Spain - looking for a historic town and beach town
 

Going to Spain next summer for about 9 -10 nights. Plan on spending a 2-3 days in Barcelona and then 2-3 days in Madrid. I would like to spend a night or two at a quaint beach town near mountains/hills and a night or two in an historic town (preferably a walled in one) . Both should be located between Barcelona and Madrid since I need to stay on a fairly direct route. I may have a car but probably will travel by train. I looked at Toledo as the historic town but you may have a better idea.

Toledo is one of the great destinations of Europe and really a very moving place to see. There are many many tourists during the day but not at night.

People have various faves for a picturesque beach town in easy reach of Barcelona. I've not been to them all but of the ones I have been to Calella de Palafrugell was the prettiest for my tastes.

Good suggestions, Sandra, but let's not mention Palafrugell too much here. Don't want it spoiled by the masses who can go to Sitges or someplace like that !!!

Oops, I was thinking of Begur and Cala d'Aiguablava.

As I'm sure you realise, if you travel from Barcelona to Madrid you are moving from the coast inland, East to West, so no beach town is on a direct route. You will have to travel either North or South from Barcelona to stay on the coast, which will involve extra miles.

This is a very touristy area and quaint may not be obvious, but your choices are limited due to geography. As mentioned above, try Calella de Palafrugell or maybe Tossa de Mar.

As Rubicund has pointed out, you need to look at a map. You are not going to be on any kind of direct route between Barcelona and Madrid and also at the beach unless you DO use a car.

Toledo is great, if you've never been there, you can't go wrong with that as the side trip from Madrid.

What body of water would that beach be on between Barcelona and Madrid? Without going too far out of the way, I'd suggest Valencia.

Check out Tarragona, just 45 minutes outside of Barcelona and an original Roman outpost. The coliseum, forum, city walls as well as museums are great for checking out as well as the cathedral. The oldest areas are compact enough to see all in a day or two. We loved it there!
http://www.tarragonablog.com

"Both should be located between Barcelona and Madrid since I need to stay on a fairly direct route"

Valencia is between Barcelona and Madrid? Not quite... although you can take the train south to Valencia and then the high-speed AVE back up to Madrid. No mountains though. For that you wold have to head to the Basque Coast (Cantabria, Asturias, País Vasco), Galicia, Costa del Sol or Cadiz.

Uh, why doesn't Barcelona qualify as your beach town considering it's on the water and . . . wait for it . . . has a beach?

Plus, (1) Robert's right, Valencia isn't anywhere in, near, around, or convenient to your proposed route, and (2) 2-3 days in Barcelona is really short.

"Without going too far out of the way, I'd suggest Valencia."

Sorry Christina, it's 220 miles out of the way. As BigRuss says, why not use the beach area in Barcelona and then head off to Madrid?

Thank you for your replies. Any other ideas are welcomed. I understand that the beach town aspect of the trip would need to be closer to barcelona.

The beach in Barcelona is not very nice. the beach in San Sebastian on the other hand is great.

Tossa del Mar near Barcelona

Possibly look at Mallorca, Palma old town is beautiful and around 25 miles away are some of the best beaches in Europe.

It is entirely feasible that the flights from Barcelona to Palma then Palma to Madrid would be cheaper than the train. Easyjet and Ryanair frequently offer one way flights for less than 50 euros. The flight to Palma is 25 minutes from Barcelona.

Tossa de Mar or Calella de Palafrugell would fit the bill. Tossa is a bit easier to get to from Barcelona and is a bit more "touristy" but it's lovely and has a nice beach. Calella is quieter and also has a lovely beach but - as I remember - you have to get a bus to Palafrugell and then a bus/taxi from there to Calella.

Would highly recommend Toledo - a very easy daytrip from Madrid.