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Record number of tourists in Spain

My wife's mother's family is originally from Spain and it's very high on our list of places to visit. If it's that cheap maybe the time is now.
 
Gaius46 said:
My wife's mother's family is originally from Spain and it's very high on our list of places to visit. If it's that cheap maybe the time is now.
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Now's a very good time to come. It really is that cheap. Prices haven't risen for a long time and there are plenty of deals to be done by a good haggler.
 
Andalublue said:
Rain! Yay!!!! Very happy about that and the drop in temperature. I took a 5k+ hike today for the first time in 2 months. That felt really good. I really hate high summer.
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5k+ hike.. as in 5 km or 5000 km? :)

And it is rain + lighting, which I suspect you are not that happy about.
 
Are you sure about that 45 min time, Andy? :lol:

We have friends in Cantoria, and that area seems full of Brits too, especially around Albox. We did the trip to Mojacar, and Vera Playa. Golf courses/resorts everywhere!
 
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Andalublue said:
I certainly wouldn't recommend the Costa del Sol to anyone. Sorry, Pete. Not my cuppa at all. It depends what you're looking for.
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It all depends on how you do it, and what you want. Is it beach beach beach.. then yea I would not per say recommend it here, since there are so many freaking people on the beaches. But then again, this year all beaches are packed up along the coast all the way to Barcelona, so .. /shrug.

But as a starting point for cultural excursions, while having a relaxing vacation then the Costa is one of the best places around.

Let me give a recent example. My cousin was just here, and rented a villa with a pool for 1800 euros for 13 days. So the bathing part was covered.. I think they went to the beach once during their 13 days here. The villa was in the mountains with a nice view of the Med and Africa when it was clear and in a quite area. From this base of operation they drove to Granada to visit Alhambra. They had rented a hotel room, so drove up there one day, slept the one night, went to Alhambra (you need to book a time), and drove back. You can do it in a day if you plan it right.. it is under 2 hours away in a car. They also took a day in Malaga, a day to Ronda and went on a road trip up to the large lakes north of Malaga for a very nice meal.. best Ox tail I have had ever. They also went to Monda and the national forest over there, and found a hotel in the mountains.. highly recommend place if you want peace and quite. The kids (17-19 year olds) went to Marbella and Banus (big ships, big cars and big boobs day as I called it) and had a blast in the night life here... and yes some of them lost a day with massive hangovers muhhhhhha..

Other places they did not have time to visit.. Cordoba, Nerja caves, Gibraltar, Sevilla, Cadiz and so on.. all with in reach of the Malaga area with in a day of driving.

Point is there is plenty of stuff to do on the Costa and within reach if you have a car and are willing to explore and go away from the tourist areas.
 
Andalublue said:
Yes. It's not somewhere many Brits seem to have found. The majority of the holidaymakers are Spanish. No Full English All-day Breakfasts anywhere. After this coming weekend, most Spanish workers return to work on Monday, it will be super relaxed and with the temperatures now in the upper-20s rather than the mid-30s, it's just perfect beach time.

If you're thinking of it, here's a lovely little family-run hostal that won't break the bank, I think it's about €60 a night for a double room with breakfast. It's 5 minutes walk from the beach, in the middle of town but quiet. You can fly direct to Almería from Manchester, E. Mids, Brum, Stansted and Gatwick.
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looking for something at the end of Sept hows the weather in a months time?
 
Gaius46 said:
My wife's mother's family is originally from Spain and it's very high on our list of places to visit. If it's that cheap maybe the time is now.
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If you have never been, Segovia is a great side trip, and a very quick train ride from Madrid.
Segovia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PS the taxis are cheaper and quicker to and from the train station.
I also found Northern Spain to be interesting.
Galicia and Asturias were very nice.
 
Higgins86 said:
looking for something at the end of Sept hows the weather in a months time?
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Rainy season traditionally starts on the Costa around Sept 14th, and of course that means a bit earlier up north. Temp wise, it should still be mid 20s easy, even up by Andy.. but of course we do have freak hot (and cold spells)... I remember 2 years ago that we had 30+ degrees in late November here.. and no rain, and the suddenly the rain came.. and man did it rain heh.
 
PeteEU said:
Rainy season traditionally starts on the Costa around Sept 14th, and of course that means a bit earlier up north. Temp wise, it should still be mid 20s easy, even up by Andy.. but of course we do have freak hot (and cold spells)... I remember 2 years ago that we had 30+ degrees in late November here.. and no rain, and the suddenly the rain came.. and man did it rain heh.
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I live in Surrey so rain doesn't bother me lol
 
PeteEU said:
5k+ hike.. as in 5 km or 5000 km? :)

And it is rain + lighting, which I suspect you are not that happy about.
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5km. We haven't had any lightning yet, but no I don't like walking in thunderstorms, especially not with my metal sticks.

Manc Skipper said:
Are you sure about that 45 min time, Andy? :lol:

We have friends in Cantoria, and that area seems full of Brits too, especially around Albox. We did the trip to Mojacar, and Vera Playa. Golf courses/resorts everywhere!
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Yes, driving time 45mins. Waiting in a queue to cross the border? Who can say?

The area you mention, around Albox especially, is teeming with Brits. I've no idea why. Albox seems a very ugly place in the middle of the desert. Each to their own, I guess. Where I live there's a handful of us. There used to be more but the economy and lack of resorts, golf courses etc seems to have done for them.

PeteEU said:
It all depends on how you do it, and what you want. ...

Point is there is plenty of stuff to do on the Costa and within reach if you have a car and are willing to explore and go away from the tourist areas.
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All true.

Higgins86 said:
looking for something at the end of Sept hows the weather in a months time?
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Could be fantastic, could be so-so. It's usually pretty warm with the chance of the odd thunderstorm. Last year I was down there first week of November and got terribly sunburnt, sunbathing and swimming without lotion. November!

If you do make it down, don't forget to be in touch and I'll come down and buy you a beer of 6. Maybe we could even persuade Pete to drive over for a DP get-together.

longview said:
If you have never been, Segovia is a great side trip, and a very quick train ride from Madrid.
Segovia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
PS the taxis are cheaper and quicker to and from the train station.
I also found Northern Spain to be interesting.
Galicia and Asturias were very nice.
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I haven't toured northern Spain as much as I would have liked to. Everyone says how lovely Segovia, Ávila and Salamanca are. I wouldn't do it as a side trip from Almería however. I think the drive from the Cabo de Gata to Segovia would take around 10 hours.
 
Andalublue said:
5km. We haven't had any lightning yet, but no I don't like walking in thunderstorms, especially not with my metal sticks.

Yes, driving time 45mins. Waiting in a queue to cross the border? Who can say?

The area you mention, around Albox especially, is teeming with Brits. I've no idea why. Albox seems a very ugly place in the middle of the desert. Each to their own, I guess. Where I live there's a handful of us. There used to be more but the economy and lack of resorts, golf courses etc seems to have done for them.

All true.

Could be fantastic, could be so-so. It's usually pretty warm with the chance of the odd thunderstorm. Last year I was down there first week of November and got terribly sunburnt, sunbathing and swimming without lotion. November!

If you do make it down, don't forget to be in touch and I'll come down and buy you a beer of 6. Maybe we could even persuade Pete to drive over for a DP get-together.

I haven't toured northern Spain as much as I would have liked to. Everyone says how lovely Segovia, Ávila and Salamanca are. I wouldn't do it as a side trip from Almería however. I think the drive from the Cabo de Gata to Segovia would take around 10 hours.
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Mate def will if we book it! Catch a prem lg game somewhere and listen to Pete tell us how bad the game is compared to La Liga ;)
 
specklebang said:
From what I've heard about Spain, I wish I was there right now. Sex, drugs, rock and roll. What's not to like?

The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain.
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Spain is great: beautiful women, great art, amazing food, friendly people, etc.

Go for a couple weeks, I'll be more than happy to guard your feline charges
 
Infinite Chaos said:
Yeah, there was always the risk of "added extras" with a holiday in a muslim country such as beheadings, rape, false imprisonment, terrorist attack at historic venues but adding wholesale revolution into the mix of a yearly family holiday is a bit too adventurous LOL.
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^getting old^
 
I've been watching La Vuelta zig zagging around the ends of the earth the last couple of days, thinking "That looks nice, I could hop on a ferry to Santander with the bike, (motor) and skip the long drag through France!"
 
For a couple decades now I've wanted to do a "Sun Also Rises" trip around Spain.

Fishing in Burguete, head down to Pamplona for San Fermín, then drive over to San Sebastián for a couple days on the beach.

Unfortunately, I've got a five-year-old and a one-year-old so dropping a bunch of cash in order to fly to Europe just to be on a vacation that would bore children to tears is more-or-less out of the question.

I prolly won't get back to Europe until the one-year old is six or seven.

Bummer. I've never been anyplace in Europe that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.
 
soot said:
For a couple decades now I've wanted to do a "Sun Also Rises" trip around Spain.

Fishing in Burguete, head down to Pamplona for San Fermín, then drive over to San Sebastián for a couple days on the beach.

Unfortunately, I've got a five-year-old and a one-year-old so dropping a bunch of cash in order to fly to Europe just to be on a vacation that would bore children to tears is more-or-less out of the question.

I prolly won't get back to Europe until the one-year old is six or seven.

Bummer. I've never been anyplace in Europe that I didn't thoroughly enjoy.
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I've actually found europe to be extremely friendly to budget traveling, compared to the states
 
Dr. Chuckles said:
I've actually found europe to be extremely friendly to budget traveling, compared to the states
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It's not so much the budget I'm concerned about as it is lugging a one-year-old along on an intercontinental flight and expecting a five-year-old to appreciate the things that I enjoy about Europe (the architecture, the art museums, the ancient churches and castles, the cuisine, the natural beauty).

If I'm kinda restricted to swimming at the beach or wandering around an amusement park I can just as easily do that here in the States or down in the Caribbean/Mexico.

That's why I say I'd rather wait 'til the boys are a little bit older.

I can't wait to take them to my favorite places in Europe (Pisa, Heidelberg, Luxembourg City, London) and to explore a few places I've never been myself (Spain, Ireland, Rome/Florence, Poland).
 
Dr. Chuckles said:
Spain is great: beautiful women, great art, amazing food, friendly people, etc.

Go for a couple weeks, I'll be more than happy to guard your feline charges
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Nah. I'm headed to Minneapolis tomorrow for the cat video festival. My long travel days are done, I'll leave it to the younger and braver.

As it is, I had to pay off the cats just to be gone for 5 days. 200 small, unmarked treats.
 
specklebang said:
Nah. I'm headed to Minneapolis tomorrow for the cat video festival. My long travel days are done, I'll leave it to the younger and braver.

As it is, I had to pay off the cats just to be gone for 5 days. 200 small, unmarked treats.
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no complementary 8-balls of catnip?
 
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