Re: Trip to Spain
 

My husband and I are planning a trip to Spain in October. We will fly to Madrid. Where should we go from there and what transportation is best? We will be in Spain for 2 weeks and must fly home from Madrid.

Linda,

Would love to help but you pose such a broad question it is very difficult. Spain is a very diverse country, the South completly different from the North.

Could you narrow a bit what your interests are?

We think we'd like to go to Barcelona and the surrounding areas. Any ideas on this. I'd love to visit Seville but it looks so far.

We went to Spain 2 years ago and had a great time. We probably did too much at the time but visited Madrid, Barcelona, Majorca, Sevilla, Granada, Toledo and the Languedoc Roussilon area of France. We took a combination of trains, boats and rent car. From Madrid to Barcelona you could take the train. After we spent some time in Barcelona, we took an overnight cruise/boat ride to Majorca for the day. We rented a car at the dock in Palma and toured the island before returning to take the ship back to Barcelona. We then rented a car in Barcelona and drove North to Fabrezon, Colluire, Carcassonne in France. We returned to Barcelona and took an overnight train to Sevilla. Visited there and then rented a car, drove to the Costa del Sol, Granada, Toledo and returned back to Madrid to fly home. While we generally try to go a little slower, it was a great trip. You're going at around the best time of year to see the grape harvest which is why we went.

You could fly into Barcelona, fly from Barcelona to Sevilla ( Spanair has very reasonable nonstop fares) and then take the AVE from Sevilla to Madrid.

I'm sure others will chime in as to what to do around Barcelona. I have been to Barcelona but not to the surrounding areas.

Good luck!

That is such a tough question! I agree completely with cruiseluv; maybe you should choose between the north and the south of Spain. Since you are flying into Madrid I suggest spending at least two days to explore the city with two additional days for excursions to Segovia and Toledo (perhaps overnight). Bus or train trips (Renfe) from Madrid are easy and relatively inexpensive. I know southern Spain better than northern Spain although I have visited several cities in Pais Vasco and think the countryside is stunning. Santiago de Compostela (in the west) is also charming. However, my favorite cities are Sevilla and Granada. There is a high speed train (AVE) from Madrid to Sevilla and/or Cordoba. They take about 2 hours as opposed to the normal 6 hours. If time is limited then this might be a good option although they are pricy.
A good place to go for travel info (from Madrid) is Softguide Madrid (www.softdoc.es). In my experience it is usually easiest to travel to other places in Spain from Madrid. However, the transportation system (both bus and rail) are good throughout the nation. Have fun!

Went to Madrid about 5 years ago. Beautiful vacation! So much to see in Madrid.

Do take some of the day trips / tours that are offered for sites outside of Madrid - Toledo & Sevilla were beautiful!

B-)

I like Barcelona (and it's only 2 hrs drive) but I love Sevilla.

Head towards the South and visit Sevilla.

Blackduff

Thank you all for giving me suggestions.

We did something like this:
1. Buy SpainPass (offered by SpanAir & Iberia)
2. Arr. Madrid; fly to Santiago (2-nights, hopefully one Saturday).
3. Fly Santiago-Barcelona (3-nights)
4. Fly BCN-Sevilla (3-nights Andalucia)
5. Fly Sevilla-MAD (4-nights)
6. Fly MAD-JFK

I would rent a car and drive to Segovia, Avila, Salamanca, go down the Extremadura to Seville, then Cordoba, Granada, and back up to Madrid via Toledo.