Madrid and Barcelon
 

I'm looking to travel to spain around thanksgiving for a week. Was planning on spending three days in Madrid and three in Barcelona. Is this feasibile? what's the best way to get from one city to the next? ps: live in SF so I'll be taking off either from SFO or OAK. Is this a good time to travel? Any advice would be most helpful. Thanks!

As long as you don't mind cool to cold weather and some possibility of rain, November is fine for Spain. Temps in Madrid will be in the low-50s F, and while snow is not common, it does occur (although mostly later in the winter.) Temps in Barcelona may be a few degrees warmer, and no snow there, but a good chance of rain. On the plus side, there will be very few crowds, which will be a big plus in terms of seeing the museums in Madrid and the Sagrada Famila and the other Gaudi buildings in Barcelona. Hotel prices should also be cheaper. No beach weather though. Depending on how late you go in November, there may be some Christmas decorations up.

If you have six full days in Spain not including flight days/hours, then that should be fine for the 2 cities. Depending on how much you want to see in Madrid, it would also be possible to take a day trip to El Escoril or even a bit further to Toledo.

You can fly between the two in about an hour, or take a train in about 5 hours. The train and flight can each cost as little as about $60 one-way, depending on the class and if your dates are flexible. You would of course get to see a bit of the countryside if you went by train. The website for Spanish trains is www.renfe.es. For flights, check with Iberia at www.iberia.es, as well as low cost carriers like Ali Eagles. You might run a search here for low-cost flights between the two, or post a new question.

You should look into an open jaw flight into Madrid and out of Barcelona (or vice versa) to avoid backtracking as you only have 6 days. These usually do not cost much more than a point to point ticket.

I've done open jaws on a "Europe Pass" with British Airways (into Barcelona, out of Madrid) and it was quite cheap.

Wait until you get to Madrid to buy a Madrid-Barcelona one-way airline ticket. It will be a lot cheaper than booking it from the US. You can fly with Iberia or a discount airline. I don't think there are any high-speed trains between Madrid and Barcelona, so you'd lose the better part of a day on the train.

Do you need hotel recommendations for either city? Check for postings under my name from around March-May 2003.

There is newer train service between Madrid and Barcelona which has cut the time from 8 hours to between 5-6 hours one way.

I would second the idea of possibly flying between the two which does take about an hour. I cannot comment on whether or not it would be THAT much cheaper to book the ticket after arrival. Last time I did so I went through Expedia and it cost me about $65.00 one way on Iberia..they seem to have flights between the two cities almost hourly.

Thank you so much for all your thoughts. I bought an open jaw ticket from Boston-Paris-Istanbul-Boston last October and it cost me around $550 on expedia. however I can't seem to get anything below $1100 from SFO. Given that Nov seems to be a low tourist season, are there any other places that I should look for a better deal? Hotel recommendations would be great. I'm a single female planning on travelling alone. Is there much to be concerned about?

I am kind of surprised at those ticket prices for November, but airline ticket pricing in general is a complete mystery to me. I would keep checking.

Can you tell us your budget for hotels.

There are some areas of both Barcelona (Ramblas but only the lower end) and Madrid I might avoid staying as a single woman if you plan on being out alone late in the evenings, as walking back through some areas is not great, but in general, you will be safe. (I am a single woman myself who often travels alone in Europe, and I live in Zurich.)

I have a couple of postings from spring last year about hotels in Barcelona and Madrid. You'll see that I recommend the Eixample district (can never remember how to spell that one) in Barcelona. I never felt unsafe while I was alone, but you do have to be very vigilant about protection of your valuables - lots and lots of petty theft in both cities.

we went last year. My personal preferance was Bracelona. I think two days in Madrid and then Toledo would be right. We took a night sleeping train to Barcelona to not miss out on anything.Barcelona stayed at the Hotel Colon whioch was very nice and a great location.

We were able to get air tickets for less than fifty dollars between Madrid and Barcelona on travelocity last year. We traveled in October and I booked the tickets in June.
We stayed at the Hostal Palacios in Barcelona. Very convenient in Eixample, but a little basic. We liked it, very friendly.
Stayed at the Palacio San Martin in Madrid. Very nice, good central location, but a little more expensive. a 4 star.
We also spent a night in Segovia, besides the 4 nights each in Madrid and Barcelona. We loved it all, esp. Barcelona.

Thank you so much for all your invaluable advice. I've been reading up on the posting from those who have visited Spain and it seems that I would miss quite a bit on the street fairs and carnivals if I visited so late in the year. Since I can't get an earlier vacation from work, I might check out other destinations; Egypt for eg. What are your thoughts? Think its still worthwhile to explore Spain in Nov? I heard the weather is cooler with possibility of rain and snow.

If it were my trip, I would not go to Spain in November, I would do fall or spring when the weather is more temperate. However, I still think you would enjoy the trip.

I think Egypt would be great in November, in fact the weather will be cool, only in the 60s F or so. (I have only been to Cairo once on business in the summer, when it was pretty hot.) I would also try to include a trip to Jordan to see the ruins of Petra. You probably want to post this on the Middle East board. I think you will get great airfare and hotel deals, as travel is significantly down. Also you don't have the strong Euro which you would have in Spain.

If you are really up for travel and can take 10 days or more, consider a place like South Africa, where it is still summer in November. It is a LONG trip by plane from San Fran, but worth it. I also have to put in a good word for a place like Bangkok or Bali in November as the weather is very good, esp the later in the month you can go. Check on the Asia board (I am a frequent poster there, I lived in SE Asia for 10 years.)

Thanks Cicerone. I'll certainly entertain Jordon esp since I got to try great Jordanian and Turkish fusion food last year in Istanbul. I'd like to take more time off to venture to South Africa although Bali sounds pretty enticing as well : )

You might check our Morocco, too. Try a walking tour and then spend a weekend unwinding at the Club Med in Marrakech.

Before booking cheap unrefundable tickets to Thailand, have a close look at the various governments' travel advisories about separatist violence in the South. I don't want to be an alarmist, but the warnings for Thailand (in comparison with warnings for other regions) sound like a number of governments consider tourist beachy areas of Southern Thailand to be the next target of a terrorist attack by Bali. Don't let it stop you from going, but just be careful about what you book in terms of non-refundable packages.

Of course, you could always check out the South Pacific. It will be warm in Northern Australia.

Thanks Kate. I've decided to go to Egypt in early Jan. Plan on checking out Cairo, Luxor and Aswan. Morocco sounds great. not sure if I can pack it all in one trip : )