2 week itineraries in/out Barcelona with 3 kids 14-24 ages

When are you going? There's plenty to see and do in Barcelona besides museums and churches. And day trips. The reason I ask about timing is that Madrid and Andalucia (south/Sevilla) are devilishly hot in summer - from June through September. From Barcelona, you could also go north to the Pyrenees, even Andorra.

Miss on my part...wanting to see and stay all over country and we’ll be there the last two weeks of June this year - thank you for your reply!

There's another thread about Spain in which I wrote about the temps in the center and south. I advised not going there then. It's the hottest, driest part of Europe - great for a winter or spring trip. Temperatures along the Costa Brava are usually much more moderate.

Valencia is a good place for 2-3 nights. Lots of day trips from Barcelona too. Start with this official site for Barcelona and look at the tours they sell (some are their own, most are by other vendors) - walking tours, activities, day trips. Not all churches and museums are equal - there's a Chocolate Museum (with samples) and Hash Museum (sorry, no samples). The Hash Museum was pretty interesting. One of the city museums has extensive excavations of Roman Barcelona. The Santa Maria del Mar Church has a rooftop tour that's very good. The Dali Theatre/Museum in Figueres is not your typical art museum by any measure and Girona has a well-preserved medieval quarter. You can visit both in one day by train.

Please do research the historical June temperatures in the south carefully before committing to spending much time there in June. Wunderground has 15+ years' worth of day-by-day statistics, which are more useful than monthly averages if you want to see the range of what you may experience.

Remember than in Europe, you will not be bouncing from an air-conditioned house to an air-conditioned car to a series of air-conditioned destinations. You will be spending a lot of time in the non-air-conditioned outdoors. Furthermore, many small establishments (cafes, restaurants, shops) may not have air conditioning. Even some museums may not. You may often find that the place you need to go to cool off during the worst part of the day is back to your hotel. (Be sure it's conveniently located.) It's a totally different experience from being at home. There is a reason why so many places in southern Spain close for a chunk of time during the afternoon every day.

It's one thing to experience the heat for 2 or 3 days out of a trip; going to 3 Andalucian cities (the typical Cordoba-Seville-Granada trip) is a different matter, and Madrid can be quite hot as well.

Wonderful insights and the heat will he a daily siesta for sure. Airline Tix already in-hand. Any thoughts about the islands (eg Ibiza or Mallorca) as variety of experiences....maybe we should juggle between Barcelona and Madrid and do daytrips—interesting idea. Thank you for sharing your experiences

I have a positive impression of Mallorca without ever having been there, from reading articles in the travel press and seeing pictures. In preparing to answer another post about that island I discovered you can buy the Globe Trekker episode on "Spanish Islands" for $2.99 on YouTube. It has a fair amount of footage on Mallorca, and the whole episode runs over 50 minutes. I understand that Ibiza is a party island but I haven't been there, either.

In addition to a wealth (as in easily over a week's worth) of local sights, Barcelona has many good day-trips: Montserrat (some altitude; good for a hot day, and you don't need to pre-book), Girona, Figureres (Dali), Cadaques and other coastal towns, plus many more. Do be aware that a lot of the most popular Barcelona sights will mean a great deal of time in line if you do not pre-purchase tickets. That makes planning a maximally efficient visit to Barcelona very difficult, because you will end up with unpredictable gaps between your sight visits.

Madrid has three magnificent side-trips in Toledo (worth staying for 2 nights, in my view), Segovia and Cuenca. Avila pales in comparison and I wouldn't spend time there on a short trip. I haven't been to El Escorial. Of the places I mentioned only Cuenca really needs to be pre-planned. To get there rapidly you need to take the AVE train, and that can get really pricey for a day-trip if you don't buy the ticket way in advance.

Tip on Spanish trains: If you're planning a roundtrip, always check the RT price as well as the one-way. Sometimes the RT costs nothing extra or might even be a bit cheaper. In that case you might as well buy the RT even if you're not positive about your return time.

Rick warns about buying the return ticket from Toledo at the same time you buy the outbound, because the last trains back to Madrid sometimes sell out.

I’d go with something like this ...

Day
1. ARRIVE Barcelona (4N)
2. Barcelona
3. Barcelona
4. Barcelona
5. Fly to Mallorca (4N)
6. Mallorca
7. Mallorca
8. Mallorca
9. Fly to Madrid (5N)
10. Madrid
11. Day to Toledo
12. Day to Segovia
13. Madrid
14. Train to Barcelona (1N)
15. DEPART Barcelona

The post above by djp looks good, but REVERSE the order: Start in Madrid, End in Barcelona. I love Madrid, but it will probably be HOT. Mallorca may then provide some sea breeze relief, then on to Barcelona for somewhat cooler weather. Enjoy!

Be wary of alarmist posts re hot weather.
Late June is not mid summer, more late spring.
The most uncomfortable heat occurs from late July through August.
Humidity can be the major determinant when it comes to comfort levels.
Average humidity in Madrid is 44% in June.
Average humidity in Barcelona is 72% in June.
Of course unseasonal weather can occur at any time.
As they say, “If you can’t handle the heat ...”

Day-by-day temperatures in Madrid for June 2017. Not bad at all.

Day-by-day temperatures in Madrid for June 2016. Really hot.

Day-by-day temperatures in Madrid for June 2015. Really hot.

The Wunderground.com data goes back many more years if you care to check. I really think a lot of the average temperatures you see include a lot of time prior to climate change.

David and I just plain disagree about what "too hot" means. We both happen to live in areas where it does get hot.

I’m not sure we disagree as to what is “too hot”.
My view is that one should be mindful of possible weather and plan accordingly.
My view is not to let possible weather put you off travelling altogether.
The weather on a particular day from a past year is no guide to the weather you will experience when you travel this year. Long term averages are still your best guide to the weather you are likely to experience.
Hot weather has played a huge part in the development of Spanish culture, and continues to influence the day to day lifestyle of its people.
To hear and feel water running over cool marble at the Alhambra on a hot day in Granada is a wonderful thing.
I guess I’m a glass half full guy.
Go with it.
Embrace it.

I am as wel!! Thank you for your comment