What are the best places to visit in Spain? (for a one week visit)

Could I suggest you visit Portugal as well?

What types of things interest you and your husband? museums, outdoors, beaches, country, city, etc?

Would you want to city hop or just pick one or 2 cities to explore?

Are you guys american? how’s your spanish?

In Barcelona the Picasso museum is a MUST! And make a trip to the St. Josep La Boqueria (that is where you will see REAL spain)

I would suggest going to Segovia if you are in Madrid. It is about an hour outside of madrid and can be like a day or ½ day trip. the town is small so it won’t take long to look around.

i really liked the reina sofia (modern art museum madrid).

if you are there during a soccer game you might consider getting tickets, but they get really crazy, so be prepared.

i haven’t been to seville but i hear its a party city (but then again pretty much everywhere in spain is a party city).

my biggest “hint” to you for your trip is keep your eyes, and hands on your purse/ wallet/ money at all times. pick pocets are pretty slick there.

Thank you both! Yes, we are considering Portugal. We enjoy going to museums and seeing what cities have to offer. We are not really “beach people” or interested in sports. My husband knows quite a bit of spanish…I know very little. We are just in the initial phases of thinking about what we want to do. We are also very interested in enjoying traditional cuisine.

@jenandcolin I highly recommend Portugal! Anything you want to know about my country I’ll tell you! I live in Lisbon :)
As for traditional cuisine, in Spain you have to eat gazpacho, paella, churros and porras and in Portugal you have Pastéis de Belém, bacalhau (cod) and feijoada as traditional dishes. You can’t go wrong

I would suggest the Guggenheim in Bilbao.
I was never there, but it’s definitely on my list to visit when in Spain.

i am SUCH a foodie! and since you said you are into food too, i must reiterate the st. joseph la boqueria

as for museums, also check out the prado in madrid.

in barcelona you can find the architecture of gaudi. he was a true genius.

as for food. jamon (ham, well prosciutto technically ). you will see aged pig legs everywhere hanging from the ceilings of many places. a traditional appetizer type dish is melon and jamon (salty sweet combo).
eat the sea food in barcelona (like paella). its perfectly fine in madrid, but better by the sea.

something that changed my life! was the hot chocolate in spain! not to be confused with “chocolate con leche”. the hot chocolate is thick and sooo delicious!!!

I love Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia is a must as well as the other Gaudi stuff.

The beaches in Nerja.

The Alhambra in Granada… and also the many bars/restaurants in the city. It’s the only city with free tapas (when you buy a drink)!

Gaudi architecture sites, Picasso museum, and the beach on the Barceloneta in Barcelona.

Granada is a definite must-visit… so beautiful.

Andalusia or north part of the Spain,such is andora country.

If you visit the Andalusia region in the South, you can make a nice tour visiting Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla, Ronda and maybe Jerez de la Frontera. Avoid July and August, that’s too hot, but the rest of the year it’s very nice.

I suppose you won’t be there in spring but if you are, don’t miss the Feria’s, every city has it’s own multi-day festival period which is great.

Yes, Andalusia. Granada, Cordoba, Sevilla, Ronda are terrific. I just came back from Isla Cristina (near Huelva) and we took a trip to Seville. Go see the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcazar_of_Seville

Spain has many wonderful places to visit. But if I were to go there again, I’d go straight to Santiago De Compostella (yeah ok, nice churches and all, who cares?) and try and find that amazing restaurant where they served me something like half a pig on a wooden plate for a few pesetas. Was the largest piece of pork I’ve ever seen, served with a loaf of bread and a whole lettuce instead of salad. Crude, but wonderful :)

Thank you all for your answers. This gives my husband a lot to think about. We still have quite a bit of time to plan but this discussion has gotten me very excited! Thank you!

the full baby pig thing is pretty common in the towns of spain. be careful, it is a little off putting for people who are not used to seeing the actual animal you are eating (im talking ears, hear, hooves…) but very well cooked, and pretty melt in your mouth tastey