Travel Spain A Short Guide To Spain s Must See Cities Outside Madrid

B elow you will find a list        way to see all the sites in a      of some of the better           short period of time. Check out    Spanish cities I’ve visited     the Barrio Gothic, Las Ramblas,    outside of Madrid, with a short       the yacht harbor, the beach, La    commentary on each:                   Sagrada Familia cathedral and all                                        the other works by architect       Granada- Old city with heavy          Gaudi. The restaurant crowds get   Arabic influence definitely worth     huge at two pm for lunch, so try   a visit. Check out the Alhambra,      to beat the rush. Port Olympico    the Albaicin (the old Arab            is a good area for nightlife,      quarter), the Turkish baths, and      filled with bars, cafes, and many  the main drag off of the main         English-speaking tourists. It’s    plaza. Most bars give out free        also right on the water, which     tapas if you purchase a drink         adds to the atmosphere.            (even soda), and the tapas in                                            Granada are much better than          Marbella/ Puerto Banus- Two of     those in Madrid. The nightlife in     the nicest towns I’ve visited in   Granada is famous and most clubs      Spain. Within five miles of each   don’t close down until after 7        other, both beach towns are        AM. There is a cool club called       filled with resorts, expensive     Kamborio in the Albaicin and          homes, first-rate shopping, big    another called Granada 10             yachts, and a wide variety of      (pronounced Granada Diez) off of      restaurants. After you’ve had      the main drag.                        enough traditional Spain, these                                          areas are a nice change. Almost    Barcelona- Much more cosmopolitan     everybody speaks English, the      and fun than Madrid during the        buildings are relatively new, and  day in my opinion. I took the         you’ll feel like you are back in   double-decker tour bus around the     the first world.                   city and thought it was a good                                           Tarifa/ Morocco- Tarifa is the                                           windsurfing capitol of Europe,        What I’d Skip on a Short Vacation  and the city resembles a                                                 California beach town. It’s a         Cadiz- Tacky beach town with a     great place to learn to kitesurf      cool history. The city is pretty   (two day minimum for lessons),        run-down and not really worth a    windsurf, or go canyoning             special visit.                     (climbing and sliding down water                                         falls- with a guide). Tarifa is       Segovia/ Toledo- Unless you plan   also a good jumping off point for     to spend a long time in Madrid,    a daytrip to Morocco. I took a        don’t waste your time on either.   guided tour of Tangier, which was     Segovia was cooler than Toledo,    really inexpensive and fun. The       although a little harder to get    downside to the tour is that they     to. Segovia has good food, a cool  push you into their own bazaars,      castle, a Roman aqueduct, and not  rush you at times and try really      much else (5 hours worth of stuff  hard to sell you carpets and          max.). Toledo is similar to any    spices. Even so, everyone on my       other old village in Europe, and   tour agreed the day trip was          its museums are really lacking.    worth doing. An overnight stay        There is a historic synagogue, a   would give you a much better          small museum dedicated to El       chance to see the city.               Greco, and a big Cathedral.        About the Author: A.J. Yeakel is a regular writer for Luxury Vacations Web who has lived and studied in Madrid, Spain. Click here for our free guide to Madrid. Published At: www.Isnare.com