Portugal & Spain???

[rp...@56801.pjc.com]

Hi-

My wife and I are taking a quick trip to Portugal and Spain in the
beginning of November. Route is Lisbon to northern Spain leaving from
Madrid. We would appreciate any advice about small inns, B&Bs and
restaurants. Any thoughts about must sees would be appreciated.
Please reply to rp...@56801.pjc.com.

Many thanks!!!

--
Rich Paul
rp...@56801.pjc.com

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[Robert Buxbaum]

In article <8sf632$het$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>, rp...@56801.pjc.com wrote:

>Hi-
>
>My wife and I are taking a quick trip to Portugal and Spain in the
>beginning of November. Route is Lisbon to northern Spain leaving from
>Madrid. We would appreciate any advice about small inns, B&Bs and
>restaurants. Any thoughts about must sees would be appreciated.
>Please reply to rp...@56801.pjc.com.
>

If northern Spain includes Galicia, let me mention Don Roberto in San Xulian
not far from Santiago de Compostela. A small stone building in the country
with pleasant rooms, a nice dining room with a Michelin star and a wonderful
welcome. Okay, it's not the grand Paradore de los Reyes Catolicos in
Santiago, but it was very warm and welcoming. Be warned there's nothing in
the way of a town or amentities nearby. We walked to the local church yard
and back after examining the tombstones.

Also in Galicia, we had a wonderful lunch at Reveca in A Caniza. In
Michelin it's listed as having good food at moderate prices. I would note
we had very good food at a moderate price.

--
<www.worldtable.com> Food/Wine/Travel
-
new offer for car rental and leasing in Europe
posted 21 June 2000

[Matthew Lybanon]

At the risk of leaving out numerous places worth seeing (aside from
Lisbon and Madrid, themselves):

Cascais, near Lisbon

Salamanca, in northern Spain

Avila, also in northern Spain

Toledo, south of Madrid but not far.

[John Zumsteg]

You might want to subscribe and post your question to the TravelSpain
list, which is dedicated to travel in Spain (Portugal gets comments,
too). Check the FAQ at:

http://www.gomadrid.com/travelspain-faq.html

for subscription instructions.

This is a good group, with lots of people ready to give advice. (Yes,
that would include me!).

rp...@56801.pjc.com wrote:
>
> Hi-
>
> My wife and I are taking a quick trip to Portugal and Spain in the
> beginning of November. Route is Lisbon to northern Spain leaving from
> Madrid. We would appreciate any advice about small inns, B&Bs and
> restaurants. Any thoughts about must sees would be appreciated.
> Please reply to rp...@56801.pjc.com.
>

[didier Meurgues]

In article <8sf632$het$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>,

rp...@56801.pjc.com wrote:
> Hi-
>
> My wife and I are taking a quick trip to Portugal and Spain in the
> beginning of November. Route is Lisbon to northern Spain leaving from
> Madrid. We would appreciate any advice about small inns, B&Bs and
> restaurants. Any thoughts about must sees would be appreciated.
> Please reply to rp...@56801.pjc.com.
>
> Many thanks!!!
>

Here is a modified post, sent several months ago :

In Lisbon, go to San Justa elevator where you've got a beautifull VIEW over
the city, to the nearby district of Chiado (baroque churches), to the
neoclassical praça (square) do Commercio opening on the river Tajo, to the
cathedral (Sé) with its cloister and treasure (cross), to the Belvedere
dominating the arab district of Alfama, to sao Vicente? de Fora, the church
where is the Pantheon of the Bragança royal dynasty, with a beautifull
sacristy covered with pietra dura and two cloisters covered with azulejos,
you can even go to the roof of the church wich offers a very beautifull VIEW
over the city and the river (last entry at 17H30), finally to San Jorge
castle for the view (last entry 18H30 and come back in tramway). You must go
to Belem too to visit the monastery of the Jeronimos, the marvellous tower of
Belem, the stupendous and unique coaches museum or the national maritim
museum and finally to the Gulbenkian collection.   South East of Lisbon is
the typical city of Evora (old little streets, cathedral with a beautifull
cloister, roman temple, squares, palaces...), West of Lisbon go to the royal
palace of Queluz (18th c.) with very beautifull classical GARDENS. Westward
again, to the 3 palaces of Sintra : ruins of the medieval forteress, OLD
royal palace, XIXth century fairytale castle. To the North is the huge palace
of Mafra build on the model of the Escurial. Visit too the famous monasteries
of Batalha and Alcobaça. In the last one, the conventual buildings are
particularly impressive. Near Fatima, you must absolutely visit the Christ
monastery of Tomar, with its SEVEN cloisters and its famous manuelin window.
In the triangle formed by those 3 monasteries is the only youth hostel of the
area in Leiria where is too a ruined fortress. But I suppose that you will go
to normal hotels. Between Lisbon and Porto is the university town of Coimbra
on its hill (university, cathedral, old streets, churches...). Porto (harbour
district, cathedral, churches, wine warehouses...) is interesting too and
North East of Porto the baroque town of Braga (cathedral, cloister, medieval
library & tower, beautifull baroque churches and palaces). Go to Bom Jesu
famous church with bus n°2, direction "Bom jesu", taking it near the post
office in the centre.   Then in Spain, I would go to SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELLA
(IMO the most beautifull spanish historical town with Toledo, before Sevilla,
Cordoba, Granada, Caceres, etc...). Oviedo and Leon worth mainly for their
cathedrals. I prefered Burgos (cathedral, certosa de Miraflores, Las Huelgas
monastery : castillan king pantheon, walls, old houses), Salamanca
(cathedral, university, colleges, churches with gilted chirugueresque altars,
casa de las conchas...), Avila (walls, cathedral, churches, don't forget Sta
Teresa veal in her convent). Then Segovia (castle, cathedral, templars
church, aqueduc), then La Granja and the Escurial palaces. Finally Madrid
with daytrips to Aranjuez, Alcala de Henares or above all TOLEDO (GRECO house
and paintings, cathedral, Sta Cruz hospital, churches like Santo Tome and I
think San Juan, Synagogue, old mosk, walls, roman and medieval bridges, Tajo
river gorges, etc...

Didier Meurgues

[ste...@uswest.net]

Very well put. I'd only add...in Lisbon don't miss the Port Wine Insititute and
in Porto visit the port wine cellars. I would also include Segovia on to the day
trips out of Madrid. When heading in the direction of Santiago, consider La
Coruna too....wonderful oceanside town. If you are all interested in traditional
Spanish art forms, the Sargadelos ceramic factory is well worth the effort it
takes to get there (check out their website for an idea of what I am talking
about - www.sargadelos.com)....ask in the Santiago Turismo office for specific
directions.

[Don and Linda Freedman]

We have two excellent and informative Portugal travelogues on our web site
at http://www.thetravelzine.com.
Don and Linda
TheTravelzine.com is non-commercial

[tco...@my-deja.com]

Hi
If you are finishing up in Madrid you might want to check out

http://www.gomadrid.com

Hope this helps and have a good trip.

T Cobban,London,Ontario