Barcelona through Madrid 12 days

Hi Chaya, If you have never been to Barcelona before, then I would personally recommend more than 2 nights out of a 12-day trip. Like most visitors to this great city, you will wish you had more time in Barcelona once you leave. In fact, I would recommend more days in Barcelona than in Madrid as there is simply more to see and do here compared to Madrid (which is an amazing city in its own right). As for the overall trip, I would recommend renting a car that offers you the flexibility to pick it up in Barcelona and drop it off in Madrid (this will most likely incur a fee). This will give you the greatest flexibility to explore. You won't need to rent the car until you leave Barcelona, and you probably won't need it once you arrive in Madrid, so keep that in mind cost-wise. Here are some potential itineraries for you to consider on your Road Trip from Barcelona -> Madrid to help get you started (I erred on the side of adding more stops since it's easier to omit than to add): Itinerary 1) Barcelona -> Tarragona -> Zaragoza -> Pamplona -> San Sebastian -> Bilbao -> Burgos -> Madrid (1,103 Km, 11 hours of total road travel) On Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/d6Cgx Itinerary 2) Barcelona -> Tarragona -> Valencia -> Alicante -> Cartagena -> Murcia -> Albacete -> Cuenca -> Madrid (1,189 Km, 12 hours of total road travel) On Google Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/Mcch0 Read up on each of those cities to see which interest you more and which you can omit (if any). Then, play around with the Google Map links I sent you and click the 'x' next to any city to omit it and recalculate the itinerary. Hope this helps! :) Cheers, Aleksandra
Barcelona, Spain

Thank you so much for all this info!! However, after hearing so much about Valencia...Seville...cordoba....I was wondering if I could do something similar where I'd take a train from Barcelona to Valencia...them from there, rent a car and head to all the other places where the drop off the car would be Cordoba and from there, I'd take a train to Madrid? Does this make sense with the car or do I not have a clue what I'm talking about? And I thought, are there any non touristy things to see along the way from Valencia through Cordoba...along the way? Looking forward to hear from you,

Spent a couple of weeks in Spain last fall. Barcelona is worth more than 2 nights, as you have been advised. A fantastic city with so much to see. We were there 5 nights and still have places we would like to see. The roads are good, we travelled by bus, but flew from Grenada to Barcelona. You don't need (or want!) a car in Barcelona, and I expect not in Madrid either. If that is your means of transport, get it as you leave one and as soon as you arrive in the other. Places to see in Barcelona. Several Gaudi sites - your daughter will be amazed and amused at some of his homes and the Sagradia Familia basilica. Get tickets for these ahead of time and you save yourselves hours of waiting. Walking down Ramblas to the seafront with the huge statue of Columbus. Barcelonetta with its beaches. Several other Churches. The Music hall. Take Rick's walking tours through the old city. See the "Magic" fountains at night. I could go on and on! A wonderful place to take your daughter, have a great time. Weather should be good, not too hat - it was REALLY hot when we were there in September.

1 extra night in Barcelona ~ AVE Train to MAdrid 2 nights Madrid, pick up a car and then do a driving tour. (my previous attempts at this just aren't posting) So before I type more will see if this will !!

I just spent ages writing a post & it didn't post! This is the quickie version. Over the past 2 yrs I've done two 5 week driving tours of Spain & Spain/Portugal. The 1st trip we only had a couple of days in BCN so we went back this year for a further 5 nights. IMO 2 nights not long enough in BCN I would add an extra night giving you MINIMUM 2 WHOLE DAYS. Get a pass for the HOP ON HOP OFF (Red Bus) Can be purchased on board. 24hrs or 48hrs a great way to get orientated, if you are jet lagged & arriving late sitting on the bus requires zero effort. 2 routes both worth doing 2nd route takes you to the Montjuic area where Palau National is. MUST DO's Sagrada Familia (Purchase tickets before you leave MUST enter at allotted time slot) La Boqueria Mercado on La Ramblas Casa Mila (La Pedera) as well as Casa Batllo (pre book tickets for day can enter at any time) Both are near each other. Barcelona Cathedral Barri Gothic area (old town) walks around the Barri Gothic and enjoy people watching and Tapas bars (yes kids can be there too) Walk Las Ramblas Evening - people watch Placa Real
Time to Spare add Park Guell weather permitting, Picasso Museum.

Thanks so much for your Barcelona itinerary. I really appreciate it!! However, how do I explore the Andalucia region? Thanks,

I was then going to suggest hiring a car, driving via sitges to Tarragona 1 night, to Valencia 2 nights but was having difficulty getting you to other places without long driving days (I don't like being in the car for more than 2 hours with perhaps 1 longer day) so I'm now going to suggest a different scenario. I appreciate you are flying out of Madrid but feel you can get the AVE to Madrid then do a circle tour. AVE to Madrid, depending on arrival time you could spend time in Madrid, then Pick up a car heading to either Segovia or Toledo(Depending on which direction you want to go) MADRID - SEGOVIA is only 1 hour 10 mins driving time. When I did some of this route it included Portugal it was also over 5 weeks, The problem is with trying to give you suggestions is there are a vast expanse of towns and villages that I haven't time to research before the next must do destination on my route plan. Which would look something like this. Madrid to Segovia 1 night – 1 hr 10 minute Stop en-route El Escorial and Vaille Los Caidos (Valley of the Fallen) Segovia – Salamanca Stopping at Segovia - Avila - 58 minutes for a break enjoying the town before heading to Salamanca 1 night. Avila to Salamanca 1 hr 5 minutes This is where I come un stuck, perhaps someone else can fill in the blank as this would be a long day of driving. Salamanca – Seville 4 hr 16 minutes on the highways ! Or a very long day indeed on the back roads. Seville 2 nights Head for the Pueblo Blanco's
Seville to Arcos de la Fronterra 1 hour 20 minutes walk around this village then drive to Ronda 1 night Arcos – Ronda 1 hr 11 mins

(I'm not adding up the days here, so when you do you could either take away Segovia and have an extra day in the Pueblo Blancos) Ronda - Granada 2hrs 6 minutes 2 nights Don't forget to prebook Alhambra
Watch the sunset over Alhambra from Mirador de San Nicolas you can get the local bus to viewpoint. If you have enough days add here Cordoba 1 night Seville to Cordoba 2 hrs 20 mins. Cordoba to Toledo 1 night This is a long driving day just over 4 hrs It might be better going to Cordoba fist and then Granada as this would put you on a better route to Toledo to stop at La Mancha.. Bring up google maps and enter the towns and perhaps look at doing it in reverse ? Toledo back to the airport is just about 2 hrs, we ended up spending the night at a airport hotel as our flight was at 5:30 am I can look up some of the hotels we stayed in, if you do end up doing some of these destination points. Hope this helps!!

Oh wow! This really helps. It seems that I probably should take the AVE to Madrid and from there rent a car and drive around... I'll finalize my plans by Sunday. Thanks so much!!!
Much appreciated!!

For car hire we have found this company which is part of priceline. . http://www.rentalcars.com/ it is also known as http://www.carhire3000.com/ in the UK as well as Traveljigsaw If you have a Gold Visa book with it and use the same Visa to pick up you car, I know here in Canada we are then covered for the Insurance. It is worth checking with your Visa. .. Unfortunately we did have to make a claim this year.. DH was driving and a Big planter jumped out in front of him as we pulled into the hotel parking lot! We had no problems.. ironically we were paying for hotel parking as we didn't want to risk leaving the car on a narrow street!
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Two weeks after you, we are going on a 14 day trip to Spain, flying in and out of the same cities as you. We are spending 4 nights in Barcelona, then taking the AVE train from Barcelona to Sevilla, where we will rent a car to explore the white washed hill towns and go to Granada (2 nights.) Then back to Sevilla, return the car, spend 3 nights there. Train to Madrid for the last few days, with day trips to Toledo and Segovia, if we can fit them in. All this has been figured after attending a travel class at Europe Through the Back Door, listening to Rick on the radio, and following posts on this site. Hopefully, our itinerary can be a cheat sheet for you!

Thanks, everyone! My trip is really taking shape!!!

Chaya: Don't worry; you can't go wrong!! I would take the train (you see lots of the countryside and pretty villages) and go to Granada and Cordoba. If you have time, you can also take the train to Ronda, and from Madrid to Toledo. I prefer smaller towns and can recommend Antequera for walking around, and it is smack in the middle of Andalucia, with trains going everywhere. Antequera has prehistoric dolmens, a Moorish castle and 27 churches, lots of charm -- and you could see it all on foot. The restaurant under the bullring is good, with lots of historic charm, and the museum is right upstairs. There is a wonderful, helpful Tourist Office right in the middle of town. Enjoy! Your daughter is very lucky to take such a trip with you! Phyllis