Hello all! Some of you may have seen posts by me on Frommer's, but I'm really interested in sound feedback.

I'll be heading to Barcelona (my 2nd visit) with 2 friends (their 1st visit) and I'm the 'official trip route planner' On my 1st visit to Spain, I saw some of Barce, then we drove North; I missed Madrid on that trip. Because I was absolutely in love w/Barce, and because I know I didnt see enough of it, we booked our flights through Barcelona (in & out). I want to make sure my friends enjoy this trip, but I think I'm selfishly trying to make sure I see the places I missed the 1st time around. We plan to rent a car and drive, below is the proposed itinerary; feel free to pick it apart and please tell me if we're trying to cover too much. Thanks a million bunches!

February 11, leave Houston-Bcn- MADRID (6hrs)
3 nights in MADRID
February 14, Mad -SEVILLA (5hrs) (2 nights)
February 16, Sev -VALENCIA (7hrs) (2 nights)
February 18, 2005 Val - BARCELONA (3.5hrs)
(3 nights in BARCELONA)
February 21, 2005 HOUSTON

hello Frenchie:

you may want to confirm/check your driving times with the Michelin route planner - www.viamichelin.com -

It sounds like you and your friends enjoy "big city" life. For a change of pace you might want to consider missing Valencia and dawdling your way through the smaller pueblos blancos like Arcos de la Frontera, Vejar de la Frontera, and places like Ronda and Grazelema. We found Jerez interesting also. Near Madrid, there's Toledo.

There are so many "faces" to Spain that to attempt to capture it all in one trip for you and your friends you may miss its essence.

At this time of year accommodation shouldn't be a problem so take your time stop where you find some place interesting.

buen viaje
Dennis

Two points:

1. Every time you spend "two nights" in one place, the day after or the day before are sacrificed to driving, parking, checking in, checking out, etc., so that two nights become in fact only one day. This would make a good case for cutting out at least one stop-over (I second the recommendation to sacrifice Valencia).

2. There is a lot of driving, just to arrive to a big city and then park the car there for a few days. It may be more economical to rent the car and pay the gas and the insurance, than using the train and/or bus but I would try to compare costs with using only the train, for example. Better, if you skip Valencia, you could make a connection from Barcelona to Sevilla (we did this from Barcelona to Granada for USD180 per seat without really looking for a bargain); the result: about 1 1/2 hours flight instead of 12 hours train or drive, and we used the gained time to take our first view of the Alhambra... Paid back handsomely).

For train, try www.renfe.es; you can even reserve and buy the tickets on line well in advance. A very sophisticated web site.

For buses check http://www.alsinagraells.es.

These are just some thoughts. Whatever you choose to do, you win anyway, because you go to Spain!

Hi there!

I am happy for you that you get to go (return!) to Spain. And you are smart to ask other travelers for their opinions on your itinerary.

My own feeling is this. I have lived in Barcelona and Seville and other parts of Andalucia. Spain has so many impressive towns and cities and I really think you don't have a lot of time to hit the three biggest destinations (B M and S), simply because of the geography of Spain. Seville is really quite a long ways from Barcelona... It is even far from Madrid, but you could take the high speed AVE to save time and risk on the road . The AVE train between Madrid and Seville takes about two hours and is extremely punctual.

I think you should do Barcelona and Madrid, skip out Valencia, which isn't that spectacular, and Seville (save ANdalucia for your next trip!!! It needs lot's of time) and instead add a couple of medium-sized towns near or on the way between Madrid and Barcelona. Some of the very medium (not too small ones) are Segovia (an hour N of Madrid), Toledo (an hour S), Zaragoza (the capital of Aragon), Salamanca (a bit further NW of Madrid) and areas in Catalunya which have interesting sights and landscapes.

Seville is a wonderful, wonderful place. I was there for one and a half years and I still didn't do everything near it. Seville is best done with Cordoba, Granada, the white towns, Italica, etc... It's a shame to travel so much distance in your trip just to see Seville and then head on back to Barce, which is a heck of a drive, even with a stop in valencia.

At the moment my boyfriend has relocated to Seville (again), so if you would like more information, just post and I will contact you.

My best advice is to cover less distance and to pick some more of the famous and 100% worthwhile destinations that fit better with your in-and-out of Barcelona and desire to see Madrid.

A similar/other option would be to drop Madrid and focus on the areas from Barcelona to Seville.

Thanks guys! We're leaving tomorrow, so I'll report when I'm back. We're flying into Barce, got 1-way airfare to Seville for 19 euros, then AVE to Madrid, and flying 1-way back to Barce for 61 euros (if memory serves me right); we got awesome deals with Spanair.com and waiting until the last minute (or as close to the last minute as I was able to stand it), paid off HUGE! I think we purchased the tickets 7-days in advance. The Barce-Seville fare was an absolute steal, Mad-Barce comes out to the same it would have been if we took the AVE and we shaved a good 7hrs from our trek.

So far, we decided to skip the rental, but may still pick one up in Seville if we get bored with the city (which, from what I've heard/read, isnt likely to happen), for now, I'm busy jotting down suggestions for activities and/or sites in the various cities.

Next time you read from me, I'll have a full report.
Happy travels!

Tenga un buen viaje, Frenchie! Great plan. Glad we could help. Excellent rates on the airfare!!