Howdy,
My wife and I will be in Barcelona for a week. Is it realistic to spend a couple days going down to Gibraltar and across to Morocco then back to Barcelona without wasting too much time (perhaps via fast train???).
Also, any other thoughts on good day trips to the countryside around Barcelona or even up to southern france would be great! Many thanks.
If your time is short and you want to go from Barcelona to Morocco, you should fly. Barcelona is a long way from Gibraltar, and if all you experience of Morocco is the "day trip from the ferry" you will be seeing the least attractive part of it (think of a trip to Tijuana, and that's all of Mexico that you ever see...).
Look for one of the discount airlines, there are more than a few that fly between Spain and Morocco. From Barcelona, try Atlas Blue, Click Air, and Ryan Air....there are probably a couple others.
We're going to be in Spain in a couple of weeks, and we're taking a quick side-trip to Morocco (we're flying from Madrid to Marrakech, then flying back from Fes to Paris). There are LOTS of options for discount flights to/from Morocco.
For me personally 3 days or so is plenty of time to see Barcelona, and that does leave you time to see something else in Spain or Morocco if you wish. There is a night train from Barcelona to Granada in Southern Spain. You might consider taking the night train south to Granada then continuing on to Morocco. You could even maybe squeeze in a trip to the Alhambra if you book in advance and for efficiency taxi up to Alhambra then back to the train to continue on to Morocco that afternoon. This is just a suggestion as the Alhambra was one of the highlights of my trip to Spain this Spring, and it's easy to see why it's the top tourist attraction in Spain. If you can squeeze in an overnight in Granada, it's a beautiful view and good peoplewatching from the San Nicolas viewpoint and there are lots of great restaurants. If you like gardens and moorish palaces, this is the place to go. Maybe flying back would be a good option - it looks like you can book a one-way ticket on Ryan air from Marrakesh to Girona-Barcelona.
If you want to minimize travel time, you could skip Morocco and consider taking the fast train to Madrid - it's only 3 hrs each way. Definitely book a reservation in advance since they book up fast.
