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Report 1970: Three Travellers in the Costa del Sol, Barcelona and Paris

By Doug Phillips from Canada, Fall 2011

Trip Description: Three of us, (husband, wife, adult daughter) enjoyed eight days in the Costa del Sol, four days in Barcelona, followed by a week in Paris in October 2011. We had a great time. Read on.

Destinations: Countries - France, Spain; Regions/Cities - Paris, Barcelona, Costa del Sol

Categories: Vacation Rentals; Art Trip; Beach; Day Tours; Foodie Trip; Shopping; Sightseeing; Independent Travel; 3-4 people; Adult Children w/ Parents

Approaching Gibraltar

Well, Spain was never on my travel horizon when we began to consider our European sojourn for 2011. Plus, we have been to Paris several times over the past few years, albeit usually only for a few days each time. However, one of our four children has a major birthday in 2011. While Meredith has spent several months in India on one occasion, and Australia and New Zealand on another, she has never been to Europe. None of her friends was available for a trip to Europe this year, so she approached us. Paris was high on her list, since we have waxed poetically about this wonderful city several times. And she wanted to go to Spain. Our plans were in a state of flux for a long time. Eventually, we decided on the tourist magnet of the Costa del Sol, based in the town of Nerja, and the Catalan city of Barcelona.

So, when do you stop living your life around your children?

I’ll let you know when it happens.

We booked flights from Montreal to Malaga Spain on October 9, Thanksgiving weekend in Canada, on Air Transat. After eight days in the Costa del Sol we flew from Malaga to Barcelona via Vueling Airlines. From Barcelona we took an EasyJet flight to Paris four days later. We had a week in Paris and returned home to Canada via Air Transat, arriving back in Montreal on October 29, just in time for Halloween. All our flights went smoothly. One of the flight options available within Europe was Ryan Air, but I avoided booking with that company due to some general uneasiness.

For this Trip Report I will provide a description of where we stayed, what we did, how we got around and highlights of our time in each of the Costa del Sol, Barcelona and Paris - but I will forgo a day-by-day account.

My reading list before we left included: