Last year we loved Malaga. Where should we go this year?

[Holdinguphalfthesky]

Looking at flights around end of March. But where should we stay? Dd is 15. Somewhere that’s nice but not too pricey, fairly quiet, safe. We like shopping, sunbathing, swimming, art galleries, and eating/drinking.

We’re open to going pretty much anywhere in Europe, we have French, Spanish, and some German but are willing to have a go with other languages!

In Malaga we stayed in a lush little hotel called Villa Alicia which we loved.

Malaga was so nice I would be tempted to go back and stay in the same room- but want to take us somewhere else this year. Hit us up with your best suggestions please!

I really liked Palma de Mallorca, lovely city, great food. You can cycle along the waterfront, get the cute little train to soller, go to port de soller, buses round the island are cheap and very good.

Does it have to be coastal? If not Granada, Jerez and Sevilla are interesting, beautiful cities with so much to offer. Both are stiflingly hot in summer but up to mid May they're lovely

Palma!!

Palma Mallorca would give you a very similar experience. Lovely city on the coast. Good transport for trips out.

Maybe a bit too similar, but i loved Alicante

València

Thank you. Has anyone been to Barcelona and can suggest an area we might look at staying in? Planning to get on it with daughter at the weekend so would be great to have a couple of options- I do fancy Mallorca off season, she may want somewhere a bit busier and more cosmopolitan- London by the sea, as it were 😆 so offering both would be great.

Also doesn’t have to be Spain, if you know somewhere in Denmark, Italy, Germany, etc…

I took my daughter to Nice in March. Fantastic city out of season. Tram to airport, art galleries, lovely old town and the train goes down the coast to visit Antibes and Cannes. Also Menton where you can walk into Italy! Not expensive at all off season.

It sounds like you would like Sorrento.

Munich is also a great city for a break. Wonderful art galleries, parks and shopping. Historic sites. But I’d still rate Nice-my very discerning daughter loved it.

Barcelona is a great idea! Food is amazing, you’re right on the beach. We’ve been a few times because we have friends there.

We went to Sicily off season, I think it was Oct and loved it. People were still swimming and it was warm enough to wear shorts/T-shirts etc. We were there 2 weeks so travelled around a fair bit- Palermo, Agrigento, Catania and Syracuse. I've heard good things about Cefalu which is a beachy town, but we didn't go there.

I also like Majorca and if I returned, would stay in Port de Soller also.

We went to Barcelona a few years ago. Very interesting museums and things to see/do. The fresh fruit/veg market is similar to Atarazanas in Malaga. I prefer the beach in Malaga. Barcelona is much bigger than Malaga though and I found the accommodation pricey. We stayed in a hotel just off Las Ramblas and even though it wasn't cheap, the tiny was absolutely tiny. I'm not sure if we visited during an expensive time, or its always like that? Last year there were issues with locals having a go at tourists. I can't recall the details but maybe check if there are still problems.

Copenhagen is fabulous and has some great seaside areas as well as lots of sightseeing associated with a city break.

I think Barcelona is over rated, I love Malaga. You could go back there and use it as a base this time to visit Seville and Granada?

Otherwise I love Nice and Antibes.

I didn't like Sorrento at all.

Munich is nice and a good base for visiting the mountains, but you won't get as good weather as in Spain of south of France.

I did wonder about Nice, I’ve only been as far east as Marseille.
Last year she surprised me with wanting a sunbathing holiday, so I’ll see if she wants it similar. Looking at end of March so maybe too early for sunbathing!

Argh, I found really good prices for Barcelona flights so we are going there!! So excited. Which area of the city should we stay in and which things should we definitely try and see?

I think that if you want sunbathing/outoor swimming in March you are quite limited in options without a long haul flight. To be honest, I wouldn't go anywhere in mainland Europe and expect that kind of weather, though you might get lucky in the South of Spain. You can probably expect temperatures in the low 20s and a good amount of sunshine in Spring somewhere like Seville but a lot of the other places that have been suggested will be mid to high teens at best. Average March temperature for Nice is 14c for example. You'd need to be a lot hardier than me to be swimming outdoors in that!
There are masses of great city break destinations that you'd probably enjoy if you aren't too bothered about the weather. For instance I think that Bilbao would suit you in every other respect but in March you're more likely to be wearing a wooly jumper than a bikini. If the weather is crucial I think you're restricted to Southern Spain really. The Canaries are also warmer of course but perhaps don't tick your other boxes as well. You could maybe think about North Africa as that would be warmer - Marrakech maybe? I have never been myself and have heard very mixed reports so not sure if it's suitable or not but Google tells me it's likely to be about 24-25c.

Oops, sorry, missed your last update - enjoy Barcelona.

I'd recommend booking sagrada familiar tickets before you go. We went end of April a few years ago and couldn't get tickets the entire time we were there! Some things we enjoyed:
-The Mercat de La Boqueria, just off Las Ramblas and similar to Atazanas in Malaga
-Casa Batillo, house built by Gaudi. We bought tickets a day or 2 beforehand to beat the queues but also went very early
-Hash marijuana and hemp museum. It was fascinating and focussed on the hundreds of things it can be used for- other than as a drug.
-We walked to guell park. I think they have a fountain which is illuminated at night with bright lights and possibly music.
-We discovered pintxos there. Although its a basque thing. We went back to this place several times El Pintxo De Petrixol. https://www.eatingeurope.com/blog/pintxos-barcelona/

We went to Port de Soller the week before Easter last year (1st week of April) and it was surprisingly busy! We were lucky weather wise because it was rainy the week after so good weather will be hit or miss at this time of the year. We had our young adult DC with us on our most probably last family holiday before they fly the nest and it was a great break.