Itinerary advice for a week's trip to Spain in November

You got it covered. Just add stuff when you get there. I assume you have done research in a guide book or on the internet and picked out what you want to see as priority so what advice would you need not covered already? But buy the train tickets as early as possible

That's six days you have in Spain. I certainly wouldn't add any more stops.

Are you flying in/out from far away (ie North America or someplace equally distant), or coming from someplace closer (elsewhere in Europe)? For me, it's a long way to go for just six days. I understand, anniversary trip and all. Still...with only 6 days, I'd be tempted to skip Barcelona, and just stick to Madrid and nearby destinations. I know, I know...

Yes, it is a very short trip, and initially I did think of just staying in Barcelona, but with the super fast trains, I was tempted.
What I was mainly wondering was about day 1/arrival day, the palace of Catalan music , can I fit it in on another day, just in case there are delays/jet lag etc?

And on day 2, I wasn't sure what to do in between Casa Mila and Casa Balto, I thought we could grab lunch and walk to the park, to see the fountain, but I'm open for other suggestions.

Thanks

I spent an entire morning at Park Guell. To go at 4 seems late. How late is it open? And in November, does the sunset by 6pm? You are very organized and that will help you get the most from your trip.

Are your tickets already purchased into Barcelona and out of Madrid? I assume they are but if not a lot of us would suggest you rethink this and either concentrate on Barcelona area or Madrid area and save the other for a future trip. There would easily be plenty to see and do in each of these big cities with a sidetrip or two built in, given your 7 day time frame. Your time is so limited and these distances are great even using the AVE high speed train between Barcelona and Madrid. Are you aware that you can not go directly from Barcelona to Toledo by train? Trains to Toledo come in and out of Madrid. So you may want to put the daytrip to Toledo on a different day. With so little time in Madrid and lots of time in your schedule that will be devoted to transportation, I think you may have to choose just one daytrip from Madrid, either Toledo or Segovia. Both are worthy destinations and can easily take up an entire day. Regardless, Spain is beautiful. I return there repeatedly and think it is my favorite overall destination in Europe. What a great place for your anniversary celebration!

I never plan anything specific (beyond walking around outdoors) on arrival day for the reason you mention. I especially would not plan an activity that requires a rather costly pre-purchased ticket, because I know myself: There is zero possibility that I would want to use that ticket when the time came. Except for an early-morning self-guided tour opportunity, The Palau de la Musica Catalana can only be visited on a guided tour offered by the facility or by attending a performance. The tour is offered in English a few times a day (per website), and in November the last tour is nearly always at 3 PM. That probably wouldn't give you time to take a quick nap at your hotel and eat lunch before heading to the Palau.

Jules's point about possibly not having enough time at Parc Guell before sunset is a valid one. However, I don't think you can be sure of getting there much earlier if your La Sagrada Familia visit includes a tower climb. Absent any current information to the contrary, I would assume that you can basically walk right into Sant Pau, so I wouldn't buy a ticket ahead of time. Timed tickets are only required for tours, which are offered infrequently. They now have an audio guide option, and that would be my choice since I spent 2 hours wandering around Sant Pau and felt very rushed, whereas the tour is only 75 minutes.

We did not tour, The Palau de la Musica Catalana. I wish we had, but we did walk over to it and viewed the exterior and went inside to see the bar and stairwells and look at some of the historic photos. If you can't take a tour, I would still recommend stopping by it. I believe we went there after a visit to the Barcelona Cathedral. We especially enjoyed the cloister at the Cathedral.

Yes, even just seeing the exterior of the Palau de la Musica Catalana is worthwhile. Lots of eye candy in Barcelona.

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.
Yes, my flights have been booked, I usually spend more time in each city, but as this is the first time in a while that my husband and I have travelled together without our kids, I wanted to try a faster pace. I've already booked our train to Madrid, and I'm planning on booking a train to Toledo on the same day.

Would 1 hr halt in Madrid Atocha be enough to catch the train to Toledo?

I think acraven is right about not booking anything on arrival day, I usually just do free walking tours, but I got greedy trying to fit too many things.

Day 1 arrival @0840
Free walking tour with runner bean

Day 2
Bari Gothic
Citadel park
3pm palace of Catalan music

Day 3
9:00 SagradaSagrada familia( no tower visit)
12 lunch( any suggestions, near Casa Mila?)
1pm Casa Mila
4pm Parc Guell- sunset is scheduled for 5:30, so that gives us 11/2hrs.

We'll be staying in an Airbnb in the Bari gotic area, so planning on heading back when it gets dark, taking a late nap, and then heading out to explore again.

Day 4 Toledo
Reach Toledo @11:30

Day 5 Madrid
Reach Madrid @ 12:30
2:00 Prado
7pm Devour Madrid food tour

Day 6
Day trip to Segovia

Day 7
10:00 Madrid palace
Retiro park
4pm Reina Sofia

I'd love to fit in the temple of debob, but not sure where?

Thanks for your help.

"Would 1 hr halt in Madrid Atocha be enough to catch the train to Toledo?"

Yes, I had a half hour (going in the reverse direction) and still had time to kill!

Here's how it works: There are two levels of AVE trains at Atocha. The train from Barcelona arrives at the upper level, while the train to Toledo leaves from the lower level (at least, that was the case in September 2015). If you leave the lounge to make this "connection," you will have to go through security again, and will probably get lost in Atocha (it makes New York Penn Station look easy to use and sensibly laid out).

So, when you arrive, confirm where your Toledo-bound train is leaving from. If it's the same level you arrived at, just stay put in the lounge until the train opens for boarding (there's refreshments and seating available). If it's from a different level, ask for the elevator connecting the upper and lower lounges. It's outside, in the track area, near the high number tracks. Take this elevator, and you will go directly to your departure lounge without getting lost or having to go through security again.

I believe the Temple of Debod is closed at this time. (See website.)

This is a great itinerary, and obviously you have done a lot of homework. My only suggestion is to slow down a bit and go slightly off the beaten path. For example, I would go to either Prado or Reina Sofia, but not both. The logic is simple. Imagine you have two days to visit NYC for the first time. Even though both the Met and the MOMA are world-class museums, seeing either one is sufficient for a lot of art lovers.

Similarly, I would choose between Casa Mila and Casa Battlo. Gaudi was an absolute genius, and I was moved to tears when seeing Sagrada Famila. That said, they are both casas designed by the same guy. We saw hundreds of tourists snapping pictures outside Battlo, but not a single one paying any attention to the other three architectural master pieces on the same block. I think one of the great joys of visiting Barcelona is to explore the Eixample on foot, and let yourself be constantly surprised by the beauty of the turn-of-the-century buildings there not always mentioned in guide books.

Moreover, the admission charges to the casas are a bit ridiculous. Rick said the EUR 15 to 18 admission to Famila was "pricey", but we did not mind paying even more as a significant portion of it goes toward the on-going construction of the building. By contrast, the EUR 24 to 32 entrance fee to Mila or Battlo is almost pure profit. Revenue from Battlo is less than 5% of the Chupa Chups family business, yet likely accounts for over 30% of the bottom line. They figured out, a long time ago, that selling tickets to the Battlo was a lot more profitable than selling lollipops. So go inside one of the casas but just admire the other from the outside.

For Madrid, looks fine & no need to change anything, but you might consider:

Perhaps your accommodation will be close, so it doesn't matter, but Prado and Retiro park are next to each other so you might move those to the same day.

Good catch above about Templo de Debod being currently closed. I did think that does not matter much since there is little to see inside anyway and the sight is really the setting seen from the outside. However apparently the pools are currently drained too so perhaps not worth going. However, that might have changed when you arrive. If you do go then the obvious place to fit it in would before/after the palace since they are only under 20 minutes walk apart. Along the way you pass a typically bombastic example of franquista architecture which is worth squinting at.

I'm no art lover, but don't most people go to Reina Sofia to specifically/only see Guernica? So I'm not sure that and the Prado are interchangeable really.

Perhaps it will be included in your food tour or general wanderings, but I recommend you visit Plaza Mayor at some point.

Harold- Thanks so much for the information about the trains. I definitely would have gotten lost!
Kelly- yes, I think I’m just going to visit Casa Mila. The sad reality is that there are so many wonderful things to see, but such little time.