My husband & I are flying into Madrid and out of Barcelona on our 10 day trip to Spain. We hope to go from Madrid to Toledo, Sevilla and Granada. From Granada we need to get to Barcelona. I understand the train between the two cities is not high-speed and the trip takes about 12 hours. Is there a better way to achieve this? Should we leave from another city? I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

Debra
Los Angeles

I did a similar trip about 3 years ago and flew from Granada to Barcelona on Spanair - the flight was about 90 minutes and was pretty inexpensive. There was a 30 or 40 minute bus trip from Granada center to the airport though, but still faster than a train...

We flew Vueling for something like 50 euros.

There are indeed either two or one train journey (alternate days) of eleven hours and a few minutes Granada to Barcelona.
Fly.

Not what you asked but just in case -

Whether you know or not - you cannot go from Toledo to Seville direct by train and this requires a return to Madrid.

If this is ten days including arrival and departure days I would have not been trying to do so much, i.e. Barcelona is a city too far.

Wombatt - I agree. 10 days for Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Granada and Sevilla is going to be a blur. I'd eliminate one of the geographies. Even then the trip would be a moderate pace and not slow.