Granada, Barcelona, Madrid itinerary review

April 2 - you have double tickets to the Alhambra? why?

April 3 According to the schedule the only castellers are in Horta - Guinardó, which looks like a suburb of Barcelona. It depends on how long it will take you to get to your hotel and drop your luggage and then get to performance, which begins at noon.

I guess by "fluff" you mean that you are considering spend 1 night less in Barcelona and 1 night more in Madrid. If there are no other sights in either city that you really want to visit, consider a day trip to Toledo from Madrid, or one of several from Barcelona (Tarragona, Girona, Figueres & Girona, Montserrat).

We opted for two tickets so we can leisurely take as much time visiting the Alhambra as we want to. Didn't want to feel rushed, and it allows us a slower morning that day, which will be nice.

Yes, wondering if our other days in Barcelona look reasonable or not. I don't want to leave not having seen what we want to see. There's more in Madrid that appeals to me but maybe a late afternoon train on the 6th would be a good solution, giving us the morning for any unfinished business in Madrid?

You don't need both a morning and an afternoon for the Alhambra. Once you are inside the Nasrid Palace, you can stay as long as you like. You can also backtrack (that's what I did, seeing the whole thing twice, once with audio commentary and once without). The Generalife Gardens also take some time to see; the Alcazaba (the other part that you have to see in the same half-day as the Nasrid Palace) does not. So, unless you have a very special interest, one ticket will be fine. Of course, if you can't get one ticket refunded, you can make the best of it. But really, the half-day you get on a single ticket is enough time.

For Barcelona, you're seeing lots of Gaudi sights. Consider swapping at least one of these for the Palace of Catalan Music by Domènech i Montaner, which is breathtaking.

Hi, my five cents, while in Barcelona...:

1.) Talking about history, you might also be interested in the Museu d'Història de Catalunya, (Catalonia's History Museum) located in the Old Port grounds. It's a great museum that covers the whole history of this small nation, from its birth in the 9th century to the present.

2.) "Visit any sights we missed earlier?"... uff, far too many you missed to be listed here... any particular preferences or likes: history, art, folk, music, great views, science, gardens and parks, architecture, sports...?, so I can suggest a few ideas.

3.) Since you're going to visit Granada, maybe you'd better off watching a flamenco show there in Andalucia as it's the cradle of that art form. In Catalonia, flamenco is something imported by the successive waves of migrants from that area in the early 20th century, and while some famous figures of that art were born here out of those who came back then, the sites offering 'shows' in town -in Barcelona that is- you'll find are rather not-the-real-thing if you catch my drift and are mostly aimed to tourists (-a-). Little to do with the flamenco that you can see in many places in Andalucía, from intimate performances in small bars, to fairs and festivals sometimes performed by professional dancers but often as well by regular folks as it's part of their heritage. By all means I'm not questioning the quality of the flamenco shows in Barcelona -that's after all something very personal to evaluate- just saying you have to be aware that's like watching say a can-can show in Austin, TX... sure it can be Le Cirque du Soleil and their show will be fabulous, but is as Texan as... :)

(-a-) There might be an exception to that and that'd be the couple of places frequented by enthusiasts of flamenco music... but don't expect there the whole nine yards, in fact, is not showy and has little bells and whistles as it's not really looking for the tourist audience but it's just flamenco music for flamenco enthusiasts.

Alhambra The grounds and smaller buildings can be accessed at any time that the site is open. There are 3 ticketed areas: Nasrid, Generalife and Alcazaba. You must enter the Nasrid Palaces at the time on your ticket. You can enter the other two at any time before or after that. The Alcazaba is close to the Nasrid entrance, so it makes sense to visit that first. I don't remember how long it takes to get from the Nasrid exit to The Generalife. But it's a beautiful walk so you won't want to rush.

If you have an afternoon ticket, you cannot enter the other two before 2 p.m. If you have a morning ticket, you cannot enter the others after 2 p.m. except if your Nasrid entry is at 11.30 or later. Then you can visit the other 2 any time during the day. At least that's how it worked when I was there 3 years ago.

If you can't get a refund, and it's permitted, you may be able to sell your "duplicate" tickets to someone else since tickets sell out.

San Pau I visited last year without a tour. Beautiful. It's a 10-15 minute walk from the Sagrada Familia. You should get tickets to that in advance (they sell out). As Harold says, the Palau de la Musica (by the same architect) is a WOW. If you enjoy them, you could also visit Casa Lleo Morera. The visit takes less than an hour and is on the same block as Casa Batllo and Casa Amatller (guided tours in English daily at 11).

I think it is a bit of a shame to miss Sevilla and Cordoba while you are in Granada. To me, I'd stay in Andalucía for your entire time. Do a deeper dive as there is nice variety. It is too bad, though, that you just miss Semana Santa and Feria. Save BCN and MAD for another trip to Spain.