to see in restaurant menus which dishes are gluten-free.

[seahawk]

Roman ruins are hard to avoid in Spain. Wherever you go, you will not run out of things to visit or hikes to take.