I am in decision paralysis mode: have flights in and out of Barcelona, arriving on Thursday mid-day and leaving on a Monday morning. That makes it for a 10 full days November trip. I've been before to Barcelona, Madrid and Cordoba, my partner hasn't been in Spain at all. I thought we would split our days between Barcelona and Madrid but I am getting antsy to use this opportunity to see something new to me too. Initially I thought I would settle for day trips to Toledo and Montserrat but now I am questioning everything and can't finalize the plan (while I am getting closer to the trip). I am getting a bit nervous around and bored with the Barcelona hype. Sure, the city is spectacular but I also get it - the entire anti-tourist sentiment, I dislike the crowds, etc.
I never really clicked with Madrid but Prado and Reina Sofia are spectacular and I wouldn't mind visiting them again.
We love art and architecture (and food!). We are also coming out of an extremely stressful work period and probably wouldn't mind to take it a bit easier than just running around from site to site.

Another obstacle: have to be back to Barcelona for a Monday morning (10am) flight. Not ideal.

So there, I feel as chaotic as this post sounds. If anyone has any suggestions, ideas, recommendations regarding how I can reconceptualize this trip, I would really appreciate it. I am sure I am completely ignorant to so much related to Spain so any help will be pure gold.

Thank you!

If you are already committed to flying out of Barcelona, consider putting all your time in that city at the end of your trip.

Montserrat makes an easy day trip from Barcelona. I was very glad to spend a night there, but probably wouldn’t spend more than that, and many people don’t like one-night stays. There’s plenty to do in Catalunya outside of Barcelona – Girona, Figureres, the Costa Brava…. For some ideas, you might consult my old trip report: Four Awesome Weeks in the North of Spain and Catalunya

If flying from the U.S., Barcelona and Madrid are the easiest places to visit, so one option would be to defer a return to Madrid for a separate trip. If you do go to Madrid, I’ll note that I think Toledo easily merits two full days.

The good news: It’s Spain! I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time.

Andalusia is also quite nice at that time of year so you could skip Madrid and just do Barcelona and Andalusia. It is however rather far from BCN but you can fly to and back to someplace like Seville or Grenada

In addition to Madrid, also consider Zaragoza, halfway between Madrid and Barcelona.
https://www.spain.info/en/destination/zaragoza/

After landing in Barcelona you could fly to Valencia ( a new city for you) if the connections are good.
It may be a place to relax for 2- 3 days. It is a lovely city .
Take a train ( 2 hours ) to Madrid for another 3 days and to Barcelona for the remaining time.
I am in Barcelona right now…It is full of tourists … but November may be different…. Also, the wether can be rainy.
When in Madrid , you may try to stay in a less touristy part of the city - just north of park Retiro.
Revulgo mentioned Zaragoza…also an interesting city .

Not sure I'd worry about the crowds in November . Weather you never know.

What have you booked? Just the R/T flight?

Seville is something you've missed. Is it worth it? If you could have flown multi city then yes. Now you'll be wasting some time getting to and from.

But spending some time between Seville and Granada would be different . But I wonder if it's too late to book entry tickets. But the month works for you I guess.

Ten days sounds like a lot but if you start nickeling and diming it traveling between cities you'll end up an expert on train stations or airports and little else

You could do the cities around Barcelona (by train) even into France.

But kja gives a clear sensible solution as well

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the insights. I agree that 10 days only sounds like a chunk of time but my concern is that I will try to fit in too much.

We only booked r/t flights (and I'm arriving from Germany since i'll be there for 10 days prior to this trip) and my partner is arriving from Toronto so only one of us will be jet-legged. Also, we have concert tickets in Palau for Thursday evening when we arrive so we have to stay in Barca right away for that at least.

Option # 1: book hotel close to Barcelona train station, sleep 2 nights, Friday go to Monjuic and Miro Foundation and Saturday morning hop on a train and move on to...Madrid, Valencia or Saragosa - but only one of those 3. Then return to Barcelona to end the trip there the following Thursday (which will give us 3.5 days in Barcelona on top of the first day which is Friday).

Option # 2: Spend a few days in Barcelona (maybe until Monday which is 3 full days), rent a car and drive up the coast, visit Figueres (where I've been before), other small places on the coast and maybe, only maybe, cross over to Perpignan for a night. Not sure if November is a good time for a road trip like that. I read kja's wonderful TR.

Thanks for the kind words!

For option #2, some time in Tarragona or the Cava region might also make sense.

As for the weather, you could do worse than consult weatherspark.com

Train to Valencia takes almost 4 hours…not a good connection. Take a look at RENFE .
Madrid about 2:30 -3:20. The tickets to Madrid are pricy. I did the return trip this week.
Zaragoza is half way between…not big ..several interesting sights ( especially churches)
From Barcelona one can visit Girona, Tarragona , Sitges all without a car, all nice places.
The train station in Barcelona is undergoing some work..it is a bit of a mess. ( same with Atocha in Madrid)
It takes 15-20 minutes ( 10 + euros) to get to the station by taxi…from much nicer parts of the city
As for weather ..who knows..AEMET is the official government weather agency…they give forecast for seven days.

All great points, thank you everyone who took the time and shared their expertise. I really appreciate it. It helped a lot to clear up my mind.
I pivoted to this:
Thursday, arrival to Barcelona mid-day, concert at Palau that evening.
Friday, depending on hotel's location (still being debated - close to the Palau or does it even matter?) - will try to keep it a fairly relaxing day.
Saturday mid day train to Girona
Saturday to following Thursday - most likely using Girona as a base and then will either use rail or car (or both) to explore around.
Thursday mid-day back to Barcelona until Monday morning when we are flying back to Canada.

I might sacrifice and forego better hotel prices offered through 3rd party sites vs. booking with hotels directly in order to keep more flexible schedule in case I decide to change my plans on the fly.

Any additional thoughts/suggestion - I am all ears.

Thank you kindly!

If you look at booking.com, you can often make reservations that are fully cacellable until 24 hours in advance -- just be sure to check the cancellation policy. You might then get the hotel itself to match or lower the price, but you'll have to make sure they'll match the cancellation policy.

I really enjoyed Girona and hope you do, too!

If you are flying into the north and have a very limited time, I’d stay in the north and visit Barcelona immediately before going home. Maybe venture over the border to France.

glad to help

I usually book hotels direct with flexible( cancelation) option
The cancelation rate is higher but it is worth it, imo
In Barcelona I always stay in Eixample
close to Rambla de Catalunya ( NOT Ramblas).


Nothing wrong with changing one’s itinerary..My flight was YYZ - Madrid with intention to visit Seville and Cadiz..Well, the weather in Andalusia
was too hot for me, I canceled hotels in those cities and switched to Barcelona .

Girona (pron Hirona) has some great bicycle lanes leading into the local countryside. Bike hire exists. Really loved Girona.

I'd try to stay away from using booking.com to book hotels. I cannot count the number of times I've spoken to hotel staff who have told me that people who do not book directly with their hotel are not offered the better rooms within a category. Since you are traveling off season, I would not hesitate to ask for an upgrade, although in Barcelona I doubt if there is ever. a low season any longer.

And I would not stay near the train station in that city. Agree with Danon on where to look for hotels. Never near the Ramblas; I'd avoid that entirely and I'd also avoid the Boqueria market in favor of another that sees fewer tourists.

I rarely stay in hotels large enough for that to be an issue -- I prefer smaller, boutique establishments.

Thank you all again!

I find the choice of hotels in Barcelona overwhelming (and that doesn't even begin to describe the feeling). It's as if the entire city is turned into hotels (and I'm not even looking into Air BnB). Prices in early November are still steep but fine, that's to be expected. I just don't know how for instance an IHG hotel manages to keep such a high prices within such competition. So many beautiful smaller hotels...

Kja: We usually stay in smaller hotels and even these often have varying room types, or rooms that are better than others, be it a better view, a distance from elevator, etc.

We just came from a ten-room hotel in Nardo that contained four different categories of rooms, at four different price points. Likelihood of an upgrade, or a better located room will usually go to those guests who have booked directly.

@ ekscrunchy: I'm sure you realize that one can often select room types on booking.com -- sometimes even a specific room -- and again, using that source doesn't preclude working with the hotel directly.

@ ak_rc: I second danon's recommendation to look at the Eixample area.