starrycosmo

Hello Travelers! My husband and I are looking to go to Spain and France in September next year. We have about 14 days to enjoy. Possibly looking for a guided tour for all or part of the trip. We are in our mid-late 30s and want to see a lot but want to relax and enjoy the wine and tapas in Spain. Therefore, we'd like a 9-10 day trip all over the best parts of Spain and the rest of the trip in France. I don't have a strong desire to visit Paris, but want to hit the best spot(s) of France where I can make the best use of our time, for the remaining 4-5 days. Of course two of those days are travel days. I wanted to see if anyone has any recommendations on a specific tour or places that are a MUST SEE in France. Spain, I'd like to hit up Barcelona and Madrid and then try to get over to Portugal (if it works out that way). As you can see, we're open to spots to visit. Again, we like wine and food and enjoy historical spots.

Thank you in advance for your help and guidance!!!

jamikins

I don’t think you need a guided tour! We spent 2 weeks in Andalusia this past September and loved it!

our pics are here https://www.flickr.com/photos/pug_gi...57688586314646

two weeks is not a lot of time. I think you will struggle to see Portugal, Madrid, Barcelona, France and ‘the best parts of Spain” in two weeks.

you should get a good guide book or two, determine what you’d like to see and then set out a timeline to determine if you can do it all in two weeks taking into travel time between places.

dont book flights until you know you itinerary because an multi city flight might work the best.

thursdaysd

You seem to have two days for France. Forget France.

You could add Lisbon or Porto to Spain, but two weeks is not much time for Spain alone.

As jamikins says, you need to spend some time with guidebooks deciding on what YOU want to see. Of course, if you just want to visit what are said to be the "top" sights, every guidebook has a list. I would suggest starting with glossy guidbooks like DK Eyewitness and Insight.

But if you really want a tour this is the one I would take, and the itinerary will give you an idea of how much can be seen in a couple of weeks - IF you are very well organised:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/spain-portugal/spain

PalenQ

Yes concentrate on Spain and trains will take you everywhere.

Maybe start in Barcelona- 3 nights
Madrid - 4 nights (great day trip to nearby Toledo is easy)
Seville area - Granada and Cordoba - 7 nights

Fly into Barcelona and out of Seville.

Lisbon takes a day to get to from Seville so no time much for that.

Great info on trains: Renfe (Spanish Railways site where you can book your own trains at discounts if early enough); www.seat61.com; BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com.

StCirq

Your time is limited. I agree, dump France if that's all the time you can spend there. You simply cannot do "all of the best parts of Spain," never mind France, in such a short space of time.

Avail yourselves of guidebooks and maps and internet sites and pick what seems relevant to YOU, not us. Everyone likes wine and food and historical spots - that's hardly giving out any concrete, useful, personal information.

You don't need a tour, but of course if you don't want to do your own planning, there are always possibilities, especially if you don't mind early-morning wakeups, hours on buses, mediocre restaurants, and accommodations far from the center of things. They're not all like that, of course, but you'll pay dearly for ones that are not.

thursdaysd

You can fly from Seville to Lisbon in just over an hour. True, you have to get to the airport ahead of time, but neither airport is far from the center of town, so more like half a day.

StCirq, yes, there are terrible tours. However, I have taken RS tours and they are not at all like that. The hotels are central, included meals are good, the guides are excellent, there are no shopping ops and no tipping.

PalenQ

If going to Lisbon go for 3 nights -just flying there one day and leaving the next would be useless. But if you just want to do Seville and Cordoba you'd have time for that.

starrycosmo

thank you! What is RS? Sorry, it's been a while since I've travelled, having small boys at home. 😁

HappyTrvlr

RS is Rick Steves but at your age, do not take a tour. Spain is easy to navigate, good train system.

thursdaysd

Right, RS is Rick Steves, and the tour I linked is one of his - https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/spain-portugal/spain

I agree that a tour is not necessary for Spain, or a lot of other places, come to that. I use them sparingly, but if the OP wants one, RS is a good choice..

PalenQ

Yes easy to do on own - especially if pre-book transportation and hotels - but no shame in taking a tour as the vast majority of Americans visiting Europe do. Rick Steves' tour recommendation from thursdayds would be enough for me - if she/he liked it is a great endorsement - one of Fodor's veteran expert contributors IMO. I would eschew the mega bus tour where yes you may have early a.m/ reveilles and get in late - most such tours try to pack as much as possible into their itineraries so you get fleeting views of many things but cannot often move at your own pace. Steves has a more personalized approach and smaller groups.

janisj

Most group tours (not all but a really big % ) will be geared to a much older demographic. You would be the youngest by far on many tours. IF you still want a tour - then RS would be best unless you want to pay the really big bucks for high end small groups.

I would definitely forget about France on this trip. Even with all two weeks spent in Spain you would have to be very selective re what to include and omit.

Get to a bookshop or your local library and get a guide book or two and think about cutting back - you have PLENTY of time to work out your itinerary.

PalenQ

At your ages independent travel should be a cinch. Again pre-book hotels and transportation and so easy. You won't see as much as on a tour but what you will see you'll see more in-depth and leisurely and to your own beat not the group mantra 'hurry up and wait' (for stragglers to return to bus).

thursdaysd

Again, not a problem on RS tours. People are told they will be left if not on time. Wasn't a problem on the last tour I took either, with MIR, people were early rather than late. Tours are NOT all alike, the trick is picking the right one.

PalenQ

Contiki has tours oriented to 30s and 20s - most are women so a wife may not want to take hubby! Been around a long time. Budget tours. Not recommending just bringing to attention.