For a week long trip. I wouldn't really want to travel too far from Barcelona.

And why concentrate on flying to capital cities?

I would suggest combining Barcelona with Carcassone. Hire a car and take in Perpignan as well. Just make sure to drive along the coast road; it's awesome!

Michel
TravelNotes.org

Another vote for Marrakech

Great replies, thank you!

I realize I could easily spend a full week in Barcelona and surrounding areas, but I'm really interested in going to another city outside of Spain. I know it may seem rushed to some, but that is what I'd like to do.

I love the idea of Vienna - I hadn't considered that. Marrakech would be fascinating I'm sure, but I'm a little hestitant being a solo female traveller.

There are just too many wonderful cities in Europe - it's so hard to narrow it down!

I think right now I am leaning towards Rome or Amsterdam. Flying to one of those & spending 4 nights, then hopping a plane to Barcelona for 3 nights. I know it's not alot of time, but does it seem feasible? This year I spent 3 nights each in Madrid & Seville and was happy with those amounts of time. Thank you!

I hope this isn't too much information, but we loved Amsterdam and felt it was a very safe and friendly city. If you are considering it, I'd recommend it. Here's my trip report from 2005:

"Amsterdam. Five nights’ stay, first visit for all of us.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Amsterdam! You always hear of the Red Light district and the coffee shops and the laissez-faire attitude, but you don’t hear how open and friendly the people are, how lovely the canals and side streets, how wonderfully trendy the restaurants and cafes, how people are out strolling at all hours of the night and you feel safe everywhere. I think I’d expected it to be quaint and charming (which it is), but in a dark wood-paneled cliché way, not in the young and contemporary way it is.

The standard reply we were given in Amsterdam, when we asked for anything, was always “Of course!” How refreshing.

We stayed in a fabulous location, at The Hotel Residence le Coin, which was directly across a small street from the Hotel de l’Europe, down the street from the Hotel Doelan, on Nieuwe Doelenstraat (sp?). A great neighborhood in the heart of old Amsterdam.

The hotel has a lift and A/C, also free use of the hotel’s washing machine and clothes dryer in the basement (which was welcome as we’d been traveling over a week when we arrived there). Each room has a little kitchenette, a nice-sized bath, large rooms with wooden floors and a sitting area. It’s fairly new, so everything sparkles. Very friendly front desk, too.

Two cafes on the same block as the hotel were wonderful: Café Katoen for a university atmosphere, and Café le Jarden, for great table seating on the canal.

Amazing dinners at two restaurants in particular:
“Stout!”, at Haarlemmerstraat 73 (www.restaurantstout.nl). Fabulous ‘foamy asparagus’ soup with shrimp, chateaubriande, fresh fish, dessert course, wine list. Very trendy lighting. Great service. We’d gone to the neighborhood in search of a restaurant called “Lof” which we’d seen written up. We didn’t like its atmosphere, but were lucky that Stout! was just across the street.

Also at “Restaurant Dining Eleven” we had a great dinner. It’s at Reestraat 11. Also trendy and contempory, well-presented and beautifully-served meal.

Another nice dinner at “frenzi”, at Swanenburgwal 232. Very simple and contemporary. We arrived shortly after 10:00p.m., when most restaurants close in Amsterdam, and persuaded the owner to sell us any left-overs they had in the kitchen! They put together a nice Caesar salad with cooked-in-the-shell shrimp and mango. Very nice.

Also a good brunch at a place across the street from frenzi—called “Puccini”. Creative salads and sandwiches. Very nice also.

We took a canal cruise one evening. Toured the Anne Frank Huis and the Van Gogh Museum. Visited the Nieuwe Kerk (sp?) Our teens went to a concert at the Paradiso and loved it.

One afternoon we did the 2:30 “Best of Holland” excursion to Volendam and Marken, with a stop to see wooden clogs made, Gouda cheese created, and to visit windmills. It was by bus, with a boat from Volendam to Marken. A lot of fun. Even our two teens liked it.

Our teens also liked shopping at one street in particular, between our hotel and the museum district. Also a Zara shop there, and many others like it. They thought the selection and prices were better in Amsterdam than what they’d seen in London and Paris even.

A detail about Amsterdam if you go there-- carry enough Euros in cash, because many places won't accept a credit card for a 'small' purchase (i.e. under 25 EU).

The only unpleasantness we encountered in Amsterdam related to cab rides and inconsistent pricing. Especially when our two teens were grossly overcharged cabbing to the hotel from the concert. They were well aware of the route, having walked it already twice, but we'd wanted them to cab home late at night. They knew the cabbie took a very round-about way back in order to over-charge. Also, when we arrived at the taxi sand at Central Station, I was literally swarmed by rather aggressive cabbies and felt uncomfortably jostled by them all."
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I've been to many of your considerations. I was most recently in Amsterdam for tulip season and absolutely loved it. You could spend an entire day just seeing tulips! We did! Nine days was not enough there for us and if I didn't have such an extensive Travel To Do list, I'd be back there in a heartbeat.

That said, I am just afraid with only a week you'd be "wasting" valuable time getting between Barcelona and ________ whatever your choice is. Why not Amsterdam and maybe Brussels or Bruges or Cologne or some place a little closer but "different"? With transfer time to/from airports and flight times, I think you'd lose the better part of a day between Bareclona and wherever.

There have been some good recommendations of places nearer to Barcelona, so if Barcelona is really a must for you, I'd focus on those and make the most of your time. FWIW, I spent a few days in Barcelona last year and while it was interesting for me with the Gaudi architecture and Picasso Museum, I enjoyed Madrid and Seville much more for what they had to offer (more museums, Moorish architecture, day trips to Toledo, etc).

maureenb, thanks so much for your thoughts on Amsterdam. It really sounds wonderful! It's very tempting to make it my next destination - especially with all the positive responses here.

amyb, I really appreciate your comments. I think I remember you gave me some valuable advice before I went to Spain in the spring so I value your opinions. It's true I will be wasting time flying to a 2nd city, but I figure no more so than taking day trips via train travel. How interesting that you preferred Madrid & Seville over Barcelona. What were your highlights of Barcelona? And of Amsterdam? What time of year were you there to enjoy the tulips?

In Barcelona I loved La Sagrada Familia, La Perdera and the Picasso Museum. The cathedral was impressive too.

We were in Amsterdam April 12-20. Highlights were absolutely the tulips which you'll never see anywhere else, the museums (so many -- art museums, Anne Frank House, Rembrandt House) and the daytrips we did to the Hague, Delft and Haarlem. Plus the people and the food were much better than I expected. I'd go back in a minute if I could.

I still think the travel time will be quite a bit more between major cities than a daytrip nearby, but it's your time to use. If you're set on it, then go for it! :-)

Ok, so after some more trip daydreaming, I think I have changed my mind!

As much as I want to go back to Spain, I think I'm going to give Italy a try next spring. It just doesn't make sense to go to Barcelona, then fly to Rome. I might as well spend all my time in Italy.

I'm thinking 7-9 nights and splitting those up between Rome, Florence & Venice.

I may post under a new thread, but I would be travelling solo. Any recommendations for hotels in safe areas with single rooms? I'm hoping to spend around 100-125 euros per night.

Thanks again for all the advice - it really made me give my plans some thought.

I'm not sure about single prices, but my daughter and I liked the twin rooms in these hotels, and they are in safe areas:

Rome- Domus Julia
Florence- Relais Cavalcanti
Venice- Hotel Riva or Casa Rezzonico

I wrote detailed trip reports about each of these cities. I wouldn't recommend less than 3 nights in each city, though.
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