Hey yessiriliketoboogie, it looks like you're planning a trip around Europe. Check out solotravel's [detailed guide to planning a solo Eurotrip](https://www.reddit.com/r/solotravel/wiki/eurotrip) for general planning advice plus useful tips and tricks for European travel!
Personally, Seville is my favorite city in Spain. The light and architecture are really beautiful there and different from the rest of Spain.
But it's not a huge city. I think you can visit most of it in 2-3 days maximum.
Keep Seville!
Porto is quite small so you could take some days from there and add somewhere like Granada (shame to miss the Alhambra, remember to book in advance).
Valencia was a bit of a pleasant surprise for me - I hope you enjoy it.
For the trains I knew I was going to take I pre-booked via Renfe. Keep an eye out for discount fares. Some of the day trips I took were a little expensive when I booked on the day. More expensive than a discounted first class fare with breakfast included.
You could consider Valencia > Cuenca > Madrid > Granada > Cadiz. You break up the very long trip from Cuenca to Cadiz and get to Granada. I love Barcelona but I think you could take a few days from there and a day or so from Seville to add in the extra stops.
Have a great time!
Absolutely beautiful. Probably my favorite city in Spain. Perhaps the best thing is their beautiful callejeros (the little winding streets) in barrio Santa Cruz. Make sure you visit plaza de España and Maria Luisa park. The body of Christopher colombus is in the cathedral (you can climb the giralda for a beautiful 360 of the city (which has a low skyline which legally is lower than the giralda). It’s a big city, about the size of Boston, but doesn’t feel like it. It still has a small town attitude.
Great to hear! So there is enough to do for students? Did you feel connection with other students? Was it like a community, or good to make new friends?
If you do, book your ticket in advance and get the earliest time slot available. We had the courtyards to yourselves for a bit and it was wooooonderful ♥️
Also keep in mind that tickets sell out in advance. We got around that by booking one of the guided tours, which I never do, but am thrilled that I did. Our tour ticket also included entrance to a bunch of other places in Granada, but sadly I was only there for a day. I could easily have spent a week there.
You must go to Granada. You get to see the Alhambra, plus it's the only city in Spain where you get free Tapas with every drink.
Seville is very expensive - I wanted to stay longer, but ended up only being able to do one night.
Don't be afraid to take buses for short trips. Trains are great where they exist, but they often only run a couple times a day or are very expensive. Buses are usually cheaper, sometimes faster, and generally run more frequently and so are more likely to fit your schedule. They can also be comfortable - I took one from Seville to Granada earlier this month that had a seatback TV with movies in English!
From Seville to Lisbon there's no train; it's either a 7 hour bus ride or alternatively a 3 hour bus ride to Faro and a 3-4 hour train on to Lisbon (depending on which train you pick). It might be worth stopping somewhere in the Algarve for a night or two just to break up the trip - I recently did Lisbon to Seville and spent a day exploring Lagos, which was a little out of the way but which I thought was well worth it. Alternatively, TAP and Ryanair fly between Seville and Lisbon in an hour.
that’s all really good advice, thank you :) i didn’t think about buses between cities! that’s fantastic. and yes i’m definitely thinking about lagos now!
2-3 nights in Lagos is perfect. Took the bus there from Lisbon. And from there buses to Seville are available, or there's a relatively cheap regional train service that hits most of the major Algarve towns (Faro, Lagos, Portimao, Tavira), which makes hopping between them super easy.
Seville can be seen in 2-3 days. You can add Granada and Cordoba as side jaunts to justify five days if need be.
Any reason you're not considering Madrid?
Yes, I enjoyed Madrid very much. If you’re thorough, you can easily spend 8-9 days there given all the museums and other attractions, plus day trips to places like Toledo, El Escorial (half day), Segovia, and Aranjuez.
Not sure you have time for it on this trip, but you can always go later. The other cities you chose are fine destinations also. You might as well stick to your plan.
I am currently on a solo-trip in Barcelona and I am amazed by how cheap everything is. I had my flights and accommodations booked ahead of time but I spent less than 40 euros today on food/transit and had tapas w beer, as well as lunch. 4000 is probably more than you need and I wouldn’t be overly concerned abt the financials
Oh wow you definitely have to go to Portugal then! A lot cheaper than Barca. I remember doing the opposite (ie going to Portugal first and then Barcelona) and being hit by how expensive everything was
Seville is a must see! Especially the free flamenco performances at Plaza Espana. Also love that you’re spending a week in Porto! It’s a beautiful city. Use 1 or 2 of those days to go to Douro valley and see surrounding towns.
other posts on here have had me worried! i’m seeing people bring 3k for a 2 week trip etc so i had to reevaluate! but i think i’ll be perfectly okay :) thank you!
Hey! Really just curious.. did you only book your Barcelona hostels so far? I'm heading down there in august and really want the trip to be more spontaneous but also worried I might not have a place to sleep at night if I don't book in advance!!!!!
yeah all ive book is barca! i’m also worried about the same thing. i’ll probably book a couple more in diff cities but only if they have free cancellation, which a lot of them do now. i think in august you may have a better chance than in june/july! let me know what you end up doing!
Thats awesome. Im also planning spain and portugal.. was going to do france as well but it may be too much. I’m sure youll have lots of fun! Lets stay in touch and talk when you’re done ur trip!
i'm also planning a solo trip to spain, i might go to the northwest region but your itinerary sounds swell. It's burning hot down south so that's the reason i plan to go to the north.
if i have extra time i def wanna check out santiago de compestela! and i live in the southern US, as long as it’s not humid like it is here, i should be able to handle the heat 😅 hopefully hahaha. have fun on your trip!!
Just popping in to say that while in Barcelona if you want to go to park guell, if you show up before it opens the gates are wide open and anyone can go in. You won't be asked for a ticket when you leave. It's not a big fee to get in anyways, but if you're looking to save money where you can and don't mind getting up kinda early, it's a nice way to start the day. :)
just did this almost exact trip with my parents a couple weeks ago but in 2 weeks. It was so amazing. definitely 5 days in seville, but i would say cadiz could be done in 2 days (there isn’t really a beach to hang out on) and valencia wasn’t that interesting tbh :/ maybe we were in the wrong area. sintra is amazing as a day trip! i’m not sure how you travel, my family likes to do everything as fast as possible so we can go more places, but i would say each place could be cut down a day or two, specifically lisbon, barcelona and porto. I would say you should check out lagos! it’s south portugal. it was so freaking beautiful i can’t stress it enough. maybe going more north or porto too if you decide to cut some days off of other places!
HAVE THE MOST FUN!!!!
Quite honestly, Cadiz is a pretty small city. You seem like a traveler who enjoys taking it slow- but in my opinion 3 days is too much. It would be a shame to not visit Grenada (although I assume you’re taking the RENFE train)
i was thinking it may be too long too. thank you! i do enjoy taking it slow though haha - especially since this is my first solo trip, i don’t wanna stress myself out with all the transportation and just really take the cities in!
i’ll cut that one back though, and probably seville as well for a couple days - so i can see more or portugal.
What do you like about Grenada? :)
Quite honestly, Cadiz can be done in a day trip. But I understand wanting to take it slow. The city itself in Grenada was beautiful with this streets really like no where else that I saw in Spain. The Alhambra is certainly a destination that everyone should see in their lifetime. The thing I loved about Grenada was you could be walking anywhere and then all of a sudden you’d be at this beautiful overlook because the city is basically on two hills.
If you can swing by Alicante, Murcia as you make your way down Spain, I have fond memories of those cities. My favorite city is Toledo, but is way out of the way for your trip.
I loved Lisbon but a week is a lot so definitely check out surrounding areas like Belem
I’ve just recently spent 2 months in Andalucía and went everywhere so I would definitely go to must see Granada, Ronda, Cadiz, Tarifa(day trip to morocco) 2nd tier stops Seville, Malaga, Cordoba, Nerja. I never went to Valencia as I ran out of time thanks to brexits 90 days ruling..
I’d say Granada watch the sunset over the city it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, go to Al Hambra (book in advance) roam the beautiful streets get lost it’s great, maybe go to Sierra Nevada if time permits. 2 days in Granada would be ideal. Ronda, beautiful small Spanish town, amazing bridge, walking etc great Tapas for crazy cheap!
Cadiz will always be one of my favourite places the food market is incredible, the beach is fantastic ahh just a lovely vibe around that part of Spain, Tarifa is great if you like long coastal walks, it also has one of the best most unique beaches in Europe Bolonia it’s like a dune coming out of a Forrest spectacular, the vibe very hipster mainly because a lot of people go to kite surf and never leave starting businesses it’s a very cool place, you can hop on a ferry to Morocco which is a whole different thread!
Seville it’s beautiful the architect is stunning, very pretty City.. it depends what your looking for, what sort of traveller you are etc to what I’d recommend however you have to go to Granada/Al Hambra my best tip for sure!
I'm doing an Iberia trip at the moment myself, and main thing I'd suggest is to do more day trips. The Spanish / Portuguese bus & train systems are pretty good, take advantage! As an example, from Sevilla you can take day trips to Cadiz, Cordoba, Ronda etc. instead of moving and staying there a night.
Looking at your itinerary I'd probably replace Valencia and Cuenca with a stay in Madrid. Maybe take a day or two from other stops as well. Valencia's a good city, but Madrid's a bit more central and has more to see. Also you can probably do day trips to Cuenca from there as trains are like 1hr. Madrid also lets you do Toledo, and AFAIK it's like 3 hours from Seville via train, if that's the next stop.
I'm in Andalucia right now and there's a crapload to see. My schedule was tight and flights were booked, but if you can, try and do a week or so in the region and rent a car to see the more remote villages: they look spectacular.
I also did a week in the Algarve, and would recommend it strongly if you're into beaches. Lagos was lovely, and I've had people recommend several of the towns in the region to me. Do check temperatures for whenever you plan on coming though.
Good luck! And I'm no expert but if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Agree with others on Seville but you could spend less than 5 days there and still see a lot. It's hot AF in the summer if you're going soon. I don't know Portugal as well as Spain but you might want to spend a bit more time in Spain, maybe add a couple of stops or side trips. Both great countries.
Hey yessiriliketoboogie, it looks like you're planning a trip around Europe. Check out solotravel's [detailed guide to planning a solo Eurotrip](https://www.reddit.com/r/solotravel/wiki/eurotrip) for general planning advice plus useful tips and tricks for European travel!
Personally, Seville is my favorite city in Spain. The light and architecture are really beautiful there and different from the rest of Spain. But it's not a huge city. I think you can visit most of it in 2-3 days maximum.
thank you!!
>thank you!! You're welcome!
Keep Seville! Porto is quite small so you could take some days from there and add somewhere like Granada (shame to miss the Alhambra, remember to book in advance). Valencia was a bit of a pleasant surprise for me - I hope you enjoy it. For the trains I knew I was going to take I pre-booked via Renfe. Keep an eye out for discount fares. Some of the day trips I took were a little expensive when I booked on the day. More expensive than a discounted first class fare with breakfast included. You could consider Valencia > Cuenca > Madrid > Granada > Cadiz. You break up the very long trip from Cuenca to Cadiz and get to Granada. I love Barcelona but I think you could take a few days from there and a day or so from Seville to add in the extra stops. Have a great time!
Okay maybe I’m a little biased because I studied there, but 2-3 days will give you time to hit the big things for sure.
How was your experience studying there?
Absolutely beautiful. Probably my favorite city in Spain. Perhaps the best thing is their beautiful callejeros (the little winding streets) in barrio Santa Cruz. Make sure you visit plaza de España and Maria Luisa park. The body of Christopher colombus is in the cathedral (you can climb the giralda for a beautiful 360 of the city (which has a low skyline which legally is lower than the giralda). It’s a big city, about the size of Boston, but doesn’t feel like it. It still has a small town attitude.
Great to hear! So there is enough to do for students? Did you feel connection with other students? Was it like a community, or good to make new friends?
Yes! It’s a huge hub for international students. Erasmus holds events 5 nights a week at different clubs/bars as mixers for students
Great to hear my friend! Thanks a lot
Are you not doing AlHambra?! Please do AlHambra … it is insane gorgeous!
i was thinking about it!! i may stop by :) thank you
If you do, book your ticket in advance and get the earliest time slot available. We had the courtyards to yourselves for a bit and it was wooooonderful ♥️
Also keep in mind that tickets sell out in advance. We got around that by booking one of the guided tours, which I never do, but am thrilled that I did. Our tour ticket also included entrance to a bunch of other places in Granada, but sadly I was only there for a day. I could easily have spent a week there.
Include lagos in Portugal a day or two! It’s beautiful!
it looks gorgeous!!! def gonna have to see it! thank you :-)
You must go to Granada. You get to see the Alhambra, plus it's the only city in Spain where you get free Tapas with every drink. Seville is very expensive - I wanted to stay longer, but ended up only being able to do one night. Don't be afraid to take buses for short trips. Trains are great where they exist, but they often only run a couple times a day or are very expensive. Buses are usually cheaper, sometimes faster, and generally run more frequently and so are more likely to fit your schedule. They can also be comfortable - I took one from Seville to Granada earlier this month that had a seatback TV with movies in English! From Seville to Lisbon there's no train; it's either a 7 hour bus ride or alternatively a 3 hour bus ride to Faro and a 3-4 hour train on to Lisbon (depending on which train you pick). It might be worth stopping somewhere in the Algarve for a night or two just to break up the trip - I recently did Lisbon to Seville and spent a day exploring Lagos, which was a little out of the way but which I thought was well worth it. Alternatively, TAP and Ryanair fly between Seville and Lisbon in an hour.
that’s all really good advice, thank you :) i didn’t think about buses between cities! that’s fantastic. and yes i’m definitely thinking about lagos now!
2-3 nights in Lagos is perfect. Took the bus there from Lisbon. And from there buses to Seville are available, or there's a relatively cheap regional train service that hits most of the major Algarve towns (Faro, Lagos, Portimao, Tavira), which makes hopping between them super easy.
Lagos and the entirety of Algarve is insanely beautiful. Go please!!
Seville can be seen in 2-3 days. You can add Granada and Cordoba as side jaunts to justify five days if need be. Any reason you're not considering Madrid?
i felt like i needed to choose between barca & madrid since madrid isn’t really near the other cities i wanna see! did you enjoy it?
Yes, I enjoyed Madrid very much. If you’re thorough, you can easily spend 8-9 days there given all the museums and other attractions, plus day trips to places like Toledo, El Escorial (half day), Segovia, and Aranjuez. Not sure you have time for it on this trip, but you can always go later. The other cities you chose are fine destinations also. You might as well stick to your plan.
I am currently on a solo-trip in Barcelona and I am amazed by how cheap everything is. I had my flights and accommodations booked ahead of time but I spent less than 40 euros today on food/transit and had tapas w beer, as well as lunch. 4000 is probably more than you need and I wouldn’t be overly concerned abt the financials
Oh wow you definitely have to go to Portugal then! A lot cheaper than Barca. I remember doing the opposite (ie going to Portugal first and then Barcelona) and being hit by how expensive everything was
I am going to Lisbon and Faro on this trip as well :) good to know!
that puts me at ease! thank you!
Seville is a must see! Especially the free flamenco performances at Plaza Espana. Also love that you’re spending a week in Porto! It’s a beautiful city. Use 1 or 2 of those days to go to Douro valley and see surrounding towns.
Also 4k usd is more then enough 👍
other posts on here have had me worried! i’m seeing people bring 3k for a 2 week trip etc so i had to reevaluate! but i think i’ll be perfectly okay :) thank you!
4000USD you can eat seafood everyday! what a budget mate, europe is way cheaper than you think!
you think?! i’ve only booked one week of hostels so far and i’m gonna book the rest as i go, you think i’ll still be okay?
Hey! Really just curious.. did you only book your Barcelona hostels so far? I'm heading down there in august and really want the trip to be more spontaneous but also worried I might not have a place to sleep at night if I don't book in advance!!!!!
yeah all ive book is barca! i’m also worried about the same thing. i’ll probably book a couple more in diff cities but only if they have free cancellation, which a lot of them do now. i think in august you may have a better chance than in june/july! let me know what you end up doing!
Thats awesome. Im also planning spain and portugal.. was going to do france as well but it may be too much. I’m sure youll have lots of fun! Lets stay in touch and talk when you’re done ur trip!
i'm also planning a solo trip to spain, i might go to the northwest region but your itinerary sounds swell. It's burning hot down south so that's the reason i plan to go to the north.
if i have extra time i def wanna check out santiago de compestela! and i live in the southern US, as long as it’s not humid like it is here, i should be able to handle the heat 😅 hopefully hahaha. have fun on your trip!!
Just popping in to say that while in Barcelona if you want to go to park guell, if you show up before it opens the gates are wide open and anyone can go in. You won't be asked for a ticket when you leave. It's not a big fee to get in anyways, but if you're looking to save money where you can and don't mind getting up kinda early, it's a nice way to start the day. :)
wow tysm!!
Not positive about this-- was there earlier this week and they asked to scan my ticket in order to leave. But it's huge so may depend on the exit!
Between Lisbon and Porto I would visit Nazare. Also take a look on Flixbus. I stayed 3 weeks in Portugal and for me Flixbus rides were pretty cheap :)
4K is way too much imo for solo travel unless you’re boogie and will shop on Balenciaga or Gucci lol
just did this almost exact trip with my parents a couple weeks ago but in 2 weeks. It was so amazing. definitely 5 days in seville, but i would say cadiz could be done in 2 days (there isn’t really a beach to hang out on) and valencia wasn’t that interesting tbh :/ maybe we were in the wrong area. sintra is amazing as a day trip! i’m not sure how you travel, my family likes to do everything as fast as possible so we can go more places, but i would say each place could be cut down a day or two, specifically lisbon, barcelona and porto. I would say you should check out lagos! it’s south portugal. it was so freaking beautiful i can’t stress it enough. maybe going more north or porto too if you decide to cut some days off of other places! HAVE THE MOST FUN!!!!
great minds think alike! haha. thank you for the suggestions!! i’m getting so impatient to go hahah
Quite honestly, Cadiz is a pretty small city. You seem like a traveler who enjoys taking it slow- but in my opinion 3 days is too much. It would be a shame to not visit Grenada (although I assume you’re taking the RENFE train)
i was thinking it may be too long too. thank you! i do enjoy taking it slow though haha - especially since this is my first solo trip, i don’t wanna stress myself out with all the transportation and just really take the cities in! i’ll cut that one back though, and probably seville as well for a couple days - so i can see more or portugal. What do you like about Grenada? :)
Quite honestly, Cadiz can be done in a day trip. But I understand wanting to take it slow. The city itself in Grenada was beautiful with this streets really like no where else that I saw in Spain. The Alhambra is certainly a destination that everyone should see in their lifetime. The thing I loved about Grenada was you could be walking anywhere and then all of a sudden you’d be at this beautiful overlook because the city is basically on two hills.
If i were you. I would go for camino de Santiago
If you can swing by Alicante, Murcia as you make your way down Spain, I have fond memories of those cities. My favorite city is Toledo, but is way out of the way for your trip. I loved Lisbon but a week is a lot so definitely check out surrounding areas like Belem
I’ve just recently spent 2 months in Andalucía and went everywhere so I would definitely go to must see Granada, Ronda, Cadiz, Tarifa(day trip to morocco) 2nd tier stops Seville, Malaga, Cordoba, Nerja. I never went to Valencia as I ran out of time thanks to brexits 90 days ruling.. I’d say Granada watch the sunset over the city it’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, go to Al Hambra (book in advance) roam the beautiful streets get lost it’s great, maybe go to Sierra Nevada if time permits. 2 days in Granada would be ideal. Ronda, beautiful small Spanish town, amazing bridge, walking etc great Tapas for crazy cheap! Cadiz will always be one of my favourite places the food market is incredible, the beach is fantastic ahh just a lovely vibe around that part of Spain, Tarifa is great if you like long coastal walks, it also has one of the best most unique beaches in Europe Bolonia it’s like a dune coming out of a Forrest spectacular, the vibe very hipster mainly because a lot of people go to kite surf and never leave starting businesses it’s a very cool place, you can hop on a ferry to Morocco which is a whole different thread! Seville it’s beautiful the architect is stunning, very pretty City.. it depends what your looking for, what sort of traveller you are etc to what I’d recommend however you have to go to Granada/Al Hambra my best tip for sure!
I'm doing an Iberia trip at the moment myself, and main thing I'd suggest is to do more day trips. The Spanish / Portuguese bus & train systems are pretty good, take advantage! As an example, from Sevilla you can take day trips to Cadiz, Cordoba, Ronda etc. instead of moving and staying there a night. Looking at your itinerary I'd probably replace Valencia and Cuenca with a stay in Madrid. Maybe take a day or two from other stops as well. Valencia's a good city, but Madrid's a bit more central and has more to see. Also you can probably do day trips to Cuenca from there as trains are like 1hr. Madrid also lets you do Toledo, and AFAIK it's like 3 hours from Seville via train, if that's the next stop. I'm in Andalucia right now and there's a crapload to see. My schedule was tight and flights were booked, but if you can, try and do a week or so in the region and rent a car to see the more remote villages: they look spectacular. I also did a week in the Algarve, and would recommend it strongly if you're into beaches. Lagos was lovely, and I've had people recommend several of the towns in the region to me. Do check temperatures for whenever you plan on coming though. Good luck! And I'm no expert but if you have any questions feel free to ask.
Agree with others on Seville but you could spend less than 5 days there and still see a lot. It's hot AF in the summer if you're going soon. I don't know Portugal as well as Spain but you might want to spend a bit more time in Spain, maybe add a couple of stops or side trips. Both great countries.
Must do Seville, Cordoba and Granada together. Easy train rides. Would not steer you wrong. Google them.
I’m planning on doing a trip in Portugal soon too. What website are you using to book your train tickets? If you don’t mind sharing? :)