Iberian Trip -- Opinions on Valencia

Aquarium is about all that's worth going all the way over there to see.

Maybe you could swap it out for Segovia and Avila while you're around Madrid.

However:

"wife is an aquarium nut..... Valencia has a ginormous spectacular aquarium" would make me skip everything else and go straight to Valencia. You do plan to keep living with the woman, right?

Ed -- Good point. I guess a better question would be: What else can we do in Valencia after we see the Aquarium?

I am finding the Renfe website maddening... Am I reaading right that the fastest train is 3hrs 45minutes Madrid-Valencia?

How is the beach in Valencia, if we opted to do our beach day(s) there instead of the Costa Del Sol?

If you're going that direction, you might want to check out Palma de Majora. I've never been but I did some research on Valencia since that's where my family is from and I thought I would visit some day. It sounds a bit touristy though...

Last things first....yes, there are no high-speed trains Madrid-Valencia yet...but it is 400 kilometers (250 miles), so it's at least as fast as driving.\
Second, the overnight train from Lisbon to Madrid can be expensive, and they book up quickly during the high season. If you aim to book in RENFE as soon as the window opens, 62 1/2 days before your travel date, you should be able to get double cabins for about 45 Euro pp.
Third....if you have only 10 days on the ground (excluding arrival and departure days), and you plan to do Lisbon and Madrid with side trips, going to Valencia will eliminate any other destination. It's a full day's journey from Valencia to Malaga, never mind to Sevilla....at least 700 kilometers (425 miles.) Aqarium or not, Valencia is not, IMHO, worth dropping Sevilla and other stops in Andalucia.
Third, if you are planning to head back to Lisbon from southern Spain for your departure, be prepared for an all-day trip involving buses and trains.
Last, with three children accompanying you, you may find it much more pleasant to establish a base in Lisbon for 4 or 5 days, and another in Madrid for an equal period of time, and make day trips...thus avoiding the hassle of travel. There's lots to do in and around both cities to keep everyone occupied for that period of time. With your current plan, you're looking at 4 days involving travel to new destinations out of 10 days in total....five if you count Valencia. That's a lot of travel in so short a period of time.

Big thanks for the responses so far.

From your contributions -- to clarify -- and from some soul searching....

1) The trip has gotten longer. I'm not sure how much longer just yet -- but we will be going for more than 10 days. (The limitation is not money -- it is vacation available -- and we've decided we'd rather have a good Europe trip and deal with less flexibility when I return to work.)

2) We will almost certainly fly open-jaws to make more time available. Did I understand from other posters that there is a good point of exit in/near Malaga?

3) My wife now wants to spend our beach day(s) in Salema, Portugal rather than in Costa Del Sol.

I thought your trip was more than a little tight. And it is always easy to tell someone that they are doing too much. Last year over New Years we did a ten day trip -- Madrid, Cordoba,Seville,Granada, and home from Malaga. It was a quicker trip than we normally do and you are adding in several more places, especially the Lisbon, in about the same amount of time. The Barcelona recommendation is completely out of the question since it is long way in the wrong direction. BUT to respond more directly.

Malaga has a terrific international airport with some direct flights to the US. We came back on a Delta flight thru New York. It is easy to get to via bus service from the downtown train/bus stations which across the street from each other. Since this is a big tourist area, almost all signs are also in English.

Why not get the aquarium visit out of the way in Lisbon [The Oceanarium is reputedly one of the world's biggest or best: http://www.oceanario.pt/] and spend the rest of the trip relaxedly enjoying the generated spousal goodwill? My apologies to the poster with Valencian roots, but there is little in that city of much appeal to anybody other than the Valencianos. The province of Valencia, however, is beautiful, and has some good beaches, etc. It is unfortunately for you, on the other side of the peninsula from your initial base of operations. Why not enjoy the magnificent beaches of Portugal, spend some quality time in Madrid and Andalusia, and leave the eastern coast for another time? Any way you do it, have a great trip.

Lengthening your trip is an excellent idea...I'll make for a much more rewarding experience.
Based on your ideas, you might want to swing from Lisbon, thru Salema, over to Sevilla, down thru the white villages to Malaga and Granada, then back into Madrid and home from there. It will be a little difficult to travel from southern Portugal into southern Spain....train to Faro and bus to Sevilla are about your only options. Then pick up the car when leaving Sevilla, travel thru the white villages (and make a daytime stop in Gibraltar,) head for Granada, then drop off the car in Malaga and take the AVE into Madrid, flying home from there. Sounds like a great time!

My wife and I spent a week in the Valencia area last year. The science compound is architectually fantastic. We spent most of a day there and that was about all we wished to see. There are some things to see other than the science exhibits but, and this is only my opinion, you may stay in other cities in the south a little longer and skip traveling all the way to the east coast. The beaches are okay, the driving is exciting in the city and being flat, there's not much to orient yourself to as you get around. We spent several days exploring the beaches to the north of Valencia and hiking up in the hills to Roman ruins. There are very cheap airlines that you can use in Spain and Portugal. We flew both Easy Jet and Span air in those countries and they were much cheaper than most trains. Have a great time on the peninsula.

I appreciate all the feedback.

We will capitalize on the aquarium in Lisbon and beaches in Portugal. We will be saving the east coast of Spain for another trip.

The trip will now likely be 14 days. The target destinations are now Lisbon/ Nazare/ Salema/ Gibralter/ Sevilla/ White Towns/ Madrid / Toledo. I'll work out the routing as we continue to do research, but starting in Lisbon, heading south, crossing into Spain, then back up to Madrid and home is a possible route. I might do it the other way around so that we have our beach days in the second half of the trip.

I'll be posting a new thread about transportation along the Gibralter / Sevilla / Salema corridor...