My daughter will be studying at the University of Alcala this summer. My family is planning to visit her and do some touring for a couple of weeks this summer. My initial thought was to rent an apartment to serve as our base. I continue to go back and forth about whether to rent in Alcala (30 min train from Madrid center) or to rent an apartment in Madrid center. We would like to see Toledo and Barcelona while we are there. I would also love to see Seville, but I am not sure there will be time. I have enjoyed reading all of the knowledgable posts on this forum. I would appreciate any advice about any of the above! (itinerary, location, rental agencies) Thanks in advance!
Posted by
FL USA
1522 posts
Been there and done that.
Will school be in session for your daughter while you are in Spain for a couple of weeks? If so, keep in mind she will have the weekends to join up while you explore Spain. Hence suggest you plan the trip to cover the destinations you desire and not be focused upon staying central to her.
Have you already purchased your airfare? If not then suggest you consider an open jaw ticket where you fly into one destination and depart from another. This tactic helps make a trip more efficient by avoiding back tracking. An example would be: fly into Barcelona and stay four days, train to Madrid and stay four days and then train to Seville and stay four days. You would depart from Seville to fly home. This is only an example, craft to meet your own needs.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
My advice would be to rent a central Madrid apartment for the bulk of your time. La Latina is a good neighbourhood for this.
You may not wish to be in Alcala every day, but you will probably want to visit Madrid every day.
Also, your daughter will no doubt want to spend time with you in central Madrid, even overnight in your apartment perhaps. I would allocate a few days at the beginning to get her settled and a few days at the end to say good byes (if I am reading this right).
You could do 2 separate excursions of 4-5 days perhaps to both Barcelona and Sevilla (perhaps stopping in Cordoba as well). Or take advantage of the AVE high speed trains direct from Sevilla to Barcelona and combine the two.
Visit renfe.com for train times, fares and bookings.
Posted by
OP
27 posts
Thank you for the replies. I have definitely been convinced that we should rent an apartment in Madrid center. Correct me if I am wrong, it looks like for my daughter to come to Madrid to visit she will take the train to the Atocha station. Because of that I was looking at the Huertas area for an apartment. From the map that seems to be near the train station and close to historical area also. Is that a good area for us to consider? Am I missing anything obvious?
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
Go to a rental site such as vrbo and look at some apartments in an area you think you want to be.
If they don't look desirable, look a little further !!