Spain/Portugal

[husky99]

I don't ever remember eating dinner before 11 pm in Barcelona.

Early bird special is at 915pm...lol

 

[husky99]

When in Lisbon definitely take a daytrip to Cascais (beach town outside of Lisbon). Great beaches and food, ton of seafood there. Also make sure to make dinner reservations in advance. All of the good places fill up and you wont be able to get in anywhere without a reservation in Lisbon. There are several Michelin star restraints to check out and you will find their price tags are much more reasonable than Michelin stars in other cities

Agree 100%

 

[NJHusky]

@ColchVEGAS and @husky429 have been more than incredible.. this is exactly what I needed to plan it all out. Will give a final itinerary once we got it but this level of detail is excellent. Have never been- really looking forward to it.

Great places. You’ll love it. Make sure u go to the pastry place in Lisbon…so good. But usually a long line. Our tuk tuk guide knew the owner so cut the line

 

[HuskyHawk]

Never got used to the timing in Barcelona. This was in college, so we would wake up after noon and go looking for lunch around 2 or 3, when everything was closed for siesta. Then we'd go out looking for dinner and drinks around 7 and, like you said, couldn't even find a place that would serve dinner until like 10 or 11 pm; and then the clubs open at midnight.

I suspect I'd lose weight. I'd probably be ready for bed when dinner was served. We didn't have the dinner problem, because we mostly stayed at Pousadas, and they tended to serve dinner on tourist time. We did have issues with Siesta, even simple things were closed. Restaurants in Pousadas of Portugal!

 

[SubbaBub]

I am planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in April with my girlfriend for two weeks. We’re going to Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, and Lisbon. If you’ve been with a significant other and have suggestions on food/attractions/sites/must sees etc I would appreciate any input as we plan our itinerary. Thanks in advance

Barcelona, do not eat on Las Ramblas. Horrible tourist food. Use Yelp if you have to.

Heading to Lisbon in August. Looking forward to a report.

 

[bfs3]

I am planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in April with my girlfriend for two weeks. We’re going to Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, and Lisbon. If you’ve been with a significant other and have suggestions on food/attractions/sites/must sees etc I would appreciate any input as we plan our itinerary. Thanks in advance

We just returned from Lisbon/algarves for a month a couple weeks ago. If possible I strongly recommend a train ride to the algarves for a day. Several beautiful towns but we stayed in Lagos. Cobblestone lined streets and amazing views. There are other more popular ones as well.

 

[bfs3]

I am planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in April with my girlfriend for two weeks. We’re going to Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, and Lisbon. If you’ve been with a significant other and have suggestions on food/attractions/sites/must sees etc I would appreciate any input as we plan our itinerary. Thanks in advance

When you go to Sintra, pay for the TukTuk or you’ll spend the rest of your trip cursing your feet. Trust me. You really can’t go to Portugal without a day there.

 

[Drew]

When you go to Sintra, pay for the TukTuk or you’ll spend the rest of your trip cursing your feet. Trust me. You really can’t go to Portugal without a day there.

Sold!

 

[husky99]

Barcelona, do not eat on Las Ramblas. Horrible tourist food. Use Yelp if you have to.

Heading to Lisbon in August. Looking forward to a report.

Agree 100%

 

[ecasadoSBU]

I am planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in April with my girlfriend for two weeks. We’re going to Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, and Lisbon. If you’ve been with a significant other and have suggestions on food/attractions/sites/must sees etc I would appreciate any input as we plan our itinerary. Thanks in advance

Did a 17-day Spain trip with my wife this past June. What a wonderful country all around. For me as a Dominican of partial Iberian descent it felt extra special to visit and learn so much history and get in touch with Hispanic culture. I won't say much about food and drink because I felt like everywhere I ate while in Spain food was good and wholesome. Pretty cheap too (Euro is at parity). Obviously plenty of great wine, iberico and serrano ham, batatas bravas, creative tapas, spanish omelettes, etc.

In Mallorca - I visited Palma obviously but stayed in a small beachside hotel in Ca'n Pastilla for 3 nights which is a 10 minute public bus ride from the airport. I loved that we stayed there as it made renting a car less necessary. You can easily take a bus to Palma to check the cathedral and other sights. S'Arenal which is the beach down the shore from Ca'n Pastilla has a great german quarters with a bunch of beergardens and a ton of german tourists. Great nightlife down there. The island receives a lot of English/German tourist in the summer as the water is warm, weather is dry, and it has beautiful landscapes. I do recommend renting a car at least a day and driving to the countryside. You won't regret the scenic drives in tiny roads up the mountains. If you enjoy road cycling like I do you will love it there as its a major global center for road cycling

Madrid - I had the greatest luck in Madrid. The first day was the Champions final between Real Madrid vs. Liverpool. They won and the city turned into a huge party town. So my exceptional experience may be biased because the whole stay the city was in party mode. I stayed in the Malasana neighborhood which right off the city center - a hip and grafitti-filled neighborhood with a lot of nightlife and cafes

Check out its beautiful parks: Retiro, del Oeste, and Casa de Campo. Visited all three of them. Absolutely beautiful;

the museums: Prado was a great visit, couldn't visit Thyssem or Reina Sofia unfortunately as it was closed the day I was gonna check them out.

Plazas - Mayor, Plaza Espana, Pl. Santo Domingo, Pl. Isabel II (teatro real), Pl. de Oriente, Pl. San Miguel, Puerta de Alcala, Puerta del Sol and all the small little plazas all around the city and just relax. Enjoy the Iberico ham with some wine. Went to a few markets including the popular and rather expensive San Miguel.

I visited the Royal Palace and the cathedral next door which was impressive as I didn't expect Madrid to have such a monstrous palace.

The Gran Via is the main shopping street. There is an area that feels like a Spanish version of Times Sq. with the volume of people.

I felt in love with Madrid and honestly I felt like 5 days wasn't enough for me. I wanna go back. Don't think of renting a vehicle, its a nightmare in the cities. The city has great public transports and high speed rail connections to all of spain. I made a mistake of renting a car to drive to Toledo, Campo de Criptana and Granada - regret it all around. The highways are world class but the city center are tough for driving. It's a big hazzle with the tiny streets and little-to-no parking.


Barcelona - let me state that I'm not too fond of the Catalan folks so I'm keeping it real that I may be a bit biased. This was the second time I visited and I had a much better experience. Its a great city with and old town going back to the Roman days.

Gothic Quarter - Walk it and check out Barcelona cathedral while there

Gaudi's work - Sagrada familia church, Parc Guell, Gaudi's Casa Mila/Battlo (if you are into that)

El Poble Sec - the Montjuic Castle, the cable car, Botanical Garden.

Barcelona also has nice local food markets (La Boqueria, Mercat de la Concepcio)

Barcelona FC - Camp Nou.

Its a great city. I stayed in the modern Eixample neighborhood and rented a moped for 72 hours to get around quickly and with minimal walking (It was the tailed end of my trip and I was exhausted). Public transport is great though so no need to rent anything. I did not visit any museums this time around. Several local folks there told me to be careful with pickpockets so just be aware.

----->

I also visited Segovia (Aqueduct and old city) , Toledo, Granada (Alhambra & El Albaicin) , Sevilla , Campo de Criptana (driveby to see the Don Quixote Windmills) , and Cordoba (small city - 24 hrs mezquita, Medina Azahara). Personally I felt most at home and in touch with the locals in Southern Spain. The laid back vibes and the warmth of the people is just different down south. Granada and Sevilla are must visit in my opinion

----->

My top 4:

-Madrid
-Granada
-Seville
-Barcelona

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Spaniards like the pig. They showcase them (cooked ones) in storefront windows, put them on bar tops, hang them from ceilings, in their closets…..they’re everywhere. Sometimes they still have the fur on. Just a warning. They also like to serve their shrimp whole body including the head. Why? Who knows. Was in Madrid one time and went out for dinner at 9 pm, walked into a restaurant and the staff was in there eating. They said come back at 10. If these people start eating at 10 how do they get up for work the next day? I do like the olives there.

Cochinillo Segoviano is so yummy. Love Pork. Iberico Ham is yummy

Regarding the shrimp. We had a funny experience in Mallorca. They brought that whole shrimp for my wife. Never before had I seen the whole shrimp. So I had no clue she was actually eating shrimp. When I saw the little tiny part we actually eat from the shrimp I was shocked. Geez - a lesson for me that we are so used to some things in this side of the world that we don't even know how things truly look sometimes.

Juices are great and they are pressed right from the fruit as opposed to the USA.

Quality of food in Spain is truly something else. Shortly after I got back now I noticed Spain has this huge food campaign going on right now.

Spain eats dinner "late" - 9:30 to 10:30pm because they are in the wrong time zone. During World War II the English/Spanish both matched their clocks to German clocks for practical purposes. So since the sun went down later... they decided to push dinner time to match the summer sun. The English went back to GMT/UTC-0 after the war but Spain has continue in Central European Time till this date. So in actuality they don't eat late - they just match the sunlight. They wake up rather later also.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Dont necessarily have to skip Mallorca. Its a beautiful island.

But I do suspect Mallorca would be better in the summer when the sea water is warm (it warms up quickly by early June) and the nightlife is at its peak

 

[husky429]

Dont necessarily have to skip Mallorca. Its a beautiful island.

But I do suspect Mallorca would be better in the summer when the sea water is warm (it warms up quickly by early June) and the nightlife is at its peak

I can't imagine spending 3 days traveling between cities/island would make for a fun 2 week trip. That's 20% of your days not actually seeing the places

 

[husky429]

Barcelona - let me state that I'm not too fond of the Catalan folks so I'm keeping it real that I may be a bit biased.

In my trips to Spain I found many more "go home tourists" types in Catalan and southern Spain than other places. Their cities are being devastated by Air BnBs.

Madrid is a more international city and more modern. You aren't going to see the tourist hate as much.

That being said "seeing the locals" is something I don't even consider when traveling. It's silly and unrealistic.

 

[Drew]

Did a 17-day Spain trip with my wife this past June. What a wonderful country all around. For me as a Dominican of partial Iberian descent it felt extra special to visit and learn so much history and get in touch with Hispanic culture. I won't say much about food and drink because I felt like everywhere I ate while in Spain food was good and wholesome. Pretty cheap too (Euro is at parity). Obviously plenty of great wine, iberico and serrano ham, batatas bravas, creative tapas, spanish omelettes, etc.

In Mallorca - I visited Palma obviously but stayed in a small beachside hotel in Ca'n Pastilla for 3 nights which is a 10 minute public bus ride from the airport. I loved that we stayed there as it made renting a car less necessary. You can easily take a bus to Palma to check the cathedral and other sights. S'Arenal which is the beach down the shore from Ca'n Pastilla has a great german quarters with a bunch of beergardens and a ton of german tourists. Great nightlife down there. The island receives a lot of English/German tourist in the summer as the water is warm, weather is dry, and it has beautiful landscapes. I do recommend renting a car at least a day and driving to the countryside. You won't regret the scenic drives in tiny roads up the mountains. If you enjoy road cycling like I do you will love it there as its a major global center for road cycling

Madrid - I had the greatest luck in Madrid. The first day was the Champions final between Real Madrid vs. Liverpool. They won and the city turned into a huge party town. So my exceptional experience may be biased because the whole stay the city was in party mode. I stayed in the Malasana neighborhood which right off the city center - a hip and grafitti-filled neighborhood with a lot of nightlife and cafes

Check out its beautiful parks: Retiro, del Oeste, and Casa de Campo. Visited all three of them. Absolutely beautiful;

the museums: Prado was a great visit, couldn't visit Thyssem or Reina Sofia unfortunately as it was closed the day I was gonna check them out.

Plazas - Mayor, Plaza Espana, Pl. Santo Domingo, Pl. Isabel II (teatro real), Pl. de Oriente, Pl. San Miguel, Puerta de Alcala, Puerta del Sol and all the small little plazas all around the city and just relax. Enjoy the Iberico ham with some wine. Went to a few markets including the popular and rather expensive San Miguel.

I visited the Royal Palace and the cathedral next door which was impressive as I didn't expect Madrid to have such a monstrous palace.

The Gran Via is the main shopping street. There is an area that feels like a Spanish version of Times Sq. with the volume of people.

I felt in love with Madrid and honestly I felt like 5 days wasn't enough for me. I wanna go back. Don't think of renting a vehicle, its a nightmare in the cities. The city has great public transports and high speed rail connections to all of spain. I made a mistake of renting a car to drive to Toledo, Campo de Criptana and Granada - regret it all around. The highways are world class but the city center are tough for driving. It's a big hazzle with the tiny streets and little-to-no parking.


Barcelona - let me state that I'm not too fond of the Catalan folks so I'm keeping it real that I may be a bit biased. This was the second time I visited and I had a much better experience. Its a great city with and old town going back to the Roman days.

Gothic Quarter - Walk it and check out Barcelona cathedral while there

Gaudi's work - Sagrada familia church, Parc Guell, Gaudi's Casa Mila/Battlo (if you are into that)

El Poble Sec - the Montjuic Castle, the cable car, Botanical Garden.

Barcelona also has nice local food markets (La Boqueria, Mercat de la Concepcio)

Barcelona FC - Camp Nou.

Its a great city. I stayed in the modern Eixample neighborhood and rented a moped for 72 hours to get around quickly and with minimal walking (It was the tailed end of my trip and I was exhausted). Public transport is great though so no need to rent anything. I did not visit any museums this time around. Several local folks there told me to be careful with pickpockets so just be aware.

----->

I also visited Segovia (Aqueduct and old city) , Toledo, Granada (Alhambra & El Albaicin) , Sevilla , Campo de Criptana (driveby to see the Don Quixote Windmills) , and Cordoba (small city - 24 hrs mezquita, Medina Azahara). Personally I felt most at home and in touch with the locals in Southern Spain. The laid back vibes and the warmth of the people is just different down south. Granada and Sevilla are must visit in my opinion

----->

My top 4:

-Madrid
-Granada
-Seville
-Barcelona

I don’t even know where to begin. THANK YOU for taking the time to be this detailed. Especially the detail around Palma, I have been really struggling to figure out where to stay there as it seems like the majority of hotels are 10+ mins outside of the core center city area. The Madrid itinerary is greatly appreciated and sounds like you timed it perfectly with the Champions League final. Seville is starting to seem like a must… not sure how I can swing that given our existing itinerary but everyone raves about it. The parks/plazas/museums are right up our alley. Seriously thank you!

 

[cohenzone]

Park Guell in Barcelona is a must-see. Antoni Gaudi, famous architect, built it and has many other crazy looking buildings throughout the city… definitely worth finding a few. Sagrada Familia is a must-see as well.

Madrid - awesome museums and food. If you have time, head two hours east to Salamanca. Beautiful, historical city with an iconic central plaza.

I was roped into doing a dance with a flamanco group at a Salamanca restaurant out of a whole audience. Luckily i had a nice wine buzz at the time to not be embarrassed by looking stupid.

 

[husky429]

I don’t even know where to begin. THANK YOU for taking the time to be this detailed. Especially the detail around Palma, I have been really struggling to figure out where to stay there as it seems like the majority of hotels are 10+ mins outside of the core center city area. The Madrid itinerary is greatly appreciated and sounds like you timed it perfectly with the Champions League final. Seville is starting to seem like a must… not sure how I can swing that given our existing itinerary but everyone raves about it. The parks/plazas/museums are right up our alley. Seriously thank you!

You definitely have some tough decisions ahead of you. If I were you, I'd talk with you GF about the 3, maybe 4, places you want to see the most and sketch our a rough plan.

Something else to consider would be trying to leave from a major city. Flying home from Mallorca or Sevilla is going to be more expensive, limited, and longer than flying home from Lisbon, Barcelona, or Madrid. I would try to start and end your trip in one of those major cities.

And FWIW because I'm already bored at work again, here were my thoughts on Seville:

• Real Alcazar (where the filmed Dorn in GOT) is awesome. I wandered around the gardens for a good 2 hours when I was there. My wife--at the time my girlfriend--is a plant freak and could have stayed there for days. This is also a good test to see if you might be considering marrying a plant girl. Do not marry a plant girl. You've been warned. I haven't used a flat surface in 2 years.
  [*]
  

My wife wouldn't go, but I saw a bull fight when we were there in June, I think. There aren't a ton of options, but if the schedlue lines up I'd consider it if you aren't bothered by the questionable ethics. There's also a really cool tour when they aren't in season... you can walk right onto the floor of the arena and see the chunks of wood that bulls have ripped out of the barrier and stuff. It's really neat.
- The Cathedral and La Giralda. Largest gothic church in the world, and probably my favorite I've ever visited. I would call it a "must-see" for anyone who gets within 12 hours of Seville. It's that awesome.

• Plaza de Espana and the park... it's cool. Worth snapping some pics, but past that I was kind of meh about it. That being said, I wouldn't skip it!
• Metropol Parasol is super funky and interesting... just a gigantic wooden bees hive looking thing. I didn't climb up in it... just happened to walk by on the way to dinner. I would recommend it just because it's so different than any of the old crap you see on european vacations.
• Food is ridiculously good. Just walk 10 minutes away from anywhere touristy and stop somewhere that looks dirty filled with old dudes with leather for skin, and you'll be fine.

Day trips... (in order of awesomeness IMO)

• Seville to Granada is a few hour train ride or in a rental car. The Alhambra would be an AWESOME day trip, but it would be a whirlwind day and you wouldn't get to see much of Granada outside of the castle.
• Cordoba is another equally awesome day trip from Seville.
• Ronda is cool too. The bridge and hiking are beautiful.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

When in doubt use the - AVE - Alta Velocidad Espanola - High Speed Trains to get around the country. Spain has the 2nd largest High Speed Rail Network in the world behind only Chinese HSR network. Its comfortable, clean, relaxing, and you can drink and eat in the dining car while traveling at 275 km/h (170mph).

I know we Americans like driving due the perceived freedoms it provides and I had reserved four different car rentals prior to my arrival. I ended up keeping two of the reservations (Mallorca, and Madrid-Toledo-Granada) and one of them was a big waste of money and time. After my experience I'm of the opinion that driving in the cities in Spain is a pain in the a**

 

[imno1]

 

[ecasadoSBU]

In my trips to Spain I found many more "go home tourists" types in Catalan and southern Spain than other places. Their cities are being devastated by Air BnBs.

Madrid is a more international city and more modern. You aren't going to see the tourist hate as much.

That being said "seeing the locals" is something I don't even consider when traveling. It's silly and unrealistic.

My issue with the Catalan is the Anti-Hispanic sentiment. It was shocking the way I was ignored/mistreated several times in 2010 when I spoke Spanish in several restaurants and by the locals (asking for directions, train, etc) in general back in 2010. I know they knew Spanish because they must learn it as a co-official language - they just didn't want to speak it - it was obvious. They wouldn't respond or they would respond in Catalan. If I spoke English there was no resistance and I was treated far better. The anti-hispanic sentiment is everywhere in little details here and there and its probably even worst now in 2022.

My second time around to avoid the same problem I spoke English everywhere. Had no issues. Had a much better experience overall.

 

[husky429]

My issue with the Catalan is the Anti-Hispanic sentiment. It was shocking the way I was ignored/mistreated several times in 2010 when I spoke Spanish in several restaurants and by the locals (asking for directions, train, etc) in general back in 2010. I know they knew Spanish because they must learn it as a co-official language - they just didn't want to speak it - it was obvious. They wouldn't respond or they would respond in Catalan. If I spoke English there was no resistance and I was treated far better. The anti-hispanic sentiment is everywhere in little details here and there and its probably even worst now in 2022.

My second time around to avoid the same problem I spoke English everywhere. Had no issues. Had a much better experience overall.

I only know one Catalan person very well, so I can't guarantee I'm right here... but Catalan folks are sensitive because their culture is being usurped by Spanish-speakers. Not to say that's an excuse for you being treated poorly or anything, but an explanation.

Catalan's are a proud people, and being lumped in with Spanish speakers isn't something they're fond of. I've heard more about St. Flippin' George from my friend than any non-Catholic human ever should lol.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Yeah. I get the history behind it. Spain is held together by a thread with the Basque and Catalan people seeking independence over the years. The catalan people have a sort of superiority complex and a sense that they unfairly bear the economic costs for other less productive regions of Spain which all climaxed in 2017. That whole movement has paradoxically sunk the catalan economy into an abyss with an exodus of capital to Madrid and other regions.


Its like Quebec Independence 2.0 where the biggest loser was Montreal to Toronto

 

[TheChamps990411]

I am planning a trip to Spain and Portugal in April with my girlfriend for two weeks. We’re going to Barcelona, Madrid, Mallorca, and Lisbon. If you’ve been with a significant other and have suggestions on food/attractions/sites/must sees etc I would appreciate any input as we plan our itinerary. Thanks in advance

I have no helpful suggestions i am just here to say that is my dream trip and i hate you. But have a fun and safe trip. That is all.

 

[huskymedic]

The Cathedral de Santa Maria (aka La Seu) in Palma on Mallorca has probably the most incredible stained glass I’ve seen in my travels. I’ll never forget the look on my boy’s faces just standing in the aisle staring @ it in quiet marvel (quite the thing for an 11 y/o & 13 y/o @ the time).

 

[superjohn]

Never got used to the timing in Barcelona. This was in college, so we would wake up after noon and go looking for lunch around 2 or 3, when everything was closed for siesta. Then we'd go out looking for dinner and drinks around 7 and, like you said, couldn't even find a place that would serve dinner until like 10 or 11 pm; and then the clubs open at midnight.

Don't even think I could do that schedule on vacation now. They're eating dinner when I want to be enjoying drinks and getting ready to crash for the night. Ibiza is even crazier.