Paulo

We're touring Spain by car next July and will book hotels all along the itinerary. Our daughters (20 and 18), on the other hand, want to stay on their own, in hostales. They should be joining us each morning for our daily sightseeing program. Unless I'm strongly advised not to, it would be convenient if we just drove to our prebooked hotels, dump all the luggage, and start strolling checking hostals in the neighborhood. Of course, we don't want to risk finding everything packed and loosing too much time in the process. We plan to arrive at our destinations around 3pm. <BR> <BR>The cities in question are Barcelona, Tarragona, Murcia, Granada, Sevilla, Cordoba, Toledo, Madrid, Segovia, Salamanca and Bilbao. <BR> <BR>There are quite a few hotels in Murcia and Sevilla (everybody leaves town because of the heat?) that offer lower rates in July. Unless I'm missing something, I guess one wouldn't have problems finding lodging in those. On the other hand, Tarragona (beach) and Granada appear as candidates to be crowded. <BR> <BR>What about the other cities in the itinerary? <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR>

Thomas

Obviously Barcelona and Madrid would be crowded, and hot, but well worth a visit or a longer stay. We usually stay 4 or 5 days in each. You didn't mention Pamplona so I assume you know it might be best to keep your daughters away during July 6-14. Well, they might like it a lot.

Maira

I suspect all the cities you mentioned should be pretty crowded; beautiful, historical and/or located on the coast. Salamanca, although sort of a college town (less students during the summer), is a historical jewel and popular with tourists all year long. <BR> <BR>If I were you, I would pick smaller towns/vilages and take day trips from there....

Paulo

I guess that staying in smaller towns won't work this time, Maira. We're driving from the Italian Tyrol back and forth through France. In Spain we're staying in 11 cities over 21 nights, which's tighter than I would like even though some of our stays will serve mainly to break long drives. Since I'm the only one doing all the driving, all I want is to hit the hotel's garage on arrival in each city and forget the car till when it's time to go on. <BR> <BR>The girls have travelled with us quite a bit and though they stayed in hostels here and there, we normally stayed together. We think that it's just about the time at least on what concerns lodging, dining and going out in the evening that they should be completely on their own, _on a student scheme_ . Together, they should keep their average bed&breakfast+IVA expenses under 5,000 pstas per day. I'm having difficulties finding fax numbers of hostals fitting this budget. I called one pension directly as a tryout and they told me that it was much too early ... that I should call 3/4 days before arrival, when already in Spain. I wonder if this is the rule or an exception! <BR> <BR>Anyways, I'll ask my daughters to do their home work and to build a list of alternatives they would like to stay in each city and try to secure a room in advance. If this doesn't work out, I guess the people in the hotels we're booking may give a hand. If this doesn't work we may always call when in Spain. <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR>

Caminante

Paulo: <BR> <BR>Try a Let's Go book for hostals. There <BR>should be some willing to reserve in advance (I'd hope). If not, call from Spain. I think showing up at 3 pm looking for a hostal is a nightmarish way to go about things. I will email you the names of places we stayed for under 6000 pesetas for 2 in May 1998 in Granada and Madrid. <BR> <BR>

Paulo

Thanks Carminante, I would appreciate it. I'm trying to get a copy of Let's Go Spain here in Brazil before contacting Amazon. <BR>Paulo <BR>