travelling around spain ... any advice?

Hi there.

I and a partner will be travelling around Spain in September. we are flying into Madrid and moving around for two weeks before leaving from Madrid again.

we have rough plans drawn up about where we want to go, but are there any express do's and don't's for travelling in Spain?

(1) As regards accommodation, we would like a room to ourselves, not the dormitory-type scenario associated with hostels. what would i expect to pay for a double-room at a low- to middle-grade hotel? All we're looking for is cleanliness and convenience - we have no need for plush, lavish accommodation, and will not be able to afford it.

(2) we had planned to spend a few nights Valencia over a weekend, and possibly to try to take in a football match in la mestalla, but we've heard a few reports that it's not a nice city - some parts dirty, streets possibly rough. any thoughts?

(3) what part of Spain would you absolutely recommend us NOT to miss? our itinerary, as I say, is rough and open to alteration. And, on the flip side of that, where would you avoid?

(4) what can i expect the weather to be like around Spain at that time of year? i'm from ireland, so anything warm and dry would be like heaven!

(5) Food and drink. what are people's thoughts about traditional spanish food/drink? I'd like to hear some of your ideas about what is good and what is bad.

I'd appreciate to hear the thoughts of the group, good and bad, about spain before we go. It's always good to be prepared.

Thanks in advance,

¤20-25 for the cheaper places (pensiones mainly). Spain is one of the many countries where staying in hostels makes little economic sense unless you're trying to scrape to the last penny.

I find the Spanish approach takes some getting used to. It's difficult to just get a quick simple meal unless you happen to be hungry at exactly the right time. Otherwise you're stuck with sandwiches and warmed-over tapas. In the centers of the biggest cities, where there are hungry people all the time, it's less of an issue.

And if you do come at the right time, the food can be very good. I'm a big fan of paella myself, but there are all sorts of egg, ham, sausage, bread, and potato things. The common thread is that everything swims in oil.

I used to find Spain a pretty irritating country to travel in but the last couple of trips it's started to really grow on me. I could never live there but the people are mostly quite friendly, the landscapes are beautiful, and it's relaxing.

I don't claim to be an expert. I am pretty good at describing what has been put in front of me, though.

You've obviously been ordering totally weird stuff, or eating in crap places then. :-

hwyl!

<toriad> To be fair - the fact that something is 'touristic' doesn't mean it's any good or worth visiting. Lots of people go on cruises or to disney, but they just sound like hell to me.......

Mind you, I can't quite see what's irritating about Spain - apart from the foreign visitors, of course

hwyl!

One very real possibility is that not every single human being on the planet shares my preferences.

What I find irritating in Spain:

- The fact that everything (shops, banks, etc.) is basically always closed.

- The fact that I have to conform to a single lockstep national schedule if I don't want to eat stale food.

- The general slow pace.

None of these things are 'bad', they just irritate me. I'm spoiled by Asia, where the hectic pace works very well for me and I am sure is in turn irritating to a whole slew of other tourists.

As I come to have more friends who actually live there, it's easier to deal with, because there's a friendly context to the pace and schedule.

And, as a bonus, things I like about Spain:

- I find the drivers much more courteous toward pedestrians than in most European countries.

- The nightlife is friendly, relaxing, and in a handful of cities, plentiful and late.

- Oranges.

Oh, there's plenty of oily paella out there. I just did a search for 'paella recipe' and every one of the half-dozen I checked included more oil than I'd otherwise tend to use in a meal of comparable size.

Obviously 'basically always closed' is an exaggeration. To be literally correct I will rephrase as: 'everything is closed a substantial majority of the time.'

That's lovely for the Spanish people that they choose to relax and enjoy themselves instead of working. Good for them. I wholly support their right to do so. Doesn't make it any less irritating to me though.

I hitchhiked across Africa for several months; does that count? The cities I went through are much more alive than Spanish cities on a street level - with music, street markets, and so on, and for much more of the day. The rural areas can be pretty slow-moving but it's exotic enough to be interesting to me nonetheless. Exactly the same in the Caribbean.

I've never been to Ibiza or to any holiday resorts on the Spanish coast. I did spend half a day in Malaga last year though. Most of the time I've spent in Spain has been in Madrid (about a month in total). Also a few days in Sevilla, a couple weeks in Barcelona, a lot of stopovers in Algeciras, and a few days in various other towns (Toledo, Avila, etc.)

You sure spend a lot of time telling me things about myself that are incorrect. It's fairly pointless behavior because I actually have the facts at hand - while you're just inventing things, based on a flawed logic that seems to hinge around an expectation that all people either think the same way as you do or are flawed in character or experience. Why not focus more on the actual topic?

Because you like stating things that you have no idea about. I was trying to let you know about it. Nevermind, go on with your life beliving that you are the god of knowledge.

Of course, no one has the truth but you, Mr. Miguel Cruz.

Why don't you stop talking about the things you have no idea at all? Sorry, I forgot no one has the facts but you.

Have a good life...

You are honestly contending that you know more about me than I do? I guess it's possible, but it doesn't seem likely. Why would this be? Have you been stalking me lo these many years? If you're a secret admirer, flowers work better, you know.

I was stating opinions and I clearly characterized them as such.

When confronted with the possibility that my opinions were misinformed, I was intrigued and asked to be educated. Your response was to pick further. I just don't get what the fun of that is. Why bother? If you have something to say, why not just say it? Do you respond this way every time someone has an opinion different from yours, or did I just hit some hot button?

SEPTEMBER is definitely a good month.

Quite easy to find sort of 10 Euro per night accomodation, except for Barcelona or Madrid. But don't expect excessive cleanliness or comfort, although you could be lucky.

Maybe not a splendid city, it has its interesting cultural and historiy parts. And also good food (the famous paella valenciana) and wine, generally much cheaper than in Barcelona, Madrid or Malaga. It is the <capital> of an extensive famring region, famous for oranges, piltry, meats etc. I would definitely recommend Andalucia, such places as Huelva, Cadiz, Sevilla, Grenada andthe coast between Malaga and Almeria (I love Nerja, for example). In the north, the <green> and ygaelic> Galicia is very charming, albeit more exposed to weather changes and more expensive than most of the south. Great for food. And when in Galicia, don't forget the north of Portugal (Porto, Guimaraes etc.).

Gaéicia might be not much different from Ireland, the Andalucian coast is the most reliable part of Europe for sun (Gibraltar might have fog any time of the year, including July or August).

Life (and space plus my time) is too limited to list it all. Let's take the famous paella, for example. Many tourists are proud to have had the CHEAPEST paella, but they certainly didn't have a very good one. A good paella includes crabmeat and all sorts of meat and fish. Impossible, therefore, to make it CHEAP. The same thing for the jamon (serrano and others, dried ham). A great Spanish product, with the best originating in the Huelva region. It's not cheap, but one has to taste it. Prime product is generally a rare thing, so you got to pay the price, the demand is stronger than the offer. The same for excellent wines. Browse the internet for recommendations, and - when in Spain - talk to the locals about it (a few words of Spanish are almost indispensable, so work on it). You will certainly get some hints in this newsgroup, but - don't forget - you also owe us a trip report after your return