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Madrid & Barcelona trip - how to split days

Husband and I are going on our first trip to Spain this fall (September 21-October 1). We'll arrive on a Thursday, probably about mid-day. We depart on Sunday (10 days later). So we'll have 8 full days. I'm not counting arrival and departure days or the day that we move from city 1 to city 2. My questions are:

  1. How should we split up the days? 4 in each city or more for one than the other? See below for what we're interested in seeing.
  2. Which city would you visit first? Airline schedules and fares appear to be similar.

While in Madrid we want to do a day trip to Toledo and while in Barcelona we want to visit Montserrat. Other than that, our interests are mainly museums and historical and cultural sites. We're not interested in night life and we enjoy a fairly fast paced trip.

Any insight you can provide will be much appreciated!

Posted by
8166 posts

Four days in Madrid (two different museums Sophia Reina and the Prado on separate days) with a day trip to Toledo sounds about right even though we had a car and squeezed a combined one day trip to Segovia (the aqueduct there is worth seeing and El Escorial).

Four days in Barcelona sounds right. Of course you have to make plans in advance to go into the Sagrada Familia church.
We did not make it to Monteserrat. I think we were just hot exhausted after coming from Madrid.

Posted by
370 posts

My wife and I just got back from doing this exact trip last week. I think 4 full days in Barcelona (with a day trip) and 4 full days in Madrid (with a day trip to Toledo) would be a good way to split this. Toledo is only 30 or so minutes by train from Madrid, but you'll use the full day. We loved Toledo, especially as a nice contrast to bustling Madrid. We visited Barcelona first, and that worked well. I'd suggest starting in Barcelona. Madrid's interesting tourist area is compact and walkable (more so than Barcelona), but I think Barcelona is more laid back and a little easier to get acclimated to after a long flight. Both cities have wonderful museums and historic and cultural sites, as well as some beautiful parks to just walk or people watch. I'd recommend booking ahead (buy online tickets) for La Sagrada Familia and Picasso Museum in Barcelona, and for the Prado and Royal Palace in Madrid. Those seemed to have lines all the time. We had good luck with other sites by just walking up and buying a ticket. Have a great trip!

Posted by
7175 posts

September
21/ ARRIVE Madrid (5N)

22/ Madrid
•Reina Sofia, or Thyssen Bornemisza Museum
•City Walk
San Francisco el Grande > Plaza Mayor > Puerta del Sol > Metropolis Bldg > Plaza de Cibeles > Puerta del Alcala > Retiro Park

23/ Madrid
•Toledo

24/ Madrid
•Royal Palace & Almudena Cathedral
•Prado Museum

25/ Madrid
•El Escorial & Segovia

26/ Morning train to Barcelona (5N)
•Park Guell

27/ Barcelona
•Sagrada Familia
•Hospital Sant Pau
•Passeig de Gracia - Casa Mila & Casa Batllo

28/ Barcelona
•Palau de la Musica Catalana
•Ramblas - La Boqueria & Placa Real
•Bari Gotico - Cathedral

29/ Barcelona
•El Born - Picasso Museum & Basilica Santa Maria del Mar
•Parc de la Ciutadella & Barceloneta
•Montjuic - Miro Museum & MNAC

30/ Barcelona
•Montserrat

October
01/ DEPART Barcelona