Car or Train...Family Trip from Barcelona to Toledo & Madrid

I think it depends first and foremost and on what you want to see and do during your trip. If your priority is regular sightseeing (churches, museums, people-watching, etc.), I would definitely recommend Option 1, with day trips. Moving around every other day is a big enough pain when it is just one person, let alone a family of four. I've not been to Tarragona, but other great day trips from Barcelona (Girona, Figueres ) can be done by train. Toledo and Segovia are also both easily reached from Madrid and can be done by public transport.

Do you have to have a car? If not, I'd say ditch the idea (unless driving between Barcelona and Madrid is more economical than train tickets for four people--I don't know, it might be), and embrace the train. My experience has been that Spanish trains are clean, efficient, and on time. Likewise, do you have a particular reason for preferring suburban Madrid? I'm not sure it would be so much cheaper than an apartment in the city that it would make up for in the increased distance and inconvenience.

Caroline

I recommend that you go with your option 1 and take the train. In a dozen or so trips to Spain I have never found the need for a rented car. The train, and sometimes the bus, has been able to move me around the country efficiently and economically. It is easy to do day trips to Toledo and Segovia by train from Madrid. Each trip is about 30 minutes. You depart for Toledo from Puerta de Atocha station, and for Segovia from Chamartin station. Buy your tickets for the Barcelona to Madrid leg of your trip online and as far in advance as you can Ticket sales at the RENFE (Spanish National Railways) typically begin 60 to 90 days in advance and can save you up to 70% off the full fare prices. The only downside is that these are nonrefundable, non-changeable tickets. There will be no discount/savings on the Toledo and Segovia daytrip tickets, but advance purchase will make life simpler at the train stations on your travel days.
As to your other question, it is best, in my opinion, to stay in a fairly central location in Madrid. If you do this, all of the major tourist sites and museums will be within walking distance.

I've never rented a car in Europe (just to lay my obvious bias out there), and I wouldn't want one for this trip. Cars are handy for moving from small town to small town, but you're not going to have time for that. Trains will often be much faster than a car, without the hassle of renting and dropping off, the $$$ expense of parking in the big cities, the time needed to find parking at the daytrip destinations (historic districts are usually heavily pedestrianized), or the (slight) risk that you'll be involved in a time-consuming accident of some sort. I assume that your kids will be like most and find the train much more exciting than yet another trip cooped up in a (likely small) car. The trade-off is that you'll have to shepherd your family of four to and from train (or bus) stations. I suggest that you try for accommodations near transportation in each base city.

To keep costs reasonable it will be important to buy your train tickets soon after they go on sale for your travel dates. Right now Renfe is selling through February 28, but early April could pop up at any time. I urge you to check daily. The price you pay should not be more than what currently shows up for Feb 28, and it could be less, since some of the cheapest tickets for Feb 28 have already been sold. The Madrid-Toledo trip is an exception: You need not rush to book that one, because it's a local train and the fare does not vary. I wouldn't wait until day of departure to buy the tickets, though, because Atocha Station in Madrid is large and the ticket lines can be long.

Be sure you're absolutely confident about the date and time you choose, because the cheapest rail tickets are non-changeable/non-refundable. Buy from Renfe (may need to use PayPal since US credit cards often don't work), not for RailEurope, which has a more limited selection and charges substantially more for the same tickets.

Travel Time:
Barcelona-Madrid: 2-1/2 to 3 hr. by train (AVE); 6-3/4 hr. by car (with no stops, per ViaMichelin)
Barcelona-Tarragona: about 30 min. by AVE; 80 min. car
Madrid-Segovia: 27 to 31 min. by ALVIA; 96 min. by car
Madrid-Toledo: 33 min. by AVANT; 68 min. by car
Madrid-Cuenca 55 min. by AVE; about 2 hr. by car
Cuenca-Valencia: under 1 hr. by AVE; about 2-3/4 hr. by car
Valencia-Madrid: under 2 hr. by AVE; just under 4 hr. by car

I included the Cuenca and Valencia legs in there since Valencia was one of your options. It's a city I've never visited, but I but perhaps the science museum(s) and aquarium would interest your children? And Cuenca is a fabulous stop on the way, with a medieval historic district, hanging houses along a ravine, and a couple of small modern-art museums. The AVE station is well outside Cuenca and you'd need to take a taxi or bus into the city. I am not suggesting that you try to do Cuenca and Valencia on a single day trip from Madrid; it would probably make sense to plan one or two nights in Valencia and see Cuenca on the way, after verifying that there's a luggage-storage option in Cuenca at either the AVE station or the separate regular rail station.

With no trip to Cuenca/Valencia, I'd move one of your hotel nights from Madrid to Barcelona. Your first (partial) day in Barcelona will be jetlagged if you're coming off a transatlantic flight, so you'll only have 3 really usable days there. In addition to Tarragona, there are other very good side trips, including Girona (38 min. by AVE, large historic district, wall you can walk on, 2 important cathedrals, and a fine but not large art museum that includes architectural elements from churches that might be of some interest to your children) and Montserrat (good walks if the weather is nice, as well as the monastery). There are exceptions, but most tourists seem to find Barcelona more interesting than Madrid, aside from Madrid's art.

I don't think you need a car for Option 2, unless it is significantly cheaper (figure in insurance, gas and PARKING). I have rented cars when going to smaller towns with limited public transit, but for the places mentioned a car may be more trouble than it is worth.

Regardless I'd go with a variation on Option 1 - 4 nights in Madrid, 2 in Toledo. I dislike shorter stays, but Toledo is so close to Madrid that changing hotels is easier. Toledo is different at night and even though I don't love it like others do, the evening lighting is beautiful and seeing the town without the day trip crowds is a nice, different perspective.

I have not stayed in Madrid suburbs and I don't see any reason to for only 6 days. Especially if taking day trips you want to be close to the train and bus stations, which are in the center. Get an apartment-hotel or an apartment to have more space for the longer stay, if that is a concern.

I agree with option 1 and no car. The train from Barcelona to Madrid is only 3 hours, less than half the time of driving.

To book your Renfe tickets, acraven has given you good advice. I'll just add that you WILL need this tutorial from Tripadvisor: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187514-c80518/Madrid:Spain:Buying.Renfe.Tickets.Online.html. You will also need PayPal; don't even waste time trying to use your credit card.

For trains involving connections (for instance, Barcelona to Toledo, which always requires changing in Madrid), for some reason the Renfe site doesn't always show all the options. So, if you want to find all connection options, look at the Bahn (German Rail) website http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, following Rick's tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules. You will still have to book on Renfe, as separate tickets.

Madrid's suburbs are quite distant from the city, and it's not hard to find affordable accommodations right in the center, so unless you're looking for the "authentic" experience of a long commute every day, stay in the center. Rick's book has some good recommendations.

I would spend as little time in Madrid as possible. The big attraction is the absolutely top-notch art museums and my guess is that with two young 'uns, that's not going to be your priority. If you are going to day trip do you want to be in the 'burbs and have to shlep into town to get to the bus or train to Toledo, etc. It's wasted time.

If you already have your flights purchased, what time and day of the week is your departure from Madrid? We can suggest itineraries based on that. For instance, I'd consider flying from Barcelona to Sevilla and staying there for 2-3 nights and in Cordoba for 1-2 nights. You could day trip to Jerez for the midday horse show at the Royal Equestrian School or the evening horse show in Cordoba at the Royal Stables. See a flamenco performance.

Barcelona has a lot of variety and a beach (probably too cold for wading but good for playing) and parks, and interesting museums. A day trip to Figueres and Girona might work too. The Dali Museum in Figueres might just appeal to the kids (as may the Gaudi creations) even more than Tarragona.

I'm new to the community and am excited by everything I've been reading! CheriAmore, it sounds like you have the makings of a very memorable family trip and there have been some great suggestions already. If your kids are anything like mine, I think it's worth considering the suggestions from Acraven and Mira to reduce your stay in Madrid.

Our family is flying to Barcelona just a little before you - we will arrive in Spain on the 20th of March and stay for a couple weeks. While we are not experts on Spain, we are a little familiar with it. My wife traveled all around southern Spain and lived in Madrid for several months. I had the pleasure of spending a few weeks, mostly in Madrid and cities to the North (Valladolid and Santander). Our kids are pretty high energy and can only stand quietly for so long - so we're planning 2 nights/3 days in Madrid. And it might have been be less except my wife has old friends she would like to see and who have graciously opened there home to us. Don't get me wrong, I love Madrid, but the kids make it harder to enjoy all the things the city has to offer.

I'm also going to go out on a limb and suggest that you consider a car rental - primarily for the flexibility it provides and the cost savings. When we added up the cost of 2 adult and 2 youth train tickets for the trip from Barcelona to Madrid and back, plus the day trips we wanted to take to places like Toledo and Valencia, we got sticker shock. It was looking like we would spend $700-$1000 (US dollar) for train tickets. And we could probably do it a little cheaper with more effort and planning, but compared to our 2 week car rental for around $300, we weren't convinced it was worth it. We plan break up the drive to Madrid by spending the night somewhere in between and actually, we are now feeling like it could be a very positive experience to stop and see some of the smaller towns that we would otherwise zip right by.
And just because we have a car doesn't mean we can't use the trains or busses. I'd guess we will probably still take advantage of the train to Toledo for example.

We haven't finalized everything yet so I'd be interested to hear what other people think of our plans. I'm hopeful that we can have the flexibility and cost savings from the car without losing out on some of the obvious benefits of the robust train network and perhaps a city bus if needed.

Tamaswer, I wonder if you have adequately accounted for the likely cost of parking a rental car at or near your lodgings in Barcelona and Madrid, but I don't pretend to have any experience with cars in Europe. Your rail cost estimate feels sort of high to me, but again, I'm not an expert and I don't know the ages of your children. I found a 33-euro one-way AVE fare for an adult from Madrid to Valencia at 9:40 AM on Feb 28, which is as far out as ticket sales go at the moment. There's a 10 AM Barcelona-Madrid AVE (but over 3 hr.) currently available at 58 euros. The slower trains, which would take about as long as the drive, are about half that cost.

If you do decide to drive, Zaragoza would be one possible stop on the way from Barcelona to Madrid. It has a nicely restored Moorish palace located midway between the bus/train station and the old town. The old town itself is picturesque. Zaragoza is a major city, though, so navigating to the palace, parking, etc., wouldn't be as simple as it would in a small town.

Valencia is not a day trip from Madrid if you're driving (4 hours each way without stops, per ViaMichelin). It could be done that way by AVE.

OPTION 3 (take train):
Barcelona (5 nights) with day trips to Tarragona, Girona, Montserrat (half day)
Madrid (5 nights) with day trips to Toledo, Segovia, El Escorial (half day)

or OPTION 4 - adding a stop in Zaragoza en route from Barcelona to Madrid by train.
It's not a particularly scenic drive so i would avoid a car, esp with 2 kids, who would much prefer a super fast train.