Landed in Barcelona a day early to check out the city and get over jet-lag. The public bus brings your right to downtown, but not near the hotel. Stayed on the happening street "Las Ramblas." It was nice to get to see the city. I recommend doing that, and staying there since the Contiki hotel is so far away! It was like a $25 cab ride. Took a long cab ride to the Contiki hotel, its far out of the good part of the city. Its an awful metro ride at night, many beggars, etc. and it stops running at 12, so then you have to rely on a cab-good luck! Our tour guide was Josh, he was just so-so. The best guide I ever had was Nick who only does Greek Isle Hopping. Anyway, he took us to a not so great sangria bar and while touring around walked so far in front almost as if he wanted to ditch us. Barcelona was not such a safe city, had lots of trouble with beggars, from spitting on ticket machines while trying to get metro tickets b/c we wouldnt give them money, to the public urination in the smelly streets. Next we were off to Zaragoza- its just a lunch stop really! Then to Madrid. Its a VERY long bus ride- be prepared! Madrid was a very nice city. Much better than Barcelona! The optional dinner there was worth it in the main Plaza. Next we went to the most beautiful city I felt, Toledo. We were given less than an hour to walk around and shop, it was awful because it was so awesome there and we had to leave. We stayed in the city of Cordoba, which was dumpy. Contiki probably couldnt afford to put us up in Toledo. From Cordoba we went to Seville. That was a nice city, got to see a lot, a bullring, etc, but again you are on the go from morning to night. The optional Flamenco show was fun! From Seville we headed to Gilbralter. That place was a rip-off! Dont get me wrong it was cool to see, but its $75 to take the cab to the top to snap some photos of monkeys! And the prices of the stores were not such a great deal. Finally we were off to Granada. It was the nicest hotel of them all because it had a pool, but again, its not very easy to find and far from everything. That is one reason Im kind of done with Contiki- the tour guide leads you out, then dumps you, and its up to you to try to figure out how to get back to hotel. Most of the people stayed by the pool and drank, and didnt even venture out to the tour or the Alhambra. The morning optional tour was great too of the monastery. We did all the optionals but the one in Madrid. They were great! Next we were on to Ibiza. Be prepared to carry your bag up a steep ferry ramp. Ibiza was quite dirty and full of derelicts. The hotel is awful! Its hallways are dark and so unsafe. It seemed like everyone was on some drug and the price to get into clubs was around $100-120! Better save up your cash for that part of the trip. The beaches of Talamanca were awesome, its a short ferry ride over and worth it. Salinas was too packed. El Divino was a nice club, not so much the rave scene, a normal scene. It was plenty of time in Ibiza, didnt need anymore time in that expensive dirty place. Recommend hopping the ferry to Mallorca- beautiful place and cheaper to fly home from! Hope this is helpful to you. Personally I would recommend the Greek Island Hopping trip over this one. Im definitely done with Contiki, disappointing tour guide, hotels, and locations.
don't worry about your tour now just because of ONE persons review! i have been on a contiki before and yes they do rush you at times but you do see alot! and they can be lots of fun. dont let one review get you down
I went in Jan 09 had Dom as a tour guide and Louis as a driver and it was awsome. One of the advantages of the winter tours is that the hotel prices are cheaper so you generally get better hotels. Some of the hotels where outdated but they all had elevators that you could send your lugage up to your floor. Also the hotels where esay enough to find. As for Cordoba most of the group stayed at the hotel but you can take the city busses into town. Although they did rush us at times for the most part it was at a pace that was suitable. I would defenitly recomend this trip!! PM me if you have any questions
I just returned from this trip a week ago and it was the time of my life. I think the author of this review probably wouldn't have had a good time on ANY trip. If you are even considering booking the Spanish Spree, I would encourage you to do so. Most of the hotels FAR exceeded my expectations (Ibiza wasn't the best hotel, but its a really expensive place). There were people of all ages (19-34), though I would guess that the average age was probably around 28. Our tour guide (Phoebe) was ridiculously cool and we all loved her to death. I would have never imagined the kind of amazing experience I would have had and take away friends that I will have for a lifetime. I hope you consider taking this tour as well...its well worth it!
