Spain in Oct

I was in Madrid, Seville, and Granada early last month and it was cool, but not freezing. Seville had the mildest weather.

Our trip in October a few years ago involved flying into Madrid and out of Barcelona. Weather was pleasant in Madrid, with day trips to Toledo and Segovia. A medium weight jacket was helpful. It was surprising how late the sun came up in the morning … was still fairly dark at 7:00 AM.

After Madrid, we took a 5-hour train to Bilbao and then had several days up in the Basque region, which included San Sebastián (aka Donostia). From there, we continued to Girona, and finally Barcelona. There were two days of heavy rain in, and around, San Sebastián. Barcelona was cool at night, but not cold.

Spain experts - please check the statements below in paragraph 3 and correct my understanding on train routes if I am wrong. I'm planning a 2nd trip to Spain, but have only just started research. I'd love it if I've missed something obvious to experienced Spain travelers.

OP - On a past trip, I based us in Madrid with day trips Segovia and Toledo. We were there about 8 nights and had no trouble finding things to do. Flights and day trip transport were simple. I do tend to travel "in depth" in a given city or area and prefer that to a short visit to or through more places. Your preferences may differ.

I'm beginning research for early spring 2024 including Barcelona and, I thought, another city or two. What I am finding is that using train as primary transport, Barcelona is reasonably isolated from other cities. Meaning that to get to other cities such as Seville, Granada or Cordoba, the best route is back through Madrid. Otherwise, you are on the train for many, many hours. For planning something that I will enjoy for the way I travel, I've found looking at Renfe timetables helpful. https://www.renfe.com/es/en/travel/informacion-util/horarios or The Train Line schedules https://www.thetrainline.com/en-us There are low cost flights between Barcelona and Seville, but I dislike low cost carriers. YMMV.

In any case, the transport question will be impacting what I decide to do and I'm glad I realized that a Barcelona - Granada - Cordoba - Seville - Madrid train route wasn't quite as straightforward as I'd imagined. Renting a car is not something I want to do this trip although I know the above route is one people do drive comfortably.

You should have decent weather in October. Your coldest place will be Madrid because of altitude. I needed a down jacket and hat one day there in late October a few years ago.

The other cities you mentioned are worth much more than a day trip, and far enough from Madrid that you'd spend most of that day on trains anyway. I suggest Madrid and one of the others, split your days based on what you want to see and do in each. You might be able to save time by flying into one city and home from another (multi-city or "open jaw" booking).

The first time I heard "Barcelona" is isolated, LOL!... historically, it has always been seen as the most European city in Spain -connected to Europe that is- for many different reasons, not just location. But yes, I guess that if you plan to visit the area you mention, then geographically, Barcelona is the farthest away.

Note however that I feel you're missing quite a lot citing only these cities. Take any of them individually, do a bit of research on the area and you'll discover there are plenty of other minor cities and sites worth visiting.

Contrary to the cities on the "new world", these territories have had settlements for thousands of years and cities and cultures have developed all over the place. This translates into literally dozens of sites and places to see around any major city. Take for example my turf, Barcelona, after visiting the city, you have a myriad of other cities and towns at literally a stone-throw away that would entice you: Tarragona, Girona, Pals, Vic, Figueres, Cadaqués, Montserrat, Sitges, Besalú, Mataró.... just to name a few. Hence, many visitors choose Barcelona as a 'base city' and do day (or WE) getaways to these other places I mention. You could spend a month in this area doing different stuff every day and yet you wouldn't see "everything".

But the same happens in all of the other cities you mentioned. This is worth considering when planning.

ORDTraveler- It would probably be more effective (and more considerate to the OP) if you started a new topic with your train/transportation question.

Frankcchen- 10 days is a great amount of time for Barcelona, Madrid, and some day trips from them (or maybe a night in Zaragoza between them). Getting down to Sevilla/Granada, and doing all places justice, would be tough with just 10 days.

This fall had been very mild in most of Spain. Whether you're from Fargo or Florida, you aren't likely to encounter anything you describe as 'winter temperatures' in October.

edit to add- You should be able to fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona, or vice versa, and the trains connecting the two are plentiful.

Scudder - I did not intend a new question and fail to see how I posed one.

My point was that train schedules are not as ideal as we might like for day trips. Realizing that has helped my planning and I hoped to clue the OP that he might find detailed info useful.

As I am not an expert on Spanish travel, I didn't want to give him wrong info if I was missing some obvious routes. Thus, I asked for corrections if my hint was not a good one.

We visited Spain in November last year and I found the weather quite mild. Some early mornings and nights were chilly in Madrid, but during the day, it was warm. We never needed more than a light jacket. With only ten days, I suggest that you look at flying open jaw so that you do not have to waste time doubling back. You can usually find lots of open jaw options for Madrid-Barcelona or vice versa. I think adding Seville or Cordoba would be difficult. We had 14 nights and found adding anything in Andalucia to be difficult. We did fit in 4 nights in Valencia between 5 nights in Barcelona and 5 nights in Madrid. Good luck.