hi! (I'm so happy I found this site with fellow lovers of espana!)

a group of friends and I are doing a trip to london, amsterdam, greece, italy and lastly spain. We have all (except for 1) been to spain atleast 2 or 3 times (studying, living, travelling) and have seen much of the basics. Our goal for this trip is to party and spend some time on the beach.

The plan looks like this so far and I'm not sure if we should stay longer in Madrid and skip Cordoba or if this itinerary looks too crazy in general.

May 25 land BCN @ 8AM take bus to Madrid then rent a car there to drive to Cordoba. (Just because it will be expensive to drive from BCN... right?)

May 26 Cordoba (isn't there a feria for la nuestra de salud or something like that? Are there parties during the week days during this time?)

May 27 Sevilla
May 28 Marbella
May 29 Madrid return car and stay one night
May 30 Barcelona
May 31 Barcelona
June 1 fly back to San Francisco in the morning!

Thank you so much for any feedback!

hello? anyone out there? Help... please?

"Boink!" the thread again in the morning (Monday) and you'll likely have more response. Friday night through Sunday are slower days.

But just now as I look at your itinerary I say it's too ambitious for the short time you have available to you. And if "Partying and spending quality time on the beach" is your main objective I'd go directly SOUTH to the Costa del Sol (Marbella, Málaga, Estepona, etcetera) and skip the others. BCN will be too cold still for any beach time (unless you just want to walk). 6-days is NOT enough time to do all this.

Too bad you're landing in BCN and not Madrid in the first place. It's a lonnnnnng way, like 6-hours by bus, from BCN to Madrid AND THEN you want to drive another, what, 4 hours to Córdoba? Wow! Talk about a road trip! (check http://www.viamichelin.com for drive times and distances)

You might want to cut out some of the others and spend more time in Marbella as that's the only place, in May, where you'll get beach time.

You might, instead, want to consider spending more quality time in Barcelona and maybe driving down the coast to/through Valencia Province/City, MAYBE get some beach time in there, and then return to BCN. This would certainly make for a more enjoyable, relaxing time in Spain with limited travel.

Good luck and enjoy your time, your return to Spain!

Saludos, MadridMan

P.S. "Boink!" means to simply reply to your own thread in order to bring it back into the Daily Threads list.

May is not really the best time of the year for beach activities ...

I've been reading about these really cheap flights Barcelona-Sevilla (28 Euro??): my reply is sort of structured on that.

I'd say: Start with a day or two in Barcelona - you may need that to qualify for those low fare flights. There's plenty to do in Barcelona and nearby coastal resorts (Costa Brava & Costa Dorada)

Fly direct BCN-SVL and pick up a rental car (or take a bus) to one of the nearby coastal resorts (ex. Cadiz). Some of the smaller coastal villages have their Fiestas around that time (ex. PuertoReal). But the BIG one called the Feria del Campo (and Romeria de la Virgen del Rocio) will be taking place west of Sevilla as Pilgrims make their way to el Santuario (near Almonte, Huelva). The Feria ends on Pentecost Monday (1 Jun) so you won't be there for the end but you'll have something to remember.

AKA Feria de los Balcones - people decorate their wrought iron terraces with all kinds of flowers and shawls (Mantones) & compete for prizes. I don't think it's the 'partying' kind of Feria. Try to fly back to Barcelona Saturday or early Sunday. Sundays in Parc Guell are great and Sunday evening you can see people dancing the Sardana on the steps of the Cathedral.

yay to boink!

wow, i thought the drive from Madrid to Cordoba was under 2 hours! That's what a guide book told me! yikesss....

yeah, I did think this itinerary was overloaded, and that's why I kept telling my friends if we want to do all this we need to stay at least a week more! haha, but everyone has to come back and work... so, I guess we will have to make do! =(

The feria in Cordoba is not the patio one, I found another one during the last week of May... it's called the feria de cordoba or Feria de Nuestra Señora de la Salud...

thanks again for your replies!