Madrid or Barcelona

Perhaps San Francisco is a better comparison for Madrid in that the tourist area of Madrid is relatively small and extremely pleasant. The shopping is not unlike Chicago. The rest of the city is a huge mess of urban sprawl, but travelers shouldn't care. These areas aren’t on your itinerary anyway.

The best way to settle this is to find a way to visit both cities! Have fun!

Madrid, without a doubt.

Barcelona is an industrial city with a few tourist attractions and a regional history.

Madrid is a world capital with an intense variety of historical and cultural sites. Plus it's at the center of a bunch of great day trips: Toledo, Segovia, Avila, for example.

El Escorial is another great day trip. Everything in Madrid is an enjoyable stroll…nothing is more than 15-20 minutes from Puerta del Sol. Sampling tapas, yemas, and marzipan is a good reason to visit, as is drinking a bit of sangria. The Prado is unmatched in Europe (IMHO) with respect to the variety of painters and number of masterpieces on display. Add the Palacio Real and Plaza Mayor for your fix of architecture, and Madrid makes a lot of sense. I’m guessing there may be a few unmentioned variables, such as itinerary, time, airport, etc., that might influence a person to recommend one city over the other, but Madrid is a sure bet if you only have time for one. I would have liked to squeeze Barcelona in on this last visit, but time didn’t allow it. Barcelona does offer world-class architecture…Antoni Gaudi.

Hi Samantha,

I hate to rock the boat, as everything the previous posters said about Madrid is true, but I have to put in a vote for Barcelona! If you're looking for a more youthful feel, I think Barcelona has that. Madrid is more stately and more quintessentially Spanish, but Barcelona is a little hipper (IMHO). Maybe it's the beach culture. :-)

Its art can't compare to Madrid's, but it does have the amazing Picasso Museum and the Museum of Catalan Art (stunning medieval collection).

In architecture, as other posters mentioned, you can't beat Gaudi. His crazy style defines the city and hides in unexpected places, making for great wandering. You can get happily lost in the streets around the Barri Gotic (medieval neighbordhood) and the Ramblas for hours.

Daytrips from Barcelona include Montserrat mountaintop monastery, Salvador Dali's house, and the artsy beach town of Cadaques.

That said, I don't think you can go wrong with either one! And the high-speed train links them in just 3 hours, so maybe you can at least do an overnight trip to Barcelona?

Enjoy Spain!

Samamtha, i totally agree with Emma, i have to say i have not been to Madrid yet, it is on may list. But Barcelona as so much to offer, we spent 4 nights, and could have easily added another 2. Lots of easy day trips to take also. Barcelona is one of the cities i have to go back to!

Having been to both and loving each of them for different reasons, I don't envy your position of having to choose one. Here is which city I'd give the nod to given each of your interests:

Art: Madrid. I think it has more variety/larger museums, unless, of course, you are hugely keen on Picasso.

Architecture: Barcelona. While they both have beautiful old buildings, the Gaudi buildings in Barcelona are just so unique to the city.

Food/wine: I'd say toss a coin, although I'm not much of a foodie so perhaps not the ideal person to weigh in on this.

Wandering: again, toss a coin, but I may give the nod slightly to Madrid only because I really disliked Las Ramblas in Barcelona and it was hard to avoid completely.

Before we went on our trip someone mentioned that in terms of vibe, Barcelona was more like Los Angeles (laid-back) and Madrid like New York (big city). While I can't agree completely (and our friend in Barcelona thinks B is more like Chicago), it's not a horrible analogy if you don't take it too literally (and perhaps there are two other cities that would make for a better comparison).

Again, good luck in deciding. The good news is you live in Italy and hopefully get to visit both at some point!

For all of the things you listed, with a Spanish flavour....Madrid, without a doubt.

Thanks so much for all the input. It's going to be a tough decision. Considering the train is only 3 hours between, we may be able to make both happen.

If you DO decide to do both, you can book AVE tickets for as much as 60% off starting 62 days in advance of your travel dates. They do go fast, so you may want to jump on line around 1 or 1:30 a.m of the 62nd day...all the fares should loaded be in by then. The cheapest, "Web" fares are as low as about 44 Euro one-way. The "Estrella" tickets are as low as 65 Euro. Regular one-ways start at 109 Euro, with no round-trip discounts. You print your tickets at home. Check www.renfe.es

Norm is right -- take his advice seriously. 62 days out, get online and get tickets for the fast train and that will let you spend at least 1 day in the city you don't choose.

Now... for art, architechture, food, wine and wandering -- Madrid is 10x the city that Barcelona is.

That being said -- for night life and beach, Barcelona is the place.

We are going back in 2011, with our 3 kids. We will actually be doing both. 3 days in Barcelona for beach time, and 4 days in Madrid for culture and food. (Then we're off to Portugal for a while... can't wait...)