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Spain Itinerary Help!

I am flying into Barcelona (9:25am)August 31 and Flying home Sept 8th(4pm). We really would like to do a couple of days in Madrid and a day in Toledo. Should we go straight to Madrid upon arrival and spend the first few days between Madrid and Toledo? Our fear is not getting back in time for our return flight if we save Madrid/Toledo until the last few days.

Any suggestions on where to stay?
Any suggestions on what to visit? We don't want to spend all of our time inside museums but experience the culture and atmosphere.

Posted by
882 posts

Take a look at the itinerary of RS "Best of Barcelona and Madrid" and use it as your template .
Federico Barroso, a RS guide, runs Spainfred.com - a genuinely outstanding resource.

Posted by
589 posts

If you are flying in and out of Barcelona then I suggest that you do go directly to Madrid the day you land and then come back to Barcelona after a few days. This will take stress away not having to worry if you will make it back for your departure flight.

Posted by
945 posts

We were in Spain in October and went to both Barcelona and Madrid. A few thoughts in planning your itinerary.

  • Arriving in Barcelona in the morning and heading straight off to Madrid is possible, but it is very long travel day. The train trip on high-speed train is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Best case is that you get to Madrid early to mid-afternoon.
  • An alternative is to stay in Barcelona for 5 nights, catching a train in the early morning on the 4th to Madrid and staying into Madrid until the 7th and the going back to Barcelona for the night of the 7th. This would give you plenty of time to recover from jet lag, see each of the cities you want to see and not risk missing your flight.
  • For Barcelona lodging, I would highly recommend the Hotel Midmost. It is near the Rambles and Gothic Corner. It was our favorite place that we stayed in Barcelona. They have a roof top terrace and bar, several rooms with patios, and an outstanding organic breakfast. Here is the url: https://www.hotelmidmost.com/en.
  • In Barcelona, make sure that you get tickets in advance for the Guadi sites, especially the Sagrada Familia and Park Guelle. If you go to the Boqueria, go in the a.m. it is zoo in the afternoon. One of the highlights of our trip was taking a cooking class and market tour.
  • Can’t recommend lodging in Madrid as I used points at the Doubletree, near the Prado, great service, but it is an American-style hotel.
  • For Toledo, it is a short train ride (1 hour) from Madrid. Make sure you book in advance, even in October, we were lazy and didn’t book until the day of and couldn’t get a ticket until noon. -Also is Madrid, we took the Devour tapas tour—we loved it and used the information we learned the first night to eat well and very local in Madrid. We also wanted to go to Segovia and Wine tasting and hired Winebus. It was a great experience: we went to a winery, had lunch in a small town (accessible only by car with a wine cellar thousand years old), went to Segovia and then had a drink on a bluff overlooking the castle.

The Rick Steves Spain book is a valuable resource for all of your planning, just thought I would share the highlights of what we really enjoyed that was above and beyond the must see sights.

Have a great trip.
Sandy

Posted by
6386 posts

Stayed at hotel Europa our last 2 stops in Madrid. It underwent some fairly major renovations between our 2014 and 2017 stays. We love the location and have gotten room facing the plaza both times. You can open the windows and hang over the rails to people watch, or close the very soundproof windows if you prefer quiet.

I too would go straight to Madrid. That way you only have to have two hotels, one in Madrid and one in Barcelona. Do Toledo as a day trip.

In Barcelona, we stayed at Hotel Balmes, Carrer de Mallorca, 216, when we were there. It’s close to casa Batlo and casa Mila, and about 12 blocks from Sagrada Familia. It’s about a 20 minutes walk from Las Ramblas. We enjoyed the location and the hotel.

Posted by
7175 posts

I would consider an early start by train from Madrid on Sep 8, with enough time to make your flight from BCN at 4pm.

Aug 31. Arrive 9.25am in Barcelona (4nts)
Sep 1. Barcelona
Sep 2. Barcelona
Sep 3. Barcelona
Sep 4. Morning train to Madrid (4nts)
Sep 5. Madrid
Sep 6. Day to Toledo
Sep 7. Day to Segovia
Sep 8. Early am train to Barcelona for 4pm flight home
AVE 3073
Dep 07:30 MADRID ATOCHA
Arr 10:40 BARCELONA SANTS

Posted by
26840 posts

I disagree with David. On my last night before a flight, especially a costly-to-replace transatlantic flight, I want to be within a taxi ride of my departure airport, just in case of a catastrophic problem with the public transportation I usually depend on.

Posted by
786 posts

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Hotel Granvia in Barcelona. Great service, full breakfast & close to a metro station. It was an easy walk to Las Ramblas. Our room was at the front of the hotel, yet it was very quiet. I believe that interior rooms can be dark and a bit smaller. In Madrid, we stayed at Hotel Preciados. Room was good sized, but we felt that service was lackluster; not the most welcoming and helpful staff. As far as itinerary, I also disagree with David and would not risk traveling from Madrid to Barcelona on the day of my flight home. Better to stay in Barcelona the night before and spend a relaxing evening there before flying home.

Posted by
7175 posts

Point granted, even though the risk is little different to making a connecting flight. This works just as well.

Aug 31. Arrive 9.25am in Barcelona (4nts)
Sep 1. Barcelona
Sep 2. Barcelona
Sep 3. Barcelona
Sep 4. Morning train to Madrid (3nts) - stay near to Atocha Station
Sep 4. Afternoon visit to Prado
Sep 5. Day to Toledo
Sep 6. Day to Segovia
Sep 7. Day for Madrid sights - Royal Palace to Retiro Park
Sep 7. Evening train to Barcelona (1nt) - stay near to Sants Station
Sep 8. Depart 4pm from Barcelona

Posted by
768 posts

My vote is to head straight for Madrid. Get a first-class train ticket to Madrid and catch up on your sleep. Alternatively, since you're at the airport why not get a flight to Madrid?

My wife and I are traveling from Barcelona to Zaragoza to Madrid and on to Seville in late October. As you're planning to do, we're spending 3 nights in Madrid. We'll make a day-trip to Toledo from Madrid one of the days. If you arrive in Madrid early afternoon of the 31st. I've heard you can enter the Prada after 17:00 hr. with no admission charge. An added perk. Perhaps spend September 1st, 2nd and part of the 3rd in Madrid/Toledo, then take the train to Barcelona, arriving the afternoon of September 4. If you're planning on visiting Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, or any of the other Gaudi sites, you could pre-book an afternoon entry time on the 4th that would permit you to drop off your luggage at the hotel, and by entering the venue later in the day, perhaps avoid some of the crowds. You can see quite a bit of Barcelona if you're there the afternoon of a September 4, three full days and nights and the morning of September 8.

If you've not been to Barcelona before, an interesting "loop" to/from Montjuic is to take the aerial gondola from Torre San Sebastia (there may be a longish-line to get a ticket), to Montjuic, at the arrival point, walk to Placa de la Sardana and take the aerial to the Castle, then walk (or take the bus) to Palau Nacional d'Art de Catalunya and walk to the Magic Fountain, perhaps arriving there in time for the evening light show. At. Placa D'Espanya you can get a Metro or bus to just about anywhere in the city.