From the posts I've read, I'm surprised how many people are planning trips for September/October (as opposed to July/Aug).

I am one of those travelers, going the last week of Sept/first week October visiting Madrid, Alicante/Valencia and Barcelona.

I'm curious:
1) who else is traveling during Sept/Oct
2) why did you choose this time of year
3) your primary places/sites of interest

The time is fast approaching and I'm curious as to your responses. Who knows, maybe our paths will cross!

El tio

(Madridman - I wasn't sure if this was the best forum...)

I'm going back in mid-October!

I chose this time because October is still nice weather, before the clocks change, cooler nights and cooler days than September. I'll typically go to Madrid/Spain in either October or more often in April.

I'll probably spend my entire 10 days in Madrid but we'd like to "steal away" for a long weekend to Granada if all goes well.

Enjoy! Saludos, MadridMan

1) who else is traveling during Sept/Oct

Me! Me! We will be in Spain from 9/19 - 10/6.

2) why did you choose this time of year

Quite a few reasons, actually. I won the airfare, but I had to plan the rest of the trip, so I needed time to save for a sudden, unexpected vacation to Spain. As well, I wanted to go when the weather wouldn't be quite so hot, but didn't want weather that was too cold either. And we were hoping to miss most of the crowds.

3) your primary places/sites of interest

We've decided to do a sort of loop beginning and ending in Madrid. We're looking at Andalusia (Seville, Ronda, Granada), Cazorla, Cuenca, and Madrid as the major stops. My absolute musts to see are the Prado, the Alhambra, the mountains around Cazorla, Toledo, and Segovia. My S/O has said he wants to see the Alhambra (though he's a bit confused about what it is, exactly), the Spanish countryside, and meeting the Spanish people.

You're right, it will be interesting to see the responses!

Hi,
I too am going but not until the end of October until the 13th of November. I didn't want to go in the summer due to the heat and I am off from work for the month of November so it was the best time for me to go. I will be staying in Sevilla the whole time!! Can't wait to go )
Angela

I'll be in Granada from September 12 - December 20, because I'll be taking a class on teaching Spanish as a foreign language. We should have a fiesta!

MadridMan-- let me know when you'll be in Grana' (as the Granadinos say) and I'll give you the grand tour!!

I will be in Spain from September 28 until October 7.

My wife has let me go on a "boys' trip", and the time was really set by the fact that my buddy is going on to Greece to meet his wife. Other than that, I think it is potentially a great time to be in Spain because of the weather.

We will be in Madrid mostly, but will be going to Denia with some Spanish friends, and will no doubt take day trips to Toledo, Segovia, and Escorial.

While in Madrid, we will be at Hostal Adriano, of course.

I'm planning an October trip as well but I have always spent "my longer" trips to Madrid in October.
Mostly because air fares are alot cheaper.
Madrid is beautiful in October and it's my birthday present to myself....

Myself and Pim are taking a weeks holiday in the South of France in early September.
Why then? All the Parisians will have returned to work so it will be quieter.
All the schools are open, NO KIDS
The weather is still good
The hotels are cheaper.

Returning to Madrid for a very long weekend mid October.

we will be in spain oct 6 to 27th. we typically take our vacation in october, especially to europe....less crowds, easier to travel, less backpackers, easier to get rooms. nnicer weather....

Going to Spain from Sept 24 - Oct 9.

Madrid (4 Days), Santiago de Compostela (3 days) and Barcelona (8 days). I guess I will missed the party with Madridman.

I would have gone later but work prevents me from selecting the dates really wanted to go.

If anyone is visiting the above locations at the same time and wants a get together for drinks, send me an email.

Bill

I will be in Spain Sept. 24 - Oct 7th. (Madrid 5 days, Alicante/coast 4 days and BCN 5 days).

I'm going to pick up my sister who has been in Madrid the last 1.5 years doing a church mission. I also lived in the Barcelona area 12 years ago and can't wait to see old friends, not to mention the Spanish culture which I had become so accustomed to. My wife has never been to Europe, so I'm starting with Spain. Lastly, as we're from Oregon, we had to go by the coast to hopefully catch some rays and warm water - which is relatively foreign to us Oregonians.

We partly went in Sept to miss the crowds and high costs, though we're happy we booked tickets when we did because they are now over $1K. It sounds like a lot of forum members are going in the fall, while the Europeans visit in the summer.

Que lo paseis bien!
el tio

it's def. cheaper.
Right now I'm looking @ $540.00 (tax included) from JFk for October travel. Recently, the prices were close to double for July and August travel. That's a huge difference! With that additional money I save for fall travel I an pay for lodging.

I am in Spain Sept 22-30!

2) why did you choose this time of year
I choose this time of year because my sister receives emails for travelocity and they sent her a deal for only 185!!!! EXTREMELY CHEAP (turns out they screwed up but the airline still had to honor the fare!)
3) your primary places/sites of interest
Madrid, because I studied there fall '03 and miss it so much! I will probably be overcome with happiness just stepping into the airport. It's weird to think that I used to consider it to be my "home." And now I will just be a visitor..... But we are also traveling to Sevilla and Toledo!

I can't wait!

Hello all! It has been a long time since I have posted here - I've been traveling almost non-stop for work this year.

I'm planning 2 1/2 weeks in Spain the last half of September. Planning on visiting Navarra/Basque Country/La Rioja areas. Unfortunately, I've been so busy with work I haven't found the time to actually plan the flight, itinerary, and hotels! :o :o

Hope all has been well here and hopefully I'll be a more frequent visitor in the future.

a friend and i are arriving in paris 9/28 and flying out of madrid on 10/25. i wanted to avoid the summer crowds and prices. my travel buddy is in a band and they had shows already booked for up til 9/24. we decided to start in paris and work our way south in the hope that the weather will stay warm as we go along. planning to spend two weeks in paris, berlin, prague, munich, then two weeks for spain. looking forward to barcelona, granada, sevilla, segovia, and jerez de la frontera for the royal andalusian school of equestrian art. other places if time permits.

I'm learning Spanish through a study abroad program at the Universidad Antonio de Nebrija that starts Sept. 2 and ends Dec. 21. I'll be living in Madrid with a family and experiencing as much as I can in the 4 months I'm there!

My husband and I will be in Madrid from 24 Sep to 01 Oct. We were there at New Year, and as some museums were closed for a couple of days, we didn't see everything we wanted to. We were in Gandia, Valencia in July and it was quite hot so we thought September in Madrid wouldn't be too hot. We also want to visit Toledo and Segovia.

We are staying at the Adriano, as I think a few others are at that time. If the lift isn't finished, look out for a grey-haired man and a fair-haired woman with a red face and out of breath.

Blossom

I'll keep my eyes our for you at Adriano! I just made reservation for my wife and I for the 24th - 27th and my mom and 2 sisters for the 24th - 29th. If you see a middle aged guy flanked by 4 women, that will be me.

We will also be visiting Valencia (the women wanted to stop by the Lladro factory/shop) - do you have sites/restaurants to recommend in Valancia? Did you visit the museum of art and science?

el tio

el tio

We have never stayed in Valencia itself. We always stay in Gandia and visit Valencia for the day by train, so we have never been to any restaurants there. We did go to the Science Museum in March 2002, which I think was shortly after it opened. As an ex-scientist I found it quite interesting.

Will look out for you at the Adriano.

Blossom

Hello, all--

Just joined the message board and this is my first post.

My wife and I will be arriving in Madrid on October 9. We plan to stay in Madrid for at least three days, possibly longer, while we go searching for a small town called "Villalobos" (my ancestral origins). I'm told it's about 140 miles from Madrid, but I have not been able to find it on any map of Spain. Has anyone ever heard of it or been there?

I chose October because (a) the price of our airline tickets was considerably lower in October than in August or September, (b) the weather is more pleasant in October than in summer, and (c) I wanted to give myself an unusual birthday present.

If anyone on this board will be in Madrid on October 9, 10 or 11, we sure would like to meet you while we're there.

Buenos Dias Charles Cordova!

I've not yet been to Spain (leaving in 4 more days - OH YEAH!), so I am no expert but if you look up Villalobos on Mappy.com I believe you might find your answer. I think the town you are looking for - and it appears to be quite small from what I'm looking at - is roughly 150 miles northwest of Madrid. You would go past Valladolid, stay on A6 until you reach a town called Cerecinos de Campos and then turn off to the north (I think - I hopeless with directions!). It looks as if the town is not that far from there.

There does appear to be another Villalobos to the south of Spain, near Granada but it is something like 250 miles southeast from Madrid.

I would suggest going out to www.mappy.com and try to locate what you want. It's sort of a mapquest for Europe. I've used this site quite a bit in planning our road trip through Spain and so far it has been a real help. Of course, the true test will come in the next 2 weeks!

Good luck!

I'll be traveling to Madrid and Barcelona from 10/8 to 10/24. My wife and I will be going because our daughter is studying abroad in Madrid for the fall quarter.
Why October? She just went over last week, and I figured that about a month would be enough time for her to get settled and into a routine before we come over and go touring around with her. I didn't want to go any later because I wanted to make sure it was still somewhat warm. I did the same thing 3 years ago when my older daughter was also studying in Madrd. That time, I was there for only a week. Now I want to go visit all those things around Madrid I missed the last time and also go to Barcelona.
Alas, I haven't figured out how to make it to Granada on this trip. I guess I'll just have to plan another trip for an extensive visit to the south.

I'll be in Spain September to October - in fact, I'm here already.

I got into Spain yesterday, September 17, and will be here until October 4.

Why September/October? No specific reason, other than that Spain falls into the near-middle of a long European jaunt that had to start mid-August and, because of its location, Spain ended up in the middle. If that makes sense.

I caught the train to Barcelona from Milan, and am working my way down to Malaga (Alora, actually) via Madrid and Granada.

That do?

-adiav.

Hello, I will be in Barcelona on October 1, for three days, then to Bielsa, Vielha, Granada, Sevilla and Madrid. We will be traveling around Spain for a total of 17 days and I have a busy schedule with so much that I want to see. Planning to spend 2 to 3 days in the area of Ordesa and Monte Perdido, and hope it's not too cold up in the mountains during this time.

Always look forward to take vacations during Sept or October because I like to avoid the big crowds and usually prices are lower.

Looking forward to be in Spain and have a good time real soon!!!

Well I normally travel to Spain in the month of October because of the cheaper prices and cooler weather, but since my job-Bank is converting in Oct.,no vacations are allowed so I will be going Nov 8th until Dec 5th.
Starting in Valencia, then staying with friends in Castellon,then going south to cadiz to relax by the ocean where my soul feels at home, then take the train to Sevilla to visit more friends, then possibly travel to Madrid and finally ending in Castellon again
Hopefully finding some pure flamenco playing somewhere along the way, besides filling up my taste buds of all the spanish cuisines Yummmm

Kerry~LittleWing~