Hi - I am planning a trip to Spain.

My thoughts were to stay in Madrid for the week. We would do day trips to Toledo and Seville. Are there any other day trips to do using Madrid as the base?

Also, I want to check out Barcelona, but would that be best served for a seperate trip?

Thanks!

toledo is fine for day trip, especially now with the high speed AVE train.

however, sevilla would be a shame not to spend a night or two, take in a flamenci show, which is always in the evening.

barcelona is well connected cheaply to madrid by www.iberia.com or www.vueling.com, or you can fly one way between them and sevilla at www.vueling.com.

perhaps that way you can fit them all into your itinerary.

I am traveling to Madrid for about nine days and have found a wealth of information in the Fodors threads and trip reports (including a fantastic Web page at www.wired2theworld.com). We decided to spend about three days in Madrid, one in Toledo, and then several days driving to Granada, Ronda, and Sevilla (with a stop by train in Cordoba en route back to Madrid. There are many variations on this theme -- trains vs. buses vs. cars, and which towns to visit and for how long -- but the general recommended route is surprisingly consistent among many posters. If you don't like changing hotels, you may want to divide the week between a Madrid hotel and one other based in the heart of Andalucia.

Segovia is a nice day trip from Madrid - just over an hour away by bus.

This is what we did in October 2005:

Flew into Madrid (from East Coast USA), arriving Sunday am. Took the AVE Monday afternoon, arriving in Seville late afternoon, then flew to Barcelona on Thursday evening. On Saturday afternoon, we embarked on a cruise ship for a week's tour ending in Lisbon.

We didn't have more than a week to spend in Spain, and we also tacked on a couple of extra days in Lisbon.

One day in Madrid was no where near enough time, particularly because Sunday was pretty much a waste because of jet lag, and because many of the museums were closed on Monday.

In Seville, we never made it out of the Santa Cruz area. So again, we could have spent much more time there. I can't imagine spending only an afternoon in this town.

In Barcelona, we would have had a little more time for sightseeing but we met up with another couple there, who arrived Friday am and needed to recover from jet lag then. So, the time we had there was no where's near enough time to do justice to this city either.

I'm glad that we spent what time we had, but basically it gave us a taste of those three cities, and no time in the countryside at all.

If you are really talking about only 7 days, keep in mind that unless you are already in Europe, your first day will be hampered by recovering from a long plane trip, and your last day will probably be spent travelling back to wherever. So you really end up with 5 days. I think for an area as rich as Spain, you might need to limit yourself to just one city, or two cities at most, with only a couple of selected day trips.

Thanks for the replies! It does seem like we will need to limit ourselves to only a couple of cities. The flight from Philly will get us in Madrid on a Sunday morning. That afternoon I want to see a bullfight. It seems quite graphic, but I hear it is a sight to see.

It seems like Toledo or Segovia would be the best day trips from Madrid. If there is only time to choose one, which should it be? Reading over some prior threads, it seems Toledo gets the nod a bit more.

I think that we may stay overnight in Seville for one night.

When is this going to happen?? If it's Semana Santa (11-16 Apr) you're dreaming if you are considering an overnight in Sevilla. It will be fully booked and prices will be at peak season highs.

Several years ago we day-tripped to Sevilla from Madrid for the Good Friday Processions. We left Madrid on the 7:30 AM AVE (arr. Sevilla 10:00 AM), spent the day and departed on an 8:00 PM AVE (arr.Madrid 10:30 PM). There's about a 25% discount on 'Same day return' AVE Tix.

If you daytrip to Segovia, I don't recommend the Gastronomic Tour that some Tour Operators offer. If you can get a reservation at Meson del Duque for the midday meal, do so! It will be Roast suckling pig or lamb.

You say you will be arriving on Sunday AM (on US Airways?) from Phila. After you get checked into your hotel you might find your way to Retiro Park and enjoy some of the street performers. Sometimes you might get lucky and see a Cantaor de Flamenco. We did!!

Been there; done that!! Ned (from NE Phila).

Hi

Segovia is nice but Toledo is my first pick by far. It is remarkable - it is a World Heritage listed site. Only one hour by bus or train (less with the new AVE from Madrid).

If you go to Seville stay in the lovely Barrio Santa Cruz. The Hotel Amadeus - http://www.sevilla5.com/hotels/amadeus.html - gets good reviews in this forum. Take in a flamenco show - http://www.tablaolosgallos.com. This was great. Photos allowed but no video.

Cheers

I did a week in Madrid last year, with side trips to San Lorenzo El Escorial, Toldeo, and Segovia... Honestly, I picked those cities day-of based on which had the best departue times from when I showed up at the train station. I found it to be the perfect number of day trips, and Segovia was by far my favorite! Toledo was nice, but I think it was all the hills and getting lost that turned me off.

I ruled out Sevilla at the time because the high speed train was fairly expensive for a day trip, but I'm going back this year and spending several nights there. Like they say, always assume that you will return. I think you'd get more out of another day trip and night in Madrid...

As for the bullfights, I did this too and enjoyed the experience. You can find the schedule at www.las-ventas.com (spanish only i think).

If considering staying a night out Madrid, why don't you visit Merida? The most important Roman city in Spain, former capital of Lusitania... The Roman Theatre and the Roman Art Museum are really a must.
It is about 300 kms. from Madrid. Well connected by public transport.
Have a nice stay in Spain.

I agree that Seville doesn't make sense as a day trip from Madrid. I love both Toledo and Segovia, both make great day trips, and another easy day trip would be to Avila and you could even add Salamanca on to that day (if you start early enough) and both of these are wonderful too.

I would definitely recommend Salamanca - the old town is magic!

I love Salamaca too but to do a day trip there is the same as doing a day trip to Sevilla ( both are 2.5 hrs from Madrid, assuming you take the Ave to Sevilla), it's doable but would be very tiring and rushed.

Although my parents did the day trip thing to Sevilla, had a great time and saw the major sights , no problem. So it really depends on the eprson.