Hello Fodorites,

My boyfriend and I are starting to plan a Spain trip in late April - early May. First to Barcelona, then to Bilbao then ultimately to come back from Madrid. I have heard about San Sebastian but am wondering if the weather makes this a poor choice.
Right now, we are thinking of flying from Barcelona to Bilbao, renting a car there for a few days, then taking the fast train to Madrid.
Don't quite know how much time to allot each destination and if there are other interesting places to visit near Bilbao other than San Sebastian.

What do you well traveled folks think?

April-May is not beach weather, but it should be o.k. for walking around.
if yo have 12 days on the ground
3-4 days in Barcelona
3-4 days Bilbao (SS)
3-4 days Madrid ( fly home from Madrid)

It is tight, but can be done.

Day 1 - Arrive Madrid
Day 2 - Madrid
Day 3 - Madrid
Day 4 - Madrid – Barcelona
Day 5 – Barcelona
Day 6 - Barcelona
Day 7 - Barcelona - Bilbao
Day 8 - Bilbao
Day 9 - Bilbao
Day 10 - Bilbao and leave

I think 11 days is sufficient……………………….

Your time is OK for the three cities, but if you have a look at a map, then you'd be far better flying to either Bilbao or Barcelona first, then either:

Bilbao--Madrid--Barcelona (fly home)

or

Barcelona--Madrid--Bilbao

You'll avoid retracing your steps and save travelling time.

With only 12 days for all 3 places I'd say it's barely adequate. Personally I'd prefer to focus on just 2 areas. Barcelona itself really deserves at least 3-4 days and your first day will probably be jetlagged. You won't really have enough time for any daytrips. 4 days for the Basque country will barely touch the surface in Bilbao and San Sebastian and 4 days in Madrid is adequate. You'll get a "taste" of each places.

If this is a once in a lifetime trip to Spain and you really want to see all 3 areas then I'd probably try it in 12 days. But if you plan to return I'd save one of the areas for the future trip and travel at a more leisurely pace.

Thanks for answering.

I was thinking Madrid only one or 2 days - just for the Prado but sounds like all of you feel it is worthy of more time.
Will rethink this. Maybe we can swing 14 days instead of 12. Don't know that I will ever be that way again and I don't want to be kicking myself later.
Any moderately priced hotels to recommend for any of the cities?

Madrid is a great city with much more to see than Prado. If you have 4 full days there, you might consider a day trip to Toledo or Segovia

3 Barcelona (includes fly-in)
4 Madrid (w/ 1 day trip - Toledo)
3 Leon
3 Bilbao (includes fly-out)

You mentioned in your last post that you might swing to 14 days, thus i wrote that route.

Thanks.
Smart 3 - I just looked at Leon on the map. Had never heard of it before and it looks great. It seems way off the path I was hoping to follow, though. You allot as much time there as the other cities. Do you think it is work cutting down time in the others in order to make the time to go there?

It'll be more well-known to common folk (who do not take interest in History) in the coming decades, since there is an effort to restore autonomy to the Leonese region. (This is why Bilbao is known)

I'd say 3 in Leon is a fair amount, there are plenty of trains that go from Madrid to Leon, so it wouldn't be a hassle. You could cut it down to 2 and add another day in Bilbao if you preferred.

Just had a long conversation with a couple from Barcelona working in NYC for a couple of years. I am lucky to have just met them - great timing!

They advised skipping Leon and suggested other day trips - hotels and restaurants, etc. Even invited us to go to their parents' for dinner - how hospitable and lovely!

I look forward to us "common folk" being more educated in the coming decades. (Perhaps you are from Leon and don't quite understand English idioms) It's wonderful we all have our own individual interests and expertise. What a boring world it would be otherwise.

Thanks again.

Out of all the places mentioned San Sebastian is my favorite. I would make Bilbao and San Sebastian a future trip in the summer. In that case I would split my time between Barcelona and Madrid (actually I would spend all of it in Andalucia but I'm biased).

Egbert - Thanks you.

We were in Seville and Cadiz a number of years ago. Cadiz I adored! Since we don't travel very often and are getting on in years, I don't want to even think about planning a futures summer trip there because it might not happen and there are other countries I want to go to.

As of now, we plan to take 2 weeks for the trip. Time for me to start looking at hotels, and intercity transportation.

Thanks for your ideas.