Husband and I are planning 9 1/2 days in Spain during the 1st week in October and are going to visit Barcelona and Madrid only - 4 1/2 days in each plus a half day of train travel from Barcelona to Madrid. My sense is that Barcelona is a lovely relaxing city (can't wait to see the Gaudi architecture and the Picasso museum) with great restaurants and that Madrid is more urban (less relaxing) with art museums (Prado and the Reina Sofia) and lots of upscale dining/shopping. I am so looking forward to visiting both cities!

I am struggling with whether or not it is worth taking any day trips out of both cities. From Barcelona, should we take a day to visit Mont Serrat? And, in Madrid, should we take an afternoon to visit El Escorial plus the Valley of the Fallen? And should we take a day to visit Toledo? Should we spend the night in Toledo? Should we visit Segovia?

We are flying into Barcelona (landing on a Friday morning) and will fly out of Madrid on the Monday (10 days later). So far, I have a hotel reservation in Barcelona for 4 nights.

Fri ... land in Barcleona
Sat ... Barcleona
Sun ... Barcleona
Mon ... Barcleona (day trip??)
Tues ... train to Madrid .... Madrid
Wed ... Madrid ... Prado
Thurs ... Madrid ... Royal Palace
Fri ... Madrid ... El Escorial and Valley of the Fallen
Sat ... Madrid ... Toledo (spend overnight?)
Sun ... Madrid ... stay at Airport Hilton
Monday .... fly home

This is vacation, so I don't want to do too much, but we may not return to either city so I don't want to miss any "must sees".

Thanks for your thoughts!

We did 2 nights in Madrid; Train to Seville, 1 night in Seville and finally 4 nights in Barcelona. I found this to be adequate even the 28 hrs I spent in Seville. Based on your plans, I would spend 1 less day in Madrid and 1 extra night in Barcelona but that's my preference since I liked Barcelona more than Madrid.

Enjoy!

If you havent been in either city before I'm hesitant to recommend a daytrip. In Madrid I would play it by ear, if you feel you've seen enough of the city I would recommend a day trip to either Segovia or Toledo (I much prefer either of these options that El Escorial). Montserrat is lovely, but again, if its your first visit to Barcelona , I would stay put there.

I'm curious, why are you moving to a hotel by the airport your last day in Madrid? You'll lose valuable time changing hotels, plus the Barajas airport is only 20-30 mins from the city center.

I would also stay put in Barcelona...so much to see, perhaps add a night( jet-lag?)
Some posters like Toledo at night, I prefer Madrid.
agree with PP about hotels...why move.

you can have relaxing in Madrid.......just visit Retiro Park. agree that you'd be better off playing it by ear. When you're done with the burnt tire/exhaust smell you can check Toledo out or something

Hi again,
Based on prior thread, I think you would really enjoy a day in Sitges outside Barcelona. It's a very short train ride and a great beach town. Also check out Hotel 1898 in Barcelona for a place to stay.
I'm headed out so will add more later.

Also, there is a very knowledgeable poster here named kimhe. If you check her posts you will find tons of info on Spain and excellent flamenco recommendations.

Sitges is beach town, but in Oct. It might not be much to do there.

Sounds as a good plan and that you are pretty well prepared. Agree that it's not a good idea to move out of the fabulous center of Madrid for your last night.

When it comes to visiting Valle de los Caídos/Valley of the Fallen, you should know that it is very controversial in Spain as it rightfully has been understood as a tribute to the Franco regime. The last years has seen a very increased politization of the matter, since the so called "Pact of forgetting" after Franco's death in 1975 has been dissolved with the huge uncovering of mass graves throughout the country (more than 50 000 bodies of Franco victims, all ages and both sexes, have been found in mass graves the past few years). Since 2007 the usual Francoist ralleys at the monument have been banned.

You should know this to be able to make a well informed judgement on whether or not to visit the place. Many tourists haven't had the faintest idea of what this monument really is about, apart from the official and absurd presentation in the past of it beeing an homeage to "all" the fallen in the Civil War.

A senior figure in the Brotherhood of the Valle de los Caídos and a Franco family friend quite recently wrote a favourable entry about the dictator in a new national biography to huge public outrage: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011...hy?INTCMP=SRCH

And thanks Goldens for the nice words, and Kim is a male name in Norway

Thanks everyone! I will consider staying in Madrid ... we really liked staying at the airport in both Munich and Athens for the simple walk across the street to the flight the next morning, but given the short drive to the airport, it does make sense to say in central Madrid. Kimhe - I see you have lots of specific recommendations in your comments to others which will be so helpful as I fill out our itinerary! Cheers.

Whoops, sorry!
My Swedish grandmother would scold me. Apologies.

Goldens

He-he, of course no problem, and I'm not so sure about Sweden. In Norway Kim is also a relatively frequent dog name

More to see in Barcelona than Madrid, add a night. And your first day is shot if you're coming over by transatlantic flight - that's a half day at best for seeing sites.

Where's BarCLeona, btw?

I have been doing some more research and planning! Here are more specifics on Barcelona ...

This is an October trip ... we land the 1st Friday at 9:40 a.m. ... Head to Circa 1905 Hotel .. depending on the time maybe get coffee at the Hofmann Patisserie (could also go on Saturday or Tuesday a.m.) ... then spend the afternoon in the Ramblas, Bari Gotic, cathedral area - have some tapas at the Mercat Santa Caterina ... Probably head back to the hotel briefly before heading out to see the Magic Fountains (or we could to this on Saturday) ... Finish the evening with dinner (long day, but it gets us through the jet lag)

Saturday - Picasso Museum; El Born and Montjuic (Juan Miro foundation). At 6 p.m. catch the Sardana dance.

Sunday ... not sure what to do so many things close early! Am thinking that Sunday is a good day to do a day trip to Montserrat? I realize that most of you discourage a day trip given our relatively short stay in BCN, but we are sort of restless by nature and don't mind stuffing our days if it may be our only opportunity to see something. I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions?

Monday ... Gaudi sights ... Casa Mila, Sagrada Familia, Park Guell

Tuesday ... Thinking of the 15:25 train which arrives Madrid at 17:25. What do you suggest for the morning? We haven't been to Barceloneta. Would that make a nice October morning walk?

I'm going to start planning the Madrid section now, so I may have more questions later. Thanks for any ideas!

I dont see a visit to La Boquería market in your itinerary. You should include it for sure, its fabulous. The main entrance is off Las Ramblas. They also have places inside where you can eat. Its closed on Sundays.

Also, consider visiting and doing a guided tour of the Palau de la Musica Catalana. Its a gorgeous concert hall.

bookmarking

You have planned a lot for Monday....there are usually lineups at SF, CM and Casa Batllo.
Parc Guell takes a few hours.
We have been to Barcelona several times in Oct.....you might have some rainy weather.
For a day trip, I would rather go to Girona , but you can wait until you are in BCN to decide.
Walking around Barcenoleta , by the sea, is always pleasant.