Input on food re: A Week in Spain
Hi All. Will be taking the "Week in Spain" tour in a few months. Can former travelers fill me in on the quality of the food? I am a big foodie so hope the tour food is good. How are the breakfasts at the hotels? Any good fish available at meals? Thank you in advance for your input.
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I have taken all of Tauck’s longer land tours of Spain and Portugal, as well as the Douro River cruise. We loved the food in Spain, especially the tapas, stews and paella. I usually eat more fish and seafood in Portugal due to its proximity to the Atlantic. The octopus in both countries is excellent.
The hotel breakfasts typically have the traditional American selection of eggs and bacon/sausage which I am not a fan of. I can say that the porridge, yogurts and fresh fruit are very nice. You can also order off a menu in some places. They don’t always advertise that, however.
kfnknfzk - thank you for your response. Great to hear you loved the food in Spain. Tapas, stews and paella sound very appealing.
lisajanetx - My pleasure. If you have free time in Madrid, you might enjoy the Plaza Mayor area. Venture out from the Plaza to find tapas bars.
Close to the Plaza is Mercado de San Miguel, a wonderful market with a dizzying array of local specialties.
Also close by is Sobrino de Botín, a restaurant favored by the locals. Reservations are imperative, however.
Enjoy!
kfnknfzk - I can't tell you how much I appreciate the restaurant recommendations! I will definitely write those down.
I hope you enjoy some of them. I am sorry you had some bad experiences in Portugal. Some of the best regional cuisine I have had was there, especially the fish and seafood. And blood sausage! Just a little bit since it is so rich.
Again, best wishes.
I’m not here to comment on food but just had dinner with friends last night who just returned from the 2 week Tauck Tour - Barcelona to Porto. Tauck was unable to secure tickets for the interior viewing of La Sagrada Familia for their tour as well as the tour that is taking place in 2 weeks. Evidently, they were told by the tour guide that Tauck typically secures the tickets thru a broker and were unable to do so. They were not given any other options and simply had to miss seeing the inside. They were understandably very disappointed and were also not advised of this until the day of. Having visited Spain on our own 2 years ago, we secured tickets on our own thru the official website and is a must see if in Barcelona. IMHO, the interior of La Sagrada is nothing short of magnificent, breathtaking, and awe-inspiring and I have seen every major Cathedral and church in Spain, Italy, France and UK. I feel Tauck should have advised the group ahead of time if tickets couldn’t be secured for the group and this would allow those who wanted an opportunity to try and secure tickets on their own.
Nothing unusual when yoiu are trying to cut corners!
We love Spain and there is much to love. But, having visited Sagrada Familia several times it is one of, if not the highlight of visiting not only Barcelona, but all of Spain. I hope those who missed out will seek some compensation although, IMHO, nothing will replace that first moment of walking into this very special place.
On A Week in Portugal, Tauck skipped Sao Bento Train Station without telling any one. The bus sped by and that was it!
Instead of going inside Jeronimo Monastery, Tauck went to the Maritime Museum instead. Now Tauck has clearly stated in their brochure it is the Maritime Museum, not the real thing, supposedly very hard to get discount tickets.
Food: thinking of Spanish food is sort of like thinking of Italian food. You won’t see risotto in Rome and if you do, you’d be better off not getting it. Lot’s of regional differences. Paella is from Valencia. You might see it elsewhere but it’s not the genuine thing. An exception might be Barcelona where there is a strong Sunday paella tradition, especially along the water. One universal tradition is tapas. Our Spanish is pretty elementary and we find the tapas scene to be a bit intimidating on our own (lots of pointing and gesticulating). A tapas tour in Barcelona and San Sebastion (pinxtos there) were great fun and the food was terrific. Some areas (Granada) have a tradition we like: order a drink and a free tapa comes along. We took the Northern Spain tour and the best food was on the fore mentioned tapas tours and at places we had researched and booked on our own. The 2 to 3 hour Tauck lunches and dinners (which grew old quickly) were ponderous. The food was good but more like cruise ship good, especially the ones in hotels. I’ve found group meals on most tours to be generally that way with really great meals the exception.
Oh please, Henry. Give it up already. Your miserable existence is getting tiresome.