hello all!!! With help froma great fren....has drawn up the plan below....please, give my your comments/advice...much appreciated....:

Arrive in Mad on 7 Mar 04
Staying in Mad on 7, 8, 9 Mar 04
pop over to Toledo on 10 mar 04, hope to stay in a parador there
Return to Mad on 11 mar 04 to catch my soccer match
Travel to Sevilla on 12 mar 04,
Staying in sevilla on 12, 13 Mar 04
Travel to Granada on 14 mar, stay the night
travel to BCN on 15 Mar, stay the night of 15, 16, 17, on 18 make a day trip to Monstserrat
Travel to Girona on 19 Mar 04, stay the night on 19, and 20. Hope to go to Rose...anyone think i should go to Madremanya too?
return to BCN on 21 march 04, catch a plan to paris

I can actually give up 1-2 days from Paris to Spain if need be.....any advice/tots?

Thank you!!!

PS: posted similar thread in multimadrid com too...

[originally posted by Au on 01-13-2004 07:27 PM]

Thanks all for the response! oohh....me getting so excited as each day passes!
Booked the air tixs last night already...so happy. There's been a slight change in my plan now as I realise the Real MAD VS Bayern match is on 10 Mar, and not on 11 Mar...also am able to arrive on 6 Mar now! Hurray an extra day for us!!!

So here's my updated plan:

Arrive in Mad on 6 Mar 04
Staying in Mad on 6 & 7 Mar 04
pop over to Toledo on 8 Mar 04, going to try what Sel had recommended...
Return to Mad on 9 mar 04, stay there for 9 and 10 Mar
Travel to Sevilla on 11 mar 04,
Staying in sevilla on 11, 12 Mar 04
Travel to Granada on 13 mar, stay the night and also 14 Mar
Travel to BCN on 15 Mar, stay the night of 15, 16, 17, on 18 make a day trip to Monstserrat
Travel to Girona on 19 Mar 04, stay the night on 19, and 20. Hope to go to Rose...anyone think i should go to Madremanya too?

My flight from BCN to Paris is on 22 Mar 04 though, meaning I have an extra day to spare.....any advice on where to add an extra day?

BTW I will be taking Adriano in Madrid - I am just amazed at the speed of Alberto for responding to my emails!!!

Tks all!!! Pls keep more advice/opinons coming!!!

It doesn't sound much like a Honeymoon to me - too much moving around. Of course if it's structured around Euro 2004 (and your Bride is agreeable), that's fine. If Sunday, 7 Mar is a nice day, go over to Retiro Park around 11:00 AM. Enter at the corner where the Puerta de Alcala is. You'll enjoy the sometimes excellent street performers. You'll be in Barcelona when the Fallas de San José are happening down the coast in Valencia. If it were me I would cut short my stop in Barcelona/Girona and spend a couple of nights in Valencia.

Tks Eddie...u r right...more backpacker's style than honeymoon..
Can you people out there help me to think...sigh....so much to see and do in Spain!!! Should I cut out some place liek Sevilla? Oh dear....pls help! Here's my plan again:

Arrive in Mad on 6 Mar 04
Staying in Mad on 6 & 7 Mar 04
pop over to Toledo on 8 Mar 04
Return to Mad on 9 mar 04, stay there for 9 and 10 Mar (Hee...Real Mad VS Bayern !)
Travel to Sevilla on 11 mar 04,
Staying in Ssevilla on 11, 12 Mar 04
Travel to Granada on 13 Mar, stay the night and also 14 Mar
Travel to BCN on 15 Mar, stay the night of 15, 16, 17, on 18 make a day trip to Monstserrat
Travel to Girona on 19 Mar 04, stay the night on 19, and 20.
Flying off from BCN to Paris on 22...so hv extra days to spare...

Tks!

Don't worry, you're not moving around too much, you guys will have a blast. I don't know how crowded Montserrat is in March, but when we went in June of 2000, we stayed overnight, after all the tour busses left, and we had the Basilica all to ourselves, as well as a quiet visit in the AM to the museum which has some fantastic artwork. I strongly recommend that you spend the night at the hotel up there because it's beautiful, food is fine, and the scenery is fantastic. After 4 pm the place is deserted. The tolling of the bells every hour might keep you up all night, but, hey, you're on your honeymoon, so who cares?
By the way, I don't know about your finances, but if you want to save some money in Toledo, you can stay at the Hotel La Almazara. It's beautiful, near the parador, and has fantastic views of the city, for maybe a quarter of the price.

Aidance, u r so sweet! Tks so much for your response! We would really love to see as much as we can and yet not compromise on ease n relaxation...tall order, huh...
Problem would be lugging our stuff around...so must strive to pack light...and yet we know dressing over there can't be too vagabond...simply jeans, tee, n sneakers/trainers just won't cut it. Plan to pop over there to do some shopping for dressier stuff and yet we don't wan to waste time shopping...oh boy!

But hey, tks alot for the Monsterrat suggestion! We'd heard it's a great place too...do you recall the name of the place u stayed up there?

As for Toledo, u'd guessed ti right! I have actually planned to stay at the Parador, but from this site I have heard of other great hotel/hostale recommendations that would be cheaper and not that far out from the central area...

Alright....shall try to review our plans again....Tks!

Keep your views coming, folks!

Dear Au,

I don´t want to make your life more difficult but sometimes (specially in Madrid) it is not the city you visit but the places you hit within that city. If you want to tell us what kind of things you like I could recommend you some places. One more thing, how are you going to get football tickets from Singapure? I am having problems getting them and I live in Madrid!

Cheers,
Andrés

OH dear...u mean the tickets are on sale now? I got a friend living in BCnwho said sales usually start 1 week before.....so it looks like we would hv problems getting tickets!!! What would u advise then? Meanwhile i think I better check with my friend on whether he can help to get hold of tickets.....Thanks for the alert!

Just a note. First, it's true that some of these soccer games are booked in advance and very demanded, but I think that, by law, they have to leave a 10% for the very day of the match.

I was to see Real Madrid - Lokomotive (realise okomotive is NOT)BAyern, and I had no problem in finding a ticket the very day. Even being a cheap entrance, which are the most dificult.

On the other hand, you can ALWAYS buy a ticket, because there are agencies and re-sellers who sell them up to the very last minute. The question is: how much would you pay? Because sometimes it's a small fortune.

I wouldn't recommend you this system, however, there is always the uncertainty of wether there will be or not tickets, plus the prices, plus sometimes (scarce) tickets could be false (although they are sold in the whereabouts of the stadium).

Buying through the net is not a good system, hovever. I have seen advertised in the net tickets with a price 4 to 8 times their price, to sell them to foreigners.

The Montserrat hotel is Abat Cisneros. Here's a link from Frommers web site: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/moreaccom.cfm?h_id=36329
I notice they didn't seem to raise their prices much. As for packing light, I always pack just one carry on for a Europe trip. Check Rick Steve's web site for suggestions. You won't "waste time" shopping, you'll just automatically shop as part of the travel experience. You will want to buy clothes and most especially shoes. Have a great trip!

Tks Aidance for the info

Tks Ignacio for the heads up! well...just hope to have luck to watch the match!

Ooohh...I can't wait for Mar 04 to come soon!

Hi Au,

Frm SIN too !!! Hey I m going to Spain Mar 24th for honeymoon too.. Ermm, not exactly e type of luxury honeymooners' style but more of "backpacking" style too ....

U r exactly 1 mth away frm ur trip.. Mine is +20 days more...

Aidance, thanks for suggesting abt overnight at Montserrat... I can absolutely imagine how lovely it wld be..

Oopss.. forgot to ask Au

R u travelling by train/plane/bus, between the various destinatios in Spain ?

A travel agent quoted me US$209 for a flight frm MAD TO BCN... I thought it must be ridiculous. I plan to travel by the night train

Hi Chiyo!

lovely! in fact by setting off in late Mar you would hv better weather!

We are covering madrid, toledo, granada, barcelona, and girona. Still trying to squeeze in one more of the green regions - either ronda in southern spain Or the pyrenees in northern spain.

For air tix from madrid to BCN, you should register and book on-line with Spain domestic flight company, Iberia - www.iberia.com

Have fun!

AU
You asked about Green Spain and another place to visit, but at this point I no longer know for certain what your planned itinerary is. Since those places are so different, it is difficult to give an opinion.

My preference when I travel is to spend some time in each place. It is no fun to be always running from place to place without ever taking time to savor the atmosphere. Spain has much more to offer than just sightseeing. Our favorite adventures have been those which have just happened and they happened because we did not have too much planned. We even got to spend a day sailing with some folks we met from England. It was an incredible day on a 40 foot sail boat that the owner, a carpenter, had made himself. It would never have happened if we had had a tight schedule.

Relax and spend some time wandering. While you are there, you will find things that interest you that right now, you do not even know exist. I would have the frame work planned and leave the extra days for whatever.....

Only a week until I head to Spain!!

Sel, tks so much for your response! You are right about having the framework planned out and leaving a few days in between...just that being first timers to Spain we are anxious about working out the trip details to be on the safe side...and also trying to cover a few different places at one shot...hopefully to return in future to spend more time in our fav town/city.

Right now we have madrid, toledo, granada, bacelona and girona. We would like to add in one of the green spain - either ronda, aragonese pyrenees, or the asturias regions....
Wee one month away from our trip!!! Will do more research and see how...perhaps we may add extra days to explore around Girona...
Thanks!

Oops...sorry for the above...I meant to say that we would liek to add in just one more region - either ronda, northern green spain, or the aragonese pyrenees regions...tks!

Au, I hope you made a mistake in your last post. Did you really take Seville out of your itinerary?! Shame on you Put it back in--it is one of the most romantic cities in Spain. You can't miss it. As I've said before, even though Seville is not my most favorite place in Spain, I still think that if a person can set foot in Spain for only one day of his life, it should be Seville. Then, if you have time go check out Arcos de la Frontera and/or Grazalema. Northern Spain really is a separate trip, best for summer. And definitely worth it. I so envy you going to Spain for your honeymoon.....

Au, I hope you made a mistake in your last post. Did you really take Seville out of your itinerary?! Shame on you Put it back in--it is one of the most romantic cities in Spain. You can't miss it. As I've said before, even though Seville is not my most favorite place in Spain, I still think that if a person can set foot in Spain for only one day of his life, it should be Seville. Then, if you have time go check out Arcos de la Frontera and/or Grazalema. Northern Spain really is a separate trip, best for summer. And definitely worth it. I so envy you going to Spain for your honeymoon.....

Yes...indeed...Aidance...took out Sevilla...husband already 'complain' that i am trying to squeeze in too many places!!!

In such a dilemma!!! We have about 2 and half weeks...and there are so many lovely places in Spain to go!

Husband preferred some greeneries...hence...since we already covered some major cities like Madrid, BCN, and Granada...i thought to take out Sevilla to make time for one region with lush hills/mountains.

Or should I have taken out Granada?

Still, tks Aidance!

You should do Sevilla and Granada. The gorgeios 'green' areas are best seen when the flowers are blooming and it is warmer. Yout timing is not great to see the lush countryside. It will be in transition. It is considerable warmer in Sevilla. From Sevilla you could easily take the train to visit the bodegas in Jerez and El Puerto de Santa María. You could also take a bus trip into the mountains to see the white pueblos and spend some time in Ronda. I do not remember if you will have your own transportation or not.... Sevilla gives you options to explore inside or outside the city. We spent 8 days in El Puerto and hated leaving. There are wonderful day trips in that region and the history is very rich. Northern Spain is a trip of its own and is certainly worth more than just a night or two. I would save it for your next adventure.

I also agree that less is better and it is nicer to group places that are near by in the same trip. I try to minimize my one night stays and usually have a couple of 3 night stays during a 2 week trip.

For this reason, I'd save Barcelona and Girona for another trip and group it with Green Spain. I've been to all of these places and they are wonderful but they really deserve the time. I would definately visit Sevilla. The weather in the south will be much nicer also in March. Dropping the northern part of the trip would also mean you could spend more time in the sherry towns and white villages and even Granada. I honestly didn't know what to expect on my first trip to the sherry triangle and wasn't expecting much but it was beautiful people, food, country and of course the sherry!

In Sept/Oct 2001 for my first trip to Spain I put together a trip for 17 days that flowed pretty well....not too rushed and very doable with public transportation. If I recall it went something like this:

Day 1 - arrive Madrid; immediate head to Toledo
Day 2 - Toledo
Day 3/4 - Segovia
Day 5 - Salamanca via Avila daytrip
Day 6 - Salamanca
Day 7 - Salamanca to Madrid; AVE to Sevilla via Cordoba day trip.....this was the only day that I traveled more than 3 hours in one day
Day 8/9 - Sevilla
Day 10 - Arcos via Jerez de la Frontera daytrip
Day 11 - based in Arcos drove around the white village route stopping in Zahara and Grazalema
Day 12 - Ronda
Day 13/14 - Granada
Day 15/16 - Madrid (flew from Granada to Madrid)
Day 17 - home

After this first taste of Spain I haven't been able to get enough....now I visit twice each year in April and late September. It is such a beautiful country and each area is unique and deserves time dedicated to it independently.

Hope this helps...

I'll take Sevilla over Granada anytime. Although the Alhambra is amazing, Sevilla is far more magical. The suggestion to save Barcelona for another trip is a good one. Or save Madrid for another trip (Am I allowed to say that on this board? ) I must get off this board.... you are going to Spain for your honeymoon, and Cathy M goes twice a year?! Envy rears its ugly head.....

dear aidance, cathyM, and Sel,

thank you so much for all the helpful advice & info. I really appreciate it. We need to do more serious research and planning...would likely take the advice to spend more days for Sevilla & Girona regions rather than attempting the pyrenees regions....especially considering the weather in March.

Thanks again! & do keep more views/suggestions coming!

Aidance...why do you say Sevilla is magical? I am trying to convince myself to leave out Girona and Parc Nacional d' Aiguestortes....only cover BCN (that's where i fly out to paris), so that I can cover Sevilla. But, is it somewhat similar to other cities like madrid/granada/BCN?
Sigh...decision decision....we have decided to include Ronda....as we prefer small towns....

Au-
I'm sure aidance will respond but I have to chime in also that Sevilla is a place where you must really visit and spend time. I'm usually partial to smaller cities but Sevilla is a definate exception. The barrio of Santa Cruz with it's maze of whitewashed buildings the cathdral, the Alcazar.....but it's not just the "sights". It's the smell of jasmine and oranges, the tastes of arguably the best tapas in Spain (I'll count the Basque area on it's own!), the ambiance of the people and the flamenco. Sevilla is the heart and soul of Spain. Depending on your individual tastes I'd also suggest cutting time out of Madrid to add more in Sevilla (but then again I'm not a huge Madrid fan) :o Girona is a special little city so it is a hard decision. I visited there for what was supposed to be one night but within an hour or arriving I knew I couldn't leave that quickly.

You're getting alot of great advice from many posters here. Just remember that we all have our own individual tastes and likes/dislikes. There is no right or wrong itinerary for your honeymoon - you just need to finalize what your desires are and then make the decision. Please post what you decide and I'm sure you'll get lots of help on hotels/tapas/restaurants/ etc....

I'm with Cathy M all the way on this one. Think of the sad possibility that you don't return to Spain again any time soon. You will be glad you went to Seville on this trip. Definitely stay in the Barrio Santa Cruz. See all the main sights ( the tourist office will give you a great brochure) then definitely get lost wandering around, staying out as late as you possibly can.