ctkathy

Husband and I will be in the UK ending a tour on 5/27. I am hoping to take an evening flight to either Bilbao (destination San Sebastian via the bus from the airport) OR Barcelona. We have 11 nights to spend before we depart from Madrid on June 8 in the am.

I've been to San Sebastian and would love to show it to my husband along with the La Perla spa, but I've not been to Barcelona and neither of us have been to Madrid, although we lived in London for 3.5 years until just recently and it would have been easy to do so. I'm looking forward to doing this area now.

Should we spend 4 nights San Sebastian, 4 nights Barcelona, 3 nights Madrid or X San Sebastian and just split the time between Barcelona and Madrid letting us take some side trips. If we kept SS, we would fly from there to Barcelona and then train to Madrid.

We are foodies and enjoy museums and shopping, but not too keen on nightclubs or nightlife. Hope this helps. Normally I am very decisive but I just can' decide on this one.

dgrutan

I’ve never been to San Sebastian, but four or five days in Barcelona is a must, including a day trip to Montserrat. Lots of shopping and home to the 8th wonder of the world, Sagrada Família. Barcelona is my favorite destination in Europe. Enjoy.

amer_can

What a dilemma!!! Have been to all 3 and would have a hard time making this call. I quess I'd do SS..then MAD and end in BCN. Flying between them.. As foodies it will be impossible to beat SS..MAD is royal and BCN is Gaudy.SS--3 nights. MAD 4 BCN 4 nights. No time really for side trips..unless you drop SS. but it would be a shame....Day trips if possible would be (for me) from Mad..Segovia, Avila by train.. Monsarrat from BCN. and from SS probaly Bilboa.. Again good luck in the choice department.

oliolin

If you can't decide, maybe you shouldn't decide, and just do all 3 - you have 11 nights and that could give you a good taste of all.

I think the added benefit (and foodie delights) you would get from spending a couple of nights in wonderful SS is bigger than the 4th and 5th night of "left over" things you'd do in either Barcelona or Madrid. (and by "left over" I mean all those things you would de-prioritize from a 3 day visit)

Montserrat is amazing, but takes a full day. Perhaps, since this would be your first time to Barcelona, just decide to come back again to see it on your next trip -potentially coupled with a drive north to the pyrenees area.

CathyM

What a difficult decision!  If you've never been to Barcelona or Madrid then 4/3 nights is very quick.  But I totally understand the temptation to return to San Sebastian. 
 
I guess I'd have to wonder how tiring the tour of the UK you are taking is going to be.  If it's a group tour with early morning wake ups and a busy pace then I'd want to slow down a bit and divide the time between Barcelona and Madrid.  Personally I'd find the 3 cities in 10 days too much but I like to relax, have a siesta and long meals when I'm on vacation!
 
I think it all comes down to your travel style.  Is another option to visit San Sebastian and Madrid and skip Barcelona?  Hard choices....

Robert2533

As CathyM says, keep it at two destinations. I'd go for 5 to 7 days in San Sebastian-Donostia and finish up in Madrid. Both are exciting cities. You can fly from San Sebastian to Madrid in an hour. There is not direct train service from SS to Madrid, but you can take the train from Pamplona to Madrid.

I would save Barcelona, and Catalunya, for another trip, sometime when you have a couple of weeks to explore.

You might what to read Maribel's Guide to the Pais Vasco and her guides to Madrid for a little more information.

You can also check esMadrid (www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do) to see what's going on in Spain's capital.

kimhe

I would have done all three, perfectly doable with some 3 solid days in each city, especially if you fly from San Sebastián/Bilbao to Barcelona. If you have lunch in one city and dinner in the next and a siesta in the air/on the train, it would be pretty seamless.

And don't skip San Sebastián...

ctkathy

I still can't decide!

I am a leader of the trip to the UK which will only be 20 people and we have a full time guide and a TA in London so hopefully all complaints won't come to me Obviously it will be a lot of responsibility and I would look forward to a few hours at La Perla and some pretty nonstop Cava drinking after this tour. I could, perhaps, cut a day off of San Sebastian, though. One 3* Michelin dinner, some pincho grazing and a bit of relaxing sound great and maybe I don't need three days of that. I could add it to Barcelona so we can get to Montserrat. I don't have to see every single museum and sight to get the highlights. We leave from Madrid so it seems ideal to spend a few days there. I also might talk to my husband about extending a couple of days since he is newly retired.

Thanks to all for your thoughtful input on this difficult decision.

Robert2533

Montserrat on one hand, San Sebastian-Donostia on the other... Sorry, but Montserrat loses out every time. There is just no comparison, not even apples and oranges.

goldenautumn

I really found Montserrat to be a snooze.

Must you decide this immediately?

I don't much care for Barcelona -- and think the food is miles better in Madrid -- so I'm not going to be a fair judge, but I can recommend that you make a list of what you want to see in Madrid and Barcelona, and consider what is the minimum amount of time you would want to spend in either place, and not be going by generalized number "formulas" without any content. (How do people come up with these numbers of days? Out of thin air?) I don't "need" to spend X days in every city to accomplish what I want to accomplish. On the other hand, I need more time than most people to make my way through the Prado.

For me, Toledo is a really eye-opening remnant of a time in Europe, before the inquisition, when cross-cultural learning was a passion and a different kind of enlightenment. If you have an interest in Spain or history in general, I believe it is worth spending time in the area of Madrid to allow for seeing Toledo.

I could also spend all the time in San Sebastian.

CathyM

I'd suggest a few more days to your husband for celebrating his retirement   It may be a little stressful leading the tour so you can decompress in Spain.
 
This way you could even potentially have 5 nights in Madrid and Barcelona and 4 in San Sebastian.  With 5 nights in Madrid and Barcelona you could do at least one daytrip and also enjoy the cities. 4 days in San Sebastian would also give you time to explore the Basque country.