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Madrid to Barcelona

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Hi everyone! My husband and I are planning a trip to Spain at the end of April, and we’d love to get some recommendations. We’ll be in Madrid for about 1.5 days, then heading to Barcelona for 3 days, before returning to Madrid for one more day before flying home.

I was thinking of booking a train through the Rome2Rio website, but if anyone has a better suggestion, I’m open to ideas!

We’re looking for a hotel in Barcelona that’s centrally located—close to the main sights but not too fancy. A comfortable, mid-range place would be perfect.

Also, if anyone has any unique or off-the-beaten-path recommendations for food, tours, or things to see, we’d love to hear them! We’re open to anything that’ll make our trip extra special.

Thanks so much in advance!

Posted by
4977 posts

Train tickets should be purchased from the official provider: https://www.renfe.com/es/en
If you arrive early enough, you should head to BCN on arrival, then put your Madrid time all together. That saves you from having to check in/out an extra time.

Posted by
6975 posts

It's always better to buy train tickets from the company that actually runs the trains and not from some third party site. I recommend Iryo, www.iryo.eu since their website is much easier to use. But Renfe is also an option between the cities, www.renfe.com

Posted by
1303 posts

As well as Iryo and Renfe, Ouigo also run services from Madrid to Barcelona. I'd start with looking it up on an agency such as Trainline which will show all the options. Then, if you prefer, you can use the specific railway company website to buy the one which best suits in terms of departure time and cost. All three companies' fast services are about the same in journey time and stations used.

Posted by
1076 posts

Hi and welcome to the Rick Steves forum!

If you do a search on this forum, you will find lots of recommendations for hotels in Barcelona, as well as food tours:

https://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=559828002&cid=1000106&pcid=1000106&vid=1&nav=meganav%3AWomen%3AShoes%20%26%20Accessories%3ASocks&cpos=61&cexp=2926&kcid=CategoryIDs%3D1000106&cvar=26332&ctype=Listing&cpid=res24112609953163878039067#pdp-page-content

https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&filter=Travel+Forum&query=barcelona+food+tour&utf8=%E2%9C%93

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