We will be going to Spain in mid April (2013) for about 6 days before putting our college son on a train from Barcelona to Paris where he'll be studying for the following month.
We'll probably fly into and out of Madrid and would appreciate suggestions on an itinerary. My husband doesn't really like big cities. Also he prefers to spend 3 (or at a minimum 2) nights in each place to avoid constantly packing and unpacking.
We're thinking about maybe trying to see a few Madrid highlights - Prado, for instance - then touring towns around Madrid (Segovia, Toledo, etc.) before taking the train to Barcelona and spending a couple of days in that area. After our son leaves we may extend our trip another several days to go south, maybe to the Granada area, before returning to Madrid to fly home.
Questions: (1) Would Madrid be a good base to see the surrounding towns or should we stay outside Madrid? (2) What about public transport versus renting a car? (3) Any itinerary ideas would also be wonderful.
Many thanks!
Wanderandexplore
Need Maribel's Advice on Short Visit to Spain
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Go to www.maribelsguides.com and use the link there to send her a message.
I have not seen Maribel participate much lately.
Toledo and Segovia are easily connected by high speed AVE train. I think Madrid is a great base for your idea.
You can fly to Granada from Barcelona.
If you don't want to have to overnight again Madrid for the last night, try to buy an open jaw from Sevilla or Granada back to your home and just connect in Madrid en route.
This is under "multiple destinations" on booking sites.
I'd fly into Madrid and out Barcelona. It will keep you from loosing anytime in backtracking.
Remember, if you are arriving on a long, international flight, you'll need the first day to adjust to the time difference and dining hours in Spain, so I would look at spending the first four days in Madrid, doing Toledo and Segovia as recommended by lincasanova, and then take the AVE to Barcelona a day or two there with your son.
Spending less than two days in Granada would be a waist of time, but if you wanted to do Granada for two nights, you could spend the first three days in Madrid, then fly to Granada on Iberia 8640 (AIR NOSTRUM - 1hr 5m) then up to Barcelona on Iberia 5627 (VUELING - 1 hr 20m) after spending two nights in Granada. The mid-April rate on Iberia is around €234/person for the Madrid-Granada-Barcelona ticket.
Or, as mentioned, you can email Maribel from her webpage. She might respond.
If you only have 6 nights you barely have enought time to even touch Barcelona and Madrid. Would it be possible to skip Barcelona and just focus on the area around Madrid especially if our husband doesn't like large cities. You could spend 4 nights in Madrid and visit Toledo and Segovia as Daytrips. Then perhaps a couple of nights in beautiful Salamanca.
Or skip Madrid and spend 4 nights in Barcelona and 2 in Girona or Tarragona.
I'd only venture to Granada if you ad more time - at a minimum 6 days to visit my Andalucian essentials - Granada for 2 nights and Sevilla for 4 nights with a daytrip to cordoba.
if you have more time after putting your son on the train in Barcelona and you wish to go south,
you can easily fly to Seviile or Granada, spend a few days and take a train back to Madrid
( easy train connectin from Seville, 41/2 from Granada or a flight form Granad to 'Madrid)
another option would be to stay around Barcelona ( you could rent a car to see some of Costa Brava)
and take a train to back to Madrid.