So this is a message board dedicated to Madrid and we all know how incredible it is (I lived by the Anton Martin metro boca for 8 months--I know!)--but I was wondering what everyone's favorite region in Spain is?

I'm going to be in Spain for a month from June to July and want to see all the different regions. I've lived in Madrid, Alcala de Henares (awesome city!! I definitely recommend it), Ciudad Real, Caceres, and Villalba (I love El Escorial and Segovia) but have never really seen the other regions, ie Andalucia, Valencia, Galicia, Pais Vasco, etc etc etc. I'll be spending time in all of them (except maybe Navarra & Aragon, and of course las islas) and am wondering which ones I should spend a little extra time in. All suggestions welcome!

To contribute to this discussion I'd recommend Extremadura to any seasoned Spainiac who hasn't "conocer"ed it!! You definitely need a car to experience it all, but if you have to settle for a train, Caceres and Merida are not to be missed! It definitely feels like a completely different and fantastic world out there.

-Jerry

Being GranadaGirl, I feel it's my duty to recommend Andalucia! Although it's my namesake, it's also a great place to check out. Granada, Sevilla, and Cordoba could take up a whole week of your travels (maybe with a day at one of the coastal towns-Almunecar or Nerja-there are some beautiful sights to see throughout Andalucia, and if you can do it by car, all the better to see the olive groves and lemon trees!!

Ay, que la echo mucho de menos!!

-GG

PacoJones writes: My God! How can I possibly make this MORE clear? How many times have I changed the title to reflect the broad focus of this message board??

Please-oh-please-oh-please see the title of this message board above: "MadridMan's ALL SPAIN Message Board". Even on the message board's entry page is says, "Welcome to MadridMan's ALL SPAIN Message Board"! Okay, yes, MadridMan.com is a website about Madrid specifically, but I've done all I can do to make clear that the message board is not only for/about Madrid, but the whole of Spain. (HUFF! PUFF!)

OKAY! DEEEeeeeeep breaaaaath..... Whooooooooo.. :p : MY favorite region of Spain... OTHER THAN MADRID.. would have to NOW be Galicia. WOW! What a fantastic and naturally beautiful place that is. You've got it all up there! You've got a cooler climate, everything's SO green do to LOTS of rain, you've got the ocean, you've got the RIAS (estuaries), you've got TONS of seafood, you've got mountains and valleys, you've got lots of trees, LOTS of history, and warm, wonderful people.

So THERE you have it! (pardon my sudden outburst above.. hehhee. :o )

Saludos, MadridMan

Personally I loved the only 2 regions of Spain that I have visited so far (more to come) Madrid area and Andalucia.

I see that Madridman has now decided that Galicia is a new favourite, due to his comments both here and on his 2002 trip report. However, I have noticed that the 2002 trip report ends when you (Madridman) return to Madrid from Galicia on Day 6 of your journey. What else did you do whilst there????

David

We loved Rioja and the drive from there, through Burgos and on to Santillana del Mer was incredible.We also stayed a week in Palencia...a small city with a beautiful cathedral but otherwise not a particularly noteworthy town...but it was still just so wonderful...the people, the ambience, the food. I think "favorite places" could be just about anywhere in Spain.

DavidB! I just spent the last serval minutes looking over someone's (i.e. YOURS! ) wedding/reception photos in Australia!! NICE!

Yes, my MadridMan\'s Madrid/Galicia 2002 Journal DID end rather abruptly upon returning to Madrid. Why? Because it took the following 4 days IN Madrid to write about the previous 5 days in Galicia!! Finally, I just decided not to spend any more valuable hours behind the computer and spent more time walking the streets and visiting friends. OH, and of course we had the "Party With MadridMan"!

Also, I LOVE Andalucía!!! I can't say enough about it. I even love the dryness of it all. Those rolling hills of olives and almonds are just beautiful!

I haven't yet been to Extremadura though. Someday I'd like to visit. I've only been as far west (in central-ish Spain) as Salamanca.

I've never been to Extremadura either, but after reading the biography of the king, appropriately called "El Rey", it tells how it was the first glimpse of Spain that he ever had. He grew up in exile until the age of 10 or 12, and would hear all these wonderful stories of how beautiful Spain is etc, then he shows up in the plains of Extremadura on a grey winter day, and he was wondering where all the beauty everyone had been telling him about was! (YES, I love the king, ok, well, maybe his SON a bit more, so I like reading this stuff...) His first sight of our lovely Spain was a winterized version of Extremadura...not the best choice I'd say... NOT that I'm saying Extremadura is nasty, DON'T take it like that...I'm just repeating what I read, and we all know how grey Madrid and Granada can get in January/February anyway...

I'd better go before I offend any more Extremadurans...

-GG

My favorite place to relax and eat "the best food in Spain"(Frommer's) is in the Basque Country. The pace is relaxed and the people friendly. Many rural farmhouses are available as your base of operations. I know that many (most?) of the 'posters' on this board are young and they will love the beaches expecially San Sabastian. Many of the beaches in northern Spain have few people during the week and not hoards of people like in the Costa Del Sol and other southern beaches.on the weekends.

Paco, why don't you explain the rest of the users the "double entendre" of your nick? I doubt your name is Francisco or your last name is Jones.

It's an odd choice, but for me it would be a tossup between the green north (esp. Galicia) and the austere, almost empty meseta of Castilla la Vieja (oops...Castilla y Leon). There's something about that landscape, unbroken sometimes by even a single tree that is powerful and haunting. Driving along smaller roads and seeing the weathered hulk of a castle, or a small village lost in time...I don't know, you almost expect an hidalgo from the reconquista to come charging across. An overly romantic vision, but there you have it.