If you want to rent a car to drive around an area, there is a TON to see in Catalonia alone. You could pick up a car, spend a few days staying outside Barcelona and visiting a few areas around there, then go back to Barcelona and spend three or four days there. Fly (or high speed train) to Madrid, spend the 24 hours and walk around and have some fun. Save Madrid for another trip when you can really do it justice.

Here are some wonderful places to visit in Catalonia (and this is the "short list" - Girona, Tarragona, Sitges, Vic, Montserrat (do an overnight there for a truly wonderful experience), several different wine regions (Priorat, Penedes, Montsant, to name a few), lots of gorgeous little hill towns, forests, mountains, beach. Though it being August, the beaches and outdoor areas will be more crowded.

My first visit to Spain was in late August....I could not believe how hot it was in Madrid and especially further south.. (.not humid ) .
Seville was " shut down" most of the afternoon, one elderly woman
fainted when we were visiting Alhambra.
I was a young person then so I was fine , but I remember promising myself I would
go to Spain again " but not in the summer".
As suggested , number of places to visit near Barcelona and
in northern Spain..San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander etc.,
but you know best what you prefer.

I appreciate the information, guys. As of now I'm still negotiating with the AAdvantage agents (who are extremely helpful) learning that unlike what I thought (and experienced) before, Business Class seats are not as available using our reward miles, even when trying to book them 8 months ahead...... So we might be spending less than 10 days in Spain, maybe only 8 (we're arriving in Spain after spending a week in Israel, so jet lag won't be an issue anymore)...

I'd rent a car only if we plan driving outside the big cities. But I realize (again, as happened to me before whenever planning a trip) that I'm trying to swallow too much in too short of a time... Thanks for all the ideas.

I would want to split that between Madrid and Barcelona rather than all the time in Barcelona. The only issue is the heat in August. Barcelona is hot, of course, but is near the sea (I've been there in July, about same as many other places in Europe, even Paris). I haven't been to Madrid in August so don't know, but I think it can be 100F or more typically.

But if you go, definitely take the train. And I did love both Toledo and Segovia around Madrid.

I just talked to a couple friends of mine who've been in Spain several times. My American friend tells me that, unlike other places in Europe, he wouldn't suggest for us to rent a car in Spain, while my Israeli friend tells me the only way to visit those magnificent little towns in Spain is renting a car, as he did.

Most of our past trips to Europe we've been renting cars, like in Switzerland, Southern France, even Italy and — oh, no, even England and Scotland, where people kept driving on the wrong side of the roads... So is there a reason why we shouldn't use rental in Spain?

We ALWAYS rent a car from AutoEurope in Spain. For two or more people it's cheaper than the train. Perhaps others are nervous about getting to places (they need GPS, hohoho) or perhaps they want the "train experience". Who knows. We lived there for many years and could never conceive being without a car. Get a diesel, of course.

A car would be a great convenience for visiting Andalusia's white hill towns. Many of us have already said that we believe that area of the country would be MISERABLY hot during August and so have advised that you skip that part of the country on this trip, particularly since you can't reasonably see everything you say you want to see in the time you have.

IF you end up visiting Barcelona and Madrid, a car would ONLY make sense in between those cities (not IN either of them). With as little time as you have, several of us have suggested that the high speed train would give you more time to see the things that many of us treasure in the area.

Never a car IN the cities..Parking is costly, streets are ill marked and often only pedestrian, many hotels do not have parking and there doesn't seem to be a logical grid for directions. We had a car but for 4 days left it in a subterranian garage until we left the city. We should have taken pub. trans. to Sitgres as the trip via car was longer and very stressful due to traffic than the train would have been. . We did drive south to Monsarrat and Cardona with no problem and the road and parking were fine. It will be hot where ever and A/C isn't always avaiable in rentals so fly into one place and out the other and you will have enough to do in the relatively short time you will have. Be sure to check our drop off fees also if you do rent.

Yes, of course, there's no sense in renting a car while in Barcelona or Madrid. The idea was only for trips outside of those cities. I was just wondering about rental after my American friend warned me not to do it in Spain....

I went through essentially the same debate this past summer (late July.) My initial inclination was to try to cram in as many places as possible, but based on the advice of friends who are very experienced with the area I wound up splitting between Barcelona and Madrid. Used high speed train from Madrid to Barcelona, public transport in the cities themselves. My recommendation is to spend some leisurely time in Barcelona (say 4 days) then go on to Madrid for the remaining time. From Madrid you can do an easy day trip to Toledo and another to Segovia. Forget Seville this trip - lovely but too far,even with the AVE high speed train, and too bloody hot at that time.

With 8 days in Spain you will not have any time to explore small villages. I have been in Seville in September when it was 115 degrees. You can go to Madrid and Barcelona in August. It will be almost unbearably hot but it can be done.
In August the only place I would go is the North coast.

As of now I counted 11 full, free days in Spain. That gives us at least 3 days for traveling outside of the 2 big cities.

Thanks, Laura. What's the link to that blog?

It most certainly will not be "unbearably" hot in Barcelona in August. The avg afternoon high temp is 90F in August which is not that unusual for many cities in Europe and the US for the summer. I live that all the time (in fact, it is often higher than that where I live in July-August) and somehow it actually is bearable. Madrid is hotter, it is more like 95F.

I suggested the train just because during a 10 day trip, I thought the goal was to see a lot of two major cities (including even daytrips from the city, such as to Montserrat), not to spend time driving between them. It is just a lot easier and quicker to take the train and not rent a car and deal with all that. Plus then you have to turn it in somewhere around/in Madrid and then get from there to your hotel, just seems a hassle unless there is a real goal to it.

OK, I have been convinced, after reading the above suggestions and other sources, to skip the hot South and: Start with Barcelona for 4 nights, end in Madrid (2-3 nights), and spend the rest on day trips to Toledo, Segovia and a few other places (ideas?), trying to stay North, rather than South.

So our accommodation in Barcelona is already set (charming B&B). Should we take the train to Madrid, stay there for the REST of the time, visit the city — and use it as a base to take day trips from there? How do we commute to those other places, as an alternative to a rented car?

Thanks...

Our family of six did this trip back in 2009, but the opposite: Fly AA (Iberia) to Madrid, train to Barcelona, return on AA. Even at the end of June, it was hot, but not unbearable.

If you decide to take the high-speed AVE train make an effort to book as early as you can. The savings are huge when you are taking six people, and it didn't work out for us. The task was left to another family member, while we were in Italy in April, and the "mission failed." When I returned to the US, full priced tickets were all that was available...a large expense.

I spent some time on their website, and I must admit it's not the most user-friendly, at least not for tourists... Even when it's switched to English, most of it is still in Spanish... Very difficult to figure out how their passes work or even what regular tickets cost...

Whose website, RENFE?

It is a horrible site, but the trains are wonderful.

Yes. RENFE. I'd be happy to use an alternative website, especially if an early reservation of tickets is possible and encouraged....

Spain has some good buses, I took the bus to Segovia, and to Toledo. You can take the train but the bus is cheaper and drops you off in a more central location, and the time for the trip isn't that different. I think I took the bus to El Escorial, also.

This is the bus to Segovia. The bus station is near the Principe Pio metro stop. If you go into their Contact section, there are maps showing you the location. I just bought a ticket when I showed up at the bus station, they have very frequent runs.
http://www.lasepulvedana.es/index.asp?lang=en

The bus to Toledo leaves from Plaza de Eliptica metro station. this website gives options to Toledo, you can take the train but the train station is farther from city center than the bus station. http://gospain.about.com/od/inaround.../to_toledo.htm

I still ended up taking a local bus from the bus station into the center of Toledo.

Buses to El Escorial leave from Moncloa station. It is a very short walk to the complex from the bus stop. If you take the train, you then have to take a bus from the train station to it, it's too far to walk for most people (and uphill, I think). info http://www.spain.info/en/reportajes/..._escorial.html

AS for RENFE, I'm not sure what you are seeking on info on passes. As a tourist, I wouldn't think that would be relevant for you. YOu wouldn't be buying any kind of season pass or pass for 10 journeys or such. Prices are listed right next to the options on the time table when you search, I'm not clear on why you can't see the prices. I know Spanish some so use it in Spanish (and the English translation is actually odd to me, British lingo, although I understand it but I understand the Spanish more clearly -- ie ida instead of "outward" for a one-way trip). They usually list 3 prices, or classes, turista, turista plus and preferente. It is kind of funny that in the translation, they translate departure, arrival, train etc but leave precio for price. I think that is obvious that means price, that's the only Spanish word I see in the timetables (precio desde means price from).

Now that's if you just go into the Timetables button on the right side for info on a schedule. If you fill in the boxes on the left for a specific date and route and hit "buy", I do find the English page doesn't always work. But the Spanish page does and the words are fairly simple (ida = go, vuelta = return, comprar=buy, salida=date of departure, then you get the page which is basically just a listing of trains with their info and prices of tickets form tourist to first class.

Preferente is first class, turista is tourist or 2nd class, on some trains they have turista plus which is sort of like economy plus on an airline, supposed to be better seats.