spain and portugal!!!

[adnilemydal]

hi all! i'll be traveling in spain and portugal this summer with a friend. i've seen the other spain/portugal posts, and think my itinerary is pretty good. but of course, doesn't hurt to double check!! ;D

july 15-- fly overnight to london
july 16-- london
july 17-- london
july 18-- london, flying to madrid
july 19-- madrid
july 20-- madrid
july 21-- madrid
july 22-- madrid
july 23-- madrid, overnight train to lisbon
july 24-- lisbon
july 25-- lisbon
july 26-- lisbon
july 27-- lisbon, bus/rail?? to lagos
july 28-- lagos
july 29-- lagos
july 30-- lagos, bus/rail?? to sevilla
july 31-- sevilla
august 1-- sevilla
august 2-- sevilla, bus/rail?? to granada
august 3-- granada
august 4-- granada, bus to valencia for ferry to ibiza
august 5-- ibiza
august 6-- ibiza, fly to barcelona
august 7-- barcelona
august 8-- barcelona
august 9-- barcelona
august 10-- barcelona, fly back home to the US

how does it sound? the only thing set in stone is our flight into london and flight back home from barcelona. everything else is still up in the air. i thought about taking one day away from lagos and add one more to granada? another thing is it's a must for my friend and i be in ibiza on 5 august.

still doing some research on train/bus options... so far the bus option seem to be the cheapest one, especially for the lisbon-lagos and lagos-sevilla route.

any info or tips would be appreciated!!!!

[herrbert]

How well can you stand heat?

In july and August it will be warm in inland Spain. This isn't the best time to see the inland. This would be one of the point of worry I have for you trip. Madrid, Sevilla and Granada will be warm. (the only good thing about Granada is that there is usualy a breeze. If you can't stand the heat (and even a lot of Spanish people hate it), than consider, delaying your trip (September/October), and when that isn't possible, shorten the stay in Madrid to maybe 2 or 3 days. (carry plenty of water around)

Are you sure you only want 1 whole day on Ibiza?

I was checking some flights to Ibiza, but the cheapest option seems to be a Iberia ticket From Granada to Madrid to Ibiza for 166 euros. It seems that flights to and from Ibiza, are all pretty expensive n summer. A flight with Vueling Airlines to Barcelona looks a lot cheaper. you could get a return flight to Ibiza from there. (51 euros on the 4th fo august)

As you have read other posts, you might have come across my suggestions to make daytrips to Toledo (and Segovia) from Madrid. Depending on the heat, see if it is wise to undertake these trips.

Personaly I would advise to fly Madrid - Lisbon, even an overnight train will be a very warm adventure in july/august, as temperatures can rise, above the point that is pleasant.

The trip between Lagos, is a combined trip by train and bus. As the traintracks stop at the border, and only resume from Huelva. Busses are usualy a good way to get around in Spain, but would in normal circumstances also take longer to reach their destination.

check www.renfe.es for traveling by train. (it has an English section). If possible reserve you tickets beforehand if you want to to visit the Alhambra. www.alhambratickets.com

[Lyra]

july 30-- lagos, bus/rail?? to sevilla

I can help a bit on this - there is a bus that goes from Lagos to Seville, see here.

Hmm, the direct link above doesn't seem to remember the selections - under servicos select Lagos/Sevilha; under origem select Lagos and under destino select Sevilha.

I can't remember if the week starts on Sunday or Monday though, to interpret the schedule correctly (i.e. is 2as Monday or Tuesday? Probably Monday, I think.)

So, 2as, 3as, 4as, 5as, 6as excepto feriados should mean the bus runs Monday - Friday expect holidays.

I don't know how the rail+bus connection compares, having gone the bus route myself. Have fun! Except for the time of year you're going, I'm jealous.