Hi
I'm heading to Spain with the spouse and three kids (aged 11, 14 and 15) in September 2008. We have about two weeks available, of which the first 4-5 days will be spend in Valencia (this is non-negotiable).
My question is, where should be spend the remaining time? I want to go to Barcelona and my husband has to make a trip to Seville for business, but these two places seem a long way apart.
Should we head down south from Valencia and then fly up to Barcelona to finish off the trip? Or is there a better way?
Will we regret forever not going to Madrid?
What's the best way for a family of five to move around Spain? I'm thinking of hiring a car.

Thanks
Jill B

Hi Jill

Others will no doubt weigh in with much more useful information....

I am Australian and live in Andalucia and am therefore somewhat biased towards southern Spain. With only about 9 - 10 days and with Seville being necessary, I would tend to stick to Andalucia. Seville is gorgeous and worth several days or more - we have spent weeks there and never tire of it. Granada and Cordoba and some of the white villages are all wonderful.

A few other comments - Spain is very 'kid and family friendly'. The weather in September should be warm and sunny. I would suggest driving although the train service is meant to be good (haven't used it myself) and parking in the cities and even some of the villages can be difficult. Make sure you have a GPS in the rental car - it is well worth it.

Thanks, Eliza. I suppose that if I have to, I can make a day trip from Valencia to Barcelona on the train.
Do you know if any airlines fly from Seville to Milan?

Given your time and the kids I would also suggest Andalusia---which demands 10 days in my judgment. Try to see Nerja as you drive west.

just my one liners again, yes i agree to pick Valencia and Sevilla, great combination/

and yes you can fly from Sevilla to Milano, ryanair,Iberia,air berlin ,and Vueling fly the route that I know of.

Valencia may be non-negotiable but it's also very good in its own right and, yes, you could certainly get to Barcelona and back in a day by train.

I'm surprised nobody has suggested the bus for travelling around Andalucía. For a number of inter-city journeys [notably Sevilla or Cordoba to Granada] Alsina-Graells coaches are much quicker and provide a far more frequent service than the train. Driving yourself is no pleasure in the cities.

If you happen to be a Picasso enthusiast, Málaga should be included in your visit to Andalucía.

Thanks all. My husband now says that he really doesn't need to go to Seville (it's an invitation he can take or leave) and we are thinking that, given that we have three kids in the teenage/near teenage bracket, it might just be easiest to stay 5 days in Valencia and 5 days in Barcelona.
Basically, we don't want to be in the car, or on public transport for too many days, travelling between towns.

I think the danger in going down to Andalucia will be that we will be tempted to visit too many different towns and spend too much time getting from place to place, and too little enjoying just one place.

Mind you, if we can restrict ourselves to just one place in Southern Spain, that would be fine.

Any thoughts?

you can do 5 days in Valencia,and 5 days in Sevilla if you dont want to move around too much and see SPAIN.

Thanks everyone.

Next question. We fly into Barcelona on a Sunday evening (after 31 hours via London - groan) and we'll have to get ourselves to Valencia the next morning. We'll probably go by train.

Can anyone recommend a comfortable hotel in Barcelona with double and triple rooms. Given that we'll all be tired and cranky, comfort is a must. It would be good to be handy to the centre of town, but also to whichever train station we'll be needing on the Monday morning.

near airport i have stayed at best western alfa hotel,is about 2km and very good in and out airport.

hi jillb,

If you only have 10 days after Valencia then I would recommend either Barcelona or Sevilla - if you try and visit both you'll just get a smattering of what they have to offer.

I live in Sevilla and reckon you need at least a week here to really get the feel of the place and start feeling at home. With the extra time there are several nice day trips you could take, either by bus or train, to Córdoba, Cádiz, Jeréz ...

If you end up coming to Sevilla consider renting a holiday apartment as they are much more comfortable and usually end up much cheaper than a hotel. I can give you some info on that if you want to drop me a line.

If you go to Barcelona ... well, ten days might be enough! There is so much to see there and also some nice day trips to take.

Hope this helps.

Thanks all.
Well, we've booked 6 days in Sevilla with a rental company there (sevilla5). I can't wait. We decided to fly from Valencia to Sevilla, which seemed to be our best option.

We are now trying to book an apartment in Valencia, but this proving difficult (we tried Friendly Rentals, but other than automatically generated emails saying "we will respond within 24 hours", we hear nothing). Still, I will keep trying.
If anyone knows of an apartment that will house 5 people and will accept a 4 day rental period in the city, please let me know.