charlottel26

My friends and I are finishing up planning our six week trip to Europe this summer and have pretty much everything booked except the last couple stops from July 1 - 10, but we are flying out of Barcelona July 10 so need to end there. We will be coming from Athens so are somewhat limited by where we can fly direct into that isn’t super expensive. We have a few options but not sure what would be best

fly to Madrid morning July 1
spend night in Madrid
Seville or Granada July 2 - 5 (which is better?)
train to Barcelona July 5
Barcelona 5 - 10

or

Madrid July 1 - 3
Granada or Seville 3 - 5
Barcelona 5 - 10

or

Fly to Paris
Paris July 1 - 5
train to Barcelona
Barcelona 5 - 10
(I have already been to Paris and loved it but none of my friends have so I’d be willing to go back)

other options were considering are staying in Madrid or going to Malaga for the beaches and day trips. A little bit about us is we are all early 20s just graduated university. We want a mix of culture, nightlife, amazing scenery, history, etc but not super into art so that’s why Madrid isn’t that appealing but is the only place besides Barcelona or Malaga that has a direct flight from Athens. We also have a eurrail pass so that’s why we would use the trains once we get there. Any help on what we should do would be greatly appreciated!

FrEsDe

I'm Paris resident, live in Andalucia in winter (Sevilla/Malaga/Cordoba). Two things to consider: 1) Paris is in messy construction mode in/around tourist-must-see monuments along river Seine, these monuments might not be visit-able as they are being set up as venues, lots of area/street closures in the tourist area, huge tourist crowd. 2) Sevilla is much hotter than seaside Malaga & high altitude Granada. Sevilla is easily well over 100F/38C, does not cool off until after midnight and no cold-air blasting air con anywhere, so you'll need historic center hotel (with good air con and pool) to minimize walking in extreme heat, aim to wrap up sightseeing by 13.00. Friend from Arizona visited Andalucia in June and found it unbearable.