Hello-
This will be my first trip to Europe. I am Flying to Barcelona Sept 22nd From NYC and arriving in Barcelona Sept 23 at 7am. I cannot check into my apartment until 4pm. So I pretty much have that whole day. I am staying near Poblenou Beach area. I Am departing Barcelona sept 27th and heading to Madrid. i Leave Madrid at 430 in the afternoon. Here are my questions-
1. This is my first trip and although id love to see everything, i know that is impossible. What would you recommend as top places/tours to see/do while im there in Barcelona? I would like to do one day trip also, debating on costa brava or the Montserrat tour.
2. When i depart on Sept 27th im not sure if im going to fly to madrid since its cheaper than taking the train but the train is 6km from where im staying and the airport is about a 40 minute cab ride. But that cost is split amongst 3 people, so its not that bad.
3, When going to madrid, what do you recommend seeing while im there? i know its a short time. I am staying on Calle de Carlos Arniches,
- The time that im going to Barcelona is the La Merce festival. Unfortunately, the dates have been released but not the itinerary ( atleast from what ive researched and found) which makes me a bit disappointed because i want to try to plan around it.
some of the things that interest us
-food/wine/beer .. we want to explore the food , thats a must
-learn the history and experience the culture
-we love adventurous itineraries, like hiking, boating, biking, etc
- i wanted to visit the cathedrals and see some of the art
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Trying to plan this itinerary where its not so jam packed but enough for us to explore and get to know both Barcelona and Madrid the best way we can in the short period of time. i am also looking at tour guides but not sure what is exactly worth it, when some of these places you can visit yourself for half the cost. so again, any insight is helpful
-Thank you