<p>I am about to go to Spain for the first time. I have been researching destinations, but I would love suggestions from people who have been there before or even just heard something.</p>
<p>I love history, especially, Early Mordern/Renaissance period. What are some of the best destinations (actual sites as well as museums, etc.) to go for history.</p>
<p>I would also love to hear about any places (castles, landscapes, cities, anything) that you found inspirational - places that took your breath away :)</p>
<p>Feel free to point out places in any part of the country - I am only there for a week, but I plan to travel all over!</p>
<p>We spent 10 days in Spain this summer. Our favorite cities were Cordoba (Mezquita), Granada (Alhambra), and Toledo. All can be reached by the Alvia high speed train.</p>
<p>OP, Spain is a big country. You won’t be able to cover the entire country in a week, even by high speed train, so select a region that interests you & focus on that area. We spent 8 days in Andalusia & even then that was pushing hard.</p>
<p>We took our kids to Barcelona when they were in 10th, 8th and 5th grades respectively. Everyone in the family thinks it was one of our best trips ever. Terrific museums, architecture, historical sites, modern sites, shopping, food, drink, the Mediteranian sea…it is a great place to be busy and a great place to just hang out.</p>
<p>We never made it to Seville or Barcelona, which I would have liked. Instead, my college-aged son dragged us to Pamplona for San Fermines (Running of the Bulls). Now that was wild!</p>
<p>My daughter just arrived in Seville for her semester abroad. Seemed like a good idea - see the world and learn a new language, right? She speaks no Spanish now, was figuring to head to the University to take her Spanish classes along with her American fellow students while picking up fluency along the way.</p>
<p>Except the others are all stuck back in the states due to the hurricane. She was dropped off at her residencia this morning where she found that no one in the building spoke a word of English.</p>
<p>We loved Barcelona, Cordoba and Toledo. I also love Salamanca. One of my other favorite cities is way over on the west coast, Santiago de Compostella. </p>
<p>Kluge - interesting experience for your daughter. Maybe she could trying speaking Bloombito.</p>
<p>Bloombito - had to google that one - pretty amusing. And it’s not far off - she’s apparently resorted to Google translating the name of whatever she needs help with (hairdryer? wi-fi?) and is managing OK. We’re going to capitalize on the situation and take a trip to Spain for a couple for weeks in October (DD will be on an excursion to Paris when we arrive, of course) and I’m reading this thread with interest. What do you folks think about a side trip to Morocco? We’re going to be spending most of our time in Andalucia, so we’ll be in the area.</p>
<p>I lived in Spain for several years. My conclusion is that just about everything worth seeing is in Andalucia. Andalucia feels like the real Spain; the other areas seem like Spain Lite. Also, I’d suggest not spending all of your time in big cities if you want to get a taste of Spain. Try Ronda, Puerto de Santa Maria, or any smaller city or town. Big cities often are similar no matter what country you are in. Also, spend as little time as possible in museums, castles, and cathedrals…spend time roaming areas that aren’t devised to suck money out of tourists. </p>
<p>Also, be aware that during times of the day when you are programmed to be hungry, all the restaurants might be closed. The bars will be open, though, and don’t hesitate to make a meal out of tapas in a bar, even though no Spaniard would ever do so. The tapas will be under glass along the bar. Make sure to only get tapas that are in refrigerated glass-covered containers (I nearly died by eating stuffed mushrooms that had been left out all day – in August – in an unrefrigerated container). The potato salad, olives, and “tortilla” (potato omlette) are almost always great.</p>
<p>I would argue that the “Spain lite” is at least as much the true Spain as Andalusia is. The Spain of the northwest (Asturias and Galicia) were the areas the Moors never conquered. It was there that the Civil War began. That section reminds me a little of the little towns in Scotland - beautiful plains and mountains, with ancient languages and customs dating back way before the Moors. The southern parts are equally Spanish, but certainly not the “true” Spain. </p>
<p>As to where you should go, kluge, it depends on your preferences. If you do want to go there, make sure your connections are good between Morocco and Spain. I wouldn’t go myself, since Cordoba is better than anything I saw in northern Morocco. I would choose to spend time in Italica ( I loved the Roman ruins), Rhonda is nice, Segovia, Salamanca. And let’s not forget the beautiful Barcelona. Renting and driving a car is easy.</p>
<p>Segovia, Toledo and Barcelona are on the list for the 6 days or so we’ll be in the northern part of the country. (We’re arriving by plane in Madrid, leaving by boat from Barcelona, and spending most of our time in between in the southern part.) Ronda is a priority in the south, along with Cordoba and Granada. I hadn’t heard of Italica before - looks interesting. We are planning on renting a car for about half the time we’re there. I’d really like to spend some time in smaller towns.</p>
<p>I wish we’d had time to go to Ronda & Arco de Frontera in the White Hills, but we chose to spend an extra day in Seville instead. No regrets. Just a reason to return & visit Ronda. :D</p>
<p>Kluge, if you rent a car, seriously consider renting a GPS unit. It was a lifesaver for us with all the one-way streets in the places listed above. It also had a radar detector that alerted us when the speed limit dropped or when there was radar surveillance. Not that we were speeding, but it was nicer to have a warning than to be surprised with a ticket from the rental car agency. Also - Spain falls into a gray area with driver’s license. Rental car agencies do NOT require an international license but State Department website says it is required in Spain. We chose not to tempt fate (our luck is not good) & got the international licenses at AAA.</p>
<p>12rmh18 offers some good suggestions. I would add, however, with regard to the GPS, if you already have the unit, you can take it with you and just buy the chip for Spain. We did that in Italy, and it was really helpful. It’s nice in the cities, too, if you just turn it on to check out your position on the map. Of course, the GPS doesn’t help much if you’re going backwards down a steep hill because you haven’t figured out the clutch on a manual car yet.</p>