Has anyone vacationed in Portugal/Spain?

[texassmith]

DH and I are starting to think about what kind of trip we want to take for our 10th anniversary (still not til June 2015, but we're having fun dreaming about it). Problem is I want a beach destination and he wants mountain, hiking, etc. I thought maybe this region would have some of both to offer. I know nothing about it, so if you've been there, what are your thoughts?

I've already mentioned Tahiti or somewhere in Central America and he didn't see overly excited about those, though I'm not sure why.

[lilybug]

My dad grew up in Madrid, and his family still owns property there, so we've been back a few times and traveled around Spain a little bit. Madrid isn't really close to beaches, but it is an awesome place to visit.

My favorite place for beach and mountains is San Sebastian - they have a big natural park outside of town in the foothills of the Pyrenees, as well as beaches. Barcelona also has good beaches, with mountains/hiking not too far away. I don't know anything about Portugal, though.

Good luck, sounds fun! I can't wait to travel with my kids

[texassmith]

Jul 8, 2013 11:14:13 GMT -5 lilybug said:

Good luck, sounds fun! I can't wait to travel with my kids

Oh, this trip will be sans kiddos. But I agree, I am looking forward to vacations with them too!

[lilybug]

texassmith, that sounds like even MORE fun!

[CityLights]

Spain! I've been to Spain a couple of times. Loved Barcelona and nearby beaches. I really liked Madrid as well (and having easy train access to places like Segovia and Toledo) but that wouldn't fit a beach or mountain criteria.

[Deleted]

Spain and Portugal are both great, in my opinion. Just keep in mind Portugal has a huge Brit retirement population since it's relatively cheap to live there, so there's a lot of activities and restaurants catering to that in some areas.

[texassmith]

Jul 8, 2013 11:26:23 GMT -5 CityLights said:

Spain! I've been to Spain a couple of times. Loved Barcelona and nearby beaches. I really liked Madrid as well (and having easy train access to places like Segovia and Toledo) but that wouldn't fit a beach or mountain criteria.

While we're there we'll probably do non-beach and mountain stuff, but we do want that stuff to be included. This will probably be a once in a lifetime trip to the Iberian Peninsula, so we want to cover it

[Jalapeñomel]

Spain is cheap now.

I´m dying to go.

[shopgirl07]

How about the Azores? I personally haven't been but you can get both the beach and hiking/outdoorsy stuff there.

[lissaholly]

Ha! We just got back from Barcelona and we were sort of celebrating 10 years together;).

We did a day trip to Sitges and it has beautiful beaches. It has a lot more of a Mediterranean vibe than Barcelona. The bachelors hotel from Bachelorette this season was there;).

The Montserrat mountains offerr hiking, not that we did it.

Barcelona is pretty metropolitan bit very very laid back.

[dulcemariamar]

Lisbon is my favorite city in Europe. I love love Portugal and this is coming from someone who has lived over ten years in Spain. If I could, I would move there.

Spain is great too especially the food. You can really get around the country without any problem because of the high speed train system that they have there. You can get from Madrid to Barcelona in less than three hours. Plus, you can get to cities like seville, valencia and malaga using the train.

Madrid is a great city and there are a lot of cool towns nearby that you can visit in a day, toledo, avila and segovia for example. Barcelona is a beautiful city, very international but i wasnt too impressed with the beaches.

Barcelona is also a great place to go to if you are considering a cruise. I know they have some short cruises that you can add on to iyour trip.


Hope this helps, and sorry that the post is a bit jumbled..bit busy with baby.

[Moe]

I've been to multiple cities in both Spain and Portugal, and frankly, you can't go wrong with either.

South of Spain and South of Portugal have exceptional beaches. I haven't really been "hiking/nature trailing" on either (unless you count hiking on the hills of Tibidabo (shut up, yes I did this! - didn't hook up with Joey on account of it though), so I usually just go for the culture, the historical sites, the FOOOOOOOD AND WIIIIINE (most important). I was just in Portugal so I will say that I adored Porto, it was such a charming little city with pretty much everything that I adored, wine, food and baroque (not to say that Lisbon and Coimbra weren't equally awesome, I just freaking loved Porto). In Spain, Madrid, Toledo and Barcelona are my faves, but Barcelona for the vibe (IMO) blows everything out the water, I freaking have a hard on for that city.

[Moe]

Jul 8, 2013 11:52:53 GMT -5 @blessed said:

I have no idea what your budget is or if you're interested in coming to Africa, but Cape Town fits both of those needs. Both the beaches and the mountains are beautiful here. There are some great hikes and a 5 minute drive down the road you can be on the beach. Just a suggestion!

Oh hell yes, fuck Spain/Portugal, go to Cape Town. 

[Moe]

Jul 8, 2013 14:06:35 GMT -5 @blessed said:

Jul 8, 2013 12:48:21 GMT -5 Moe said:

Oh hell yes, fuck Spain/Portugal, go to Cape Town. 

LOL, clearly you like Cape Town

Wine. Food. Repeat.

[gerberdaisy]

Spain! My favorite place in the world. There are tons of places to check out, great beaches and the mountains in Astorias are breath taking. The AVE train is a really efficient way to travel, making it possible to see lots of things in one trip.

[marina007]

Team Cape Town! I've been to Spain (Barcelona, Malaga) and Portugal (Lisbon) and while it was nice, I wasn't blown away.

Cape Town is incredible. Very dramatic landscapes (including good hiking), epic wineries, good food and beautiful beaches. Could also tack on a trip to Kruger National Park for some safari action.

Also have to throw in the idea of the Swiss Alps - Stunning views, incredible mountains, and several beautiful lakes. Montreux, Zermatt, Lucerne are beautiful places. Expensive country, but easy to travel between places by train.

[elleblue]

We went to the Costa del Sol for our honeymoon and loved it. If you do go to Spain, it's totally worth it to make the jaunt down to Gibraltar. A fun little slice of England in the middle of the Mediterranean.

[kristie]

I spent four months in the andalucia part of Spain and loved it so much. The beaches are fantastic, plenty of cool historic stuff, the countryside is gorgeous, food is amazing. Gibraltar, Cadiz, Seville, malaga..... I miss it so much.