It seems a little funny to say that we're escaping the winter cold of Southern France - many Europeans escape *to* here! But, as you can see from this previous post, Southern Spain is warmer still...
Our first thought was to use the trains, and stay in city centers. Sète to Madrid to Sevilla looked enticing, as did a direct train to Valencia. But then I saw all those Southeastern beach towns, and tried to find a way around to them - impossible! There are no trains there, just buses. So, I looked at renting a car for a while 😲 wow, that would add a *lot* to our budget! Hmmm... A quick comparison showed that we could do a lot, *and* reduce costs if we took our own car - The drawback is that it takes longer to get there. Well, it's our first long trip to Spain, so what's our hurry?!?
So, here's what we ended up with!
Part 1
Day 1 - drive 4 hours from Sète to Tarragona. This first big push gets us to the other side of Barcelona and to the coast. We're keeping in mind that the sun sets at 5:30, and we'll need plenty of breaks.
Day 2 - see some sites, then drive 2 1/2 hours along the coast to Valencia for more sightseeing. Stay 2 nights.
Day 4 - another big push of 5 hours takes us to Granada, where we will spend the next day touring the Alhambra (see more info here)
Day 6 - see some more of Granada, then drive 2 hours to the Costa del Sol (that's the southern coast) - we'll stay on the beach at La Cala de Mijas (near Marbella) for 3 weeks, driving around and relaxing. Special day trips include Gibraltar and Málaga.
 |
| Spain Road Trip Part 1 |
 |
| Spain Road Trip Part 2 |
- I read up on the driving and road rules for Spain - they aren't too different from France's, but there are some. We bought chains and an extra emergency triangle and reflective vest.
- We got the car checked over (and got the control technique - like the US smog and safety check - while we were at it).
- We are watching the weather forecast for Le Perthus, the highest town near the A9 autoroute in the Pyrénées. We decided that if snow threatens, we would leave a day or two earlier in order to miss it. So far, so good! La Vie en France group helped a *lot* with this task!
- We still have our European health card, and we don't need an international driver's license. Spanish electrical sockets should work with our French plugs.
- I refreshed my Spanish via Duolingo and a few conversation workshops here. Rick decided to wait until we were almost ready to go, so that he wouldn't mix it up with French 🙂
- I also refreshed my memory of road trips and driving hygiene (here and here)
- I did a quick check on the COVID situation; it's fairly similar to France, and there are no special rules for us driving into the country.
- And a check on the economic situation - Spain will end the gasoline rebate (similar to France), but reduce the VAT (like a sales tax) on food. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/spain-announces-106-bln-package-ease-inflation-pain-2023-2022-12-27/
- I read up on ancient sites to see: https://just-explore.com/most-impressive-castles-in-spain/
Here are some good links:
- Spain route planner https://www.viamichelin.ie/web/Routes/Route-Spain-to-Spain
- Gibraltar https://www.visitgibraltar.gi/see-and-do/tours-excursions/cable-car-23
- Spanish architecture https://www.elespanol.com/curiosidades/espana-pueblos/monumento-origen-arabe-importante-espana/710429082_0.html
- Spanish coasts https://spain-guide.info/coasts_spain/#:~:text=From%20east%20to%20west%20these,about%20%E2%80%9Elower%20estuaries%E2%80%9C
- French roads https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F19459?lang=en
- French roads https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A14389?lang=en
- Sevilla winter weather https://www.holiday-weather.com/seville/averages/january/
- Sevilla sites https://city-sightseeing.com/en/1/seville/5/hop-on-hop-off-seville
- Sevilla public transportation https://www.andalucia.com/cities/seville/gettingaround/bus_tram.htm
Posts
1 comment:
Sounds fabulous! Enjoy, and stay safe!
Post a Comment