# 3 weeks in Spain



## Canuck (Feb 24, 2008)

We are in the early stages of planning a 3 week trip (with 2 boys under 12) through Spain in the summer of 2009.  I have a guide book but I'm at a loss!  Every place looks amazing!  I would love to hear from you great Tuggers on places you loved and places you hate!  I know it can get stinkin' hot in the summer but we don't mind so much....we plan on spending 1 week at the beach but I know there is SO MUCH more to Spain then the beach.

Thanks a ton!


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## Blues (Feb 24, 2008)

We spent 3 weeks in Spain and Portugal last September, and *loved* it!  Our itinerary included Lisbon and the Algarve (southern Portugal), but the Spanish portion of our trip was just Andalucia (southern Spain) for 11 days.  You can easily spend two or more weeks just in southern Spain and not see everything there is to see.

Search the Europe board here for past threads on southern Spain.  Everyone raves about Ronda.  We enjoyed it, but as far as touring interesting white towns, found it more fun just to explore for ourselves.  We found an absolutely fascinating white town northeast of Ronda, called Setinil de las Bodegas.  It's built into the side of the limestone cliffs.  The houses actually use the limestone as part of their walls and ceiling!  Fascinating.  We found it by following the guide book out of Ronda to a very interesting Roman ruin site called Acinipo, and then getting lost from there  

We found Sevilla fascinating.  You can definitely spend a couple of days seeing the cathedral (one of the largest in the world) and surrounding sites.  But just wandering around old town is fascinating in itself.

We definitely didn't spend enough time in Granda.  We went just to see the Alhambra, which is a definite cannot-miss site.  But the rest of the town, particularly the old gypsy area of town, deserves its own time.

We also saw the Royal Equestrian School in Jerez de la Frontera.  If anyone in your family likes horses, they'll be awed at the show they put on.

Others rave about the Cueva de la Pieta, which have ancient cave drawings.  With only 11 days in the area, we didn't have enough time to include that!

Get one of the many good guidebooks on Spain.  For southern Spain, I really liked "Time Out Andalucia", part of the Time Out series. 

HTH.  Have a great trip!

Edited to add:
A good detailed map is a must!  We purchased one from AAA, which was much more detailed than their free one.  And it was insufficient.  We bought a Michelin map while we were there, which was much better.


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## lprstn (Feb 24, 2008)

You are so brave!!! I have 4 kids and my 10 yr keeps asking me to take her to Paris, London, and Italy and I just think they are too young.  I am thinking of planning a trip there for me and my husband 1st then taking the kids for a later trip.  Have fun!! and please share how easy it was, I may take the kids soon.


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## w879jr1 (Feb 25, 2008)

*Andalucia*

I agree with the earlier post that Andalucia has more than enough sights to occupy you in a three week vacation. I was there for 3 weeks last October, and that was only to see things that we had missed after visits in the two previous years.

For a beach week in Andalucia most people will visit the Costa del Sol, and with two young boys that may have all the lively activities you need. However, I would suggest you also consider the Costa de la Luz on the Atlantic coast, reaching from the Strait of Gibraltar to the border with Portugal. The sandy beaches are great (we stayed near the Playa de la Barossa in Cadiz province and near Playa de la Antilla in Huelva province). These areas are much less commercialised than the other Costas, and offer simpler family amusement. I don't know if there are timeshares in these areas but rental accommodation is plentiful.

The Michelin map is #578 in the Regional Spain series.


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## helenbarnett1963 (Feb 25, 2008)

*all depends what the kids like...*

check out previous threads on 'spain' for all the wonderful sights and cities to visit. 
BUT, it all depends on what your kids like.  Mine are 12 and 7, and I know for a fact I would have an all out mutiny if I even thought of suggesting a visit to Ronda or the Alhambra Palace on our annual trip to Spain.  They prefer the beach/pool, jeep safaris, wildlife parks, lunch at little roadside restaurants...

If yours are happy to partake in some culture, then go for it, just intersperse the culture with some 'downtime'  as the heat is very tiring if you are not used to it.

If you are looking to stay in timeshares I think you may be limited to mostly coastal locations - but use these as a base to venture inland on day-trips.  There are many fascinating places to visit anywhere on the Costas.

If you want a few days in a city, then Barcelona is small enough to be manageable, whilst being choc full of wonderful sights.  And you can always reward the kids with a day or two at Port Aventura afterwards.

If you can, spend some time in Madrid.  Its fascinating, and so are the surrounding areas (Segovia, Toledo etc).    It always reminds me of London - something for everyone - but on a much smaller scale.  

Gibraltar would be great for kids - but I think it could be unbearably crowded in summer.

Just go with the flow and enjoy Spain whatever you decide to do!


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## hibbeln (Feb 25, 2008)

We were in Andalucia in February 2006 with our two boys (I think they were then ages 8 & 10).  Look at this post for questions that others and I were asking.....they are probably a lot like what you are wondering
http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?p=120730#post120730

and scroll down to *reply #14 *on that page which is a trip report I posted.  It should give you some good ideas for the Costa del Sol area with boys.

I think one week in the Costa del Sol should be good.....then travel on to other areas.

Remember that we were there in February so the weather was spring-like and didn't slow us down (right around 70 in the day)....and also didn't make us spend time at the beach!     Once you start to head up into the hills, it will cool off rapidly in the summer.   Also, the crowds were non-existent, so we were able to cover a lot of ground.

Things that I thought were great about Andalucia with boys was the history is stuff that is exciting to boys.  Castles, battles, cavemen......good stuff!  Also, so much of it was kind of "physical" touring.  Dashing over sand dunes, scrambling around the ramparts and windy stairways of old castles, exploring caves with lots of ups and downs and places to hide, pretending to fight a bull in the bull ring with your brother.......it's very low on the "walking around museums looking at old paintings" scale, highly suited to boys and their need to move.

In the Costa del Sol coastal area, you will find millions of Brit tourists and their kids and all sorts of things catering to families.  But.....hey, you could go to the Jersey shore for that.  We spent very little time on the coastal strip and instead enjoyed the SPANISH part of it.  

One thing that was nice, was dragging back into our resort late at night and having a wide compliment of nearby restaurants where everyone was fluent in English (once you get about a few miles inland and off the beaten track, English is not very widely spoken.....which we loved.....but when you're exhausted and just want to feed your kids, being able to ask "Can you make him a chocolate milk?" in English is such a relief at times).

We found the guidebook "Rick Steve's Spain" to be incredibly useful when travelling with the kids.  It's not as comprehensive as some other guides, but sometimes those other guides get too comprehensive and it can make your head spin trying to weed out what is actually worth it.  Also, he gives excellent directions for things like exactly where to park when going to Gibraltar, etc.  It's great to have written directions in front of you that are exact and you can trust for when your husband is driving in traffic and is stressed-out and grumpy and the kids are hot and thirsty in the back seat and you just want to PARK THE @#!$ car and get out of it as fast as possible and get on with it.  Rick Steve's narratives in the book are downright hilarious at times (my kids would read aloud from the back seat they found them so enjoyable) and his quick history lessons to go with individual sights so interesting they make both husbands and boys listen attentively (my boys still quote his history lessons on Boabdil's surrender of the Al-Hambra and the story of the father and his son during a siege at Tarifa).   Basically he cuts through the chaff and tells you what the best sights are that are sure to thrill your family.  I can't even tell you what a godsend this is when travelling with kids.  We used a backup super-comprehensive type guidebook for when we found ourselves wandering through tiny little towns off the beaten track, but tended to find them dry and not as useful *for us.*


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## Canuck (Feb 25, 2008)

You guys are awesome!  Thank you all for taking the time to post.....it's all very helpful and I can't wait


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## Cruiser Too (Mar 4, 2008)

Canuck said:


> You guys are awesome!  Thank you all for taking the time to post.....it's all very helpful and I can't wait



Canuck:

I too, would recommend the month of September in Spain.

July would definitely be crowded and hot, hot, hot.
Most Europeans take their vacation in July-August, so it will be wall-to-wall people in restaurants, tourist sites, everywhere ! 

If you can... trade or rent a timeshare to save some _dollars_.
The _Euro_ is *Almighty* !!!


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## stmartinfan (Mar 5, 2008)

We took our kids to Spain when they were about 12 & 13.  Really loved the trip.  We aren't big museum people and tour at a pretty leisurely pace. We went in late June, returning home the July 4th week because we had to fit the trip into school break.  It was busy there but not unbearably so, nor too hot.  I don't think I would go any later in the summer. 

We flew into Madrid, spent a couple of days there, then drove to Seville for a night.  Touring the tower was interesting; fascinating to kids that the wide ramp up it was designed for horses to ride up!  From there we went to Fuenrigolia (Costa del Sol area) for a week at a timeshare.  We did day trips to Gibralter and Rondo plus just walked and shopped in some of the nearby towns, did some pool time, etc..  

Then we spent a night in Granada to tour the Alhambra, which my kids enjoyed, and then flew to Barcelona for several days before returning home.  Toured some of Gaudi's architecture;even kids are fascinated by his work, and fun to see the cathedral still under construction.  Loved just walking the Ramblas, riding the overhead tram, shopping at the neighborhood food market, etc.,  We stayed in a small apartment so enjoyed being in a real neighborhood yet convenient to public transport.

I agree on the Rick Steves books; great to learn enough info to interest kids but not too much to bore them.


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