We fly into Madrid and trying to determine what to do/ see. Our goal is to not run around Spain like crazy people for 10 days. At this point we'd like to hit Madrid, Barcelona, and would like to take guided day trip to see some winery's in the Priorat region.

We would like to see some of the nicer mid sized towns to get a real feel of life/ culture outside of the big cities. We like to hit the bars/ pubs as well love great food/markets and shopping. That means you won't see us at a museum for 6- 8 hours. We'd do it for a morning.

So my question is, when we hit Madrid, should we jump on a train and head north and work our way back to Madrid to fly out? From what I have seen it would be near impossible/enjoyable to do a north/ south trip. Toledo looks like a must do from Madrid. I am intrigued by Logron and Vitoria and looks like neats towns to explore by foot.

From Madrid Toledo is as you say a fine day trip. I would also consider Segovia a little north of Madrid, just some 25 min away with the high speed AVE train. A little further north is Burgos, 2h 20 mins with the high speed ALVIA train. Logroño and Vitoria would be much longer travel time from Madrid. None of these cities are en route to Barcelona, so you better go back to Madrid before taking the AVE train to Barcelona (city center to city center) in 2h 30 mins.

And remember that Madrid is a fabulous city with tons of options for excellent tapas bars, restaurants, food markets, shopping and nightlife.

You should also note that even central Madrid has got a very local, small town feel. Composed of small and very different barrios/districts with very distinctive atmosphere and characteristiscs.

Plenty of excellent food markets in Madrid. Mercado de la Paz is one of the best and a must: http://www.marketmanila.com/archives...e-ayala-madrid

The newly renovated Mercado San Miguel just off majestic Plaza Mayor is also fun for all kinds of tapas and a glass or two of anything. Not a usual food market anymore, but plenty of excellent food to enjoy in here: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attract...el-Madrid.html

Great info about Madrid, much, much more than the world famous museums: http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do

Short intro to the different districts of Madrid:
http://www.ailmadrid.com/madrid/barrios

A couple of tips.

Some of the best tapas bars and restaurants in town are in and around Calle Cava Baja in the Latina district just south of Plaza Mayor. http://tapastalk.wordpress.com/tapas-bars/

Barrio de las Letras (Letterary district)/Huertas is the area for cafés, bars, nightlife, flamenco and jazz clubs etc:
http://www.barrioletras.com/

The majestic old centre Madrid de los Austrias (Madrid of the Habsburg kings): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Madrid_de_los_Austrias

Modernistic and high rise Gran Vía (by European standards) is typical of the modern Madrid that grew from the beginning of the 20th century. The 100 years celebration in 2010 was a major event: http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do...&TR=C&IDR=1431
http://granvia.esmadrid.com/

Thanks. I think I am set for big cities. What would be a few small towns we could hit either from Madrid or Barcelona to get away from big cities. The thought would be to stay a night or two, then move on.

As said, Segovia with the famous Roman aqueduct would be an excellent option north of Madrid, and so would Aranjuez be a little south of Madrid. Both with a population of about 50 000.

Segovia: http://www.spain.info/en/ven/otros-d...s/segovia.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segovia
Aranjuez: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aranjuez
http://www.aranjuez.com/

From Barcelona, you could go South to Sitges, or North to Tossa de Mar, Calella or Figueres.

With only 10 days, a likely a need to return to Madrid your final night for the flight home and a travel style that is not rushed I'd personally focus on basing myself only in Madrid and Barcelona and doing daytrips. 5 days each (or similar) for Barcelona and Madrid would be just enough to overcome jetlag, visit the cities and do 1-2 daytrips from each. You'd still have a somewhat moderate pace but enough time to actually sit down and relax if you want.

I wouldn't try to do much more if this is the travel style you desire.

Personally I would go directly to Seville for 3 nights, Granada for two, Malaga for 1, then take the high speed train back to Madrid for the last 3 or 4 nights. From there you could choose a daytrip to Segovia, Toledo or Avila depending on your interests.

Great feedback, thank you. I agree with all the comments, especially around jetlag. I'm still trying to determine if we are set on going to Barcelona. Working through that now. We do need to be in Madrid regardless for our lastnight. No matter what we do, when we hit Madrid on the front of the trip we'll head out.

Hi. We just booked an 8 day trip for next May. We were unsure of an intinerary initially. Connections to smaller cities are impossible. we have decided to fly direct to Madrid (we arrive at 7 am), and get a cab to Atocha where we will take the high speed train to Seville (hope for a noon arrival) for 3 nights and then return to Madrid for 4 nights. Cordoba might be a day trip but like you, i dont' want this to be a whirlwind trip! Hope to fit a day trip to Toledo or Segovia. i think the seeing the cosmopotan Madrid and the Moorish Sevilla will perfectly compliment each other.
Good luck!