Planning a Late Sept 2027 - 2+ week Spain Trip - Insight? Must Dos?

Non-Disney Parks
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I really like AI for this kind of trip planning. I put what I loved most about recent trips (like small boutique hotel off the beaten path in Amalfi near Atrani over the touristy spots) and how much I like water/nature/art/architecture and Gaudi/Picasso and that I’m Jewish and love medieval villages and it made this for me:
Spain Ideal Itinerary - Google Docs

Anything I’m missing? I have to research restaurants but lmk if you have anything else you think I should do with 2+ weeks in Barcelona and Costa Brava. I have a year to plan which is how I like it so I get what I want! LOL

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Also if AI is gonna kill us all, I’m gonna use it to have some bucket list trips before it’s all over! :wink:

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This sounds like a really cool trip. I did not know about the Jewish connections in Girona, but now I’m going to have to add Girona to my own Spain itinerary! I think that building travel itineraries is a great use of AI! Personally, if I had the time, I’d add a stop in Bilbao and end the trip with San Sebastian.

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A prettier, simpler one to read: Spain_2027_Shareable_Itinerary - Google Docs

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They look lovely, I will probably have to go back which is A-OK with me. :slight_smile:

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I love Barcelona! It’s been a while since I’ve done the Gaudi sights, so I’m sure what AI says is more up to date than I am, but two quick tips:

  • If you go to Girona, El Celler de Can Roca is meant to be incredible (though sadly I have never been). Voted best restaurant in the world several times (meaning it’s now in the “best of the best” list and no longer competes in the ranking). Legendary among foodies. Very difficult reservations to get, would check now if this interests you at all.
  • La Rambla is lovely but also notorious as being one of Europe’s top pickpocketing spots. I have SO many stories of friends being pickpocketed, including a narrow miss within my own group (my brother-in-law barely avoided a pickpocketing after a guy deliberately bumped into him and tried to grab his wallet). Some people even say their phones get snatched off of cafe tables, which is really rare in Europe. I hope things have improved since I last visited, but just beware.

When is your trip? Spain gets HOT in the summer months, so if you can swing shoulder season of the summer holidays, it would be much more comfortable. ETA: I can see from the title it’s late September - that’s perfect!

Enjoy the planning!

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Thank you, I hadn’t dived into restaurants yet but am a foodie. I will wait till flights come out and then from that I can start booking restaurants. Apparently on some days the flights are different than others and I want a particular flight home that’s later PM and goes thru Chicago instead of DC I think it was so I can sleep!

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Put in both the short and long docs on last Girona night!

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and added a caution to be weary here. I have a bandolier so I’ll just put it inside my shirt/dress here. It has the magnetic and clip wallet for the back and that’s all I carry criss-cross around my body in the front wallet side down for active days out like music festivals and theme parks because I cannot tell you how many times I left a cell phone on a toilet paper dispenser in a bathroom (including in Moaning Myrtles). But I’ll put inside clothes here as an extra precaution

This is what I have:

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So holy cow I am working my way thru making my own plans, moving things around to incorporate the le merce festival in barcelona and I get to Girona day today not yesterday at 12am Spain time and already El Celler de Can Roca is completely booked out for my girona days for all meals because they open up 11 months advance at 12am. I got on waitlist but that’s insane. That’s more insane than Disney planning. I was just off by a day/or two and just didn’t know cuz I’m working my way thru it day by day.

I have yet to redo my Montserrat/Barcelona piece around the festival and my other additions there but here is the first three stops:

:spain: Spain — 18 Nights

Cadaqués 4 nights → Calella de Palafrugell 5 nights → Girona 2 nights → Barcelona 7 nights

:airplane: Travel Day (0) — Austin → Barcelona

☐ Fly AUS → ORD on United
☐ United Club / dinner during ORD layover
☐ Overnight United ORD → BCN in United Polaris Lie-flat seat
☐ Sleep on overnight flight (hence the lie-flat seat)

CADAQUES – 4 NIGHTS

:church: Day 1 — BCN → Cadaqués

☐ Travel: BCN → Cadaqués, roughly 2-2½ hours; final approach is winding in Rental car — National
☐ Hotel: HOTEL BOUTIQUE VILLA GALA Room Type: Suite Terrace
☐ Walk: steep, uneven cobbled streets thru Old Town, visit the church of Santa Maria and walk the waterfront
☐ Dinner: Talla 8pm

:motor_boat: Day 2 — Cap de Creus Boat

☐ Boat: Cadaques Boat Tour - Bellamar Cadaques - Full Day (6 hours) Private Experience for up to 4 (2 people) at 10:00AM, include local tapas and wine on board
☐ Dinner:Casa Anita 8:30PM dinner

:artist_palette:Day 3 — Dalí + Portlligat + Coastal Walk

☐ Walk to: Salvador Dali House 11:00AM entry - 23 min walk on rocky/coastal terrain so wear proper sneakers
☐ Lunch: El xiri d’en Dani (beach/no reservations)
☐ Cove/Beach time: Platja de s’Alqueria
☐ Dinner: Restaurant La Sirena 8pm dinner

:hiking_boot:Day 4 — Cap de Creus Natural Park

☐ Drive: Cap de Creus - 20 min.
☐ Lighthouse visit around 10:00 AM
☐ Hike: Punta Cap de Creus loop, including Cova de s’Infern
☐ Swim: Cala Jugadora: Cala Jugadora is very close to the lighthouse and reached by a marked trail. It’s a tiny rocky/pebble cove with clear, protected-looking water and is specifically designated for swimming.
☐ Lunch: Restaurant Cap de Creus
☐ Drive/Park: 5-minute drive toward Tudela
☐ Hike: Paratge de Tudela hike
☐ Swim:Cala Culip. Route 17 through Paratge de Tudela actually ends/reaches the Culip/Gentils area, and the official park map specifically marks them as bathing coves. Culip is wild, rocky and extremely clear—more of that gorgeous “jump into the Mediterranean after hiking through bizarre rocks” experience.
☐ Dinner: Compartir 8pm dinner

CALELLA – 5 NIGHTS

:framed_picture:Day 5 — Cadaqués → Dalí Museums → Calella de Palafrugell

Driving: Cadaqués → Dali Theatre-Museum, 1 hour drive
Private Guided Tour: Dali Theatre-Museum at 10:30 AM entry
Lunch: El Motel at 1:00PM
Driving: Figueres → Gala Dali Castle, 45 min. drive
Self Tour: Gala Dali Castle at 4:30PM
Driving: Gala Dali Castle → Hotel Sant Roc, 45 min. drive
Hotel: Hotel Sant Roc — Standard double with sea view for €1,021.50 / includes breakfast - BOOKED
Dinner: El Balcó de Calella at 8:00 PM Interior Balcony 1st Row

Day 6 — Kayaking

Kayak: Tourist Service Llafranc guided kayak excursions for 2.5 hours - Cala Pedrosa
Dinner: Restaurant Hotel Casamar at 8:30 PM

Day 7 — Camí de Ronda + Llafranc

Walk/Swim: Hotel Sant Roc → Port Bo beach → Platja de Canadell → Camí de Ronda de Calella a Llafranc → Platja de Llafranc and back after lunch/swim
Lunch: La Llagosta 1:00PM
Dinner: La Blava at 8:30PM

Day 8 — Pals + Peratallada

Driving: Hotel Sant Roc → Parking Pals - 30 min. drive leaving around 10 AM
Walking: Parking Pals → Plaça Major and STROLL THROUGH THE MEDIEVAL AREA OF PALS AT YOUR OWN PACE - about 1.5 hours walk
Driving: Parking Pals → Aparcament municipal in Peratallada - 15 min. drive
Lunch: D.O Candelaria at 1:00PM
Walking: D.O. Candelaria → Carrer Major → Plaça de les Voltes → Plaça del Castell/Castle → Plaça de l’Oli → medieval lanes → Torre de les Hores → walls/towers → rock-cut moat → Portal de la Verge → Sant Esteve → CAR
Dinner: Bark at 8:00PM

Day 9 — Begur + Sa Tuna + Aiguablava

Driving: Hotel Sant Roc → P9 Plaça dels Indians - 30 min. Drive at 10:00 AM
Walking: P9 → Sant Pere/Plaça de la Vila → Bonaventura Carreras & Indiano houses → Can Pi tower → Can Marquès tower → Pella i Forgas → Sant Ramon tower → Sant Ramon viewpoint → CASTLE → scenic descent through old town → Plaça de la Vila → P9 - about 2 hours
Driving: P9 Plaça dels Indians → Aparcament de pagament Sa Tuna - 15 min. drive
Lunch: Restaurant Sa Barca Sa Tuna 1:30PM
Explore: Sa Tuna cove/beach, can swim too
Driving: Aparcament de pagament Sa Tuna → Pàrquing d’Aiguablava - 30 min. Drive
Swim: Aiguablava beach
Driving: Pàrquing d’Aiguablava → Hotel Sant Roc - 30 min. Drive
Dinner: Sol i Mar 9 PM Dinner

GIRONA — 2 nights

Day 10 — Calella de Palafrugell → Girona

Driving: Hotel Sant Rock → Palau Fugit - 1¼ hour drive around noon
Lunch: La Fabrica Girona
Hotel: Palau Fugit - Fugit Torre
Spa: La Cova d’Aigua - Time Together Pack - 2 Massages and Bath at 4:30PM Spa at hotel
Dinner: Vintages 8:30PM

Day 11 — Jewish + Medieval Girona

Morning Tour: Girona Tours - Jewish Tour morning — target ~10:00 AM
Lunch:Pizzeria Marghe 1889 @1:00PM
Afternoon Tour: Girona Tours - 9/21/27 PM Medieval Tour – target ~3:00PM
Dinner: Massana 8pm dinner *I’ll replace this if my waitlist comes thru

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Wow, yes that’s ridiculous - but tallies with what I heard. I guess there’s a pretty good chance of the waitlist coming through when people have to book this far out. Though honestly even if it doesn’t I’ve heard that Girona has TONS of amazing restaurants, so you’ll have no trouble finding another special place.

You’re so organized! I’d love to plan travel this far ahead but even six months out it hard for us with our jobs. We’re leaving for China this coming Thursday and I couldn’t book anything until three weeks ago, it nearly drove me insane :rofl:

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AHHHH, it’s not the ideal time cuz checkout is that day and I wanted to get to Monserrat leaving in the morning but we’ll just bump that to a day trip out of Barcelona. I also hope my aunts can come cuz the one that came up was for 4:

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Holy cow, that would torture me! I can do it for smaller quick trips just fine, places I’ll go over and over so at this point even Disney but these big expensive trips where I’m likely not going back cuz the bucket list is “long and distinguished” (Top gun line?) and I might very well go back to Spain but we’ll likely do a diff region like you were mentioning. So to lose out on things cuz you can’t book them 6 months in advance would be very hard to handle. I don’t know how you do it.

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With less than 10 days, it will entail a charge of 100 euros per reduced person, which will be charged to the provided card.

I mean might be worth 200Euros even if they can’t come. LOL. But maybe a 2 will open up too and I’ll just hold onto both until I know for sure. This is the problem with releasing dining reservations before flights are even bookable. It’s only helpful for locals.

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Also enjoy! Have you been before? This was one of the trips of my lifetime. We got to hug a panda!
We went in 2018 and even back then I was highly organized way in advance:
China Itinerary - Google Docs

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Thanks for sharing - that’s an impressive itinerary! I enjoyed reading it, and we’ll be treading on some of the same paths.

My husband and I have been to China, but our kids have not been. They have a week of school holidays next week, so we wanted to go somewhere fun that could be reached with a nonstop flight (from Islamabad, where we currently live), and Guangzhou fit the bill nicely. We’ll spend four nights on the mainland (mainly focused on Guilin and Yangshuo) and five nights in HK (2 in HKDL/Lantau and 3 in Kowloon), I’ve started a pre-trip report that will go live in the coming days :slight_smile: The last time I visited this part part of the China was 25 years ago as a backpacker, and just from my trip research I can see how much it has changed. It’s absolutely insane how much there is to see and do in China, or even just HK and Guangxi Province!!

We won’t be hugging pandas this time, but I did build in an overnight stop in Chimelong Resort in Guangzhou (which I hadn’t heard of until now, but looks a bit like a Chinese version of WDW), where they have a Safari Park with a lot of pandas. It’ll also be our first time in HKDL, which I’m excited about (and my husband tolerated because I’ve promised him bike riding and hiking in Yangshuo). How did you like Aqua in HK? I was actually considering it as an evening option for our last night, but ended up booking Ozone at the RitzCarlton instead because the views look amazing and we likely won’t want a real meal as we’ll still be stuffed from having a Dim Sum Set lunch at the foodie restaurant of our hotel (Yat Tung Heen at Eaton HK).

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That one, Aqua, was good. I wouldn’t call it the best meal I’ve ever had but it was solid. And the view was fantastic. I didn’t really enjoy the Disney restaurants that much if my recollection serves. Like they were serviceable but I the flavors were really strong for me. Things like shrimp paste, I just didn’t love.

Nightime view from Aqua:

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Daytime:

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My sushi:
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