OT: Honeymoon in Spain

I was in Seville in October and absolutely loved Bodega Santa Cruz.  It's right in the heart of things (near the main Cathedral and other historic sites), but it seems to be a place frequented by locals for cheap, delicious, non-pretentious tapas.

Barcelona, buddy. The wife and I spent 4 days there on our honeymoon before we went off to the Amalfi Coast, and that place truly is special. 

Madrid is a beautiful city with great neighborhoods, museums, restaurants and nightlife.  You could easily spend 5 days just exploring the city and eating delicious food everywhere you go.  I have not been to Seville, but I hear that is a wonderful place as well.  The trouble is you will have to spend a good chunk of a day getting there and a good chunk of a day getting back.  If it were my honeymoon, I would rather spend it in one place.  That place will always be special for you! 

All I know about Spain is that the rain falls mainly on the plain.

So bring an umbrella.

My wife is from Spain (Barcelona in particular) and I studied there on an exchange program. I know the country extremely well (we go annually) so if you somehow want to get advice, let me know how I can contact you.

I spent three weeks in Spain two summers ago.  My favorite city by far was Barcelona, great food, great vibe, Las Ramblas, the Gothic Quarter, and the unparalleled work of one of the greatest architects in world history, Gaudi, with several of his masterworks including Casa Ballo (a surreal renovation), La Pedrera (unbelievable, must see it all, with visionary details), and Sagrada Familia, which is perhaps the only Western Cathedral in which I truly felt inspired by spirituality in its integration of nature, stained glass, souring vaults, and details that must be seen to be believed.  If you like history, the Spanish Civil War tour will show you sights and bring the history of this fascinating period, which birthed the repressive Franco, to light.  High recommendation.  If you are European skinny, Barcelona is a great place to buy clothes (men and women).

Madrid is great (easy train ride between Barcelona, high-ish speed) if you love museums.  The collection at Prado ranks with the world's best and Reina Sophia has Guernica, Picasso's epic masterpiece.  Guernica is huge, epic, and was Picasso's appeal to the world to help the progressive cause which ultimately was lost to Franco.  The set up is awesome, photos of Picasso at work, a mini-pavilion where Guernica was first exhibited.  

Skip Cordoba.  The mosque/cathedral is awesome, eye popping, but the city is a slow savor and the Roman bridge is meh.  It's also very, very hot in the summer.  

Seville and Granada are both great cities too.  Others in this thread cover them well.  Amazing food in both cities, really amazing.  Both have great tapas and great seafood.  If I had to choose one, I'd hit Granada.  

Love the Basque too, Bilbao is fascinating, the Guggenheim is a work of art in it's design (Geary), iconic, but while the collection has some great pieces, it's meh compared to Reina Sophia and Prada.  My wife lived in Oviedo for 18 mos, we'll go there next. 

Have fun, don't rush.  I think better to spend multiple days in one city vs travel and 1/2 days each.  I spent 4 in Seville (perfect), two in Cordoba (perfect), four in Granada (could have done more), 5 in Barcelona (could have done more), four in Madrid (just about right), and two in Bilbao (wish I had more in the region).  

I love Madrid, like if it was me I would stay just in Madrid. So much to do in the city, so many tapas, so many amazing rooftops to drink sangria on.

The tour is not my style as those four cities, all good places, at that pace means you will be traveling more than actually being in the cities but some people like that. I understand time is limited.

Also, it is your honeymoon so relaxing time is probably important to you. Just keep it in mind. 

I loved my travels through Spain so much that I am breaking the seal and making my first Mgoblog post after having been a reader for >7 years, member for >2 years. I am a part of the legion who are here as readers only.

TL;DR:

• Don't spend more than a few days in Madrid.
• Skip the paid tours. Rent a car and drive south. Get a small car. 
• If you only go to one other city, go to Sevilla. If you can fit in two, add Granada.

First, congrats on getting married. It's a blessing to find a wife. Wishing you both many many years of happiness and great travels.

Madrid is a great starting point. You said you've not been to Europe before, so this will be a good experience. IMO, Madrid is the same as any other large Western European city. This isn't meant to be pejorative, just to say that it isn't terribly unique in its offerings, i.e. great museums, palaces, parks, etc. (Actually, come to think of it, the Prado museum does in fact have some Madonna paintings that I've not seen in any other museum. Curious if any readers know what I'm referring to) The real fun is when you go south, as you've suggested. A buddy and I rented a car in Madrid and then drove south to Cordoba, then to Granada, Ronda and finally Sevilla before heading back up to Madrid. We spent a night in each of the first few cities, then spent three nights in Sevilla. One night in both Cordoba and Ronda was sufficient. The entirety of our time in Granada was spent taking in the magnificence of the Alhambra. I would have spent another day in Granada if I could have. 

Sevilla is where I really wished we had spent more time. We missed the opening day of bull fighting season by two days and I was rather disappointed. Not sure that's the kind of event to take in on your honeymoon. There are tours at the Plaza de Toros which take you through the history of Spanish bullfighting without actually watching any bullfighting. There is much to do and see in Sevilla. The food is great. People are warm and inviting. You'll leave wishing you had more time. 

As far as hiring a tour guide... I'm a perennial DIYer. As mentioned, we rented a car and it was a fantastic move. The roads in the south were great and the scenery from town to town was beautiful. The landscape is dotted with rolling hills, mountain views and olive tree orchards once you're outside of city limits. With GPS, you'll not get lost between cities. I will caution, if you go that route, the GPS is less reliable in the dense inner city areas. This isn't so much a problem, as you'll end up driving around and seeing more of the part of the city you're in. Car size is something to be aware of. When we booked the rental car we selected an option for a large luxury car, thinking it would be nice to travel in style. When there was no 7 series available for rent when we got to the airport in Madrid we were rather annoyed. They had nothing left in the large luxury line. We ended up with an Audi A3 turbo hatchback. It ended up being the best little car ever! Especially when it came to navigating the narrow medieval paths that serve as "roads" in some parts of the various cities we were in. Had we been in a boat of a luxury sedan I'm not sure how we'd have navigated 75% of our city driving.  

One other note on driving on the highways in southern Spain: beware of the speed cameras. While you can't see them (at least we did not) they must have been everywhere. For about three months after the trip I would see new charges on my card from Avis for speeding tickets received. Three in total, IIRC. 

I live in Phoenix. Aside from having taken Spanish language courses from middle school through undergrad, my home residence provides ample opportunity/need to use Spanish. Spain speaks a different type of Spanish (castellano) than the Latin Spanish we speak here in North and South America. I was concerned about my ability to hack it with my limited Latin Spanish, but it turned out to be just fine. I was able to mostly understand what I needed to (directions, menus, restaurant servers, hotel staff) and my Spanish was received well enough that I didn't offend. I have found, as a general rule, ALWAYS make an attempt in the native language when first interacting with anyone in a foreign country. It is true, most people do know English. It is also true that they don't have to chose to speak it with you if you're an asshole. My experience has taught me that making an attempt in the native language demonstrates a respect for the home culture and shows that you're visiting their country with an open mind. It really warms people up, no matter how bad you butcher the language. Sincerity is key. Even in Paris, in the most dense tourist areas, I have found this to be true.   

A note about dinner in Spain (Madrid particularly). One thing that struck me in Madrid as being different from some of the other large European cities I've been in is the time of day they eat dinner. It's not unusual for a restaurant to not open its doors for dinner until 7 pm or later. Just south of Plaza Mayor on both Calle de Cuchilleros and Toledo there are long stretches of nothing but restaurants. You could walk down those streets at 6 pm and think none of them would be open for the day. Return at 9 pm and it would be wall to wall people. 

Explore. Explore. Explore! That's what traveling is all about. I could double the length of this post (which I'm sure most are happy I didn't) with specific things to see. In the cities I mention above, the main attractions are obvious and a must see. Beyond that, forge your own adventure. I spent too much of my travel time with my nose in Fodors trying to make sure I saw the "best" things. Once I put the book down and started walking through these old cities, the adventure came to life. I encourage you to do the same. 

Did Madrid and Barcelona.  There was much to do in Barcelona. Lots of historic places to see.  Great nightlife. Great restaurants. 

I would say you have a very limited amount of time. You have roughly 4 days as getting to Barajas Airport will take you an hour or so from the center of Madrid on Friday.

What's great about Madrid is there are several cool cities surrounding the city. The center of Madrid has the Royal Palace,The Prado, Thyssen Art Museum, Puerta del Sol, Plaza Mayor, and El Retiro Park. Surrounding the city are El Escorial (Spain's version of Versailles and one of my favorite places), and the nearby El Valle de los Caidos (closed I believe, but Franco's monument to the Civil War, yet built with political slave labor), and also Toledo, Avila, Aranjuez, and Segovia.

If you want to take the AVE high speed train to Sevilla, one of my favorite cities, do it either early in the morning, so you can see the countryside, or late at night, so you don't waste the day traveling the 3 hours from Madrid Atocha station.

La Mezquita in Cordoba is beautiful, but not a must. It is though on the way to Sevilla by AVE. Takes about 2 hours to get to from the train station and visit in its entirety.

The Alhambra in Granada is amazing, but takes the entire day and requires tickets bought in advance, and the AVE from Cordoba takes 1.5 hours and 3 hours from Sevilla. You could do Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Madrid and its surroundings, Wednesday in Sevilla (not really enough, but it could work), and Thursday in Granada, flying to Madrid Thursday evening or Friday morning from Granada to Madrid (1 hour) and changing planes at Barajas, or if you haven't bought your flight to the Canaries, fly from Malaga to there.

Only two days in Barcelona doesn't do it justice.

I don't know if you're into history, but it's hard to avoid when you're in places like Spain, which was occupied by the Romans a couple hundred years BC, and later by Muslim Arabs, for over 700 years. One history note I find fascinating is that Madrid was actually founded by Muslims, and you can see the original walls of what was once Mayrit (before it was Madrid), just down behind the royal palace. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Walls_of_Madrid

The main section of the wall is located in a beautiful, peaceful, and little-known park, the Parque de Mohamed I. And right next to the famous Almudena Cathedral, where Spanish royalty frequently hold weddings (you can walk in and check it out for a small optional donation). I always make a point to check this little park out and contemplate that history, as opposed to the pompous one of the palace, with all its crowds.

In Sevilla, a short walk from the cathedral takes you down to the River Guadalquivir, which every major Spanish expedition of discovery (Colombus, Cortes, Magellan, etc.) used as its starting off point. You can't miss the Torre de Oro, built next to the river by the Muslims, and a small entrance fee gets you in to the small museum where you can climb out on the top of the tower. There's a map in there showing how Magellan left from that very spot and a small fraction of his crew (he didn't make it) finished the first trip round-the-world trip in the very same place. If you cross the bridge into Triana, there's a ton of nice little cafes to have a beer, or a coffee, with olives and cheese, whatever. You can't go wrong, it's a wonderful place. Congrats on your marriage and enjoy!