It shouldn't cost substantially more to fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona than to fly round trip to Madrid. I don't know where you are flying from, but I tried it as an experiment just now on Kayak using Boston to Madrid as a round trip and then Boston to Madrid and back from Barcelona to Boston using random dates in May, and the fares were identical. Are you sure you are checking just those two flights and not one between Madrid and Barcelona also? With just a week to spend, you don't want to waste a day backtracking.

You can see flamenco any night in Madrid, why do you think you won't be able to? Even the days you do day trips, you could be back in time for flamenco. At Casa Patas, I believe the weeknight shows are at 10:30, and on weekends there is a show at midnight. I assume the other venues are similar. Madrid is a late night city!

Rank ordered: Avila, Segovia, then Toledo. In my opinion.

IMO, you have to see both, Madrid and Barcelona, to decide for yourself which city you like better. I find them hard to compare, and even liking BCN much more, I would never advise anyone (esp. not a first-timer) against Madrid.

But with just one week, you can spend that time easily in one of the two locations without getting bored or feeling the desire to see "more".

Comparing opportunities for day trips, I'd say that Madrid has even more than Barcelona. Or at least has more *world class* day trip destinations nearby, e.g. Toledo, El Escorial, Aranjuez, and the towns mentioned above.

Barcelona gets more points for its location on the sea and a strong Mediterranean influence. Montserrat, Girona, or Tarragone would be obvious possibilities for a day trip. Others may be done better with a rental car for a day or two, e.g. touring the coastal road North towards Cadaques, SW to Poblet monastery, or through the wine country of the Penedès right on Barcelona's door step.

Both were wonderful places to visit, but we really preferred Madrid in the end. We're not big club-hoppers and I felt like I could have enjoyed Barcelona more if I were willing to regularly stay up all night. I also thought the variety of tapas in Madrid was far more varied and enjoyed the food/bar scene more (see our recent post recalling gambas al ajillo in Madrid: http://www.hitherandthither.net/2010...el-abuelo.html). I also have to admit that we felt safer in Madrid (actually feeling a bit uncomfortable in Barcelona at times). We went on a day trip to Toledo, but I could have easily spent a week in Madrid. Barcelona does have Gaudi and the beach--and the trip to we took from there to the Costa Brava was incredible. You'll have a good time either place, but my vote is for Madrid.

I'm a weirdo who likes Madrid better. Barcelona is a great city but Madrid has world class museums and Toledo and Segovia are more interesting daytrips than anything near Barcelona.

My wife and I just got back from Madrid and Barcelona from March 8, 2010 to March 17, 2010. We spend 4 days in Madrid, and 5 days in Barcelona.

Watch out for pickpockets!!!!

My wife had two Credit Cards, U.S. driver licenses, and $20.00 picked from her purse the first day we were in Madrid, but no big deal since we canceled the Credit Cards. When we were in Barcelona, I was cornered in the Metro, and had my wallet taken, but I was lucky because there were two under cover police who saw the whole thing, caught them, and I got my wallet back. I had to file a police report, so spend about three hours in the police station. On the Third Day in Barcelona, someone tried to pick my pocket again, but I got hold of his fingers as he entered my pocket, and I twisted and broke his index finger as he was running out of the Metro.

I have to say that I enjoy Barcelona more then Madrid becasue there are more to do and see in Barcelona then in Madrid.

The Food was great, but got to try the following:
Cochinillo asado: roasted sucking pig
Cocido madrileño: meat and chickpea stew
Bocata de calamares: fried calamari sandwich on French bread
Porras: a thicker version of churros - fried batter eaten with thick hot chocolate or coffee
Tapas (like Dim Sum)

Transportation:
Learning how to take public transportation (Metro) was very easy in both Madrid and Barcelona. In Fact, we took the Metro
most of the time we were there, but just got to watch out for the pick pockets in the Metro.

Trip:
We enjoyed most of the Museums in Madrid and Barcelona, but the Cathedral in both Madrid and Barcelona was amazing. Shopping was kind of fun going into small alley's but at the same time, kind of scary.

I think we enjoy Barcelona more because there was more to see and do there. We also took a side trip to Toledo when in Madrid, and Montserrat in Barcelona. Not much to see in Toledo unless you like to buy Toledo Sword or steel, but the Cathedral was huge. We really enjoyed Montserrat which is a natural Park with massive rock over 4000 feet high with weird shapes and round peaks that jut into the sky. From there, there was a very nice view of Barcelona.

Other then the pickpockets, we did enjoy our travel to Spain, but I think they need to do something about all those pickpockets. From what we understand from the local and police, most of the pickpockets are not from Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), but from other parts of Europe.

Check out the following before you go to save some money:

http://www.neoturismo.com

Madrid Card Culture:
* Free entries into Museums and Monuments
* Entry to the Bernabeu Stadium Tour, Atlético de Madrid
Tour, Tour "Las Ventas" (Bullfight). All the guided
tours "Discover Madrid".
* Theaters Important discounts in theaters and musicals.
* Shopping Discounts and gifts at the major stores.
* Restaurants Great discounts in the best restaurants.
* Nightlife Discounts in flamenco shows, "café- conciertos"
and discos.

Madrid Tourist Travel Pass:
* Underground All Metro lines. Airport Surcharge including.
* Urban buses - All EMT routes of buses.
* Interurban buses - All lines of Regular Passenger Public
Transport by road, within this zone.
* Suburban Train - All RENFE Suburban Train lines.
* Light Rail - Light Rail ML2 and ML3 and Parla Tramway.

Barcelona Card:
* Public Transport - Underground and TMB city buses, FGC
suburban train network, trams, airport shuttle and Renfe
suburban train network, zone 1.
* Museums and Monuments - Free entry to Cosmocaixa, Torre de
Collserola, Mirador de Colón and 12 museums more.As well as
large discounts at: more than 25 galleries (Museo Picasso,
La Pedrera, Fund. Joan Miró, Casa-Museu Gaudí, Casa Batló,
Museu del Futbol Club Barcelona...).
* Guided tours - Entry to the Las Golondrinas. Boat trips of
the port and along Barcelona’s coast.
* Leisure - Great discounts on: Tibidabo Amusement Park, Zoo,
L´Aquarium, Casino...
* Shopping - Discounts and gifts at the major souvenir
stores.
* Restaurants - Important discounts in the best restaurants.
* Nightlife - Great discounts on: flamenco shows, "café-
concerts" and discos.

Moonglow - wow those pickpockets are a busy bunch - not shedding any tears for the one with a now broken finger, and I was glad to hear there were undercover police watching the Metro. We also had a problem in Barcelona - when we returned to the same station two days later we sat down and watched for 10 minutes and we easily identified a group working the station and fishing thru pockets. We saw them target an elderly gentleman so we stared pointing at them and yelling "ladrones" (thieves). It just seemed to me, if we could spot them so quickly, why couldn't the police? I would assume they see the same group every day! Maybe Barcelona and Madrid are finally getting tired of being identified as the pickpocket capital of the EU.