Seville or Barcelona

Barcelona is on the coast, and you can see a flamenco show there, even if flamenco started in Andalucía.

Barcelona is Catalunya, and in The North, and is unquestionably a big city. Sevilla is in Andalucía and in The South, and the old town feels small and intimate. Either will give you a different experience from Madrid.

When in the summer will you be there? Seville gets quite hot in July and August. We are planning to go to the south in mid-late June this year. Last year, my husband, 17 year old son and I went to the north and spent a week in Barcelona. Both cities are wonderful, but very different. From your description, I tend to think you might enjoy Barcelona more than Seville. You can see the coast in Barcelona without a day trip. There is an expansive beach right in the city. Personally, I did not care for the Barcelona beach because it was very crowded. However, my husband and son enjoyed the beach due to the nature of the way some women dressed. I understand that there are some lovely beach towns just a bit down the coast. When I was in Seville a few years ago, I took a bus to Sanlucar, a beach town. It was about an hour and a half.

Since you are still debating, may I offer another suggestion? San Sebastian. Last summer we visited Bilbao, Lekeitio, San Sebastian and Barcelona. Of the four, we liked San Sebastian best. The beach is lovely. The food is fantastic and there is a nice old town for meandering.

Spain is quite special and I don't think you can go wrong with either choice.

A tough decision because both are great options. Given your circumstances, I would suggest Barcelona. It is a more cosmopolitan city that appeals to young people, so I think your kids will love it. It's not a heavy museum city, but the Gaudi sites usually amaze even those that get easily bored with architecture and museums. Great food and nightlife. And a big sandy beach along the coast that, yes, your husband and son will love the "scenery."

There are several good daytrip possibilities without a car: Sitges is a great little beach town less than an hour by train. Tarragona is an ancient Roman city an hour away with some dramatic ruins if you are interested in Roman history. Montserrat is a modern reconstruction of a monastery perched dramatically atop a scenic mountain about an hour out. Great hiking and views on a good day (I personally wasn't very impressed with the actual monastery but I've seen A LOT of them...). Figueres has the Dali Museum for a wild taste of art. About 1.5 hours out and you can stop there or back in Girona, which is a scenic city along a couple of rivers.

Both great options. We started with Barcelona and spent 5 nights there years ago as a sidetrip from Rome -- we loved seeing all the Gaudi sites (and were lucky enough to be there before Parc Guell was turned into a ticket requiring tourist site rather than a park and when we could spend literally hours climbing around the towers of Sagrada Familia. Barcelona is really different from Andalucia which we visited a year ago for the first time.

Seville was also wonderful, but I'd start with Barcelona.

Summer - choose Barcelona. Save Seville for a cooler time of year. In summer, 100+ temps are not unusual. There's a lot more to see in Barcelona than Seville. If you don't choose Montserrat as a day trip, then perhaps Girona, which is smaller, less metropolitan that Madrid or Barcelona, and a contrast. Unless you will be taking a day trip or two from Madrid (Toledo, Segovia. . . ).

You may get a better flamenco show in Madrid than Barcelona. Flamenco is not truly Spanish, but Andalusian. For more information, look at these: night life in Barcelona and flamenco in Barcelona and flamenco in Madrid .

Ginger, our fellow posters have all given you terrific tips & recommendations; but, before I put in my two cents, would you pls. provide a little background info on your trip - total number of days by city? I'm a BIG fan of using a rental car - getting away from the big cities and visiting small towns, out of the way sites, etc. - any interest?
Spain is big country and you are on the right track not trying to get in too much on your first visit. On our first trip (almost three weeks) we could not work in Barcelona and Catalonia (visited several years later) and I so glad that we did.
I'd go for Barcelona & Catalonia. In addition to Barcelona, I'd suggest, time permitting, Girona, the Dali sights and beaches along the Costa Brava. Sorry, but Sitges reminds me of the Jersey Shore; we loved Calella de Parafrugel.

Additionally, IMO, Madrid is gateway city (good for flying in & out of); I'd head straight for Segovia, Toledo or Salamanca for Spain at it's most charming.

Thank you for all of the replies. You are kind to take time to respond and you all give such useful information. I am looking forward to researching some of these other towns you have suggested.

To answer one question I received - We will have 5 touring days in Madrid and 5 touring days in another area. I agree that I might not need 5 days in Madrid, but my daughter will still be in class so the rest of the family will tour Madrid and a possible day trip or two during this time. I appreciate the three suggestions of day trips from Madrid. What would be your order of preference?

We would then take the train to either Seville or Barcelona. I had thought about a car rental for day trips from these areas. I was afraid it might be too complicated and stressful. I am glad to hear someone else likes the idea. I would appreciate any tips on car rental and driving in Spain.

I am listening to all of your advice. It just seems one day I lean toward Barcelona and the next I'm back to Seville! The thing that scares me about Barcelona is that I don't want to have spent the entire time in large cities (no choice about Madrid). I want my family to experience the typical Spain and not just cities and museums. Are there particular day trips that could be included in Madrid and Barcelona that would give them this feel? Or is the Andalusia area the better way to go to get that "Spanish" feel? Don't get me wrong - I understand that all of Spain had much to offer and it is all Spanish. I was just thinking of the Spain my kids would imagine from what they've seen and studied.

Hi Ginger. I tend to be a "slow traveler", so as I read your post, I'm thinking 10 days in Madrid would be wonderful! Seriously, if you want to enjoy both urban and village life, you could center your trip to Madrid. There are many places within striking distance like: Avila, Segovia, El Escorial, Toledo. I would recommend a full day or even overnights to have the feel of those places after the day-trippers leave. Last summer, I stayed with a friend near Madrid and she drove me to some wonderful little villages: Siguenza, Torrija, Campillo de Ranas. That was my favorite part of the trip because the pace was much slower. We could enjoy the sites in the towns, walk through the streets without hordes of people and sit outside at a cafe without worrying about pickpockets. Madrid itself is quite spectacular and worthy of several days. There are a number of unique neighborhoods to explore beyond the historic center, which is also great. I understand that you might want to take advantage of being in Spain to see something else. Train travel is very convenient. The AVE to Barcelona is only 3 hours or so. Sevilla is about 1.5 hours. Keep us posted.

Hi Ginger

If you choose Barcelona (and Catalonia), 5 days it's not really much so rest assured you won't have any time to get bored. The city in itself would already take more than that if you want to really explore it: there are a zillion things to see/do from all sorts. So if on top of Barcelona you want to do some escapades, you can do without a car as there are several towns/cities worthwhile seeing that can be easily reached by train (or bus) on a day escapade. While I agree with Craig about the freedom of driving your own car, you have to take into account that in Europe, a car is often a nuisance on small towns or urban environments (parking is scarce and expensive).

Suggestions for day escapades from Barcelona:

GIRONA : http://infocatalonia.eu/w/aj5on
FIGUERES : http://infocatalonia.eu/w/gLjZv -note this and Girona are very close
SITGES : http://infocatalonia.eu/w/ibDWG
MONTSERRAT : http://infocatalonia.eu/w/lOODr
BESALÚ: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/2MR8p
TARRAGONA : http://infocatalonia.eu/w/IltXs
VIC : http://infocatalonia.eu/w/qtmGR
ROSES: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/P10rx
TOSSA DE MAR: http://infocatalonia.eu/w/AMRJo
...
or perhaps attending an event ( http://www.infocatalonia.eu/w/category/events/ ) or "festa major" ( http://www.infocatalonia.eu/w/2013/12/17/what-is-a-festa-major/ ) somewhere in the region can be another great option to immerse yourself in Catalan culture.
...
If you prefer more traditional text-based advice:
http://catalunya.com/ -Catalonia’s Tourism Agency
http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/ -Barcelona’s Tourism Agency
http://en.costabrava.org/ -Costa Brava Tourism Agency
http://www.baixemporda-costabrava.org/en/
http://www.lleidatur.com/ -Lleida and Pyrenees-Aran Tourism Agency
http://www.visitpirineus.com/ -Pyrenees-Aran Tourism Agency
http://www.turismeamposta.cat/en -Terres de l’Ebre Tourism Agency
http://www.bcn.cat/ -Barcelona City Council
http://www.girona.cat/turisme/eng/index.php -Girona City Council
http://www.tarragonaturisme.cat/ -Tarragona City Council
...
As per your last comment, note that Spain is not a uniform country or, in other words, it could be considered several different countries as there are very different cultures within it with different ways of life, different languages, etc. Both in Euskadi (Basque Country) and in Catalonia for example there's lots of people that don't consider themselves "Spanish" at all. What that means is that it's a very different experience to visit say Andalucia or Catalonia for example.

5 days is a nice time for a major destination like Madrid and it would give you a day to do a sidetrip to a place like Toledo or Cordoba if you chose. We spent 6 nights/5 days in Madrid a couple of years ago and ended up not doing a sidetrip as planned as we were exhausted at the end of 6 weeks in Europe. For us Madrid was the museums; I only wish we had spent another day at the Prado and will probably return there just for that in the future. We also want to see Toledo, Escorial etc. If you have not planned to do Cordoba, then I would do that as a day trip from Madrid just to see the Mezquita which was the most amazing thing we saw in Spain where there are many amazing things. You can see our snapshots of the Mezquita and of one site in Madrid we enjoyed here: https://janettravels.wordpress.com/category/spain/

One thought might be to do Seville (the Alcazar runs a close second to the Alhambra as an amazing Muslim triumph) and to do a stop over in Cordoba on the way. Or do it as a day trip and do the 5 days in Barcelona.

I agree that Barcelona is better in the heat of the summer. Barcelona also has more to see than Seville especially if you take side trips up the coast or to Montserrat.

If you really want to enjoy Seville, go during the April Fair. Great time to visit and the fair is a major cultural experience.

There are distinct parts of Spain, each with it's own history and culture. Seville is very Andalusian (southern Spanish) where you will feel a lot of the Moorish influence. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, which has it's own culture (unique, not really Spanish or even French). The north coast is Basque and the Northwest is Galicia (Gaelic).

The most "Spanish" cities to me are Salamanca, Burgos, Valladolid, and Toledo - essentially through the Castillian (Castille y Leon and Castille La Mancha) parts of the country - but that may just be based on my preconceptions of what it means to be Spanish.

I am humbled that so many of you would take time to write such helpful responses. I haven't made any decisions yet - so I may post another question for you before it is over. But I just had to say thank you!!!