Spain Travel Answers

Hi Brett We were in Spain two years ago. Pity you can't fly into Madrid and out of Barcelona??? Because this way you are backtracking. We loved Madrid as we found it more "Spanish" than Barcelona which is much more international, more English spoken. We had four nights in Madrid (inc a day trip to Toledo), then went to Granda for two nights, Valencia for one (try the little restaurant Las Cuevas for tapas, served at the bar), and Barcelona for 3 nights. The overnight train would certainly save you time, although we did day trains. There were bike/tours available but we didn't do them. Hope this helps.

Train service Valencia & Barcelona to Madrid is slow - consider flying see skyscanner.net Last year, I did 5 or 6 spanish cities in 7 days - see home page. Mad and Barcelona have a lot to offer and in addition, day trips to Segovia, Toledo are possible from Madrid. Barcelona is a better bike city - There are a number of places from which you can hire bikes. Madrid is still worth cycling around. There is a cycle shop in Calle Segovia which hires decent bikes circa 15 euros per day. SK

Hi Brett, Be sure that you are going to have a great time in Valencia during the Fallas. If you are in for museusms I would suggest you make it to Madrid first ( not that there are no museums in Barcelona ). A train trip from Valencia to either Madrid or Barcelona is around 3 hours. In Madrid you have the Prado and others in the same area. Be ther for 3 days and fly to Barelona to save time. You can get tickets for the price of a train ticket if youre lucky, check at the following site - www.trabber.com . You sure have a lot of variety as to having fun at night in any of the cities you are going to be. Valencia is the city where you have the most number of kilometers with cycle tracks in Spain. You can hire a bike at from 3 euros from the company at the following link in Valencia - http://www.doyoubike.com/en/index.php they also organize trips. Need any more assistance - contact me prepare to have a great time Mahesh

Thanks everyone for the help. Now one more question. I'm having trouble booking tickets on the Renfe website, and its actually not because of the NIF. I got past that part with my passport number, now the site just stops working in the last stages of ticket purchase. Do ticket prices go up as it gets closer to departure? I'm thinking about waiting until I get to Valencia to buy tickets. Is this a bad idea? Thanks

Hi Brett, Unlinke plane tickets, the train tickets do not change in their cost. There are many trains everyday from Valencia to Madrid or Barcelna, however during the fallas time there can be some complications. Try to get your tickets through the RENFE website if you can. Another option would be to get them through a local travel agent and pick them up once you are in Valencia to assure that you are going to travel on your intended dates. Best regards Mahesh