5 days in Spain.....
 

My boyfriend and I will be in Spain from September 26-oct 1 2006. His cousin lives in Madrid and we want to visit her. Our return ticket leaves from Barcelona so we have to end there.... Would you reccomend splitting the days between the 2 cities?

I saw this post before and am replying because you might not have received other replies. Someone else might know more, but... Madrid and Barcelona are quite far apart. For a 5 day trip, your only option, imho, is to fly between the 2 cities. If you want to do that, then it's reasonable, but I suspect you'll spend a large part of one day getting to and from airports,etc. Are you flying INTO Barcelona also?

When you say 5 days, does that include your travel days? Do you have 4 or 5 nights. I definitely agree to get a cheao flight from Madrid to Barcelona as Gail suggested. I'd split the time pretty evenly, giving Barcelona the edge.

It is not difficult to get to and from the airport in either Madrid or Barcelona, and the cost of flying between the two cities on Iberia can be ridiculously cheap. (I did it last month for 19 euros.)

I'm not a fan of Barcelona -- but I'm not taking this trip! Why don't you browse through some guidebooks for both cities and decide what means the most to you?

Thank you for all the replies! We leave Italy on the 26th of September so if we were to fly into Madrid we could stay Sep. 26-28 and then fly to Barcelona on the morning of the 28 and stay until the October 1. This is my first time in spain and i dont want to ruin it with such rushed plans... Do you think this will be to crazy???

It would be good if you had more time to visit Spain. Nonetheless, you will have a great time in Madrid and Barcelona in the time you have. Enjoy.

i wouldn't doubt his cousin has some interesting suggestions for madrid, and there are so many places nearby that are worth the time. toledo, segovia..

then fly to barcelona and take the tourist bus on all routes to get an overview and delve deeper next time if you have enjoyed it.

enjoy your short time.. better than nothing!

Check out Vueling Airlines between Madrid and Barcelona. I took it from Barcelona to Sevilla and it was 90 euro after taxes and I noticed way better rates when I was down there. One thing I regret about my trip is spending too much time traveling and not enough enjoying the cities (we rented a car from Barcelona to Sevilla with only 7 days total, not a good idea).

Check out Iberia for domestic Spanish flights as well. They are often as little as 19 euro, but 40 euro is more the norm.