Travelling to Madrid and maybe seaside??? Crazy idea - is it doable?

[Bubblyb00b]

I know I might be a bit naïve thinking I can pull this off, but my plans for August unexpectedly went belly up and I need to organise something so DC will not end up spending all holiday hauled up in our flat. I always wanted to visit Madrid. So I was wondering if it would work for us flying there, staying in the city for a few days, then moving on to some place with the beach (via train, maybe, as I don't drive?) and then going home from there. I usually book a package holiday but this time was wondering if I book flights and then just wing it - AirBnb, whatever! It could be a cool adventure, right? Or a massive disaster?

Also would like to add that I don't have a heap of money, maybe 1.5k maximum.

I would really appreciate any ideas and suggestions! I only been to Barcelona and Seville, and to Majorca ages ago. Maybe we should go to a different pace? Maybe its a stupid idea altogether, and I should just find a beach holiday in Greece, or stay home and accept I screwed up?... Any comments welcome )

Madrid is bloody hot yes, lived there 4 years and deliberately timed our move away before June because I just couldn’t face another summer especially with young children.

OP….. you don’t want to be there in august, even the madrilenos escape.

@headstone - that temperature is the average ie also factors in night time temperatures!

DD and I have just been to Athens them flew to Madrid for a few days before taking the fast train to Murcia to spend a couple of weeks at my mums on the coast, where we are now.
Honestly Madrid was madly hot and humid last week and having endured Murcia city for a night last last august to go see Sting in concert, I would leave city visits for another time.
Having said that Madrid is now my favourite place in Europe, planning a visit in the spring to do and see all the things we weren't able to this time.
As was said earlier check out the RENFE website for train travel.

Weather forecast for Madrid next week 37-38 degrees - currently 33-34

Hi, for train info look at the man in seat 61, www.seat61.com, and select Spain for country on right hand side drop down box.
A wealth of information and signpost to other websites. Gives tonnes of info of routes, prices, times to help you get a plan together.

There's a fast train from Madrid to Valencia so it's totally doable to do both if you wanted. Spend a few days in Madrid then train down to the coast. Or there are some lovely villages surrounding Valencia if you don't want two cities.
I don't understand the comments about Spanish trains, they've had proper high speed trains there for years while we dither about possibly building one here!

It’ll be HOT in Madrid and Malaga… 35 - 38 degrees. The locals tend to leave Malaga for the coast in August. It’ll likely be expensive. My instinct is that it isn’t the best time to visit, and I wouldn’t want to go and spend three hours on trains… And I’d be more nervous as you didn’t like Barcelona.

With £1.5k, if you want beaches, I’d go for Greece.

We did Valencia to Madrid on the train, but stopped off at Cuenca on the way for a couple of nights, which is beautiful. We've also had a city beach holiday in Alicante, maybe less to do that than some of the other Spanish cities, but you can get the train along the coast too to get a bit further out.

I remember that we tried desparately to go out very early in the morning, get back to the flat by about 11 and we used to go out at about 9 at night to avoid the heat. But the temperatures at 8 and 9 at night were still around 38/39, it was horrendous, it just didnt cool down!!
We'd walk out and just get hit by this wall of hot air and Ive never been anywhere hot before because I cant bear heat so this was such a shock!!

Cadiz would be a good option although I’m not sure how hot it would be in August. It can be combined with Jerez and beach towns like Zahara de los Atunes. We did all of this by public transport.

I would also avoid Madrid in August.

Madrid is too hot in summer. My daughter was there for a year and we visited quite a lot. It was lovely in March / April.
I would stick to the coast in August.

Thanks everyone, a lot to think about!
Seems like Madrid should be left for a weekend trip in colder times ))

So if we go to Spain, which place would be best for a good combination of town/ beach? Apart from Valencia, Barcelona and Sitges? Would be cool to go somewhere off the beaten track.

Asturias (northern Spain) is lovely Gijon, Oviedo, Aviles. But it won´t be guaranteed hot weather.

Cádiz is a lovely town with lovely coast around. Nearest airport Seville.

Does it have to be Spain by the way?

You could fly to Faro, take a 15 minute Uber to Olhao which is a gorgeous fishing village with cheap Air BnBs and £2 ferries to the most beautiful sandbank islands. There you can get the train into Faro or Tarvira for day trips, both gorgeous. Not a fast train though mind you, but I'm sure you can get a fast train from Faro to elsewhere. Portugal is never as hot as Spain and I think it's cheaper, personally,

sorry for the total curveball!

@LaviniasBigBloomers thanks!! Will definitely have a look.

I'm not limiting myself to Spain, of course, but I've never been to Portugal so its a bit of an uncharted territory. Any advice would be welcome though, I now wish I named the thread differently! ))

The Algarve is lovely! More people speak English there than in Spain as a wild generalisation too.

It is a wild generalisation! Albufeira is around the Old Town but would avoid the Strip! Cabanas da Tabivera is lovely, Vilamoura Marina is gorgeous but more expensive. We also loved Faro itself. Lots of lovely locations, beautiful beaches. Always good to try somewhere new!