Spain Summer 2019

We took a 16 day trip to Spain about 6 years ago. We flew into Barcelona. Took a Renfe (Spain's high speed train) to Seville. From there we took another train to Granada and from there a train to Madrid. From Madrid we took round-trip train to Toledo and a day-trip to Segovia before flying home from Madrid. Every city and sites we visited were awesome.

My daughter was considering a semester abroad in Madrid but an option to study in Havana became available. She applied for and got selected so she spent a semester at University of Havana. This was before Obama administration liberalized Cuba travel options. Your daughter will have a great experience studying abroad and since she will be in Spain, you will have an opportunity to visit her. We had to learn about our daughter's experiences and life in Cuba via her emails and blogs.
My wife and I travel abroad a lot. Let me know if you have any questions about traveling abroad and Spain. I'll be happy to share my experiences.

I lived in Seville, Spain for almost one year back in 2000-2001 as part of a study abroad program. I loved it there and never wanted to leave. I don't know what the rules are surrounding this group, but I would be willing to chat in person as there is so much information to share, and there's no way I could possibly write about it here. I lived in southern Spain, but I was just back there in Madrid, southern Spain, and Portugal for two weeks this past March.

I took a Spanish cultural class in Spain for 3 weeks in college. As mentioned above, Seville, Toledo, Segovia, and Madrid were fantastic. We also went to Granada to see the Alhambra....so worth it! We also spent time in Cadiz then took a hydroplane across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco. You can't go wrong with any of these options. I'm going again next spring/summer so any other information you find would be welcomed by me as well!

I would spend 1-2 nights in Cordoba and check out some of the pueblos blancos (white villages) such as Arcos de la Frontera. Ronda, near Malaga, is absolutely breathtaking and highly recommended. If you like food, a trip to the Basque Country is amazing, although I haven't made it there yet.

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Spain and Ireland. Our daughter is studying abroad in Granada Spain. She loves it. We flew from MSP to Dublin and then on to Malaga Spain. We rented a car at the airport in Malaga. We stayed there for a few days, then traveled to Granada, Seville, and Cordoba. We had a blast. We stayed in Airbnb places and loved being in the "neighborhoods" and experiencing the day to day life in Spain. Driving was a bit more difficult than we anticipated. We had a hard time with all of the roundabouts and many times missed our turn and had to backtrack. Also, parking is very limited but we did find public parking garages that had a spot or two open. The food is awesome and very inexpensive and the people are so friendly. Make sure you pack good walking shoes. We walked over 10 miles a day. We returned from Spain to Dublin and took a few trips out to the countryside in Ireland. It was a great trip. Our daughter flew through Iceland from MSP and also found reasonable flights. Enjoy your trip!

Thanks for all the responses/suggestions! Very much appreciated. Sounds like I may have to save more PTO and make it an extended vacation!