Barcelona for 5 days and then where?

You'll already be in Catalonia, so you could explore more of Catalonia. By AVE train (190 mph) Madrid is not that far from Barcelona in terms of travel time.

I think you would be happier staying in Catalonia. There are lots of day trips from there to nearby towns that are very different from Barcelona. I would prefer that over taking a long, unscenic train trip to another big city (though I have been to Madrid five times now, dearly love it, and am planning a sixth).

Las Fallas is the biggest festival in Valencia and quite unlike anything else. It takes place from March 15-19. Here are some of my photos. There is a lot to see in the city besides the festival, so it's a good destination with or without Las Fallas.

Zaragoza and Girona are closer. Consider that you may want to spend your last night in Barcelona to be near the airport for your departure. It's recommended to be at the airport 3 hours before flight time and it will take time to get to the airport from the city. If you are a 1 or 2 hour train ride from Barcelona, factor in the time to leave the hotel, get to the train station and then get from the Barcelona train station to the airport.

We recently returned from visiting Madrid, Granada and Barcelona. Then we took the fast train up to Paris.
Madrid would be a good second city to visit. We found the cost of travel (and living) in Spain to be substantially less than much of Europe--especially Paris.

Thank you all so much for your replies. From your responses, I gather that there are so many places to see around the Barcelona area that we would be happy staying at home base or as an alternative to spend our last few days in Madrid and fly out of Madrid. We have family members that are doing the Barcelona/Madrid plan. Airport access to fly out and back to the USA easily is a big consideration so I assume Valencia and Seville would not be good options for that ? Thanks again.

"Airport access to fly out and back to the USA easily is a big consideration so I assume Valencia and Seville would not be good options for that ?"

You don't say where in the US you're looking to fly to and from.

Barcelona and Madrid have nonstop flights to some US cities. However, some of these are only part of the year, and may not be running in March. For instance, Philadelphia to Madrid is year-round, but Philadelphia to Barcelona, in 2020, does not start until March 29 (as best as I can find online, anyway).

Valencia and Seville do not have nonstops back to the US, but they have many options with a single change (in Madrid, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, etc.).

So, depending on where you want to go in the US, and on your exact dates, it may not be any more inconvenient or more expensive to fly from Valencia or Seville compared to Madrid or Barcelona. Or, it may be much more expensive and quite inconvenient. You have to check for your specific airports and specific dates - it really does vary tremendously for Spain. To illustrate what I mean, when I went in September 2015, it was about $80 cheaper to fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona than the reverse for my dates. Since it didn't matter to me, that's what I did. And when I flew to Seville (different trip), it was about the same price as flying to Madrid; someone else posted here that for their airports and dates, Seville would have been about $500 more.

Thank you very much. We will be departing from Raleigh- Durham Intl airport. I had heard wonderful things about Seville and Valencia so didn’t want to dismiss them as options for those last few days unless there was clearly a disadvantage with rail access to there from Barcelona and/or getting flights home. Sounds like it all depends on the flights so I will do more research on that. Thank you all for the great advice - leaning toward staying in Barcelona the entire trip or heading to Madrid those last few days.

If you want to go to Andalucia, but can't find suitable flights home from Seville, look at flying home from Malaga. Malaga has a much larger airport with many more options, and is close enough to Seville to work (although you may need to spend your last night in Malaga, the airport is quite close to the center).

If you have never been to Barcelona/Catalonia before, I recommend staying there. Plenty to do and see, even with just day trips. After a week in Barcelona (our third time there) we are going to spend 2 nights in Girona (we did a day trip there last time and definitely want more) and then staying at an airport hotel (Hotel Salles Ciutat del Prat) the night before we leave. Much less of a hassle.

Thank you very much everyone for the great advice. Decision made - we are going to stay in Barcelona for the week. With all the wedding festivities planned I think a full week there will allow us plenty of time to also see the city and all surrounding areas without being rushed. Next trip we’ll come back and see Madrid. Thanks again!

@j9gray112

Now that you've made your decision...

Here a few sites to get you started:

http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/
http://www.infocatalonia.eu/
http://www.timeout.com/barcelona
http://lameva.barcelona.cat/en
http://www.barcelonaesmoltmes.cat/en/inici
http://patrimoni.gencat.cat/en/discover/search
http://www.catalunya.com/

Once you have a rough itinerary, it's far easier to advise and provide tips.

And let's not forget heritage and tradition

http://lameva.barcelona.cat/culturapopular/en

and finally, in case you still think you might get bored, take the pulse to the city:

http://guia.barcelona.cat/en