So my fiancé and I are going on our Honeymoon to Spain in late August. We are staying in Malaga for the first week and then going to do Barcelona and/or Madrid/London.

I am looking at flights out there out of LAX and need some advice. We definitely don't have money to fly first class or anything like that.

My main questionare there any certain airlines you prefer over others? I see Iberia, Norwegian Air, Aeroflot.

My others question is since there are no direct flight to Malaga how much time will we need at the airport we land at to get through customs or whatever they do in other countries. For example there is a flight that looks good but it lands in London with only an hour layover to our next flight to Malaga. That seems like it would be cutting it way too close?

Any advice, tips, anything at all is appreciated!

Aeroflot > Norwegian > Iberia.
One hour is not great , normally immigration is not as extensive as in the US, in Heathrow it's partially automated also, but still one hour is close, and at times airports may be busy and a lot of chaos ensues just like in the US, or you may need to change terminal or have a delay. 1:30h sounds better

Thank you! My only option seems to be LAX>BCN with a 3 hour layover to Malaga. The LAX flight will be with Norwegian Air. Do you know if you can change seats after you select them on Norwegian Air? In a perfect world we would have aisle and window with middle open but would change to aisle and aisle if we saw middle got taken (check online every weak or so)

Thanks!

Aeroflot has Terrable c/s. It’s akin to Spirit Air. I flew Norwegian and loved it. I did a Barca/ Ibeza trip a few Augusts ago and loved it.

Just got back from Malaga over winter holidays. I highly, highly, highly recommend two days in Sevilla. It's awesome. Be prepared for heat.

She's planning a lot of it but I know we are staying a week in Malaga (have a free week at a resort there). A few days in madrid, barcelona and finishing up in London (16 days total).

I will bring up Sevilla, it may have been on the agenda already.

Missing anything?

yeah, depending how interested you are in seeing 'spanish' culture (like the cliche stuff you read about), sevilla can be as must visit as it gets. . A big city with unique character and tons of stuff to see and do. The sights are on par with any city in the world (especially for fans of history) and the Andalusian food/drinking/dancing culture is just great. it's just so close to Malaga - I think it's a no brainer. It will be HOT

also, Granada and to some extent Cordoba (but really Granada) are reasonable substitutes or additions. Granada is another andalusian city that's a bit smaller than Seville. Wonderfully vibrant culture but quite unique from Seville. I'm compelled to mention Cordoba because it's home to THE most architecturally striking church I've ever seen and it's quite easy to get to.

So we have decided on most of the Spain part of the honeymoon but are going to end with three or four nights in Italy (one night being in Rome the night before our extremely early flight home so really 2 or 3 nights).

She has been to Italy and I have not. Two places she hasn't been to are the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre. Any suggestions?

Would you recommend two or three nights in either of those places?

Is one way easier to get to Rome than the other (I heard Amalfi Coast is easier but from what I can tell is only maybe an hour difference by train).

This is going to be on the tail end of a two and half week Spain trip and my first trip to Italy. I am looking for something relaxing and beautiful. And great food!

Any suggestions/advice is appreciated!

I'm going to bump this with the hopes that the OP doesn't mind hijacking a bit. My wife and I are planning to spend a week in Malaga for our honeymoon. We are somewhat flexible with the time of year but prefer to start in late May when the direct flight from JFK starts on Delta (we fly for free on Delta). Can anyone recommend places to stay, preferably near the beach. Budget is roughly $1k for hotel. Thanks!

Hijacking as well but since I replied once last year... I didn't really care for Málaga proper. I did love the south of Spain, though. My wife and I stayed about a 30-minute train ride west of the city at an Airbnb in the Costa del Sol/Fuengirola area. The area was inexpensive by Euro standards. We had a full 1BR apartment with a full jacuzzi/balcony on the side of a mountain overlooking the sea for like 100 euro/night. We did a day drinking day in Mijas super close by and enjoyed it. Well, my wife LOVED it. I liked it for its cuteness, the food, and the wine.

I highly recommend renting a car. There's a lot within driving distance and driving itself is neither difficult nor particularly expensive. We did a three day trip up to Seville and hit the Alcazar on the way home. Seville >>>>> Málaga imo but the latter really is an ideal spot to be posted up and daytrip to Cordoba/Granada as well as a nice relaxing spot. Just be prepared for it to be like, a cheaper option for UK couples taking Ryanair down for some holiday. Not necessarily a bad thing. Just, don't expect a ton of culture in Málaga proper.

Any chance you could PM me the info for the Airbnb place if you still have it ?

All of this is 100% correct.

I had similar opinions about those cities when I visited Andalucia.

Definitely get whatever flight connects the best and is cheapest. Internal in Europe it doesn't matter, they're all as bad as each other.

Barcelona is great, you'll love it.

I'm also coming there.

Just returned from a week in Andalusia. JFK to Malaga direct on Delta. Two nights in Sevilla, one night in Ronda, two nights in Marbella, one night in Malaga. Rented a car per the forum recommendation and couldn't be happier with the decision. One thing we didnt' prepare for but got very lucky with is parking. All the hotels we stayed at had parking but if they didn't it would have been an expensive headache.

Sevilla - amazing city, didn't want to leave. Got to see some cool culture and lots of good food/drinks. HOT. I'm from Phoenix so it wasn't uncomfortable but definitely didn't expect it. Can't wait to go back

Ronda - cool for one night, incredible views. Lots of tourists though. We found our best luck on food to be in the old town area. Glad we only did one night here.

Marbella - Way more touristy but also had a ton of fun here. The drive from Ronda was stunning. Beach was beautiful and endless options to eat/drink. Would come back here.

Malaga- Good for one night. Beaches really didn't impress and we saw mostly everything we wanted to see in one day. Best hotel we stayed at.

We averaged about 7 miles of walking a day on the trip. Driving was a definitely a change of pace, good fun. Didn't have to pay airfare so between 6 nights in hotels, car rental, and eating and drinking everything we want spent about $1500 or so. Highly recommend and can't wait to return. Thanks for all the info!

You did it right. That's such a great trip.

I went to Spain and Portugal last summmer: went to barcelona for 4 days, took the train to San sebastian for 3 days (highly recommend this!) And the took the overnight train to Lisbon for 4 days. It was such a lovely trip, I would definitely recommend it for a honeymoon. You can find some awesome accommodation in hostels that are actually quite nice and a great deal.