Spain trip

During summer vacation, I went to ibiza and madrid with my parents, enjoying the fresh stunning beaches and gorgeous sight of the bay… Especially, in ibiza, we had a good time, joining the intense dance music parties, very fantastic! In madrid, we visited the historical plazas, monuments and churches. There are a lot of scrumptious food. In the evening, we stayed in the well-equipped hotels at reasonable prices with excellent service. Oh, one more thing, when I chatted with Spanish about their real lifestyle, they are open-minded and kind. I enjoy this trip very much. Which country attract you most? Waiting for your chat.

We are going to Spain in October for the first time, staying in Malaga for a week and then taking a cruise out of Barcelona.

What airline and route did you take to Spain? We are hoping to use our Northwest Frequent Flyer miles at least as far a Lisbon, but it get a bit hazey after that! Looks like we have to fly from Lisbon to Madrid by way of---Prague?

Did you use the train inside Spain? Rent a car? I'd love to get your advice.

MD

adahiscout wrote:

We are going to Spain in October for the first time, staying in Malaga for a week and then taking a cruise out of Barcelona.

What airline and route did you take to Spain? We are hoping to use our Northwest Frequent Flyer miles at least as far a Lisbon, but it get a bit hazey after that! Looks like we have to fly from Lisbon to Madrid by way of---Prague?

Did you use the train inside Spain? Rent a car? I'd love to get your advice.

MD

I'd be amazed if you had to go via Prague !! Train travel in Europe is pretty good and car hire in Spain can be quite inexpensive. Compared to some of the distances you might drive in the states, Lisbon to Madrid shouldn't be too bad. Try www.skyscanner.net for low cost flights within Europe.

samuelb15 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

We are going to Spain in October for the first time, staying in Malaga for a week and then taking a cruise out of Barcelona.

What airline and route did you take to Spain? We are hoping to use our Northwest Frequent Flyer miles at least as far a Lisbon, but it get a bit hazey after that! Looks like we have to fly from Lisbon to Madrid by way of---Prague?

Did you use the train inside Spain? Rent a car? I'd love to get your advice.

MD

I'd be amazed if you had to go via Prague !! Train travel in Europe is pretty good and car hire in Spain can be quite inexpensive. Compared to some of the distances you might drive in the states, Lisbon to Madrid shouldn't be too bad. Try www.skyscanner.net for low cost flights within Europe.

========== I'll check that site, thanks. My husband has been doing some looking for rental cars and has the impression that they are all stick shifts in Spain--which he has never driven in his life! Maybe we should go sit down with AAA and pick their brains! MD

adahiscout wrote:

samuelb15 wrote:

adahiscout wrote:

We are going to Spain in October for the first time, staying in Malaga for a week and then taking a cruise out of Barcelona.

What airline and route did you take to Spain? We are hoping to use our Northwest Frequent Flyer miles at least as far a Lisbon, but it get a bit hazey after that! Looks like we have to fly from Lisbon to Madrid by way of---Prague?

Did you use the train inside Spain? Rent a car? I'd love to get your advice.

MD

I'd be amazed if you had to go via Prague !! Train travel in Europe is pretty good and car hire in Spain can be quite inexpensive. Compared to some of the distances you might drive in the states, Lisbon to Madrid shouldn't be too bad. Try www.skyscanner.net for low cost flights within Europe.

========== I'll check that site, thanks. My husband has been doing some looking for rental cars and has the impression that they are all stick shifts in Spain--which he has never driven in his life! Maybe we should go sit down with AAA and pick their brains! MD

Hi again - automatic transmissions should be available in most of the major car rental sites in Europe.

Well, we don't have to go from Lisbon to Madrid by way of Prague, but we do go from Lisbon to Barcelona to Madrid to Malaga (where the resort is). We have managed to get from Wisconsin to Lisbon with NWA points, the week at Malaga as a RCI exchange, and a 7 day cruise out of Barcelona (after Malaga) for Fairfield points, but it is still not exactly cheap! Anyhow, it is coming together bit by bit.

We'll keep looking for the automatic transmissions. At least they drive on the right in Spain. (I think.) MD

Hello! This is the forum you get an excellent ideas. You can join and discuss travel issues . Welcome!

Well, we are back from Spain etc. and all went well. Flew into Lisbon first and took a couple tours there over a 3 night stay. I managed to leave my purse on a tour bus one evening with my passport in it. We went to the US Embassy to see about a replacement. They were closed for the day because of some special event but let us in with the passport emergency. They were just about to hand me a temporary one when the hotel called to say my purse was found! Nothing missing at all!

We flew into Malaga just in time to miss the last train of the day to the city nearest our resort and had to take a taxi all the way. Huge resort, made up of several smaller ones. We took a tour to Gibralter and another to Grenada from there. One of those was reserved in advance and required us to wait for the tour bus along the highway long before dawn. The other was out of our resort. A third left us waiting at the wrong locations in the dark by the roadside two mornings in a row. Moral: Only sign up for tours out of your own resort! (We decided not to rent a car.)

The cruise out of Barcelona was on the Norwegian Gem, a brand new ship. We were relieved that they got it finished on time! Had quite a bit of rain in Italy, but all in all a great time! MD

adahiscout wrote:

Did you use the train inside Spain? Rent a car? I'd love to get your advice.

MD

MD's trip is long over, but I wanted to mention something about train travel in Spain ...

In 2001, my friends and I took an overnight train from Madrid to the southern-most tip of the country. We had comfy, if not luxurious bunks to sleep in, and I believe the price for each bed was around $60.

My mother and I are going to Spain in May of '08, and I'm finding that the price of train travel has doubled! They've now got newer, faster, and consequently, more expensive locomotives now. It will cost us over $100 each to make the 3 hour trip from Malaga to Madrid!

Although trains are the most "fun", I think I'll look into car rental or a 1 way flight.

Mack F.

Madrid had so many genuinely nice people when I visited there. And I don`t mean just the tourist places whose job it is to be welcoming and helpful....I mean total strangers in public with virtually nothing to gain from me. For me, the people there are the city's greatest treasure, not all the famous and popular attractions, and I had to go there to find that out.