San Sebastian to Madrid or Barcelona?

Barcelona.

1. The difference in train travel time is about an hour with Barcelona being the longer time.

2. In my opinion, based upon visits, is that Barcelona is way interesting, exciting than Madrid.

3. Tell the kids to start learning Euskara and Català.

When is your trip? Madrid can be very, very hot in the summer. Barcelona can be hot but not to the same degree. That's something to take into consideration. I wrote the rest of this post before thinking about the weather factor.

I'll disagree with Dave, and not just because Madrid is quicker to get to by train and I don't like flying in the middle of a vacation. I love Barcelona far more than Madrid, but a very short trip to Barcelona is, in my opinion, pretty frustrating. There's just so much to see there, and a lot of the most popular sights really require that you pre-purchase timed entry tickets, because otherwise the lines are horrible. This makes it difficult to put together a super-efficient trip. Now, if you want to try it, I'd suggest that your sightseeing include the Barri Gotic (tourist office does a good walking tour, but there are other options if you can't make the timing work) and the fabulous Sant Pau modernista site. The latter is one of the few in-town modernista sites you can usually walk up to, buy a ticket and go right inside. If you just have one morning in the city, use it to snag a first-time-slot ticket to La Sagrada Familia.

If you aren't big museum fans, Madrid is a lot more manageable on a short visit. Rick has a good walking tour of the central district in his book. The San Miguel Market is a great stop in that area for tapas; I think it opens at 10 AM every day (you can check online). It's not a cheap place to grab food, but it's easy because you can look and point, and it gets you around the fact that Spaniards don't eat lunch until something like 2 PM.

However, my preference on such a short visit would be to head straight from Madrid to Toledo and stay there. The medieval upper town is huge and very atmospheric. In addition to the cathedral (where there can be lines) there are many small historic sites (see Rick's book), some of which are in the mudejar style, which you will not have encountered in France or the Basque Country. If you go to Toledo, pre-purchase your return train ticket to Madrid if you're traveling back in the evening. Rick warns that the last train sometimes sells out. In any case, you may find that the round-trip ticket costs no more than a one-way ticket.

Do not try to spend your last night in Toledo and fly out of Madrid the next day unless you have an unusually late flight departure. You can weigh what you want to do in Toledo against what you want to do in Madrid and decide how to divide your time and when to go back to Madrid.

The fare on an AVE train to either Madrid or Barcelona will be very costly if purchased at the last minute. You can save a lot if you buy early, but the cheap tickets will be non-refundable and non-changeable. You don't have to worry about the Toledo ticket, because the price there is always the same (buy the roundtrip!). However, Atocha Station in Madrid is quite the zoo, so you'll need to allow time to find the right type of vending machine (or the right ticket counter) and figure out where the platform is.

Laurie, by the way I was going to be a Laurie, but came out a Lawrence, thus a Larry, but that was long ago, not to mention being beside the point.
I think that Barcelona is a more interesting city than Madrid, far older with some very old ancient sites and neighborhoods, plus a beach, if that is of interest to you and your sons. Yes, you would need to read up about Barcelona and pick the things you would like to do in just a little time, and some might require getting tickets in advance. Madrid is liable to be very hot in the summer, if that's when you are visiting, and does not have a real "old city". Of all the wonderful places I visited in Spain, Madrid, while very nice, was my least favorite. The exception might be if you are all real art museum fans, as the Prado is world-class in that regard, with two other interesting art museums nearby. But Barcelona has a much richer variety of sites to visit, including art, architecture, medieval neighborhoods, and much more.

Thank you for your advice and suggestions! It sounds like either city has pluses and minuses for our short time. I am slightly concerned about the heat, after our heat wave experience in Paris three years ago. Since we haven't been to Spain at all, I'm exploring lots of different options, and hoping to come up with a combo that saves us some money somehow. Apparently the Delta Vacations options for Madrid aren't available any more for our dates - sold out. So, I'm still puzzling this out.

I really like the sound of staying in Toledo...a little dose of big city busyness is enough for us, and then we're all happy going somewhere less crowded and more relaxing.

Am I missing another departure city I should be considering for Spain? Bilbao would be the closest, but that means our exposure to Spain is limited to the Basque region, and I wonder if we'd regret it if we didn't explore more.

Thanks!
Laurie

You know, in a universe of great options, I'm all for doing what's practical. To me San Sebastian and Bilbao have quite different atmospheres. No, neither is Barcelona, but they are at hand and they are sufficiently different to justify some time based in both. And if you weren't pushing to move on, you'd be able to take the train between them and see some pretty Basque countryside. You'd be reasonably assured of pleasant weather weather (though you could get some rain). The inland capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz is interesting (with a large medieval district), as is Hondarribia, and there are attractive smaller coastal towns as well: Zarautz, Getaria, Zumaia, Lekeitio, Bermeo. Plus no doubt other former fishing villages that have now been developed for tourism. The first three are quite close together; I even walked between two of them, along the coast-hugging road.

I would imagine, though, that your airfare might be quite a bit higher if you wanted to depart directly from Bilbao.

I was going to suggest the Picos de Europa area (dramatic scenery, and generally coolish) but it really requires a car.

So your trip is in summer? Expect Madrid . . . and Toledo . . . to be very hot. Madrid temps over 100F are not at all unusual, and any day with a high under 90 is cool. Also Toledo is hilly (San Francisco hilly) and not much shade and you'll be walking everywhere. In Madrid and Barcelona, you can get around using the metro system or buses, though they can get bogged down in traffic in both cities. Barcelona's temps are more mild, often highs in the 80s and there is a lot more variety in things to see and do.

Laurie - again, what month will you be in Spain? You only have 3 days to add and have never been to Spain: if you are not going to be there in July, August, or early September, and will fly out of Madrid, I would go to Madrid, spend a night (or 2) and a full day in Toledo, end in Madrid and perhaps see a flamenco show there (Sevilla too far away and too hot then) ; that way you will see a glimpse of "basic" Spain the way Americans may think of the country in addition to the quite different Basque region. Barcelona would be another "different" region rather than "typical" Spain. If there in July - early September, I would just stay on the north coast.

So much to consider! We will be there in late June...so the high temperatures sound like they will be a consideration. Thank you all so much for your detailed replies. Our family appreciates your insights!

I guess my two biggest things I'm thinking are:

Will we feel that a full week in the Spanish Basque region is too much, or just right and relaxing? (Such a problem, I know! :-) ) We will have had 3 days on the French coast first = 9 days of Basque region)

Should we try to end the trip in Madrid (or Barcelona - still deciding), despite the significant heat concern for me, to experience another region of Spain before heading home?

Thank you!
Laurie