stimpycat

We are planning a trip to London and Barcelona and wondering how many days to devote to London without overdoing it. Right now we are thinking 10 days--4 in each city plus 2 travel days. Does that seem like enough time? Should we spend more or less in either place?

Percy

There is lots to see in London and Barcelona is a very lovely place.

I think three full days in Barcelona with a guide and the rest in London would be better.

Again it depends on how much you want to see in each place.

Andrew

That's really up to you. What are your interests? I may have entirely different reasons to visit either place than you would so my advice is probably not helpful to you. Why are you going to London and Barcelona vs. any other city in Europe? What do you plan to do in either place? Day trips somewhere - if any are on your list - may take a day from one or the other. Otherwise, 4 days each is an even guess. (Some people might take one night from each and spend them in a third city I suppose.)

janisj

"<i>how many days to devote to London without overdoing it.</i>"

You could spend your entire 10 days in London and not come anywhere close to overdoing it. London is huge and has enough to fill 10 weeks *or 10 years for that matter.

Barcelona - you could easily spend 10 days there if you take some side trips to other cities/sites.

But if you only have 10 days you only have 10 days. In your math -- did you also subtract a day for travel between London and Barcelona.

And are you flying open jaw into London and home from Barcelona? If not, you need to subtract <u>another</u> travel day. So basically w/ 10 days you'd have about 3 days free in each city. Not enough time to scratch the surface in London and to only just scratch the surface in Barcelona.

If you ARE flying open jaw - that helps a little. Gives you essentially an extra 1/2 day in each city or a full day one or the other.

So Andrew asks a good question - why did you pick these 2 cities and what do you plan on doing in each? If both are "musts" I'd spend 2/3 of my free days in London (to account for the 1st day pretty much lost to jet lag) and 1/3 in Barcelona

nytraveler

IMHO you cannot overdo London - it has about 10 times as many things to see as Barcelona - which is a perfectly charming city - but not London. I would definitely allow more for London - but that's based on what I like. I don;t k now what you like - if you want to sit on a beach London isn't a great choice.

If you start putting together a list of your must sees in each place I think that will help you decide.

europeannovice

We just got back from spending 10 days in London and I feel we haven't even scratched the surface. There is so much to see and do. We only got out of London once to see the countryside but you can spend weeks and months and still not see everything in London and the surrounding areas.

More reasons to come back!

In four days you can read the guidebooks and select your very "must sees". I would recommend the British Museum--fabulous collection of items acquired by the British Empire. In addition, I vote for the Tower of London, St Paul Cathedral, seeing Westminster and the Cabinet War Rooms and if you can Hampton Court Palace.

moonrise

10 days is not enough for either cities...but then I'm greedy.I'd suggest 4 in Barcelona and 6 in London...London is just so big!!!
moonrise

janisj

"<i>I'd suggest 4 in Barcelona and 6 in London</i>"

That'd be great. But it appears they don't have 10 days/nights. After the 2 days subtracted for travel to/from Europe, and another day of travel in Europe, they really have at best 7 days.

stimpycat

Thanks for all the feedback. This is my first time to the forum. We are not set on only 10 days, just our initial estimation. Me and my husband chose these two cities as a compromise for what we wanted to get out of a vacation--a big city and something more laid back in a non English speaking European country we've yet to visit. I think based on everyones comments we'll probably plan a slightly longer trip with more time in London then Barcelona. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions soon!

beeswing

I've been to London (twice) and spent 3 1/2 days in Barcelona this summer. While the scale isn't the same, I think it's important to note that Barcelona is *also* a big city...in fact, it was bigger and more sprawling than I had even begun to imagine. If you truly want "laid back," Barcelona isn't it.

portiaperu

If you can devote more than 10 days to this trip you will greatly increase your enjoyment. As pointed out above, you will lose a significant amount of time to travel there, back, and in-between.

I first visited London for a seven day stay. Our next visit was a three week stay. We plan to return as there are many, many experiences and sites within and outside of London on our wish list.

My preference, whenever possible, is to devote a week minimum to a large city. Anything less results in a great deal of rushing about and regrets on the way home.

After all, if you have the days available, the airfare is the same price whether you stay 10 days or 16 days (usually) and economizing on lodging and meals could allow several days to be added to your itinerary.

You'll be happy to have more days in London. I've not been to Barcelona so will leave days to devote for others to advise.

And, I just noted your phrasing of "overdoing it in London" - you might want to head to the library for travel guides to understand the richness of London - it's not possible to overdo London in many multiples of four days.

Whatever you decide, enjoy!

janisj

"<i>a big city and something more laid back in a non English speaking European country </i>"

But that isn't what you've picked. You have two massive/major/hectic/amazing cities.

Both are wonderful -- neither one is small/laid back/relaxing.

suze

I've not been but have friends who adore Barcelona. I've seen their photos and heard the stories. It's definitely not a low key small laid back town!! I think you may have an incorrect perception about Barcelona from that phrase you wrote.

To the question of timeline, for 2 cities if you can stretch the trip to 2 full weeks, that's be a lot better imo!

nytraveler

Agree that Barcelona isn't laid back - it;s a very bustling vibrant city. If you're looking for something slow-paced and relaxed Barcelona definitely isn't it. I would tend to go for a much smaller town - perhaps in Spain or Italy - but Germany or Switzerland could also be good.

wren

We spent 8 days in London and I agree w/ the others that we just scratched the surface! I also agree that Barcelona is huge--with it's urban population, it has over 4 million residents. It is a great city--but not at all laid back--in fact it is swarming with people at all hours of the day!

Please tell us where you have visited and it will help with suggestions.