Spain for 2 weeks during Christmas / New Year

JohnCleary

Hi all,
We usually go to SE Asia for 1 month in December. For Christmas / New Year 2020, we're thinking of staying a little closer to home, but want to get away from the cold / wet of Ireland.

We are thinking Spain purely for the heat (well, warmer than Ireland).

The idea of a 2 weeks package holiday is my idea of hell, but we do love European City breaks.

We were thinking if we did 2 weeks in South Spain somewhere, we could rent a car and spend a few days roaming around (2 weeks in one place would kill me).

If you were to stay in Europe, but go somewhere warmer / drier than Ireland, would you choose Spain? If so, where would you go?

We're early 30's, like to get up in the morning and explore and then drink / party (well, as much as possible) in the evenings. When in Europe, we LOVE city breaks, but 2 weeks in a city would be too much, so we're thinking of mixing it up between city / bit more relaxed.

We stayed in Malaga before and loved it, would happily return there for a night or two. Then maybe head West along the coast. Traditionally, the likes of Torremolinos / Benidorm would be my idea of hell, but at Christmas when our main motive is to just get away from the cold / wet... why not?!

Inspire me!! Cheers

-Edit- While the Canaries would also be an option, I feel after 2 weeks we'd be bored... I remember driving around Tenerife in one day as a kid.

Living Off The Splash

You could always spend a few days in the city of Valencia. Flights to Palma and Ibiza from Valencia are very cheap or maybe get the ferry.

JohnCleary

Living Off The Splash wrote: »

You could always spend a few days in the city of Valencia. Flights to Palma and Ibiza from Valencia are very cheap or maybe get the ferry.

That sounds like a bit of fun (the ferry) as it at least means we'd be moving about a bit.... might fly into mainland Spain and fly out from one of the Balerics.

Thanks for the idea

neris

Would you consider renting a villa on the costa del sol over xmas? fly into malaga and loads of areas to choose from and villas are relatively cheap that time of year. With public transport and a rental car its easy to explore the coast and inland towns. While you,ll get sun during the day and it can be warm the breeze can kill the heat and the nights are chilly.

thebandit2020

We've spent the week/10 days after Christmas in Spain for the last 3 years.

We generally go to 2 places per visit.

At that time of the year, we've been to:

Barcelona & Valencia (short internal flight) - 2 lovely cities, weather was 18 degrees in Barcelona and 19 degrees in Valencia during the day.

Malaga & Granada - hired a car and went to Ronda and other little villages on the way - absolutely brilliant, but Granada can be chilly enough! Weather is lovely in Malaga and it's a very underrated city

Marbella - It was nice, but more suited to 50+

mrcheez

South Spain can be chilly enough then. Would you consider Marrakech and Essaouira in Morrocco instead for a bit of adventure?

JohnCleary

thebandit2020 wrote: »

We've spent the week/10 days after Christmas in Spain for the last 3 years.

We generally go to 2 places per visit.

At that time of the year, we've been to:

Barcelona & Valencia (short internal flight) - 2 lovely cities, weather was 18 degrees in Barcelona and 19 degrees in Valencia during the day.

Malaga & Granada - hired a car and went to Ronda and other little villages on the way - absolutely brilliant, but Granada can be chilly enough! Weather is lovely in Malaga and it's a very underrated city

Marbella - It was nice, but more suited to 50+

Thanks for the info.

We spent 3 nights in Malaga in early 2019. We really enjoyed it and can't believe people skip over the place. That said, it's a place we loved to visit once, but not sure we'd need feel the need to return.

While on that trip, we spent a day in Granada... would happily return as we only skimmed the surface.

We are going to Barcelona for 3 nights at the end of March, so that's another box ticked!

You're giving us ideas, though! If we are trying to spend 2 - 3 weeks, we definately don't want to be stuck in the same area. I'm guessing 2 cities and then about 10 days just relaxing somewhere by the sea. Have driven plenty in Spain, but wondering if there would be issues returning to a different airport / location?

Pitty Marbella sounds like an old folks home at that time of year, as it's somewhere we would consider stopping off for a few nights.

Loads of time to plan, hence asking now. Thanks again.

If anyone has any ideas, please fire them our way!

JohnCleary

mrcheez wrote: »

South Spain can be chilly enough then. Would you consider Marrakech and Essaouira in Morrocco instead for a bit of adventure?

We are certainly considering Morocco at some point, but around the Christmas time I know that our main agenda will be drinking. Probably wouldn't be ideal in Morocco :pac:

mrcheez

JohnCleary wrote: »

We are certainly considering Morocco at some point, but around the Christmas time I know that our main agenda will be drinking. Probably wouldn't be ideal in Morocco :pac:

Well, like, you can buy wine and beer in Morocco. But prob not best wandering around Marrakech markets fluthered outa your mind

thebandit2020

JohnCleary wrote: »

Thanks for the info.

We spent 3 nights in Malaga in early 2019. We really enjoyed it and can't believe people skip over the place. That said, it's a place we loved to visit once, but not sure we'd need feel the need to return.

While on that trip, we spent a day in Granada... would happily return as we only skimmed the surface.

We are going to Barcelona for 3 nights at the end of March, so that's another box ticked!

You're giving us ideas, though! If we are trying to spend 2 - 3 weeks, we definately don't want to be stuck in the same area. I'm guessing 2 cities and then about 10 days just relaxing somewhere by the sea. Have driven plenty in Spain, but wondering if there would be issues returning to a different airport / location?

Pitty Marbella sounds like an old folks home at that time of year, as it's somewhere we would consider stopping off for a few nights.

Loads of time to plan, hence asking now. Thanks again.

If anyone has any ideas, please fire them our way!

You could do a lot worse than fly into Seville and out of Malaga or vice versa.

Granada would be well worth a stop, but bring a coat!!

Marbella is grand, lovely restaurants etc.... but you’ll meet your parents friends :pac:

Fuengirola is a bit more brits in the sun,

thebandit2020

JohnCleary wrote: »

Thanks for the info.

We spent 3 nights in Malaga in early 2019. We really enjoyed it and can't believe people skip over the place. That said, it's a place we loved to visit once, but not sure we'd need feel the need to return.

While on that trip, we spent a day in Granada... would happily return as we only skimmed the surface.

We are going to Barcelona for 3 nights at the end of March, so that's another box ticked!

You're giving us ideas, though! If we are trying to spend 2 - 3 weeks, we definately don't want to be stuck in the same area. I'm guessing 2 cities and then about 10 days just relaxing somewhere by the sea. Have driven plenty in Spain, but wondering if there would be issues returning to a different airport / location?

Pitty Marbella sounds like an old folks home at that time of year, as it's somewhere we would consider stopping off for a few nights.

Loads of time to plan, hence asking now. Thanks again.

If anyone has any ideas, please fire them our way!

You could do a lot worse than fly into Seville and out of Malaga or vice versa.

Granada would be well worth a stop, but bring a coat!!

Marbella is grand, lovely restaurants etc.... but you’ll meet your parents friends :pac:

Fuengirola is a bit more brits in the sun, but it’s livelier.

If you haven’t been to Seville you should think about it, great city!

If you hire a car, there are plenty of places roughly along the way, Ronda, Costa del Sol, Tarifa and Cadiz..... even Gibraltar!!

mrcheez

thebandit2020 wrote: »

even Gibraltar!!

Best thing about Gibraltar is the tax-free purchases... it's more British than the British themselves, but buying expensive whiskeys or fragrances at about 40% off is great!

The bus system in Spain is simple to use and cheap, so you can bus it down to Gibraltar from Estepona/Marbella/Cadiz, rather than having to find parking at La Linea

DaveyWaveyLad

There are great cities within a 2 hour drive from Malaga that I have stayed a couple of nights during a holiday in the Costa del Sol. I would recommend staying for 2 nights in either Cordoba, Cadiz or Sevilla (or all 3). Ronda is great for 1 night in a Parador there. 2 hours beyond Sevilla or Cadiz and you are into Tavira in Portugal though I suspect it is quiet in December. I have taken the AVE High Speed train from Malaga to Madrid which is an exhilarating journey with speed hitting 300 Kmph - wonderful city. I would rank Cordoba top of my list but there are so many places to visit that 2 weeks may not be enough!. Enjoy if you decide to go.

JohnCleary

Serious food for thought there guys, thanks a million.

Keep them coming

neris

Granadas a lovely city but as was said its absolutely freezing in winter but you can head slightly higher up from Granada and do a bit of skiing. Just make sure you book tickets for the Alhambra if your planning a visit and dont just show up. Also if your still there on January 6th get into a large town for the 3 kings parade. Its like a St Patricks day parade with free sweets been thrown out

JohnCleary

JohnCleary wrote: »

We are certainly considering Morocco at some point, but around the Christmas time I know that our main agenda will be drinking. Probably wouldn't be ideal in Morocco :pac:

I've been to Morocco many times, done lots of drinking never had any problems.

neris

On morroco, it is possible to get a ferry from algeciras near gibraltar over for the day or longer if you wanted. Also Ceuta which is like a Spanish Gibraltar

mrcheez

neris wrote: »

On morroco, it is possible to get a ferry from algeciras near gibraltar over for the day or longer if you wanted. Also Ceuta which is like a Spanish Gibraltar

There's also a lovely quiet stretch of beach just south of Ceuta across the border into Morocco with a few nice spots with hotels where you can stop for a drink overlooking the ocean like Marina Smir.

The place was empty when I went down, but was a lovely spot for a dip.

Living Off The Splash

You could fly in to Lisbon and out of Porto. Stop off in Coimbra for a night en route. When in Porto, visit the towns of Braga and Guimaraes. Maybe take a boat trip up the Douro.

spurious

I was out in Torremolinos just after New Year this year, to see what it is like off season. Lots of places down on the beach level were closed up for the season, but there was plenty open. The town up on the higher level didn't seem much affected at all. Weather-wise, it was dry, but it wasn't by any stretch of the imagination warm. There was about 15 minutes one day where there was a little bit of heat in the afternoon sun, but you wouldn't really be leaving a jacket at home.

Restaurants, cafes and bars on the beach level were not that busy, but ticking over and staff seemed less stressed than in high season. Fairly heavy on the older people down on the beach level. I suppose many of them have availed of long-stay discounts in the aparthotels off-season.