I strongly encourage you to get at least one (if not 2 or 3) good guidebooks from either your favori

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We are headed to Spain end of April for a week. We are 4 adults and 4 kids (4yrs - 9yrs) and thus are planning to rent a car. Flying into Barcelona and flying out of Madrid. rent a car 18 orlando I read some posts and realize this is going to be very tight and lot of driving. We were thinking rent a car 18 orlando of keeping our drive time/ day to not more than 4 hrs or so and thought of the following route
I have to admit that I can not imagine this being a pleasant experience, nor can I imagine it being one that would introduce any of you to the joys of traveling in Spain. rent a car 18 orlando In any of the cities, a car is likely to be an incumbrance. With only 7 days, you are trying to visit 3 distinct regions, each of which easily merits 10 days, if not more. With all the time on the road, packing/unpacking, checking into/out of hotels, ... you have almost rent a car 18 orlando no time to actually see anything. I'm sorry to be so negative, but I'd rather share my reservations than let you think that this itinerary is worth pursuing.
I strongly encourage you to get at least one (if not 2 or 3) good guidebooks from either your favorite bookstore or your local library. With only 7 days, visit Barcelona and surrounding areas OR Madrid and its surrounds OR Andalucia. I wouldn't even recommend trying to visit any two of these areas -- JUST ONE!!!
I know we are all raining on your parade, but it is because of lots of travel experience, and it is meant to help get you think about seeing more by traveling less. There is a absolutely not enough time for your itinerary.
First afternoon, have lunch and if you are not too jet-laged, rent a car 18 orlando get one of the biggies out of the way be touring Sagrada Familia. Walk Las Ramblas, but do not eat on Las Ramblers unless rent a car 18 orlando you get a great rec. most is bad! If you skipped it on day 1, then tour Sagrada Familia and other Guidi buildings. rent a car 18 orlando Be sure to go inside Casa Mila. Visit Palau de la Musica. Take the cable up to Montjuic. If you are too jet laged for real touring the first afternoon, go to Parc Guell - fabulous.
I have had a sleepless rent a car 18 orlando night myself thinking about this and also tried to contact the airlines to see if we could potentially make any changes and have got one more day but thats about it. Should have done this thread before booking our flights.
But now that we are in this situation we are trying to make the best out of it. Our group is tilted more towards Andaluc a (Granada, Seville, Cordoba, Toledo). We are ok for now if we skip Madrid and Barcelona activities and were thinking of them as only ports for arrival and departure.
We were thinking of booking a minivan for the trip so the kids could be together. We were thinking of taking big breaks during the drives and see around and eat locally. As much as possible we would also not like to check in check out daily. So my question is ...Is there a faster way to reach Granada from Barcelona? What would be the train ride like? That way we could skip the halt in Valencia and spend more time in Andaluc a. With that one extra day we could now potentially rent a car 18 orlando do 2 nights Granada and 2 in Seville and 1 day for Toledo on the way to Madrid. Flight out of Madrid in at noon so we could reach Madrid late in the night the previous day after spending day in Toledo.
But just re the mini van --- a mini van won't be large enough for your brood. If you have more than just the one very young or small child you'll need more than one car seat. But even w/ no car seats, a nine passenger van won't hold 8 people plus all their luggage.
Honestly, if flights rent a car 18 orlando can not be changed, there is so much to see and do in Barcelona, it would be fun for all of you. It makes sense, especially on such a short trip, to cut out as much travel time as possible and maximize experience and sightseeing.
Second, if you land at 10:00, then fly on to Granada, rent a car 18 orlando it will pretty much eat up your whole first day, and you will all be exhausted and totally rent a car 18 orlando jet-laged the next day. What a miserable way to spend your first two days!
Now, is there any way you can change the flight to land in Malaga? That is much closer to Granada, about two hours by bus for 10 euro. People do it as a day trip even from there, but that would not be good with kids the size of yours.
OTOH, Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell are also two of my favorites, and being in Barcelona and not seeing them seems a real shame. When will you get back there to see them? Take advantage of already being there on this trip and see them. Barcelona was also the kids' favorite place.
I would also not do the min-van thing. I did something similar with the kids. It was a huge mistake, not enjoyable rent a car 18 orlando and wasted hours of time that could have been used for sightseeing or a cultural experience.
You really rent a car 18 orlando don't have time to do much. If it were my trip, I'd first book my visit to Alhambra, as that is the main (some--not rent a car 18 orlando I-- would say only) reason to visit Granada and requires a reservation. Depending on whether your visit is early or late in the day, plan to spend one nite (before if early, after if late) or two nites max. Then take the bus or a train to Seville. Either will take you around three hours. Seville has much more to do, IMHO, so I'd spend the rest of my time (less a nite) there. Then take the high speed train back to Madrid. Toledo is not really in Andalusia--it's right outside Madrid and you can reach it by train in about half an hour. You MIGHT be able to squeeze in a day trip to Toledo from Madrid if you leave Seville early in the day --Toledo was one of our favorite places in Spain and the only one in that area we would like to return to. Last nite in Madrid so you'll be on-time for your flight.
I have to agree - you are flying into Barcelona and home from Madrid. You have 4 adults and 4 children in your traveling party. Stick with visiting Barcelona and Madrid rent a car 18 orlando and visit Toledo as a daytrip (by train) from Madrid. Train between Barcelona and Madrid. rent a car 18 orlando You only have 7 nights. Save Andalucia for another trip and budget around 10 days.
As noted, the largest 9 passenger van (people rent a car 18 orlando mover) will not accommodate 4 adults and 4 children, including luggage. The children will all need their own seats and those 12 or younger require a child or booster seat.
Depending on where you are flying rent a car 18 orlando in from, the first day can be pretty much of a loss, especially when dealing with children. With only 1 week (6 days?), I would forget about driving, or attempting to drive, all over Spain and try to enjoy Barcelona and the surrounding area.