Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Travel itch :: Holiday vacationing.

D and I have been thinking about doing an international vacation during the holidays this year.  I have an extended holiday break from school since I'm on the semi-year-round schedule (I'll have an extra week at the end of the break).  Due to some extra money we've gotten, we think and hope we're going to be able to make it happen.  I've been doing some research on cheap flights, and I've narrowed down my hopes to two places.


PUERTO RICO

Yes, technically Puerto Rico is not international since it's US-owned (correct terminology? I don't care...), but we can get cheap flights to San Juan.







[Although at $895/night, we will not be affording the W Hotel in PR]

I'm thinking PR could be a wonderful getaway.  For another $200 we could fly from San Juan to the Isla de Vieques, which is a small island of PR.  It's where the grand W Hotel is located.  It has lots of house rentals and stuff.  I'm not sure if it would become a necessity for us to rent a car if we stayed on the island.  The more pictures I see of San Juan, I know I'd be just fine staying there as well.  I'm sure there's benefits to staying on the mainland as well as the secluded island.

SPAIN

Source: flickr.com via Nancy on Pinterest


[Both Madrid]


[Barcelona]

We would spend about the same amount on a flight to Madrid as we would to PR + flying to the island.  Obviously, we couldn't go to Spain and only stay in Madrid.  We're thinking of staying 10 days where ever we decide to go to.  We'd most likely spend some time exploring Madrid and Barcelona.  I do think it would be fabulous to spend some time in Europe in the winter.  There could be the possibility of exploring Portugal, but we would likely need to fly into somewhere other than Madrid since it would be the middle point between Portugal and Barcelona. 

Both places hold much appeal to me.  I'm utterly obsessed with Europe, and surprisingly adore the idea of going somewhere cold for our winter vacation.  I do think we may end up spending less money in PR (especially if we stay in San Juan), and since I'm a budget traveler, that's important.  So send me your tips, advice, etc. on making my decision and any places you've visited, stayed, in PR or Spain. 

6 comments:

meghan said...

I LOVED Barcelona. All of the Gaudi stuff was amazing! But I've heard if you want to budget travel Europe you can still pay really low daily prices in Prague because they haven't changed over to the Euro and their currency is less valuable...(unless now they have changed over...haven't checked lately).

Traveler24 said...

I have been to San Juan, Puerto Rico twice, on a cruise. It is a beautiful place with some great shopping. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to go to a beach, but we did visit the el Castillo San Cristobal. It was pretty amazing with a great view!

Christine said...

I went to Puerto Rico in college for Spring Break and absolutely loved it. (I'm actually considering moving there within the fairly near future) & I'm heading to Spain for a 3 month adventure in a few weeks. I fully support BOTH ideas and definitely am of no help and deciding :)

Vanessa @ Gourmet Runner said...

What a great decision to have to make--both places are amazing! I would say head to Spain. Madrid is one of the most fun capital cities in Europe, and has some amazing museums, and is the perfect place to walk around in wintertime!
:)

Anonymous said...

I have no advice because I've never been to either, but I just wanted to say that I'm so jealous!! I'm sure whatever you choose will be wonderful!

annelise said...

Yay for holidays!

I went to Spain a couple of years ago. I'm one of the very few but I didn't really get blown away by Barcelona like I'd expected to. It was okay but nothing special (just my very unpopular opinion!). Valencia, on the other hand, was gorgeous. It was a couple of hours away by train and I ended up extending my stay there by a couple of nights. I've heard Madrid is fantastic, though I've never been there.

Do you follow Olivia's blog, everyday musings? (http://www.olivia-rae.com/) She's in Spain right now and her photos are gorgeous.

I've not been to Puerto Rico but the photos you've put up are spectacular! I think it looks like Spain for more sightseeing, Puerto Rico for sightseeing/beach-time?

Also, you mentioned Portugal. Stephanie at Big Mario Life has just done a post on Portugal and it also looks gorgeous: http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/2011/08/wanderlust-portugal.html

Ah, the luxury of not being able to decide where to go!! At least with such amazing places to choose from, you know you can't go wrong!

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