Need help with Spain Itinerary (6 Days)

Near Madrid is Toledo and Segovia. Toledo is a must with a blend of Moorish, Jewish and Christian cultures/architecture and a great cathedral all on a scenic hill town. Segovia has the great Roman aquaduct, good cathedral and decent Alcazar (Moorish castle). Both are 1/2 hour train rides. Escorial is also an easy day trip from Madrid. Barcelona has less side trips for your interests. But its filled with amazing architecture. The Gaudi sites are expensive but well worth it. I recommend touring both apartments - Batillo is the most amazing interior you may ever see (actually I think that's a quote from the audio guide) and Mila has a great museum explaining his work and the best roof garden.

Definitely visit Toledo, it's an easy day trip from Madrid, and is absolutely gorgeous, and if you're interested in architecture, you'll love it. Or stay a night, it's even better after all the day trippers are gone and the locals are out and about.

Toledo!! A must...AVE train 1/2 hour trip. When you exit the train station, proceed to the street at the exit for the train property. Catch the city bus there for a euro or so...take it to Plaza Zodocover, the city center Get off and explore....Easy to see the city, just nothing is level!! Posada de Manolo is a great place to stay over night. Near the cathederal. Take a taxi to it. Walk the Gran Via in Madrid to see fantastic architecture of the belle epoque era.

If you list the fifty best castles in Spain, none are anywhere near either Madrid or Barcelona. One not so great one is Castellet, about fourty miles west of Barcelona. The closest one of the same category near Madrid is Chinchon (sometimes called Condes) which is about twenty-five miles to the south. The latter is the better of the two. I have no idea of how to get to it without a car.

If your lead line is accurate - 6 days. You really don't have much time for day trips from either city. Plus you will lose most of the day getting to Barcelona. While we enjoy Madrid, Barcelona has more interesting things to see.

6 days are just about enough to see Madrid and Barcelona. if you skip all the museum, then you can side trip to avila (walled city), Segovia (castle, old city), and toledo.

I would say take a day trip to Montserrat from Barcelone. Beautiful views and a fun day trip! From Madrid go to Toledo and Segovia.

Lets be realistic here You cannot do Toledo and Segovia in a day trip from Madrid they are in opposite directions and especially Toledo will take a whole day.

Thank you everyone for the advise.

Hi Gil, Have you decided what other areas you are going to go see while in Spain? I & my husband are going to Spain for the first time ever the end of April and will be spending 4 days in Madrid. The rest of the time we will be in southern spain, near Malaga (as our base) but we are going to Sevilla, Granada, Cordorba and Gibraltar which is English. I just learned that a couple of weeks ago. lol I've heard that Toledo, Segovia, and Salamanca are neat to see (acording to Rick Steve's Europe shows). I hope you have a great time. If you don't mind, please let us know what you think and neat places especially near Madrid so we can check them out. Have fun.
Cheri

Hi Gil, From Madrid, pick one: Toledo or Avila or Segovia (my preference lie in that order) In Barcelona -- just stick to everything it has to offer: the Old Town, all of the Gaudi buildings, Guell park, the Roman vestiges here and there, etc. The one museum you should not miss, given your interests, is the Barcelona City Museum - it has a great underground section with Roman ruins. You will not have time to do a day trip out of Barcelona.

' Gibraltar which is English' Gibraltar is one of the fourteen British Overseas Territories of the United Kingdom.

I am going to be in Spain~ Portugal for 5 weeks late Sept .. After meeting up with Mother in law( from UK) in Majorca, hubby and I are going to do a 4 week road trip.. We were planning on visiting Gibraltar but are reconsidering where our time would be better spent after finding this on tripadvisor.. Re: Is Gibraltar worth a visit? If you are short on time (IMO) give Gib a miss. The view from the very top is wonderful but the town area is a dump! A cultureless experience ~~~~ Have to agree with JCB. Unless you have a day when you are kicking your heals/nothing to do, give Gib a miss. Apart from the view from the top of the rock its the pits and a rip off. ~~~~~ Pros It's another country. It's got monkeys. It manages to exploit it's limited tourist appeal quite well and by booking a (fairly expensive) taxi tour you can see the lot - monkeys, caves, view from the top, Napoleonic era fortifications etc. in half a day. Duty free. Cons It's a bit of a dump. You might have to queue for a while to get in/out. It's got monkeys (well not everybody likes them) It's a bit like one of many slightly down at heel English towns but with a big rock. On balance, we're quite glad we had a shortish day there this year, but I can't imagine us returning in a hurry. The monkeys were great. ~~~~~~~ We have crossed Gibraltar off our must see list and am now researching Cadiz for a day/night trip. We love history and have been told that Cadiz is the oldest inhabited city in Europe? Re: Is Gibraltar worth a visit? Destination Expert
You have been advised well stancruzer, and made the right decision. Gib is a dump and the food is lousy as well.