Madrid/Barcelona Itinerary with questions

Nearly all hotels will hold your bags before check in and after check out, so ask the property ahead of time. There are other options to store bags if they don't, but no need to investigate those if the hotel will take care of you.

I would swap your Toledo day 8 with day 3, as I don't like to be moving around too much the day before I leave to go home just in case of travel drama. However Mondays many things are closed so that might not work in your case. You don't say when you are traveling but if it's peak season you will want to purchase tickets ahead of time for must see sites. You'll have to price out the city pass to see if it is cost effective for you. In my experience it usually isn't for a short trip.

Reina Sofia, Prado, Plaza de Cibeles, Puerto de Alcala, Parque el
Retiro. Is that too much?

That is a lot of art in one day. I liked the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum more than the Reina Sofia. It's smaller and not so overwhelming (IMHO).

On day 6 be sure to visit La Boqueria market, as you'll be right there and it's not open on Sunday. It will be VERY crowded and along Las Ramblas, watch your bags and belongings.

Thank you for your reply! I thought I put my dates, I guess not! We arrive Monday, March 16 and leave March 24.

I considered swapping Toledo for earlier, but like you said a lot is closed on Mondays, and the only reason it was on my radar is because I purchased the Rick Steves Madrid guide and it is for Madrid/Toledo!

Most hotels will allow you to check in an hour or maybe two early if a room is available, but there’s no guarantee. If the hotel was fully booked and checkout isn’t until 11, a room may not be available. Every hotel will store your bags while you wait for your room to be ready.

The Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena didn’t take long to visit.

For day 3, visiting the Prado and Reina Sofía on the same day might be too much art. When leaving the Prado you can walk down to Plaza de Cibeles, the up to Puerta de Alcalá, then into Retiro park. In case you weren’t aware of distances, Plaza de Cibeles is a half mile in one direction from the Prado while the Reina Sofía is a half mile in the opposite direction, and the Puerta del Sol just over a half mile in another direction.

On day 4, the hotel may store your bags while you wait to catch the train.

If you go to El Rastro, beware of pickpockets. Actually, beware of pickpockets anyplace there is a crowd or group of people; Madrid and Barcelona.

You don't need to take a tour to Toledo. The train will be a lot faster than a bus and a lot cheaper than a tour. Rail fares between Madrid and Toledo do not vary, unlike those between Madrid and Barcelona, so price is not a reason to rush to buy a ticket. However, the Toledo trains sometimes sell out; Rick especially suggests buying a return ticket at the same time as the outbound ticket so you don't risk being stuck in Toledo with a hotel room in Madrid (though there is also bus service between the two cities--much slower). I like Toledo a lot and would plan to spend the day there, but it depends on what sort of sightseeing appeals to you; I love Mudejar architecture.

I do not recommend the hop-on/hop-off bus in Barcelona. It is a beautiful city, best appreciated on foot to the extent you're capable of doing that. The public-transportation system is excellent and will take care of most other situations. Taxis aren't particularly expensive, especially with four of you. Even back in 2016 (and Barcelona is busier now), I observed a very long line of people waiting for the HO/HO bus at Placa de Catalunya. It was obvious all of those people were not going to fit on one bus, and there was no bus in sight.

I'd take the same position about Madrid HO/HO buses for myself, but I confess I never noticed one and can't say anything about the level of service provided from personal experience.

I don't think the City Go Passes are a good deal, financially. Do the math.

Flamenco is a southern-Spain thing; I'd do some careful checking of reviews to be sure you can find a decent venue in Madrid.

La Sagrada Familia sells out well in advance. That's a ticket to buy ASAP, because you have very little time in Barcelona, thus not much flexibility if entry times are picked-over. Casa Batllo (especially) and the Picasso Museum are also very popular. Casa Batllo will be extremely crowded. I suggest checking ticket availability now to see whether you need to buy one or both of those tickets now as well. Because of the extreme popularity of the top sights in Barcelona, you need to build in a bit of a buffer when scheduling timed sights back-to-back. It is not safe to assume a 1:30 PM ticket means you'll be able to walk in the door at 1:30.

The Palau de la Musica Catalana isn't terribly far from the Picasso Museum. It's definitely worth seeing the exterior while you're in the neighborhood. The tour of the interior is also worthwhile, if you have time for it. You can check the website for the hours of English-language tours, which may sell out somewhat in advance.

The Royal Palace in Madrid is very popular with Spaniards as well as tourists. I've not heard about sell-outs there, but I think if you were unlucky, you might run into a ticket line that took more than a few minutes (though I did not run into that back in 2016). Your stay in Madrid is not long, and early-morning tickets tend to be the most popular, so I'd check ticket availability for the Royal Palace now to see whether it looks safe to wait a bit before making the purchase.

A planning note: Spaniards eat meals very late. Lunch is roughly 1:30 to 4 PM, and the locals probably don't think about dinner until 9:30 PM. You can find places open at other hours, of course.

If your hotel is near La Sagrada Família, you might consider San Pau Recinte Modernista. It’s not a Gaudi site but it is a Modernista complex that doesn’t draw the crowds that Casa Batilo and other Gaudi sites do. We bought tickets ahead, but on a rainy day in May 2024 we could have walked right in. We were there in May 2024 and the crowds for the HOHO bus were extreme. We’re seniors, so we opted for a transit pass and used it whenever we got tired on metro and buses, but Barcelona is a very easy city to walk. We also preferred Mercat de Santa Catarina for fewer crowds and less chance of pickpockets. It’s pretty close to Palau de La Musica Catalana which turned out to be one of our favorite sites. With the later, even if you just stop by their cafe for coffee, it’s beautiful.

I think Madrid is better suited to a HOHO bus, provided jet lag won’t put you to sleep. I would say that visiting the Prado and the Reina Sofia in one day would be a lot. We went to the Reina Sofia because we were going to Geurnica and wanted to see Picasso’s famous painting before we went. We were glad we did, but we preferred the Prado.

I have never been to Spain but I will share a tip that I used for Italy this past summer. We arrived at Fiumicino early morning (630AM local) and were able to take naps about 2 hours after landing by renting a cheap AirBnB for the night we traveled. Ended up staying there for one more night before we headed to Pisa.

I suggest that you consider doing the same when you arrive (if super early) in Spain. It was worth the extra expense since all of us were able to nap from 2 hours to 5 hours right after landing and it set a great tone for the balance of the week.