Follow Up First Timer Spain

It appears the most common route by train is from Lourdes to Toulouse, then Toulouse to Narbonne, then Narbonne to Barcelona. I doubt the train is direct, you likely will need two changes, though there could be a direct train from Toulouse at some point during the day, reducing that to one change. The problem is getting connected to that specific train, sometimes it is better to just accept that you may have multiple changes.

For food, I would suggest searching on YouTube, a number of channels have decent videos, my favorite is "Spain Revealed" produced by James Blick. He is a co-founder of Devour Tours (also worth a look if you like food tours) and has tons of videos on Madrid, as well as a few on Barcelona. He lists all of the best tapas spots in Madrid.

If you base yourself in Madrid that last portion, then Segovia and Toledo are easy and worthwhile day trips.

For assistance with train travel, you could check out the Man in Seat 61 for suggestions and preferred travel agencies. You could even drop him a line.

Thank you will check those out!

Side trips from Barcelona, all easy by train.

• Girona: historic center, walkable wall, Jewish history museum, two historic churches, etc.; good restaurants.

• Figueres: Dali Theatre-Museum (not much else in the town of great interest). The DT-M is a longish walk from either of the two Figueres train stations. There's city-bus service, but if the train is late, the bus seems not to wait. Budget for a taxi just in case, and check online for taxi telephone numbers.

• Sitges: artsy beach town

• Montserrat

Madrid has perhaps Europe's longest list of topflight side-trip options. These are my favorites:

• Toledo: historic capital, very atmospheric and with more than a full days' worth of sights)\

• Segovia: fabulous aqueduct and other worthwhile sights

• Cuenca: atmospheric hilltop old town, hanging houses along a ravine, at least one modern-art museum)

• Alcala de Henares: historic university town with cheap, frequent commuter trains.

All those are accessible by train, but the trip to Cuenca can be very expensive if you don't buy the tickets early.

Hi acraven Thanks so much! Great suggestions. Train tickets can be purchased 3 months in advance?

Renfe's sort of notorious for loading its schedules erratically, so there's no telling when your exact days and itineraries will be available. I'd take a look at the schedule for each trip (which probably won't change much at all) and record the range of prices you see now for travel on dates both in the immediate future and much farther out. That way, you'll know approximately the best price you can hope for.

The fare between Madrid and Toledo doesn't change, so the only reason to buy that ticket ahead of time is that the Toledo trains have assigned seats. That means they can sell out, and it's not rare for them to do so. Spain is a country where express trains do sometimes fill up; that is a potential concern for Barcelona-Girona-Figueres (many of those are express trains) and for Barcelona-Madrid. I believe Sitges is on a regional line, so there should be no issue there.

Madrid-Segovia and Madrid-Cuenca fares vary with demand. I've never head about sellouts to those destinations, but I can't promise they don't happen. For sure the fares will go up as the travel date approaches. Madrid-Alcala de Henares involves a very local line (not terribly different from an above-ground subway). Buying that ticket can be a last-minute decision.

Renfe has some competition on some of the main rail lines in Spain (definitely including Barcelona-Madrid, and probably also Barcelona-Girona-Figueres). If you want to see all the options for a particular trip, you can start at TheTrainline.com, but I'd try to buy the tickets from the website of the company operating the trains. TheTrainline will cost you somewhat more, and I'm not positive it lists all the departures (though it may); I believe it does sell tickets for all the companies involved.

In Madrid last September, we had excellent meals at Sala de Despiece 2 (SDD2) and Tres por Cuatro. Very different styles and ambience, but both very enjoyable.

In Barcelona, we loved our stay at Hotel Praktik Rambla.

For day trips, second the suggestions of Segovia and the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres. Also, highly recommend a visit to Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau in Barcelona.

Hello

acraven thank you again!

mml Thank you for all your suggestions- I will look into them!