Iberia - where to go for on holiday?

[Albion]

I'm thinking of going on holiday (vacation for Americans) this year and I'm wondering where to go. Portugal, France, Spain or Wales all came to mind, all of them for the nice landscapes and cultures (and Wales also because it is very convenient).

I really want to go somewhere outside of the UK. I'm wondering if anyone would have any recommendations of where to go? I don't want to go to the usual tourist resorts. I want to go somewhere with some mountains and forests, somewhere where I can hike or perhaps canoe down a river. Somewhere rural and quiet, Galicia, Northern Portugal and Asturias look pleasant.

If I chose to go to Wales or France I have a rough idea of where I'd go (Snowdonia, Loire Atlantique or Normandy), but I don't know too many places in Iberia. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[gregorius]

def seville

[Albion]

def seville

No cities.

[Lábaru]

Watch integer, there is everything to see and visit, many small and interesting villages, routes ect ...
Here--->

[xXMartinv1xX]

Spain(basque country/catalonia) nuff said

[Gaijin]

Think outside the box.


You want a rural destination? Yes?
Then the Green pearl of the Atlantic Ocean is your take.

You'll see yourself surrounded by resorts near the beach though.

Why Iberia?

[Vasconcelos]

For that sort of experience in Portugal/Galicia I recommend going to the Peneda-Gerês National Park (Peneda-Xurés in Galicia) and it's surroundings, it's really a really nice place to visit, and as far as I'm aware there are plenty of activities avaliable there.

The Peneda-Gerês is perhaps Portugal's best National Park, it's also rather large so I assume you can find pretty much anything. Besides the nature itself, you also have some very nice other things to visit. The Minho region is the oldest and up to the end of the Reconquista perhaps the most important region of the country, so you'll find a lot of Iron Age Celtic hillforts (Castros), Roman ruins and many churches and old fortifications etc. The country side and the food is great, and if you want something more urban for a day, you can always take the highway and go to Braga or Vigo, although it might be a bit out of hand (PS: If you go to Braga go lunch at the Arcoense restaurant, it's ridiculously good, although a bit expensive).


Bear in mind that travelling from one place to another might not be particularly quick, the Serra da Estrela National Park is better in this regard since it's flatter (although the tallest Portuguese mountain is located here), although not as interesting to visit.

You can google Peneda-Gerês to find pictures of it, and see if it's what you're looking for.






My girlfriend and I were thinking in going there back in Feb, but we decided instead to visit Braga and it's surroundings since we wanted more of a cultural holiday (especially her, since she had never gone to the North) and since it was closer, we wouldn't pay as much in the highways.
Oh and there is a sort of a mess with paying highways for tourists, I have absolutely no idea what you have to do. Blame the IMF and especially the retarded Gov't.

[Albion]

Watch integer, there is everything to see and visit, many small and interesting villages, routes ect ...

Cantabria looks stunning, the mountainous landscapes are what I like.

Think outside the box.

You want a rural destination? Yes?
Then the Green pearl of the Atlantic Ocean is your take.

You'll see yourself surrounded by resorts near the beach though.

Why Iberia?

I forgot about Madeira, that would be an option too. Basically I want to go to somewhere green and mountainous. Madeira looks a bit touristy though, I don't want to meet loads of other tourists when I go hiking, I want to be somewhere where I can't see someone else for a whole day at least.

For that sort of experience in Portugal/Galicia I recommend going to the Peneda-Gerês National Park (Peneda-Xurés in Galicia) and it's surroundings, it's really a really nice place to visit, and as far as I'm aware there are plenty of activities avaliable there.

Looks very nice.

we wouldn't pay as much in the highways.
Oh and there is a sort of a mess with paying highways for tourists, I have absolutely no idea what you have to do. Blame the IMF and especially the retarded Gov't.

Are most of the roads in Portugal toll roads? Here they're rare.

[Vasconcelos]

Are most of the roads in Portugal toll roads? Here they're rare.

The highways are, there is a national uproar against them because we didn't use to pay many of those before, the so called SCUTs.




I also went to Asturias/Cantabria a few years ago, I loved it aswell.

[Lábaru]

Cantabria looks stunning, the mountainous landscapes are what I like.
.

you have Altamira, a cave where some of your non-indo european ancestors slept with his cave-girls, long before these invaders arrived from the East Indies --->http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Altamira

and nice villages such as Comillas.