Would appreciate recommendation regarding Hotel vs Apt for 3 day rental in Madrid for 6 persons (2 bath)
And if apartment, any recommendations, planning on Puerta del Sol area.
Then we have a 7 day stay in Malaga, is it better to use trains or auto to get there, and then do some light sight sseing?
Lastly what is better way to arrange our 6 AM departure from Madrid. a) return to MAD day before or take a night train from Malaga (3 hours?).
check out madridman.com....and booking.com
Also, check out apartments madrid on one of the search engines.
I stayed in two different apartments in Madrid in the past, and both were good. But I was traveling alone. Any near the Plaza Espana will be a good location and I think you will find several listed there. There are some at the Sol area I remember seeing on line. It will be a very loud place for the most part...Center of everything there touristy!!!
Another website to check for apartments in Madrid is homelidays.com. You probably won't find many in the Sol area, and I agree it's too noisy. As mentioned, the Plaza d'Espana area is nice, and within walking distance....a couple of other locales include Chueca and Fuencarral.
As for the southern portion of your trip, I would take the train. It's a 6-hour drive (before stops), and you'll find that renting a vehicle in Madrid large enough for 6 people and their luggage, and dropping it in Malaga, will probably cost you close to 100 euro/day. If you book early (up to 62 1/2 days in advance,) you can get train tickets for as low as 35 Euro per person, and it's less than 3 hours. You can then jump on the local commuter train (the cercanias, included on your RENFE ticket) out to Malaga airport (about 15 minutes) and get a similar vehicle for far less....about 70 Euro/day, and the CDW is zero.
As for your return journey, there is no overnight train from Malaga to Madrid. So your options would be to take the last train in the evening then hang around Barajas airport for a couple of hours before your flight check-in begins around 4 a.m.....or take an earlier train and getting a hotel so you can get at least a few hours' sleep. With a long flight home in front of me, I'd choose the latter.
Nilda we are staying in Madrid in a few weeks for 4 nights and have rented a great 3 bdrm apartment in a complex with a pool. (Should be nice because it looks HOT there!) The minimum stay was 3 nights and we found it through friendlyrentals.com - but if you're interested here is the address of the place we're staying... the site is easy to use and in all of our correspondence with them they have been prompt and helpful.
http://www.friendlyrentals.com/en/apartments/madrid/apartment-2556-33.htm
Thanks all for your replies, most helpful. New at this so hope this posts works. We are still looking but your suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Nilda
