Portugal, Spain, Gibraltar, Morrocco
 

7 nights in Cascais with day trips to Lisbon, Sintra, Obidos, etc.

7 nights driving through Spain: 2 nights in Seville, 2 nights in Granada, 2 nights in Arcos.

1 day (potential) boat trip from Gibraltar to Morocco.

So, let's hear your personal experiences, recommendations, ideas, criticisms, etc.

Little_Tippler: I'm talking to YOU!!!

Hello!?!?!! Is this thing on?!??!? :lol:

Are we talking about a two week trip to all these places, or is this the options. Only visited Lisbon once or twice, but I lived in Vila Nova de Gaia (across the river from Oporto, in the north) for 3 years, and Portugal is an outstanding place to visit. Sintra is beautiful, and if you can get out to Evora in Altantejo, there is a church decorated in human bones!

Gibraltar, take time to go to the top and hang out wit h the tailess macaques.

http://www.renaudvisage.com/fr/jpeg/...creennail.aspx

Sorry, it was a little confusing. 2 weeks: 1 week in Portugal and then 1 week in Spain. Those are the places we are resting our heads. Great ideas guys, keep them coming!

My companions are really interested in seeing the White hill towns of Arcos. Are they worth seeing? Is there one that encapsulates the feeling of all of them?

We went to Ronda, and Old Ronda Arcinipo (sp?) to see the Roman encampment ruins.

Ronda is a nice old town with a large gorge and a river in between. It's a gave me a good idea of what a white town felt like.

Ohmigawd, I LOVE Granada and Sevilla. Wonderful wonderful towns. Do you need hotels? restaurants? Things to see? I have it *all*, baby (for those two towns, especially Granada).

All you have to do is dance with me...

When are you going?

I went to Spain in March. Stayed in Seville for 4 days. It's beautiful...but I did find the language barrier to be quite difficult. It's not a very touristy there, so it is hard to find people who speak English (or who are WILLING to speak to you in English.). Learn as much Spanish as you can before going there.
Definetely make the trip to Gibraltar. It is SO worth it... no place like it. And the rock apes are to die for. We took a tour bus from where we were staying in Malaga...and I highley recommend doing something like that, so you have a guide and driver with you for the majority of it. Watch your money and passports and otherwise have an amazing time!!!

"7 nights in Cascais with day trips to Lisbon, Sintra, Obidos, etc."

Well it depends what kind of travel you like. Cascais is a nice place, though small it's quite busy. Lots of tourists and lots of foreigners, including foreign restaurants and bars. Easy to meet people, a good place to shop, eat well (watch out for the centre as there are a lot of expensive restaurants), there are some cute beaches, and of course a few kms away you have huge fine sand beaches with good surf waves, lots of bars, and the Sintra sierra, which is classified as a World Heritage Site. It's cute, very green and lush and completely unlike the rest of portugal, a little microclimate all it's own, there's a couple of castles, palaces and gardens to visit, lots of organized outdoor activities like hiking, rock climbing etc. There are also some typical foods you can find in Sintra which date back to Arab occupation times which are yummy (and also the remains of an old moorish castle you can visit). Also some nice museums (toy museum, contemporary art museum).
Óbidos is cute for a quick day trip, it's a walled medieval city and retains some of it's old world charm, there are a few shops and some nice churches. Also famous for it's chocolate festival held once a year.

Lisbon is a beautiful and very diverse city, although the traffic is pretty bad. We do have an underground though. There are many interesting sights to see in Lisbon, I recommend the Belém area and also Chiado for museums, shops, old buildings and churches, and I could go on. There's lots to see. Also the Bairro Alto and Santos areas are great for night life and cool restaurants.

Portugal has good hospitality and good food and wines, usually good weather and also lots of undiscovered places still to see.

I can come back and post some photos later if you like.

/begins Lindy Hopping with Sultana

We are going at the beginning of March. Here are our accommodations

http://www.hotelamadeussevilla.com/ - Seville

/swing out, swing out, circle

http://www.webdearcos.com/elconvento/ingles/intro.html - Arcos

/steps on Sultana's toes - apologizes

http://www.hotelcasacapitel.com/ingles/index.html - Granada

/ dip, followed by Jersey Jump

We really need restaurants! We are big-time foodies, and will try almost anything.

/transitions into some 20's Charleston

Generally, I have a rule when we do an international trip. I just want to know when, so I can have my suitcase packed. Wifey does all the planning. Once she finishes the itinerary, I get a copy so I can read up on all the places we are going.

/dip, transition into Balboa. Apologizes for stepping on Sultana's foot!

However, it is a source of pride and joy for her to research and plan the trip - so I stay out of the way! While we have our night-stays arranged, all sites are still wide open!

/gives up on fancy stuff, resorts back to East Coast.

We might go to Morocco for a day trip, just so we can shop at the Suks for her belly dance costuming. Not eating or drinking in Morocco, I already know!

/flips Sultana into the cradle for our big finish. Thanks for the dance!

Obidos is what brought us to Portugal. We saw it on a travel show 5 years ago and wrote it on our list.

We are big into Castles/Palaces/Churches. Typically, we won't go to museums unless they have a monumental artifact (i.e. Rosetta stone at British Museum). The only reason is because they are SO time consuming. Are there any "must see" museums? I would hate to go to Lisbon and miss an important artifact.

Is Lisbon worse than London/Edinburgh for traffic? That's all I can compare to. The largest city I've driven in the US is Chicago - and that was easy.

All of my companions are in good health and will hike miles a day without any trouble. We appreciate a good challenge! I am the only one that would do any real climbing, though.

We love wines - looking forward to the Ports. Vinyards to try?

It started out that I was going to learn Portuguese because I knew quite a bit of Spanish. After 2 lessons, I quit and forced it on Wifey. It was clear, I would arrive in Portugal and confuse the two the entire time - thus, being of little help in Portugal or Spain. So, Wifey is doing Portuguese and I am brushing up on my Spanish.

When we went to Scotland, Wifey learned Gaellic. We made so many friends because of her effort. She is the coolest woman on the planet!

Your accomodations look great!

Unfortunately, food/restaurants is the one thing I can't really help with--I was not impressed with the food in Spain for the most part. Maybe we just had bad luck, I dunno. The only place hubby and I enjoyed the food was in the Arabic section of Granada. We did enjoy lots of sangria though. We tried tapas for the first time in Spain too, an interesting experience.

Heh, that's exactly the way it is for me too.

Ah. I want to go to Morocco next. I've heard it can be very wild and woolly going on that day trip, with pushy natives wanting to be your guide, insistently shoving you into carpet shops and the like where they get a cut...believe me, we got a taste of that in Egypt, and it gets old fast.
I've read that it's not as bad as in the past, but overall folks tend to say it's the Tiajuanna (sp?) of Africa, lol! If you go with a reputable tour, and realize you're likely to see only tourist-oriented shopping areas and little to none of "real Morocco", then it should be cool. That's just the way it is when you are limited on time, sadly.

Did you say shop for her bellydance costuming? In Morocco? Your wife is a bellydancer? Woah. That's amazing...are you my husband? Anyways, don't get your hopes up for belly dance costumes there, it's likely to be the crappiest of crap costumes there, upside down bra cups with sequinned flowers on the nipples, etc. (for cabaret style - is that what you're looking for?) Honestly, if your wife is a belly dancer, and she's looking for *any kind* costume resources, PM me, I have a LOT of resources I'd be happy to share. None of which are in Tangiers...

I've noticed you haven't said anything about going to the Alhambra, yet I can scarely imagine that's not in the plan. I HIGHLY recommend you (heh, or your wife) arrange for a good English-speaking tour for the Alhambra in Granada and for the Cathedral in Sevilla. In Sevilla we went with the tour guide rec'd by Rick Steves in his book (can look it for you if you need), was extremely happy. I didn't do that for the Alhambra, and have been kicking myself ever since. I have to return and make that right.

The wine is fine, but the beer ain't great. You get used to it, that's all I can say.

Oh c'mon, avoid the beer named "Sagres" like the plague, but "superbock" is good and "cristal" is better.

If you've never heard Castillian spanish remembre that the C's and Z's are lisped...

so what you would pronounce as Serrado for Cerrado, it's pronounced as Therrado.

It took me a little while to remember since I learned to speak Mexican/Puerto Rican Spanish.

During siesta time, go to the tavernas and get some tapas to hold you over until dinner. If you go to dinner like a westerner at like 7-8 you will be the only people (besides tourists) eating. Dinner is at around 10 for most locals and even later for others.

We were going to stay in Morrocco (Fez to be exact) for a few days until we heard about the inevitable stomach problems that people have. So, the day trip will allow us to get a taste without actually having to taste anything!

I don't know that we are necesarily going to Morocco soley for belly dance COSTUMES. I guess we are going to look for "textiles" - scarves, coins, weavings, etc. Believe it or not, I enjoy sewing and have made several outfits for my wife. If I could get some good coins, I would enjoy trying to hammer out a custom jingle-belt or tribal necklace. I will have to PM regarding costuming because any resources are greatly appreciated!

I am a rock collector - every interesting place that I go, I get a rock. It's cheap and it is easy. So, I can't imagine getting within 15 miles of a new continent (don't have Africa yet), and NOT going to get my rock! We figure that if Tangiers is too overwhelming, we will grab a rock, turn right back around, and get back on the boat. I doubt it though - we have quite the adventurous streak. It would almost be a badge of honor to say, "I was pick-pocketed in Tangiers!" :lol:

We have really good Turkish friends. We plan on going to Turkey with them in the fall. That will mean I can get my "Asia" rock! :thumbsup:

I will have to PM you about Egypt. It's on our travel list, but we are nervous to travel there right now. My wife and I are VERY American-looking (Blue eyes, brown hair). Honestly, we are concerned about our acceptance there. We aren't really worried about terrorism, but people can still ruin your vacation in other ways...

I have been informed that we have already pre-purchased our Alhambra tickets. I mentioned something about it to wifey and she looked at me like I was an idiot for thinking it wasn't already planned. See, that's why I just show up - she's too good at it to need a knucklehead like me confusing the matter.

OK, good on the Alhambra tix, but you didn't say if she's planned on getting a tour guide...they aren't included. You have to bring your own/go with your own (at least, that's unfortunately how it was when I went).

Feel free to PM me about dance costumes. The knowledge I have (and it's considerable, in that area) I am more than willing to share.

*memories of Spain stir*

Well,

I am leaving Friday. We have test packed the gear (we only take a carry-on each), and we are good to go. I confess that I am a little uneasy due to the current unrest over the cartoons from Denmark. That uneasiness might keep us from going to Morrocco. We will wait til we get there and make the decision. Thanks for everyone's input. Cheers.

Very much looking forward to your report when you return. Have fun!