By car 3000 km in Spain (Barcelona-Figueres-Almeria-Granada-Seville)
This fall, we planned a trip "somewhere where it's still warm. " I did not want to go to Egypt, they began to consider "civilized" European options.
First of all, of course, we thought about Spain...But in October it will be already cool in Catalonia, beloved by Russian tourists, you need to go much further south...
Information about the naturist hotel Vera Playa Club caught my eye. The hotel is located in the southern part of Spain - in Andalusia, on the coast, 90 km from Almeria.
I liked the hotel, the weather forecast inspired optimism. The only problem was HOW TO GET TO THE HOTEL. Air routes to Almeria plus taxis were dreary with their price tags. The option of flying to Barcelona was bribed by the relative cheapness of air tickets, but upset by the cost of a transfer from Barca to the hotel (730 km by train or bus).
As a result, after comparing prices, we came to the conclusion that this vacation option is optimal:
- flight to Barcelona (ticket from St. Petersburg with a transfer in Amsterdam for 281 euros per person)
- rent a car for two weeks (Mercedes in Hertz for 480 euros, if you wish, you can rent a car for half the price)
- independent transfer to Vera Playa Club, 10-day accommodation there (with excursions to nearby towns, as well as Granada and Seville)
- return to Barcelona
- Accommodation for a couple of days in Barcelona with city tours, Montserrat and Figueres.
This option left us complete freedom of movement and allowed us not only to lie on the beach, but also to explore a good half of Spain. The disadvantage of this option is the search for parking lots in large cities. Finding them is always easy, but it costs the extra money.
You can ride on toll or free roads. By the way, free roads are a little worse than paid ones, but sometimes they are much more picturesque.
HOTEL (from Barcelona 730 km)
The hotel is very good! Everything is a little provincial, but with taste and quality.
The October weather pleased with the ideally comfortable temperature for sunbathing and swimming.
The beach is GREAT! ! !
There is a large pool with waterfalls and slides, as well as an indoor heated pool.
Nudist rest was not new to us, we don’t suffer from an abundance of complexes, so we had a wonderful rest!
See my review of this hotel for more details:
http://www.turpravda.com/es/kosta_de_almerija/Vera_Playa_Club-h34332-r62119.html
We booked the hotel in advance through the hotel website http://www. hotel-veraplaya. com/
While staying at the hotel, we went on an excursion to the very heart of Spain - to Seville (500 km one way from the hotel), stopping by Granada on the way.
Here we were waiting for a complete bummer! We arrived there at the opening of the ticket office (at 8 am), stood in line, bought tickets ...and were surprised to see that we could enter the park at 2:30 pm with these tickets, and visit the Alhambra Palace at 6:15 pm . . I didn't want to hang around for half a day in Granada, we handed in our tickets and limited ourselves to contemplating the magnificent palace from the outside...Let's go further to Seville.
Magical city! I just looked - on the site infa there are only two hotels in this city and NOT A SINGLE review! There are no people from the CIS there! ! ! Tourists, are you stunned? )))
We never heard Russian speech in Seville. It even became a shame that our tourists only lie down their priests near Barcelona, but they will never get here - to the homeland of Don Juan!
Mandatory to visit the cathedral (which houses the tomb of Columbus), the Alcazar Palace, a walk around the Santa Cruz quarter with a visit to the flamenco evening, and also, if you are with children, a visit to the Magic Island park. Add romance to Seville on horse-drawn carriages, as well as a leisurely dinner in a street restaurant in the Santa Cruz quarter with a glass of the famous local sherry.
Flamenco evenings are held at the Alcantara Hotel at Calle Ximenez de Enciso, 28. Very soulful! ! ! Just buy tickets for the evening performance at least during the day!
Tickets may not be available right before the concert!
If you ask in advance on what days bullfighting takes place in the city and purchase tickets via the Internet, you can visit this traditional Spanish spectacle. Although for an inexperienced viewer, this entertainment looks very cruel.
By the way, bullfighting is already banned in Catalonia, and if you have already climbed so far from the standard "Russo Touristo" routes, then you definitely need to visit!
You need to book bullfighting tickets here: http://www. plazadetorosdelamaestranza. com/
This is the site of Spain's oldest bullring, Plaza de toros de la Real Maestranza.
After resting for 10 days in hot Andalusia, we returned to Barcelona.
Barcelona is quite densely traveled by crowds of our tourists, guidebooks and excursions in bulk. However, there are a lot of interesting sights!
We preferred attractions such as La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, the Gothic quarter with the cathedral and the royal palace, the National Palace with the "Magic Fountain" in front of it (check the time when the fountain gives a musical performance ! ! ! ), Spanish Village, monument to Columbus, as well as the monastery of Montserrat in the suburbs.
We lived here in a budget 2 * hotel Sidorme Barcelona Granollers, which did not upset us at all, despite the low price tag.
See review:
http://www.turpravda.com/es/barselona/Sidorme_Barcelona_Granollers-h34339-r62120.html
It is impossible to be in Barcelona and not go to Figueres! The glory of the Salvador Dali Museum-Theater thunders all over the world. And we did not regret our visit. Great and interesting place!
Figueres is 110 kilometers from Barcelona - mere trifles compared to the distance we traveled before!
This is how the journey turned out. We drove a total of more than 3000 km in Spain (we went to Seville twice). No incidents or problems.
But I had to suffer by car, especially in the narrow streets of Seville and insanely cramped European parking lots. They handed over the car in the same place where they took it - at Barcelona airport. Moreover, they mixed up, they arrived at the wrong terminal of the airport from which our flight was. )) But it turned out not to be a problem - there is a free bus between the terminals. And the Barcelona airport depressing with the complete lack of night service - everything dies out in the evening, there is even nowhere to lie down to more or less comfortably wait for your flight! But these are all trifles. . .
