Travel Days Strategy

I keep the half days:

I'm not stressed about a flight to flight or flight to train connection.

I often choose late morning travel for an easy morning and arriving around the time of check-in, still with daylight.

I don't allocate the partial days in my plans, so they are bonus sightseeing time, usually something casual like a Rick Steves walk for orientation.

Even better if I can change cities on a Monday, when some sights can be closed. But that doesn't always line up.

I agree with CWsocial in that I usually improvise on travel days and don't worry about them too much. I do list some things that I might have time for depending on when I get in, though. Sort of a bonus as CW mentioned.

That said, I am an early bird, so I like to travel as soon as I can after breakfast so I can get to my next destination as soon as possible.

I have no great strategy.

Generally, my travel days are just travel days. When I'm changing from one city to the next I plan my train travel to take place in between that hotel check-out and check-in period of the day. So I'll usually plan departures about 11am-12pm and a 2-3 hour journey gets me to the new hotel at check-in. Once settled at a hotel I can explore the new city and get a lay of the land -- find the grocery stores, locate public transit stops/services, nearby restaurants and so on. Even cities I've visited previously I'll use the travel days to refresh my memory and discover what's new.

I'm not in a hurry and enjoy being leisurely.

Travel days are travel days. We keep them pretty loose and, in some ways, treat it as resting day with little too do except to get from one hotel to the next. It works out we have extra time - fine ! ---- if we don't, that is OK too. This is an area that can have a lot of potential for problems so we try to take it as easy as possible.

I do what CWsocial and others do. Traveling between check out and check in just makes things easier. I usually pick up food for a train picnic and enjoy the trip.

Re Train Travel: A travel day either cuts out half the day in the morning or afternoon. I usually travel in the morning, starting between 8 and 9. Depending how long the train trip is, I have most of the afternoon free. This year I'm planning for an afternoon train trip between Florence and Rome to give me an extra half day in Florence.
I haven't flown intra- Europe because my destinations are close enough by train, seldom more than four hours, usually closer than two hours.

One of our other posters has mentioned using a different technique: She travels late in the afternoon or early in the evening when indoor attractions are closed, to maximize sightseeing time. I think that's a brilliant idea, but I just can't bring myself to do it. On the day I'm to change cities, I feel as if I should do that once I'm awake and packed, so I usually book trains for 9 or 10 AM if that option is available. I don't have an issue with overnight ferries departing in the evening, because the alternative of a day-long boat ride is obviously inferior.

If a train trip is going to creep into the afternoon, It's easy to pack a lunch to eat onboard; that allows you to recover the time you'd otherwise spend having a meal during sightseeing hours.

I often arrive at my new hotel quite a bit before the check-in time. It's pretty unusual for me to have to wait until the official check-in time to get into my room. I'd guess it only happens 1/4 or 1/3 of the time, maybe less. Most of the time I stay in cheaper hotels than the forum average.

Is it possible to go directly to Valencia instead of staying one night in Barcelona?

We try to buy tickets that work between check-out and check-in. Then we look for things to do. For instance, we land at Heathrow around 1pm this Friday, check in early at the hotel (arranged), and then go for a planned walk. We've done all of the excellent Rick Steves walks so we're doing a walk from the Joolz walks we've seen on YouTube. Then we have dinner reserved at a pub we like before walking back to our hotel.

Saturday will be somewhat similar after our Eurostar ride to Paris.

Carol - yes, that is one of my considerations, would I rather we arrive in Barcelona and board the next fast train to Valencia making a travel day a bit longer but getting it all out of the way?

That's exactly why I'm asking.

There's that option and there's also the option to take the train to Montserrat and stay overnight there, having first crack at all the sites the next morning before the other tourists from Barcelona arrive and THEN onto Valencia.

I can't decide if it's too much (and too risky, as someone else mentioned earlier) to try to do anything other than staying overnight in Barcelona, seeing what we can, if we can, before going onto Valencia.

In 2017, the bus between Valencia and Barcelona dropped off at BCN Airport. If you are flying into BCN see if it picks up there enroute to Valencia. ALSA busline.
It's a pretty route along the coast.
In the past, I used to say use your late afternoon, early evening to travel to make the most of your travel day. You need to find a place for luggage, but it works.
There was a young woman who posted here asking about an intense multi city trek and planned for sightseeing every move day. She was cautioned about how much time she would waste moving cities. She came back afterwards and basically proved us wrong as to how much time it really takes to transfer cities. She chose early trains no more than 3 hours apart, dropped her bag and was on her way.
Many of us with time to post are older. We err on the side of caution.

There was a young woman who posted here asking about an intense multi city trek and planned for sightseeing every move day. She was cautioned about how much time she would waste moving cities. She came back afterwards and basically proved us wrong as to how much time it really takes to transfer cities.

It's why I don't participate in itinerary threads and I don't tell others what they must, should or need to do. How someone chooses to travel is up to them. Personally I'd rather give someone the knowledge and tools to accomplish their goals in the manners they wish to reach them. I don't proclaim to be a travel expert and don't see it as a contest.

Traveling solo I really like using the morning for sightseeing and traveling in the afternoon / evening. Dinner in transit also saves time, and I’m fine with a few basic meals instead of finer dining.

With my wife we usually travel midday to check into our next hotel ideally at or before check-in time and do one activity in the late afternoon (walking tour, smaller museum, etc) and check out the neighborhoods and dinner options.

What time do you arrive in Barcelona? Have you checked the train schedules to Valencia? Saving all your Barcelona nights for the end might make more sense.

We land at 14:45, haven’t checked yet to see if the trains line up

As I’m most often solo, I like to be checking out of my accommodation by about 9am to get my train to the next place.
Once I’m all packed I just want to move on.
I’ve never stored luggage in order to have just a few more hours in a place, nor do
I want to.
I’d much rather just get going.
I prefer to get to my next stop mid afternoon and orient myself to the immediate area: grocery store, cafe/bar, parks etc.
I love staying in rental apartments on my trips.
However, one thing I did last year in Italy was to stay my last night of my trip in a hotel after leaving my rental apartment.
I’ve come to find that all the tidying up, eating up or disposing of leftover food and finding out where to take the garbage and recycling to, etc, when leaving an apartment on the last morning on the way to the airport while also packing and moving my own bags is not relaxing.
That way I took my time, then walked to the hotel just a few streets away and enjoyed my last day.

Melt. Check the train schedules as you might be able to get to Valencia for your first night. Result would be that you have the entire night day there rather than it being another travel day. You said you were uncomfortable with the one night stay in Barcelona only to return after your three nights in Valencia. Going to Valencia directly from the airport would eliminate that issue.

@melT - If you're into cooking or just the Paella ever, take a paella class in Valencia with "My First Paella". They're fantastic. You meet by a huge food/veggie/seafood market and the guide will take you on a quick tour picking up items to cook. Then walk to the house & cook. They're so engaging, fun & you will have the most delicious Paella. They serve appetizers & unlimited Sangria. We've taken the class 2 times and if going back, we'd do again!

Carol- Im seriously considering it! I have to see if we have enough days in Barcelona for the itinerary. Probably would have to set aside Montserrat.

Terri - great recommendation! I’ll look into it!