# Spain



## Canuck (Sep 1, 2010)

We are spending 3 weeks in Spain next summer (no TS), along the Costa Del Sol.  Our 2 boys will be 10 and 13 at that time and we only want to hit 2 major cities with them.  Will fly into one and out of the other.  We are wondering what cities would be best and why?  Would love any input and info!!

Thank you!


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## Zac495 (Sep 2, 2010)

We flew in and out of Malega. It would have been easier to fly out of Seville, but I don't thin we could have done that with air miles. Where are you staying? We stayed at the Marriott Marbella. 

Here are pictures of our trip along with reports (and full report will be in the review section here on TUG - let me know if you have trouble accessing it.)

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20065407 Gibraltar and Seville - Your boys will love the monkeys! Seville - we didn't have the kids - I'm not sure how interesting it would be for them. It depends what they like.

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20064804  Morocco (day trip). One of my regrets is not having my kids on this trip. There were two little boys on our tour and they had a wonderful time. I highly recommend this - there are tips on how to do this in my review.

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/20057024  Marbella, Ronda (a must for your boys with the bull ring), Nirja (a must for you - they'll live). Have an awesome time planning!


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## pianodinosaur (Sep 2, 2010)

My favorite city in Spain is Barcelona.  There is so much to do in Barcelona that you could not see it all.  I think there is more to do and to see in Barcelona than there is in Paris.  I would suggest flying into Barcelona and touring the city and then going to Malaga.  From Malaga you can easily visit Marbella, Seville, Cadiz, Granada, Gibraltar, and Cordoba.


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## MALC9990 (Sep 4, 2010)

*Costa Del Sol Airports*

The main airport for the Cost Del Sol in Spain is Malaga. It has many international routes to all the cities in Europe - especially to Germany, UK and Scandanavia. Also there are domestic links to other Spanish Airports such as Madrid.

Barcelona is hundreds of miles away in North Eastern Spain - many many many hours away by car.


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## Passepartout (Sep 4, 2010)

Canuck said:


> We are spending 3 weeks in Spain next summer (no TS), along the Costa Del Sol.  Our 2 boys will be 10 and 13 at that time and we only want to hit 2 major cities with them.  Will fly into one and out of the other.  We are wondering what cities would be best and why?  Would love any input and info!!
> 
> Thank you!



Difficult to know about connections to/from W. Canada. As stated the major gateway to S. Spain is Malaga. You can see the major sites by surface transport from wherever you stay there- Granada, Seville, Ronda, then take high speed train (the boys will love it) to Madrid (gov't buildings, museums) or as suggested, Barcelona (Ramblas, Gaudi, Dali') before flying home.

Jim Ricks


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## Canuck (Sep 4, 2010)

Thanks all....some great suggestions!


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## RAMBO (Sep 4, 2010)

just came back from Spain. Flew into Madrid and took AVE train to Malaga. Worthy experience. Spent a week in Malaga and came back to Madrid and spent two days in Madrid sightseeing. If I were you I would fly into Madrid and use AVE to get to Malaga and use AVE to get to Barcelona to fly back.


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## stmartinfan (Sep 5, 2010)

We did a similar trip with daughters about that age.  I'd second the vote for making Barcelona part of the trip.  We flew into Madrid, rented a car and drove to Seville and then to the Costa del Sol area.  Spent a week there visiting Ronda, Gibralter and Granada.  Flew from Malaga to Barcelona and spent several days there before flying home.  It was one of our favorite trip.  Enjoyed all the places, but Barcelona was our favorite.  So much energy and great sites.


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## emilyedison (Sep 14, 2010)

*Re: Best of Spain*

I will go for Ibiza in Spain.... 

Ibiza, often called the White Island - la Isla Blanca, is the most beautiful of 4 Balearic islands. Ibiza is an excellent and amazing Mediterranean island to spent your holidays.

Ibiza Nightlife with its various beach bars, disco bars, pre-party bars, famous clubs & parties, discotheques & numerous Ibiza events is definitely the place to be for people that love to dance and party.  






A wide range of Ibiza Holiday Rentals offers selected accommodations such as beach bungalows, villas within your budget. You can find the best deal here:
http://www.locationespagnevacances.fr/

or

location espagne

locations espagne

location en espagne


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## hibbeln (Sep 18, 2010)

We did a similar trip with our boys a few years back.  But we went in February and only for one week.  
We flew into Malaga and had a GREAT time there!  
Things we did as daytrips from the Costa del Sol:
Hill towns (Ronda was fabulous!) + Cueva de la Pileta (cave paintings....awesome!)
Mijas & Malaga and Nerja (another cool cave)
Granada + Al-Hambra 
Morocco (with a tour group.....in retrospect we should have scheduled a private guide in Morocco)
Gibraltar (the boys LOVED it!) + Tarifa
Along the coast there are lots of castles (Moor) and Roman ruins.  Explore!

I know a lot of people favor Seville, but it seemed to be more a place to sit in cafes and soak up the atmosphere.....not a thrilling spot for young boys.
Other families I've spoken to all RAVE about Barcelona!

I can highly recommend the Rick Steve's Spain guidebook.....his history discussions in the book are so fun and funny that the boys were reading them out loud in the backseat as we drove!


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## jerseyfinn (Sep 23, 2010)

Costa del Sol in the summer is itself a great destination, especially if you are near the beach. Malaga would be your most logical Costa del Sol airport. Do be aware that in the summer it is extremely *hot* especially in places like Seville ( well over 100 there ) so you might want to take in account the heat in terms of sight-seeing with the boys in a city like Seville.  That said, you can do lots of drives along the coast or into the mountains to places like Ronda ( it'll be hot there too but not as oppressive a Seville ). How long are you going to plant yourself in one place? 

Barcelona would be my second destination for a 3 week itinerary such as yours. It would contrast nicely with Andalucía as you could finish with a city feel, but a very vibrant and lovely city located right on the Mediterranean. I think the boys would love all there is to do and see and you've always got the option of the beach which in Barcelona is lined with people and restaurants . . .  sort of a Coney Island without the rides, but with history and mountains and everything else which makes Barcelona so interesting.  BCN would also be a very reliable airport to fly out of when you head home.

Have fun planning your trip.

Barry


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## nalismom (Nov 3, 2010)

We are in the process of planning something similar and are traveling mid October to November 6 2011...we have timeshare in Marbella for 10/22-29and are planning on using FF miles into and out of Madrid. Depending on your FF program you may be able to book to Malaga and return using FF.  Flights would go through Madrid - Iberia is a partner of American and flies into and out of Malaga. 

Originally we were going to do Barcelona to Madrid and then CDS but have since decided to visit Morocco for 10 days and fly back from Marrakech to Madrid and then home.  A one-way from Marrakech to Madrid on major airline runs $69-104 pp and on Easyjet - a lot less.  We felt a visit to Morocco expanded on the history of Andalusia and we are thrilled to be visiting it.  I have done much research and already have secured our riads for Fes and Marrakech and am working out the final details for Driver/guide service from Tangier ferry through Marrakech with a camel trek/safari in between.

So our trip will start in Madrid with a visit to Toledo and then onto Granada by train for an overnight.  We will then train to Malaga and I am still looking into renting a car or arranging transport to Marbella.  We have 2 other couples meeting us in Marbella for the week and so it is either a car rental or hire a driver/guide.  We are not much for big tour groups.  I am still researching driver/guide services.


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