Two week itinerary help...Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla
 

hi fodorites!

i'm planning to be in espana for the last two weeks of march...basically here is the itinerary i have roughly planned out--any advice/suggestions would be welcome, especially as to day trips from madrid and barcelona, and where to stop over between madrid and barcelona (i am not set on valencia at all, it just seemed about halfway--i want to avoid the overnight bus if possible...)

sat 3/15: arrive madrid (8:00 pm)
sun 3/16: madrid
mon 3/17: madrid
tues 3/18: madrid
wed 3/19: day trip to segovia
thurs 3/20: day trip to toledo
fri 3/21: train to valencia, sleep in valencia
sat 3/22: train to barcelona
sun 3/23: barcelona
mon 3/24: barcelona
tues 3/25: barcelona
wed 3/26: fly to sevilla
thurs 3/27: sevilla
fri 3/28: sevilla
sat 3/29: day trip?
sun 3/30: fly back to ireland

also, i don't need help with hotels as i'm staying with friends the first week and with my parents in apartments and hotels the second week...but any restuarants or general tips would be welcome--i love museums, architecture and coffee drinking while people watching!

thanks,
meredith

Is this your first trip to Spain>/? Do you care more for cities that for medium size towns or smaller towns>?
If I were going to Spain for the fist time I would choose a region, and stick to that region. I woudl find no real pleasure in jumping from one big city to the other having only two weeks.
Let us say you choose Madrid, then you can choose for instance Andalucia and visit Seville plus Cordoba, Granada and other charming smaller cities in Andalucia.
Same with Barcelona, I would go to Barcelona and visit the near by area, including may be Girona o Tarragona etc.
I am trying to tell you as respectfully as I can that may be it is not such a good idea to visit only the two main cities in Spain, they are apart from each other and there are so MANY fascinating places near each of these two. Good luck.

it makes more sense to go to Seville from Madrid ( you can take the fast train AVE and fly to Barcelona from Seville to end your trip ( if you can fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona)

I agree with the previous poster. I would skip Barcelona and visit the cities recommended. We loved Seville and would have welcomed more time there. We stayed near the incredible Cathedral which was a great location. Climb to the bell tower for great views of the city. Tour the Alcazar. We took a river cruise. Visited Italica (we are very interested in Roman ruins). The Plaza Espana was under renovation recently and I don't know if that has been completed. We loved the beautiful tiles, the little bridges over the waterways. It was the site of a World's Fair that was a bust because of the start of the depression. Now houses government offices.

We took a day trip to Jerez de la Frontera, toured a Sherry Bodega and saw a performance of the spectacular Andalusian horses.

In Madrid, of course, you will want to go to the Prado. We also went to the Thyssen-Bornemisza. We missed the Reina Sofia, but you must go there to see Picasso's Guernica (I was fortunate to see it in NYC at the MOMA before it was returned to Spain). We toured the palace, had lunch in Plaza Mayor. You will probably want to visit El Escorial.

Much to see and do in the cities you have selected without spending time on the train trip to and flight back from Barcelona.

Danon snuck in while I was typing my post. I meant I agreed with Graziela. Also how could I forget Flamenco! I would suggest you see a show in Seville rather than Madrid.

It is always a mater of personal taste.

Spain is a big and wonderful place one can visit many times.
Some people enjoy exploring small towns and charming villages, others like museums, galleries, and "buzz" of a big city.
3-4 days in Madrid
AVE to Seville
2-3 days in Seville
2 days Granada (bus or car from Seville. If you drive, you can see some of the white villages)
Fly to Barcelona from Granada
4 days Barcelona
would be my choice, but I love cities ( especially Barcelona)

Hi danon it is always a matter of personal taste, I also love Barcelona, but my point is if you have only two weeks while do several big cities far from each other, each one requiring many days to get acquainted instead of focusing in a region around or nearby one of the big cities. It just a question of taste...I agree.

hi Graziella,
it is so hard to know where to go in such a diverse and beautiful country.
I visited some parts of Spain long time ago ( Madrid, Seville, Cordoba, Cadiz, Marbella) ; in Oct. 2008 we were in Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo and Granada.
We are planning to explore Cantabria and the Basque country (with several days in our beloved Barcelona ) this fall, and in the spring of 2009 ,we hope to spend some time in Seville and other ( smaller)places in Andalucia.
If one only had more time ( and money)
............

sorry, Oct. 2007

I did roughly the same trip a couple of years ago and loved it. I am a city person too and not overly interested in small towns. I'd reorder as suggested above to Madrid then AVE train to Seville, then quick flight to Barcelona. Vueling is the cheap spanish airline. Buy your train tickets to Toledo in advance (the day before should be fine). We didn't do that and ended up in the Madrid train station for several hours while we waited for an open train. I liked all three places but enjoyed Seville the most. The architecture in all three is wonderful. If you are really into architecture, I found the Modernista guidebook sold in the Barcelona tourist office to be worth the price. We were vacillating about buying it but it is great to use while in Barcelona and I like looking at it back home too.

I was just reading through some forums, and I have been in madrid for almost a month now and I LOVE IT! last week i went to a flamenco tablao called corral de la moreria in madrid. it had the best flamenco performances i have ever seen. I had been to a show in granada, but was a little disappointed because they were not very good. but corral de la moreria is very exciting and passionate. check out the website corraldelamoreria.com. I highly recommend it.