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Spain: Journey from Barcelona to Madrid via Alicante and Grenada?

Spain: Journey from Barcelona to Madrid via Alicante and Grenada?

Old May 26th, 2018, 07:21 AM
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Spain: Journey from Barcelona to Madrid via Alicante and Grenada?

Spanish travel vets — thinking about starting our late June trip in Barcelona, then traveling to Valencia, Alicante, Grenada, and Toledo before ending up the trip in Madrid. Rental car or train for this journey? Must see stops along the way (open to any mix of nature/hiking/swimming and historical/cultural spots)? How much time would you suggest in each city along the way? Thanking you for your suggestions and recommendations in advance.
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Old May 26th, 2018, 07:59 AM
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Barcelona to Valencia then Alicante and back to Madrid would be easy by train, as there is a direct train from Barcelona to Alicante (which stops in Valencia, so you could do both), and then from Alicante to Madrid.

Granada is the real outlier in this plan, I presume you have looked at a map and can see where it is. Toledo is not on any train line between Madrid and the south or Madrid and Alicante. So you have to go through Madrid to get to/from there. Granada sure isn't on a train line to any of those other places. So I guess you could go to Valencia then Alicante and then drive to Granada. From there, not sure what you'd do, that's up to you.

So those are my comments, it really depends how much time you have as to whether this is feasible, sure, it would be if you have weeks.
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Old May 27th, 2018, 07:01 AM
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Alhambra

And if you want to see the Alhambra, and don't already have your tickets, the first thing you need to do is to see if there are any tickets left for the day/time you'd like to go. Entry is timed and there are only so many tickets available each day. Good luck!
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Old May 27th, 2018, 07:54 AM
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Barcelona, then traveling to Valencia, Alicante, Grenada, and Toledo before ending up the trip in Madrid.>

How long do you have for this trip roughly ayway?

Land in Barcelona and fly out of Madrid of course. Trains are the way to go between cities as cars are useless in them but depends how much time you have - could meander between cities but still trains make sense since your cities are so far removed from each other. Check Renfe for fares, schedules and booking your own tickets on line - at a discount if early enough to get those limited in numer tickets - www.seat61.com has great advice on doing that - general info www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. Do Toledo as a baggage-free train trip from Madrid.

But if you have say three weeks then I'd say driving along the coast as Christina says trains don't go that way (but still could be faster) so yes consider driving.

Or scrub Valencia and Alincate and spend more time in Andalusia - Seville and Cordoba are arguably as nice as Valencia and Alicante and take trains all the way.

Last edited by PalenQ; May 27th, 2018 at 08:16 AM.
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Old May 27th, 2018, 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by PalenQ
Barcelona, then traveling to Valencia, Alicante, Grenada, and Toledo before ending up the trip in Madrid.>

How long do you have for this trip roughly ayway?

Land in Barcelona and fly out of Madrid of course. Trains are the way to go between cities as cars are useless in them but depends how much time you have - could meander between cities but still trains make sense since your cities are so far removed from each other. Check Renfe for fares, schedules and booking your own tickets on line - at a discount if early enough to get those limited in numer tickets - www.seat61.com has great advice on doing that - general info www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts. Do Toledo as a baggage-free train trip from Madrid.

But if you have say three weeks then I'd say driving along the coast as Christina says trains don't go that way (but still could be faster) so yes consider driving.

Or scrub Valencia and Alincate and spend more time in Andalusia - Seville and Cordoba are arguably as nice as Valencia and Alicante and take trains all the way.
Thanks for the good information. We're working with about two weeks.
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Old May 27th, 2018, 03:10 PM
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2 weeks - 4 travel days = 10 days in bases. Madrid and Barcelona should have IMO 3 days minimum - + day trip to Toledo from Madrid.

Way too little time for all those places and though Granada has the Alhambra you're spending a day getting there and a day getting to Madrid - if going that far I'd again suggest Cordoba and Seville and Granada for a week and a week in Madrid and Barcelona for the two weeks. Plot out travel times between bases by car and train or plane and see what is feasible.

Cheers!
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Old May 27th, 2018, 04:09 PM
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Alhambra is worth the effort & travel imho. It truly is that beautiful.

Ian
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