Portugal or Morocco

We did a similar trip last year and started in Lisbon and really liked it. It was the least expensive place we have visited. From there we went to Spain but excluded Barcelona since we had been there before. Morocco, IMO, would require more time( a week or so) and planning. Granada may be a nice addition to your travel plan.

It depends on how you will get to-and-from those options. Keep in mind that both Portugal and Morocco are not well connected to Spain despite being neighbors. There is an overnight train from Lisbon to Madrid but the only other reasonable option for you would be to fly. For Morocco, you could only fly and doing that you'd miss the highlights of the journey there. It's typically a ferry destination though by flying you could actually go to a decent city inland and not the coastal one. For Portugal, your only decent option with 2 days is Lisbon since you can more easily fly in and out internationally.

You're going to burn the better part of a day getting to either country; and the better part of another one getting back. It's a complete waste of time. There's not much close to Barcelona unless you work north. Maybe you should extend the Toledo excursion to include Segovia and Avila since they're nearby and won't gobble travel time.

I agree with the others, and would go further to say that your plan doesn't seem to make any sense to me. At least not without providing more context: where are you flying in to, and where are you departing from? How many full non-travel days do you really have? Do you really have 8 full days? Subtract at least half a day when moving from one place to another (a little less for Toledo). Be honest with yourself - the answers to these questions makes all the difference. While both Portugal or Morocco are great, you don't appear to have enough time to do either one. I'd probably agree with Ed, that trying to squeeze in either Portugal or Morocco would be a complete waste of time. However, depending on the answers to my questions above, I might suggest that even Barcelona should be dropped from a trip this short. Barcelona is only slightly better connected to Madrid than either Portugal or Morocco.

Also, for what it's worth, I've heard Morocco mentioned several times as a country that has the possibilities of regime revolt similar to those we have seen in Egypt and other places.

One minor correction to David's post. Barcelona is only about a 3 hour high-speed train ride from Madrid. That's still a half day spent getting there, but it's far better than getting to Portugal or Morocco.

I agree with the rest. Both Portugal and Morocco are amazing, but your time it too limited. I would add the days to do Seville, or just more time in Madrid and Barcelona for a side trip or two.

Thank you everyone. I believe you're right! There is not enough time to visit any of these countries. I think I'm going to visit Sevilla. Again thank you

A minor correction to your correction, Douglas. :) You can in fact get to Morocco from Madrid (and other cities in Spain) in about the same amount of time it takes to get to Barcelona. I know Rick has planted a powerful post-hypnotic suggestion to all his fans that if you're in Spain and you want to go to Morocco, then you take the ferry, but I'm convinced that's not the best way to go (unless you just want to have a "bordertown" experience for a few hours and flee back to Spain). The best way to go is to fly. There are several cheap airlines that will fly you to Marrakesh or Fes for less than the cost of a last minute Ave ticket between Barcelona and Madrid (fares are crazy low, if you're careful not to step into any of the typical discount airline pitfalls). Flying to Morocco and getting settled will eat up about the same amount of time (about half a day) as it will to take the train and relocate your base from Madrid to Barcelona. So, I think it's accurate to say that Barcelona, Lisbon and Marrakesh are all more or less equally well (or poorly) connected to Madrid - figure you'll spend half a day getting to any of them (you can also fly to Lisbon from several Spanish cities). I know that runs counter to conventional wisdom, but I think it's actually true. In any case, it's moot for Gil's trip, as he has seen the wisdom of not trying to do too much in a short amount of time. :)

David - point taken. But I would argue that taking a train from a centrally located station and riding in comfort with all your luggage and getting up for snacks and enjoying the scenery for 3 hours is better than getting to more remote airports, security hassles, being charged for luggage larger than a purse, cramped seats, waiting for luggage and taxis/long metro rides into town. So how's that for a runon sentence? ;-) Note to Gil - good plan to skip Portugal or Morocco on such a short trip. You'll love Sevilla!

Ed is right. Also, how about Cordoba and Granada.

Lisbon is the most wonderful city in Europe, this is from myself and my darling mother who grew up in Barbados. If you have the chance don't miss Lisbon in Portugal!