The vacation in Spain is currently in the plains
March 13, 2015 9:59 AM Subscribe
We are planning a week in Spain, and the itinerary looks rushed. Our tastes are rather... not Rick Steves. Help us simplify the itinerary.
We'll be driving to Spain from Bordeaux, be in country for less than a week, and then flying out of Madrid.
Day 1: Drive in
Day 2-6: Spain
Day 7: Fly out of Madrid
My wife is a Napoleonic history buff and really wants to see Peninsular War battle sites:
Vittoria
Burgos
Salamanca
Badajoz
Talavera
I have an interest in Roman ruins:
Segovia
Merida
Given we're flying out of Madrid, that's on the itinerary.
Barça is possible... but it's a nine hour drive from Bordeaux to there. Bilbao is only 6, but from what I've heard it's not really worth seeing.
Most of the sites we're interested in seem clustered in north and central Spain. The thing that I don't want to do is spend all the time in the car driving. The Spanish train system isn't fast or extensive, so we're resigned to driving. That said, the idea of hours of road-tripping just doesn't sound like my idea of vacation.
We will be coming from a week in the Dordogne, so I'm OK with being more animated than sitting on a terrace reading a book (which is most of the France half of the vacation.)
Help me work out a reasonable solution where a) my wife gets to see an important Peninsular War site, b) I get to see something Roman, and c) we don't drive each other crazy in the car.
We'll be driving to Spain from Bordeaux, be in country for less than a week, and then flying out of Madrid.
Day 1: Drive in
Day 2-6: Spain
Day 7: Fly out of Madrid
My wife is a Napoleonic history buff and really wants to see Peninsular War battle sites:
Vittoria
Burgos
Salamanca
Badajoz
Talavera
I have an interest in Roman ruins:
Segovia
Merida
Given we're flying out of Madrid, that's on the itinerary.
Barça is possible... but it's a nine hour drive from Bordeaux to there. Bilbao is only 6, but from what I've heard it's not really worth seeing.
Most of the sites we're interested in seem clustered in north and central Spain. The thing that I don't want to do is spend all the time in the car driving. The Spanish train system isn't fast or extensive, so we're resigned to driving. That said, the idea of hours of road-tripping just doesn't sound like my idea of vacation.
We will be coming from a week in the Dordogne, so I'm OK with being more animated than sitting on a terrace reading a book (which is most of the France half of the vacation.)
Help me work out a reasonable solution where a) my wife gets to see an important Peninsular War site, b) I get to see something Roman, and c) we don't drive each other crazy in the car.
Definitely stop in Hondarribia if your travels take you anywhere nearby.
The bus system in Spain is pretty great. So, if you don't want to drive and the trains don't fit your needs, look into buses.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:28 AM on March 13, 2015
The bus system in Spain is pretty great. So, if you don't want to drive and the trains don't fit your needs, look into buses.
posted by melissasaurus at 10:28 AM on March 13, 2015
Skipping Toledo is a mistake
posted by Flood at 10:40 AM on March 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Flood at 10:40 AM on March 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I did a trip through Spain with friends a few years ago where the first half was Peninsular War focused. We flew into Vittoria, and hired a car. We went to San Sebastian (with a day trip across the border), Burgos (staying nearby in Lerma), then Salamanca, day trip to Ciudad Rodrigo, Merida, with a day trip to Badajoz. After that we left that war behind and went on to Seville and Granada, flying out of Malaga airport.
The first half of that trip is what would be relevant to you. In Vittoria, we just caught the war memorial (I think we'd been told that the battlefield is mostly unrecognisable and ended up skipping it). Burgos is a lovely city, but the main Peninsular War site is the citadel which I found interesting but not especially memorable. At Salamanca, though, the whole battlefield is still intact and is really impressive. Ciudad Rodrigo is an easy day-trip from Salamanca and it was great as well. I loved the Roman remains in Merida so much that I skipped the day-trip my friends took from there to Badajoz: they said that the walls were amazing, but the rest of the city was plain and modern.
So if you only have a week, I would recommend staying three nights in Salamanca with one trip out to the battlefield and one to Ciudad Rodrigo, and a couple of nights in Merida with an optional day trip to Badajoz.
We had originally intended to do the trip the other way, starting at Lisbon and finishing in Bordeaux, but at the time we found there were heavy extra charges for picking up a car hire in one country and dropping it off in another, so we changed the itinerary so that our pick-up and drop-off airports were both in Spain. If those kind of surcharges still apply, I'd recommend flying from Bordeaux to Madrid and doing Salamanca and Merida as a round trip from Madrid.
posted by Azara at 11:11 AM on March 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
The first half of that trip is what would be relevant to you. In Vittoria, we just caught the war memorial (I think we'd been told that the battlefield is mostly unrecognisable and ended up skipping it). Burgos is a lovely city, but the main Peninsular War site is the citadel which I found interesting but not especially memorable. At Salamanca, though, the whole battlefield is still intact and is really impressive. Ciudad Rodrigo is an easy day-trip from Salamanca and it was great as well. I loved the Roman remains in Merida so much that I skipped the day-trip my friends took from there to Badajoz: they said that the walls were amazing, but the rest of the city was plain and modern.
So if you only have a week, I would recommend staying three nights in Salamanca with one trip out to the battlefield and one to Ciudad Rodrigo, and a couple of nights in Merida with an optional day trip to Badajoz.
We had originally intended to do the trip the other way, starting at Lisbon and finishing in Bordeaux, but at the time we found there were heavy extra charges for picking up a car hire in one country and dropping it off in another, so we changed the itinerary so that our pick-up and drop-off airports were both in Spain. If those kind of surcharges still apply, I'd recommend flying from Bordeaux to Madrid and doing Salamanca and Merida as a round trip from Madrid.
posted by Azara at 11:11 AM on March 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: That's brilliant, vacapinta. Hadn't thought of driving from Lisbon. And instead of heading north from Merida we could head for Toledo, too...
posted by dw at 11:11 AM on March 13, 2015
posted by dw at 11:11 AM on March 13, 2015
Barça is possible... but it's a nine hour drive from Bordeaux to there. Bilbao is only 6, but from what I've heard it's not really worth seeing.
It doesn't have any Peninsular War sites or Roman ruins of note, but I do want to speak up for Bilbao. Gorgeous, quirky city with really great food and art.
It sounds like what you want, though, is Salamanca. Segovia isn't too far from Salamanca, although if you don't rent a car, the bus from one to the other is a little awkward. But I regret every day that I didn't make it to Segovia in the year I lived in Spain.
posted by chainsofreedom at 11:22 AM on March 13, 2015
It doesn't have any Peninsular War sites or Roman ruins of note, but I do want to speak up for Bilbao. Gorgeous, quirky city with really great food and art.
It sounds like what you want, though, is Salamanca. Segovia isn't too far from Salamanca, although if you don't rent a car, the bus from one to the other is a little awkward. But I regret every day that I didn't make it to Segovia in the year I lived in Spain.
posted by chainsofreedom at 11:22 AM on March 13, 2015
Response by poster: OK, on further review, flying to Lisbon and driving across the border is prohibitive. $1000+ for a week car hire vs $300 for staying in Spain alone. That has me looking to flying Bordeaux-Madrid and doing a loop.
posted by dw at 1:19 PM on March 13, 2015
posted by dw at 1:19 PM on March 13, 2015
The national park near torla is spectacular if you want nature and hiking but no ruins unfortunately..... Burgos is also fantastic and is one of my favorite smallish Spanish cities. Madrid is a lovely larger city but I found santiago de compestella more manageable and interesting for walking.
posted by bluesky43 at 2:20 PM on March 13, 2015
posted by bluesky43 at 2:20 PM on March 13, 2015
Is Astorga anywhere near your planned cities? It is the North and is the "chocolate city" - i.e. there is chocolate everywhere. I former trade route, it has amazing buildings, beautiful cobble stone streets, and chocolate, chocolate, chocolate!
posted by Toddles at 8:21 PM on March 13, 2015
posted by Toddles at 8:21 PM on March 13, 2015
Check to see if there are any night train rides you can take between destinations. (There's a Madrid-Lisbon one with Renfe!) Great way to combine travel with a good night's sleep.
posted by asperity at 9:46 PM on March 13, 2015
posted by asperity at 9:46 PM on March 13, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
1) Fly from Bordeaux to Lisbon.
2) Rent a car in Lisbon.
3) Drive out through Evora and its Roman Temple.
4) Drive through Badajoz and Merida
5) Up to Ciudad Rodrigo and Salamanca then Avila then Segovia and into Madrid.
6) Enjoy Madrid
posted by vacapinta at 10:19 AM on March 13, 2015 [2 favorites]