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9 days in Spain-Round trip flight BCN (we thought we may do a cru

Hello!

Our family of 4 ( 2 daughters (19), (17)) are flying into Barcelona May 26 for 9 nights, round trip flights. We thought we may do a cruise (why the roundtrip BCN flights) but no cruise after all. We wanted to see Seville and that area of the country, but due to our flights think maybe too far? Looking for smaller, picturesque towns for balance after a few nights in Barcelona. Prefer to use trains, but husband will drive if necessary. Even considered possibly going toward southern France. The possibilities are endless, I am overwhelmed! Want to be adventurous and active, but not exhausted!

Ideas for Itinerary please! I am running out of time! Will considering some small group tours/tour guides for part of the time.
We love food, architecture, hiking (not too strenuous as my family will kill me :), beaches, culture, people, wine country...everything :)

Thank you for your advice in advance!!!
Schannon

Posted by
6732 posts

Lots of possibilities.

First I'd start by being honest with yourself about how many full days you have, not including your arrival or departure days. Many people describe a "9 day trip" counting the flights to/from North America, which often actually turns out to be a 7 (or 6) day trip when counted honestly. So don't count your arrival or departure days, and remember that at least some (maybe all) of your family will still be a bit jet-lagged on the day after you arrive.

Have you been to Barcelona before? If not, it's certainly worth at least a couple days.

Then subtract the number of days you want to spend in/around Barcelona from your actual trip length. How many days left?

You could do the high-speed train over to the other side of Spain - or you could fly - both would eat up part of a day (each way) - don't forget to plan to get back to Barcelona with plenty of time (probably overnight) before departure - you do not want to miss the flight home because you were late getting back to Barcelona for your flight home.

If you go that way, you'll need to take a look at costs and travel times train versus flying. I certainly wouldn't drive that distance given your short trip. And it may not make sense to go that direction given your limited time. On the other hand, if you want to head north, either into France, or the Basque country, or even to the Northwest corner of Spain (which is beautiful) a car could work for those places. Whichever direction you decide to head, just be careful not to try and cover too much ground in a short time.

No matter how you slice it, you do need to get in gear, decide which way you want to go and work out the details. It's late to be doing all your trip planning from scratch, but it can be done if you jump on it right away and keep at it. Starting with a blank slate and working out all the details may seem daunting but it's half the fun for some of us. Good luck!

Posted by
33 posts

I am by no means an expert- we are going in July but my travel agent told me about a town in the Costa Brava called Tossa Del Mer- nice beach town. I also have heard Cadaques is nice. The train to Madrid is less than two hours so maybe two nights there.

Posted by
323 posts

Barcelona is very very BIG. We think if you study up on Barcelona you will be able to fill at least 7 days with no problem, and just take time to enjoy the other two.

Posted by
2 posts

I did not count our travel days. we have 9 full nights to play with! thank you all for replies! we will for sure spend a few days in BCN, but our family has found in the past, we prefer smaller towns to big cities :) Maybe 5-6 nights else where....?Do not want to stay in more than 2 or 3 places. maybe 2 places with a few day trips?

Thanks for info about towns in Costa Brava and train to Madrid. I was also going to consider Valencia area?

I am hunkered down with a teen recovering from tonsillectomy, so figure I can handle all the details over next few days! I just keep jumping all over the place, but for sure do not want to exhaust the family. Want to see it all, but realize we also want to "chill" and soak up the culture. I do not want too much "go with the flow" because we found in past that can lead to anxiety and indecisiveness amongst our family, LOL.

Our Teens like the beach and some outdoorsy stuff, and good food, music, people watching-also wondering if 17year old could go with us if we did a day at the vineyards?

Posted by
54 posts

Take a look at the Costa Brava, up the coast from Barcelona. We drove to a sweet town called Begur that had its very own fort/castle on the hill. It’s close to the picturesque rocky coastal beaches and towns. From there we took a couple of daytrips- Girona, Pals and Figueres for the Dali museum. Check it out I think you might like it. We then went on to Cadaques (Dali’s home) close to the French border. It was a wonderful trip. We rented a car on our way out of Barcelona and dropped it off the night before our trip home. Easy driving.

Posted by
26829 posts

I love Barcelona, and it has a great variety of sights, but it is a big, bustling city with a heavy tourist load. Many of its sights pretty much require pre-purchased (generally timed) entry tickets to avoid very long lines. Given your family's prefernce for smaller places, you may want to spend less time there than most of us would, but you still need to read about the sights and make the necessary arrangements if any of the following end up on your target list: La Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Camp Nou soccer experience (sells out early), Palau de la Musica Catalana (tour required), Picasso Museum (expect it to be badly crowded), Casa Mila/La Pedrera, and Casa Battlo. It is not a trivial experience to plan a short trip to Barcelona because you have to fit those sightseeing time-slots together like puzzle pieces without knowing how much time you'll want to spend at each sight or how long it will take you to get to the next one.

I consider La Sagrada Familia about as close to a must-see as any sight in Europe. There's a reason the other places are on the list, too. But there are three especially good things to do while in Barcelona that do not require advance-purchase of tickets: walk around the Barri Gotic (walking tours available from different sources), visit the Sant Pau modernista site (multiple buildings--needs time), and a day-trip to Montserrat (walking opportunities, and should be cooler than Barcelona).

I think your family would really enjoy Girona. The medieval historic district is large and atmospheric, the wall is walkable, there are two historic churches with English audioguides, and there's a good, moderate-sized museum. Girona is a short train trip from Barcelona. You could head there immediately upon arrival, buying your train tickets once you get to Barcelona so you're not guessing when you'll be ready to hop on a train, and spend your initial days there, recovering from jetlag. If you want to visit Figueres and Cadaques on day-trips, it will be quicker and a bit cheaper to do that from Girona than from Barcelona. You don't need a rental car for any of those destinations. The train will take you to Figueres, then there's a scenic bus ride to Cadaques.

I can't help with beaches.

I wonder about the possibility of renting a car for a few days and heading toward the Spanish Pyrenees. I haven't quite gotten there but did enjoy the colorful Cerdanya Valley town of Puigcerda and the small historic villages stretched out along the highway. The town of La Seu de Urgell is also lovely. Puigcerda is almost on the French border, and you can pick up the narrow-gauge Yellow Train into the French Pyrenees just over the border in Bourg-Madame. It takes you to the highly touristy but impressive fortified town of Villefranche-de-Conflent.

If "fortified" sounds enticing, but the distance from Barcelona seems a bit much, you might consider the small historic village of Besalu with its fortified bridge. You can get there by bus from Girrona or even Barcelona, but with a short car rental you could undoubtedly find some additional interesting stops.

Posted by
7175 posts

This would give you some variety if you wanted to avoid big city Madrid.

May
26. Arrive Barcelona. Train to Zaragoza (2N)
28. Train to Teruel (1N)
29. Train to Valencia (2N)
31. Train to Barcelona (4N)
June
4. Depart Barcelona

Posted by
7175 posts

Or if you have a later departure flight home from Barcelona, then something like this ...

May
26. Arrive Barcelona (4N)
30. Train via Madrid to Toledo (2N)
June
1. Train to Madrid (2N)
3.. Train to Zaragoza (1N)
4. Depart Barcelona