Zaragoza vs Madrid or Granada
 

I was building an itinerary for a May trip to Spain and heard of Zaragoza, but did not originally include.

5 nites Barcelona
3 nites Cordoba with day trip to Sevilla
3 nites Granada
4 nites Madrid with day trips to Toledo and Sergovia

Question for the experts, is one night in Zaragoza worth dropping one night in Granada or possibly Madrid? I won’t give up a minute in wonderful Barcelona, and I’m not too interested in Madrid’s artsy museum stuff. Prefer locations of historical significance, castles, fortifications, ruins, palaces, cathedrals, gardens and the like.

Typically, one would base themselves in Sevilla and take a day trip to Cordoba, or spend one or two nights enjoying Cordoba. Sevilla is far too interesting for a mere day trip from anywhere.

Zaragoza in May would be interesting. The weather should be reasonable, not too hot, and the city is worth spending at least one night. You can take the AVE to Zaragoza, spend the night, and then continue on to Madrid the following day.

Some of the world's best "artsy stuff" can be found at the Prado, and all of historical significance. If you want to know a little more of Madrid's places of interest, then you may want to read Maribel's Guide to Madrid so you can understand what to expect.

You can do several day trips from Madrid, including Toledo, Salamanca, Sigüenza and now Cuenca on the new high-speed train, or even continue on to Valencia for lunch.

Most castles, fortifications and ruins are located outside of the major cities and require a little planning and a car unless you plan in visiting some of the fortified cities.

Pamplona has spent some 80 million Euros over the last 10 years or so restoring its ancient fortress walls. Avila has a magnificent wall enclosing part of the city, which you can walk along. There are others scattered around the country, including the famous Alhambra and Alcazar, and all are worth a trip.

I, personally, would not swap a night in Madrid for a night in Zaragoza, though the plaza and cathedral are quite beautiful. I also would not spend three nights in Cordoba. I would spend them in Seville and day trip to Cordoba.

Oh, I also would not give up any time in Granada for Zaragoza.

Yes, I would agree with most of the comments above.
Seville is certainly more interesting than Cordoba.
Salamanca, Avila, Toledo and Segovia are all very interesting day trips from Madrid.
Why so set on 5 nights in Barcelona? Yes it is an interesting city, but it sounds like you really want to get a good feel for Spain. Is 3 nights not enough for BCN?

I agree with everyone about staying in Seville vs Cordoba. I'd actually take a night from Granada and add to Sevilla for a total of 4 nights. This would give you an adequate amount of time to visit Seville and do a nice daytrip to Cordoba. If you have your heart set on spending the night in Cordoba then I'd take a day from Granada and spend 1 night in Cordoba (but stay 3 nights in Seville). With a 15 night trip to Spain I wouldn't try to add in another city (Zaragoza). Zaragoza is interesting but I wasn't particulary overwhelmed and I wouldn't want to take time from Madrid, Barcelona, Granada or Seville/Cordoba to visit for such a short trip. I think 5 nights is a good amount of time for Barcelona. It will give you time to recover from jetlag, see Barcelona and possibly take a daytrip (I prefer Girona or Tarragona).

Everyone has their favorites. If given my choice on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 best)

Seville 9
Cordoba 9
Granada 9
Barcelona 6
Madrid 4
Zaragoza 3

"Everyone has their favorites"


Yup. For me, Barcelona outranks them all.

What Cathy said.
My list:
Seville 9
Granada 8
Cordoba 7
Madrid 6
Barcelona 5

Thanks all for the comments. Sounds like I will not pursue Zaragova. I prefer a base-camp city with day trips, rather than one night stands all over the place. Cordoba appeared a better base camp for logistics, but will re-consider Seville for that. Granada has been on my top 10 list for years. As for Barcelona, two day trips, Montserrat and ??, but the people of Barcelona are truly warm and friendly like no other European city I’ve been too. Plus I’m counting one day for jet lag. Of all my travels, Barcelona is a 9.

I don't understand why non-Spanish people prefer Barcelona to Madrid (I'm Spanish). I love Barcelona but I definitely prefer Madrid, people and the atmosphere are nicer and it has more art than BCN. I think that ,tho BCN is excellent, is a bit overrated.

A real shame not to stop in Zaragoza as it is right on your AVE train from BCN ot Madrid. You MUST not miss the Palacio de la Aljafería.. I am quite certain those recommending to skip Zaragoza have never seen this particular building. It is amazing.

opening hours:

http://www.cortesaragon.es/Visitas_al_palacio.45.0.html

I would try to see the Unesco World heritage sites when you are so close.

http://listas.20minutos.es/lista/obr...a-unesco-1825/

jaog71..I think Barcelona has a vibe, the sea, the beach and Gaudi most of all that are very unique and make it more attractive to many than Madrid.

I also adore Madrid, and DO like Barcelona, and agree with you .

It thought these were football scores.

Everywhere else 15 Zaragoza nil.

All these palces offer different experiences, it all depends what you want, like, and expect.