MBluebird

Taking a trip to Madrid & Barcelona w/DH and two teens. I've made an outline of what we plan to do, as a result of reading Fodor's boards, Mirabelle's Guides & lots of RS and have hopefully left some down time as we like to explore and wander a bit. We are not planning on taking any day or side trips. Have I missed anything and am I being reasonable in my expectations? Please feel free to offer suggestions and THANK YOU for reading!

Friday arrival:
-Get Euros from ATM at airport and take taxi to hotel
-Rest a bit and then take Puerto del Sol to Royal Palace Loop Walking Tour from Rick Steve's Madrid Guide Book (includes Plaza Mayor, Mercado de San Miguel) Taking photos of the guidebook pages for any walks on the trip so I can view on my phone and not have the book out. I've also downloaded the app on my phone.

Saturday:
-Rick Steve's Gran Via walk
-Museo Del Prado
-Flamenco at Teatro Nuevo Apolo ???

Sunday:
-Would love to attend church... any suggestions?
-La Latina/El Rastro (Aware of pick pocket situation. We live in a major city, so have some street smarts)
-Reina Sofia Museum/Retiro Park

The teens also want to see the Thyseen and have hot chocolate at Chocolateria San Gines. Where should we put these things? I haven't looked too closely at restaurants. Am planning on wandering, eating lots of tapas and using the Yelp app while we are there.

Monday:
Taking an AVE to Barcelona (purchased tickets already). I have a list of things we want to see/do (in Barcelona through Friday) but haven't yet grouped any of them together. Here's what's currently on the list:
-Free walking tours from Plaça Catalunya
-Upper El Raval area
-San Pau
-Strolling the Gothic Quarter
-Sagrada Familia (tour first and then turrets so we can spend as much time as we like in the turrets)
-La Pedrera (Casa Mila)
-Gaudi House Museum/Casa Museu Gaudi
-Casa Batllo
-La Mansana de la Discordia
-Caixa Forum-- free entrance to public, take stairs or elevator to modernista terrace
-Park Guell
-Picasso Museum
-A concert at Palau de la Musica
-Granja Xocolateria
-Boqueria Market

Thanks for any tips or suggestions you can offer!

Bedar

Your itinerary sounds fine. Are you planning to take the kids to a soccer match or a bullfight ?

MBluebird

Thanks, Bedar. Not planning to go to a game or a bullfight.

LeslieC

If there is nothing playing at the Palau de la Musica you can nonetheless take a guided tour of the interior which is beautiful. Sign up for a time slot at the box office.
I don't know Madrid. But, Barcelona is a beautiful, large, sprawling city. We really enjoyed the hop on/ hop off bus to get an overview. You don't say how long you will be in Barcelona. We hopped off at the Sagrada Familia and also at Parc Guell - both must sees! Enjoy.

benmia

San Gines (for churros and chocolate) is very close to Plaza Mayor. If you want to buy the pass for the 3 museums, buy it at the Thyseen or the Reina Sofia and avoid the line at the Prado. Very interesting to at least see the area around the Palace.

Be sure to buy your tickets for Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera, and Casa Battlo in advance of your trip. Definetely a concert at Palau de la Musica. You should go to Montjuic for the view, the Olympic stadium, etc. We had a lovely paella lunch at Barcelonetta Restaurant at the beach area.

MBluebird

Thanks so much for you replies! We will be in Barcelona for 4 nights/5 days. I was thinking of buying our tickets for Sagrada Familia, La Pedrera, and Casa Battlo once we were there. Do I need to book them far in advance if doing online?

Robert2016

If you don't purchase the tickets online, ahead of time, you'll end up waiting in line to buy them. Not a good use of what little time you have in Barcelona.

MBluebird

Got it-- thank you. I was planning on buying them ahead of time, but doing it online while we were there so I had a better sense of weather, etc. I'll just do it before we go so I have one less thing to think about organizing when we get there.

lindygirl

I highly recommend the free walking tours in Barcelona (looks like some are already on your list). I went with Runner Bean and I loved them. Yes, please buy tickets for Sagrada Familia ahead of time, as well as other Gaudi sites.

I went to the Picasso Museum when it was free (on a Tues, maybe?) - long lines but they moved quickly. I also took a cooking class - could be really fun as a family.

Here's my trip blog with photos, itinerary, and recommendations:
http://fanofblank.blogspot.com/2014/...-in-spain.html

Enjoy trip planning!

MBluebird

Thanks, Lindygirl-- I enjoyed looking at your blog! I love that you can book the RunnerBean tours ahead of time. I think I'm going to book the Gaudi one on our first full day there to help us get our bearings-- and then we can loop back on our own once we know more of what we are looking at. I'm starting to get really excited!

lindygirl

Thanks MBluebird! Yeah, I'm glad that I booked Runner Bean ahead of time - they were popular and had to turn away people who just showed up without booking. I'm the same - I need to get oriented to the city before I know what I else want to do. The Gaudi tour was really good and I took the Old City Tour which was still good but didn't blow me away like the Gaudi one did.

You're going to have a blast!

Egbert

Sagrada, Pedrera and Battlo in one day is a lot of Modernisme.

IMDonehere

Not a fan of Rick Steve's books, including Spain. His knowledge of art is superficial at best and his choices what to include and exclude are curious.

Actually the Fodor's Spain has improved greatly. And the Michelin Green is best for sights.

There is a fellow named Kimhe on these boards who is incredibly knowledgeable of flamenco. Whatever advice he gives, see if it fits your schedule.

The rates for Euros at the airport are usually awful. See if you bank can supply them at a reasonable rate.

Be sure to have a four digit pin if you plan on using your ATM card in Europe. And if you can get a credit card with a chip, it will make things easier.

There is a new option/scam when you use credit cards. Always tell the person, you want the bill in Euros, not dollars. If you chose dollars, you will pay an extra fee.

While in Madrid consider a day trip to Toledo or Segovia.

Bedar

IMD - You are somewhat out of date. The ATMs at the airport give exactly the same rate as those in town so long as you use a proper bank ATM and not a Bureau de Change type. No need for the hassle of getting euros in the US.

MBluebird

Thank you IMD-- I'll look up Kimhe and see what he recommends. Went ahead and got some Euros at our local bank-- just enough in case I run into an ATM snag. Have chips and pins so hopefully will be all set! Can't wait!

kimhe

Plain fantastic Sara Baras dances "Voces" (Voices) in Teatro Nuevo Apolo until May 28: http://www.summummusic.com/sara-baras-voces/

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSB63RCOzYc

I also recommend Casa Patas, Cardamomo or Coral de la Morería for top of the shelf every night flamenco performances, only great artists in these venues.
Casa Patas: http://www.casapatas.com/
Cardamomo: https://cardamomo.com/en/
Corral de la Morería: http://www.corraldelamoreria.com/en/index.html

IMDonehere

Bedar-Last September/October we passed through Barajas six times, and out of habit, I never get money at an airport. I never even checked to look. On the other hand, we bought $1,000 worth of Euros from a local exchange in NYC when the Euro was slightly depressed and made about 10%.

Bedar

Well, that's good ! You live in NYC where evidently Euros are readily available whereas we live far out where it's a real hassle to get them. Euros ? What's that they say at the bank.

IMDonehere

I also think, myself included, twists ourselves in knots in order to save $10 or $20 when buying the first batch of foreign currency.

Bedar

Guess old habits die hard. $10 or $20 when we were young made a BIG difference!