Fall Trip - Southern Spain, Scandanavia/Denmark, or Greece

[aphex]

Both my wife and I, along with another couple are planning to take a trip this fall (somewhere Aug-Oct) for about two weeks...

Our choices thus far (in order of our favorites)

1. Southern Spain (Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, possibly even a day in Morocco)
2. Scandinavia (Copengahen, Stockholm, & Oslo)
3. Greece (Athens & Greek Isles)


To those of you who have been, did you enjoy your trip? Would you go again?

I've been abroad a few times already, and these are the places we've yet to visit and wanted to see.

Were about 60-70% leaning towards Spain, but haven't fully decided so were still talking over other options

 

[compman25]

If it was me I'd do #2, just because. Never been there.

 

[xanis]

I went to all of those cities in southern Spain (except for Morocco) last year around this time. It was really beautiful... and the weather was very nice. If you can get to a coastal town too, you won't be disappointed.

 

[George P Burdell]

#3, mainly because of the Greek islands.

 

[Turin39789]

sigh. we were looking at similar places, but decided we are afraid of european currency and are starting to look at south america.

 

[sonambulo]

Spain: When I have enough money I'm going to run away to there and become an anchovy fisherman.

If it's a couples trip go to Greece.

Originally posted by: Turin39789
sigh. we were looking at similar places, but decided we are afraid of european currency and are starting to look at south america.

???????

 

[LS21]

i like #2 a lot ... but can be extremeeeeely expensive. 55$/entree + 8$/per beer at an *average* restaurant sound good? i havent done #1 and #3 but i would definitely..those are great choices

 

[Pheran]

Well there's this 3-bedroom apartment in Morocco you could stay in...

 

[Turin39789]

Originally posted by: sonambulo
Spain: When I have enough money I'm going to run away to there and become an anchovy fisherman.

If it's a couples trip go to Greece.

Originally posted by: Turin39789
sigh. we were looking at similar places, but decided we are afraid of european currency and are starting to look at south america.

???????

We did Ireland this time last year, and the Euro was about $1.35 per euro. We went with another couple and split a lot of costs, but it still adds up. We're trying to decide if Europe will be worth the exchange rate and the extra frequent flyer miles, or if we can find a good honeymoon location where the dollar will go farther.

 

[sonambulo]

Originally posted by: Turin39789
We did Ireland this time last year, and the Euro was about $1.35 per euro. We went with another couple and split a lot of costs, but it still adds up. We're trying to decide if Europe will be worth the exchange rate and the extra frequent flyer miles, or if we can find a good honeymoon location where the dollar will go farther.

Oh. OH! You meant the exchange rate. Why didn't you just say so?

If you end up going to South America my vote goes to Argentina and Chile with a huge lean towards Argentina.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Well, August is high season in Greece...meaning all the hawties from Scandinavia are laying on Geek nude beaches

I gravitate south, so my picks would be Greece or Spain where your dollar buys a little more Euro. Scandinavia is mucho expensive.

Edit: And yes, I have been to Greece, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain more or less during that time of year. Not as much mainland Spain as Ibiza.

 

[MixMasterTang]

My wife and I went to Southern Spain for 2 weeks in August/September of 2006. We spent some time in Madrid and then migrated south to the Coast and then worked our way back up to Madrid (passing through Seville).

We definately had a fantastic time and prices were generally lower than other European countries, but you still have the bad exchange rate right now which sort of sucks. I think part of the reason we decided Spain over Greece was probably the cost. But be aware that during late August and very early September Southern Spain in the beach areas get's overrun with a lot of British vacationers, so it kind of takes away from the ambience a little of being in Spain. (look at some of my pictures and you will see some examples of this, like the 007 bar

Edit: Ohh yeah Seville was terribly hot (100+ degrees F.) and they were still building up their subway system (may be operational now) so we cut our stay short there, but it was a very beatiful city and I would of loved to have stayed longer if the weather had been cooler. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[aphex]

Thanks everybody... Every trip has become progressively more expensive over the years due to the declining dollar, but oh well, it will rebound someday, I hope

When I was in Barcelona a few years back, it seemed cheaper overall compared to many of the other places I had been (looking simply at the Euro, Swiss Franc, and Pound - not taking into account the horrid exchange rate from the Dollar) We were able to stay in a beautiful hotel for 120 Euro a night, compared to nearly twice the price for a comparable hotel in most other countries we had been. Also, the food wasn't too expensive either, prices didn't feel too expensive.

Comparatively Speaking - Is spain still cheaper than most of the other countries over there?

 

[Cobalt]

Plan on going to Greece this summer. Never been there and thats where my family (Dad born there) is from.

 

[clamum]

Definitely Greece.

 

[Legendary]

I've been to all of those places, I would go to Greece again before the other 2.

 

[0roo0roo]

blonde chicks. giggity giggity!

 

[Exterous]

I don't know about expense, but both my wife and I have traveled to Spain (She actually lived there for a while). We both loved it and can't wait to go back. IMO it has the most to see in the smallest area (Although those other countries you listed are some we have not visited) and from what I can tell the weather always seems to be really nice. During my two weeks there there was never a bad weather day and only a handful of bad weather days during my wife's four month stay. I am sure my wife could go on and on for pages about it (and give you plenty of ideas if you want)

 

[Uppsala9496]

I'm a fan of the scandanavia trip. I lived in Uppsala (Sweden) for 2 years and visited both Oslo and Copenhagen a couple of times. Great time.
Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo. Wonderful! If you can, fly into Copenhagen (usually a bit cheaper) and take the train to Stockholm, then train it to Oslo. Beautiful train rides and not too long. I think Stockholm to Copenhagen was 8 or 9 hours.
If you do hit Stockholm, take the train an hour north and hit Uppsala. The cathedral in town (maybe a 20 minute walk from the train station) has the sarcophagus' of a lot of the early kings. I think the cathedral was built in 1477. Really is a great town to visit. If I remember correctly, it was actually the capital of Sweden back in the late hundreds (~800 or so).

I'm a little biased about the choices. If you have any questions, PM me. I have some close friends that work at the University and can get you some info if you need.

 

[miri]

Originally posted by: aphex
1. Southern Spain (Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Granada, possibly even a day in Morocco)

I was in Spain for a study abroad and went to the cities you mentioned above including Morocco.

Madrid was a very large cosmopolitan city. Great public transportation and nightlife.

Sevilla was much much smaller than Madrid but seems to be a much more traditional/historical type Spanish city. I could walk from one end of the city to the other end of the city in a matter of a few hours. City east of the river is mostly residential/business while the part of the city left of the river has much of the nightlife. If you want to see bullfighting then this is the city to visit.

Cordoba was a nice historical city but not much else and it was very hot here.

Granada was a nice touristy town with a great night life with much cooler temperatures then Cordoba.

I went to Cadiz for a weekend and if you like topless beaches then you will enjoy. The crowd here is very young and if you like to party then this is the city you want to visit.

We spent 4 days in Morocco and that was a very interesting country. We stayed in Tangers and went on day trips to Casablanca and further inland to some small towns.

Moroccans are very very friendly and would wave at us like we were celebrities lol.

There are a lot of vendors that will attempt to sell you stuff and you can bargain with them. City was very interesting as it seemed the cool thing to do at evening would be to sit out on the sidewalks and drink Fanta. The beaches are empty so if you want to have some beaches all to yourself then come here. But as a warning, if the males see a women in a bathing suit, there will a strong possibility that they will start to follow her around. It happened to my fellow students and it was sorta interesting to watch large groups of males following around bikini clad tourists. Was also interesting to see machine gun guards guarding some of the richer houses as well. Hashish is sold right outside of hotels.