plambers

HI. Thought we had decided on 4 nights madrid, 3 nights sevilla but keep hearing great things about barcelona. i had studied in madrid and lived there for 5 months (20 plus years ago) and loved it. don't have greaat memories of barcelona but hear it is an amazing city post olympics. we fly into madrid and arrive at 7 am on fri may 24. was planning on taking the high speed to sevilla from atocha. figure i can do the same thing with barcelona. how long is the train? high speed? then stay in barcelona for 3 nights, retrurn to madrid for 4 (with a potential side trip to toledo.0
we have small kids and getting a sitter etc was so difficult so wnat to get it right (not sure next time we will go. dh turns 50 too!! thanks

Alan_CT

It may be worth the cost to fly "open jaw" into Madrid and out of Barcelona, or vice versa, rather than pay twice for the train. It surely would be less stressful.

I'd skip the side trip - 3 or 4 days is not much time in either city. And yes, Barcelona is well worth the trip. Even kids usually enjoy the architecture (Gaudi and others) and there are good parks.

CathyM

7 days will be quite tight for Madrid and Barcelona but it can be done. You probably won't have time for any side trips and if possible I'd definately try to book open jaw.

But I'd stick with the original plan of Madrid and Sevilla - however I am very biased towards Sevilla. There's no right answer - you just need to choose which one fits best with your interests.

Christina

Of course you can do 7 days in Madrid and Barcelona, why couldn't you. YOu can do it just as much as you could do Madrid and Sevilla.

I don't understand the RT Madrid and having to go back to Madrid no matter what, but that applies to Sevilla as much as Barcelona. IN fact, you could almost do it as a day trip, there are some AVE trains that only take 2:30 between Madrid and Barcelona, but the time is 2.5 to 3 hrs. It's basically about the same time to go to Sevilla or Barcelona from Madrid by AVE.

I like Barcelona better than Madrid, actually, as much as Sevilla (probably more).

plambers

Hi all. i just used ff miles to book a direct flight to madrid so that is done. we are flying from charlotte and there are no flights to sevilla and no directs to barcelona.
i am now trying to plan the itinerary and cannot decide! we typically spend a week in one location (or many weeks for paris!) but this is what i have.
kids are not coming. dh and i have not been away for a night in 5 years. we are originally from nyc and are ideally city people.
i want dh to see 2 contrasting cities. one will be madrid-but the other? moorish sevilla seems quite relaxing with a few must see sights and the rest of the time walking, eating tapas etc. or barcelona-again, a very walkable city with a bit more to do's.
so we'd ideally arrive in sevilla or barcelona around noon on fri, spend fri, sat and sun nights there. depart mon and arrive madrid mid day. we'd have 3 1/2 full days in madrid and would depart fri. i realize the toledo day trip won't happen.
please let me know why you love either sevilla or barcelona...and any other suggestions. thanks

calciocarina

I recently spent a week in Barcelona before moving to Seville. Barcelona is beautiful and fairly expensive, but there is a lot to see. Seville is equally as beautiful and it has the river running near the city center, which allows for some romantic evening walks, or a nice path to jog along. There is nightly flamenco at different tapas bars and the Alameda has lots of cafes and night life. If I had to choose, I would choose to head to Seville instead of Barcelona. From Seville you can also head further south on the train (about 30euros) or Bus (about 22euros) to Cadiz which has a lot of history and amazing beaches.
Enjoy!

oopsy

Either plan would be lovely, and folks here would rank these cities differently. For me, Barcelona is without doubt my favorite, and I've spent 9 weeks or so there in the last 2.5 years. I thoroughly enjoyed my 5 days in Madrid last year and am looking forward to another 8 days there later this year. Seville was the first of these cities I visited (back in 2004). I liked it, really liked some of the sites, but never felt compelled to return. But you could find other folks on this board who might write just the opposite.

Barcelona--I absolutely love strolling the old city. I felt comfortable and "at home" there very quickly. The food is wonderful. The architecture is great, and not just that of Gaudi--I could go to the Palau de Música Catalana over and over again and last November took to sitting in Santa Maria del Mar for a short time most afternoons during my month there. The museums are not as extraordinary as those of Madrid, but I have had several lovely afternoons in MNAC and a couple in Miró. And again, what a wonderful city for strolling, sitting in a cafe and watching, strolling, sitting, strolling...I don't know. It's hard for me to put into words. I just took to the city very quickly.

Spend some time perusing "must see" lists and trip reports, and try to make a decision that way. You'll have a great trip either way!

You could also stay put--one week in either Madrid or Barcelona--with one or two day trips. You'd have time to relax and enjoy the city and could get a teeny comparison of another city by taking a day trip. (likely Toledo or Segovia for Madrid, Girona or Tarragona for Barcelona--or Montserrat for something quite different)