How to arrange this trip?
 

Hi there,


My wife and I are planning our first trip to Europe. We have booked a cruise which starts in Florida and ends in Barcelona, and later another cruise which begins in Athens and ends in Athens.

Between the two cruises, we are going to have 6 full days in Barcelona, and we want to spend some of the time to visit three other cities: Valencia, Madrid, and Lisbon. However, we are not sure how to do this from Barcelona. Of course, first we will stay in Barcelona for two days, but then should we visit Valencia, then move on to Madrid and to Lisbon, in that order? Or should we come back to Barcelona after visiting each city? We have two big suitcases and it would be a hassle to drag them around, but wasting time back and froth is also something we try to avoid . Also, what is the best way to travel - by train, air or renting a car?

Thanks!

play around with rome2rio, my general advice is to not include Portual when visiting Spain.
check out your cruise ship's laundry as it may be better to wash everything rather than bring lots of clothes

You absolutely do not have time to visit those cities in that time frame. Get a map. Look at distances. check some flight schedules. Just not possible. You might (just might) be able to fly to all of them, but you would not have time to see or visit them!

If you were in New York City and had six days, would you try to visit NYC, Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco in those six days and return to NYC afterwards to fly to San Juan to catch a Caribbean cruise? Remember, landing at the airport does not put you in the city.

How are you getting to Athens? Are you planning to return to Barcelona to catch a flight to Athens? You will need to get to Athens the day before the cruise begins there, not try to fly in the day of the cruise from Barcelona. Are you going to visit Athens at all?

Take less luggage. You really will not need as much as you might think, even for a cruise. Have laundry done on the ship or your first day off. Nobody cares if you repeat wearing the same clothes.

Where is you cruise stopping on the way to Barcelona?

No, you absolutely, truly do not have time, simply just not possible, as Sassafrass says. Travel connections between Spain and Portugal are surprisingly weak, difficult, spotty.

And bilboburglar's advice as to not try to do both Spain and Portugal is spot on (unless you have maybe 5-6 weeks!)

Another question. Are you counting the day you dock in Barcelona as a full day? It could almost be. Are you allowing the day before embarking in Athens as a travel day? You should. It would help to get the very best suggestions if you do not mind sharing exact days.
If you were thinking to go from Lisbon directly to Athens, I would reconsider. You would have the flight to Lisbon, then a longer one to Athens. It might not save much travel time, but I would either pick a place with short RT travel from Barcelona, or after Barcelona, head on to Greece to do more there before the cruise, or perhaps someplace in between that required shorter flights. Knowing your other stops might be helpful in making suggestions. Also, knowing your main interests (Art, food, history, scenery) would be helpful.
When is the trip? This Spring?

Agree!!!

With 6 days, personally I would spend them all in Barcelona but if you MUST include another city, take the train either to Valencia or Madrid for a couple of days' stay.......TWo cities MAXIMUM including Barcelona.


What are your interests?
Have you been to Spain before?
Do not make the mistake of trying to jam in too much in too little time....how will you get from one city to the next?

Exactly when does the ship dock--what time of day?

I didn't see what time of year you are planning this trip. It does make a difference because of holidays/festivals/weather but generally speaking I think Madrid and Barcelona work well together. You can easily travel between the two by train. There are of course other options and destinations outside of Barcelona on the Costa Brava, It has been years since I was in Valencia and Madrid actually but there is much to see and do in Madrid as well as day trips to the Escorial, north of Madrid and to Toledo, south of Madrid.

Agree with the other posters, there isn't time to include Lisbon in this trip and the only way to get there that would make sense would be to fly. Lisbon has a great vibe and is picturesque but there are so many more interesting things to see and do in and around Madrid. Spain by the way is geographically a very large country, so if you were thinking of driving around, it does take time.