Scott

I am planning a trip to Spain in April. It will probably be 9 full days, departing on the 10th day. Right now I was thinking of dividing my time between Madrid, Toledo, Seville, and Cordoba - does anyone have any comments on that itinerary. It just seems to me that I may be crazy for going to Spain and not seeing Barcelona. While I would love to go there, I thought it would be to much traveling for this time span. Would anyone recommend cramming it in - or possiby doing Barcelona instead of Madrid? Thanks for any help.

McH

Scott,<BR><BR>2 thougths:<BR><BR>1) Madrid allows you better communications to Toledo, Segovia, Avila, El Escorial, as well as for Andalucia (Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada)<BR><BR>2) You only have 9 dias, I would go for Madrid and a few of the surroundings (some of the before mentioned places=.<BR><BR>Good luck,<BR><BR>McH

Leslie

Scott, I am planning a similar trip for the end of March, but I will have 16 full days in Spain. First, you have to decide, where you want to fly into.<BR><BR>The time by train from Madrid to Toledo is less than 90 minutes. The AVE high speed train from Madrid to Seville is 2.5 hours. But you could stop in Cordoba on the way, and then take the train to Seville. The time by train between Cordoba and Seville is also less than 90 minutes. If you want to go to Barcelona from Seville, there is a flight via Air Europa, but it leaves at about 10pm, and arrives in Barcelona at 11:30pm, and that is the only non-stop flight available. The cost is about 200 Euro. There are flights between Madrid and Barcelona about every 30-45 minutes. The cost ranges from 50 Euro to 85 Euro, depending on the time of the flight. <BR><BR>With 9 full days, you could spend 2 days in Madrid, a day in Toledo, a day in Cordoba, 3 days in Seville, and 2 in Barcelona. If you want to skip Barcelona totally, and still go to the other cities you mentioned, then you could add Granada and see the Alhambra, which is about a 2 hour train ride from Seville, return to Seville and then take the AVE back to Madrid for your flight home.<BR><BR>My trip over 16 days has the following itinerary:<BR><BR>6 nights in Madrid, with day trips to Toledo, El Escorial/Valley of the Damned, Segovia/Avila<BR><BR>4 nights in Seville, with a day trip to Cordoba<BR><BR>2 nights in Granada, fly to Barcelona<BR><BR>4 nights in Barcelona<BR><BR>You might consider flying into Barcelona first, then flying to Madrid, then doing Toledo, Cordoba, and Seville, returning to Madrid on the AVE, if you can get an open jaw ticket for a reasonable price.<BR><BR>Logistically with your time frame, it makes sense to drop Barcelona and add Granada.

justina

if you don't go to Barcelona you are a loser. it is so much better than madrid.

wanting

Leslie...where can I find the Air Europa schedules and costs? I'm looking at flying Barcelona to Seville or Malaga...

xxx

Heard great things about Barcelona, but skipped in favor of Seville, Granada, Toledo, Segovia and Madrid. Agree with posters that the above cities around Madrid are great. Didn't love Madrid, but there were some good historic sites to see and figured we would save Barcelona for another trip as don't like to cram too much into a 10 day trip.<BR><BR>We also figured Barcelona and South of France would be an interesting trip sometime ended with a weekend in Paris.

lori

Scott,<BR>We spent 7 days in Spain last spring, divided between Barcelona & Madrid. We flew into Barcelona, spent 3 days there and then took an Iberia in-country flight to Madrid where we based ourselves for 4 days. While in Madrid we took a daytrip to Seville -- yes, you can, the Ave is fast -- BUT we missed Granada and Cordoba. We also took a daytrip to Toledo, well worthwhile, so all in all spent only 2 days in Madrid. I much prefer Barcelona to Madrid and Seville was fun, albeit rushed. I had been to Barcelona before and gone to Tarragona (Roman ruins) and Figueras (Dali museum) on previous stay, so we concentrated on Barcelona this time. Spain is huge, you can't do every worthwhile thing in one trip -- it just depends on how you carve up your time and what your emphasis is. Enjoy!

Leslie

The three major airlines in Spain are Air Europa, Iberia and Spanair. Iberia only allows you to book your travel no greater than 6 months from departure. Not all of the airlines service all of the airports in Spain, but here are the websites:<BR><BR>www.aireuropa.com<BR>www.iberia.c om<BR>www.spanair.com<BR><BR>You'll need to look at the top of the page of each of the websites to switch from Spanish to English.

Hiram

Madrid is one of the worst major cities in Europe. Spend no more than 2 days there on your trip.

Andrew

Skip Barcelona this time around. Stick to Madrid - Cordoba - Sevilla (all on the brilliant AVE train). Consider dropping Toledo for Cadiz or El Puerto de Santa Maria (at the SW end of the train line).<BR><BR>Toledo is not that great to be honest.

xxx

Disagree on dropping Toledo. Thought the town was charming (we stayed overnight) and loved the Alcazar that was damaged during the civil war. Like La Granja outside of SEgovia alot also.

Jim

Scott, the first reply you received--the one from McH--is absolutely on the mark. Barcelona is a much more beautiful city than Madrid, but Madrid is MUCH nearer the other places you plan to visit and it is near other very worthwhile places such as Toledo, Segovia, and El Escorial which you can do as day trips from Madrid. Trust McH and don't listen to the person who told you you'd be a loser if you don't go to Barcelona. The writer of that statement is off base.

joseph

go to barcelona. i you are not into nightlife, barcelona BLOWS madrid away in every other aspect!!!

Stella

I have been to both Madrid and Barcelona, and I would recommend both. Fly into one and out the other and rent a car and go to Seville and Granada (don't miss the Alhambra). Spain is wonderful. Good luck.

go for

Madrid is Madrid totally different, not better than Barcelona. Iprefer Madrid and feel calmer there,easier to get around.Barcelona is after all,a port and<BR>all that entails.It also wants

Heidi

Several years ago, I did the Madrid/Barcelona trip. I absolutely adored Madrid for the museums, the layout, and the people. I found Barcelona to be interesting, but overall difficult to navigate. For some reason, I also felt safer in Madrid--even late at night. However, if you prefer architecture to art museums, Barcelona is the place to be. The Gaudi stuff alone is fantastic. Don't miss a daytrip to Figueras, home of the Dali museum. I'd skip all the old Olympic stuff, but that's just me.

allan

Scott:<BR><BR>Having lived in Spain I can assure you Barcelona is a better city than Madrid. However, McH & Jim are correct. If this is your 1st time around, go to Madrid, Toledo, Segovia, Avila, El Escorial, Seville & Cordova. I would strongly enmcourage you to make it to Grenada and see the Alhambra. You can always go to Barcelona and the France some other time.