We r in the early stages of planning a trip in the Spring to N Spain. It appears that we will likely fly in and out of Madrid and will do a circle going first to Barcelona. Per Mappy its about 7 hours to drive to Barcelona from Madrid. We're looking for a nice place to stop and spend the night instead of driving that far in 1 day. Any suggestions on towns/villages to spend the night? thanks

The normal midway stop is Zaragoza, but where you stop will depend on what you are looking to see and do.

We would only be spending a few hours in the afternoon and evening wherever we stop. Really don't need much to be where we stop. Would love to find a small village that is in a scenic area. Really just want to cut the driving time in half. Any thoughts?

Are you renting the car simply to get back and forth between Madrid and Barcelona?

Consider the 'Monasterio de Piedra' (Nature Park, Monastery & Hotel)
http://www.monasteriopiedra.com/defa...px?info=0000FD

Dukey -- no, we will be continuing on from Barcelona. I have not yet explored whether it would be less expensive and a better option to take the train and pick up the rental car in Barcelona instead of Madrid. That may also depend upon where we might stay on the drive.

Revulgo -- thanks, will check it out.

Anyone with any other ideas?

I will only say this:

the air market or the so-called "air bridge" between Madrid and Barcelon is the busiest one in the world.

The train takes less than 5 hours

If you are casting around looking for a place to stay between these two the implication is you really aren't that interested in any of the sights between the two..so why waste time....

Actually, you can now do the train trip in under three hours, almost certainly faster than flying. No way I'd drive it unless there was somewhere I REALLY wanted to stop.

We're taking the 2 hr. 48 min. non-stop AVE this weekend from Madrid to Barcelona. We'll never make that tedious and mostly boring drive again with the AVE taking us from city center to city center. A WEB fare (60% discount) in tourist class costs only 43,80 for one stop and 51.70 for the non-stop.

News-
Renfe has now loaded fares for the Madrid-Barcelona AVE almost 4 months in advance. I see Web fares available for Oct. 20.
I received an email from Renfe notifying that for some AVEs one could now purchase online 4 months out.

If you want to see more of Spain where having a car would be essential, I will list some very easy stops just off the A-3.

You could drive towards Valencia, and stop at Uclés, http://www.monasteriodeucles.com/

then at ALARCON, ( don't miss the Pintura Mural in the religious building which is a World Heritage site now..www.muralalarcon.org) take a break at the Alarcón castle National Parador.. then move on towards Valencia (1.5 hrs more) to overnight.

or... overnight at this little winery/casa rural in front of a beautiful view of vineyards to relax about an hour before arriving at Valencia. http://www.entrevinas.com/

You could then return this car and train to Barcelona on the high speed train,( 3hrs.)..sometmes for 15 euros, and not pick up second rental car til you leave BCN.

Just an option with perhaps more to see and do than the Zaragoza route.

It will most probably be more expensive to drive and stay overnight somewhere than to take the train (or fly).

According to viamichelin.com you will pay €25 for motorway tolls, some €50 for fuel, €x for an extra day of the rental car (unless you get a weekly rate, obviously) plus €x for a hotel somewhere, e.g. in Zaragoza.
If you follow Maribel's advice, you pay only around €88 for 2 train tickets.
So even if you manage to find a cheap hostal for €30 in Zaragoza, you end up paying more than for the train. And you need much longer.

Let alone fatigue for the driver and passenger.

Okay, thanks all -- u have all convinced me to take the train and pick up the car in Barcelona for the remainder of the trip North.

Maribel, looks like from what u wrote that we can start checking for web fares 4 months our, correct?

lincasanova, thanks for your suggestions. We've actually seen Valencia and Southern Spain (loved it!). This time we want to do a circle leaving Madrid, heading to BCN and then North thru the Pyrenees. Haven't gotten the itn figured out, still researching, but I will be back looking for suggestions and no doubt asking questions once we do.

yestravel,
I just received the notice 3 days ago from Renfe about the new "4 months out" purchasing online for SOME trains, SOME routes. It does appear to apply to the Madrid-Barcelona AVEs, which in my experience, are the first fares to be loaded into the system, given that this route is wildly popular now.

Thanks -- guess I will start looking 4 months out and take it from there. R Saturdays more or less popular?

When you put in your dates you will see all that. Friday afternoons and Sat. mornings might be more popular than mid day mid week, but only playing around with it will you know.

I will do that -- again, thanks everyone!