Barcelona Departure- Fly into Madrid and see 2 cities or straight to Barcelona?

[cdnmr]

Wife and I will be making our first trip to Europe April 2017, 11 day cruise leaves from Barcelona and finishes in Venice. We will be spending 2 or 3 days in Venice, post-cruise before flying back to Canada.

 

We are debating 2 choices pre-cruise:

 

1-Fly overnight into Barcelona (no non-stop flights available) a day or two early and see the city.

 

2- Fly non-stop overnight to Madrid, spend Thursday in Madrid then train to Barcelona Friday morning. Spend a full day (train would arrive in the morning) in Barcelona then cruise out Saturday afternoon.

 

Essentially a non-stop and see 2 cities with a train ride between

OR

Longer flight to Barcelona and see just the one city.

 

Anyone who has been to these cities care to offer their advice?

 

Cheers!

[Captain Canuck]

we cruised out of Barcelona. Choice of Madrid was made for us. We flew on airmiles and Barcelona was not an option. so we flew to Madrid and spent a day or 2 (cannot remember). visited the Prado museum.

 

flew to Barcelona and spent 2 nights pre cruise. stay on or near Las Ramblas walking street with outdoor cafes etc. there is a hop on hop off bus that the main stop is at the base of Las Ramblas...you can see the highlights of Barcelona that way.

 

our only issue is that they cancelled our return flight from Barcelona to Madrid. put us on a later flight and we had to run from one end of the terminal to the other to catch our non refundable airmiles flight home. they left a message on our home phone to advise us that the earlier flight was cancelled. apparently they could not figure out WE WERE NOT THERE.

 

 

have a great time

[wheezedr]

Did Spain on the ground 4 years ago with both of these cities as well as Seville and all transit by rail which worked well. That being said I would personally reduce the number of travel connections and just do a night or two in Barcelona pre cruise. It is a wonderful city to wander in, do be a little careful, with multiple days worth of touring and or museums. Must sees for most include Sagrada Familia, park guell and possibly other Gaudi works. The Picasso museum highlights his early period, the Miro on montjuc was also good. Check out at least one of the markets. Consider a walking tour , there are 2 or 3 free ones (a tip is generally given) that cover much of the old town. We have used Sandemans in other cities. While I truly enjoyed Madrid , for the short time you have I think a single city would be more relaxing and enjoyable

[ollienbertsmum]

Wife and I will be making our first trip to Europe April 2017, 11 day cruise leaves from Barcelona and finishes in Venice. We will be spending 2 or 3 days in Venice, post-cruise before flying back to Canada.

 

We are debating 2 choices pre-cruise:

 

1-Fly overnight into Barcelona (no non-stop flights available) a day or two early and see the city.

 

2- Fly non-stop overnight to Madrid, spend Thursday in Madrid then train to Barcelona Friday morning. Spend a full day (train would arrive in the morning) in Barcelona then cruise out Saturday afternoon.

 

Essentially a non-stop and see 2 cities with a train ride between

OR

Longer flight to Barcelona and see just the one city.

 

Anyone who has been to these cities care to offer their advice?

 

Cheers!

 

I think the big question is how tired you are going to be after your flight. If you need catch-up sleep to get over the jet lag then I would assume that Madrid will pass in a haze and it is not worth the effort. If you can survive on little sleep then I would do both cities. (Saying that, I have never managed to get to Madrid which is near the top of my "go-to" list as I could probably get there in about 4 hours).

 

You will have more than enough to keep you busy for a few days (or weeks) in Barcelona - so neither option leaves you bored.

 

The train ride is very clean and well organised, you are entertained with films on board. You have to go through luggage checks before you go on board and then in a waiting area. Each train is called individually in the same way as passengers are boarded on to a plane. So transport between the two cities should not be a concern.

 

So the decision is difficult because there are no obvious practical obstacles to either. Just how well you cope on little sleep.

[epixx]

Any chance you could spend one less day in Venice and one more day in Spain? There is more to see in Madrid/Barcelona than in Venice.

[hkto]

All depends on how much time you have. Also first day after transatlantic flight is somewhat a write off as some sleep is needed. Both Madrid and Barcelona are great destinations and worthy of several days. I like Madrid more for sights, food, its cheaper to stay and less crowded but then Barcelona got Gaudi. I agree about Venice; 1 day is enough to see it.

 

From logistics perspective AC Rouge goes non stop from YYZ to both BCN and VCE and AC has seasonal service to Madrid but may be not in April. Also there is cheap VCE-BCN Vueling flight in case YYZ-BCN R/T is chosen. Madrid to BCN is a 2.5 hr high speed train ride.