Visit Vibrant Barcelona and Cultural Madrid
This six-night vacation spotlights Spain's most prominent cities, Barcelona and Madrid. Highlights include a double-decker-bus tour and optional visits to the art museums of Madrid, where you can see works by Pablo Picasso, Raphael, and El Greco.
This package includes nightly accommodations and round-trip airfare from New York, Miami, or Chicago on 1 of 11 airlines.
You can check out some of our favorite trip highlights below; click here to see a full daily itinerary.
Days 1–3: Barcelona: Legendary Gaudí Architecture along the Mediterranean Sea
Your stay starts in Barcelona, located along the Mediterranean Sea, and the capital of the autonomous community of Catalonia. Fodor's calls the city “a banquet for all the senses,” most notably for its art-nouveau architecture. While in Barcelona, you can tour the city at your leisure, visiting such landmarks as architect Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família, an otherworldly basilica scheduled to be complete in 2026. The church includes eight ornately designed towers that rise more than 300 feet.
All visitors eventually end up on La Rambla, the pedestrian thoroughfare lined with street performances, merchants, and La Boqueria—the city’s centuries-old market. North of La Rambla lies the Barri Gòtic, an Old City neighborhood known for its medieval and Gothic architecture, as well as the popular Museu Picasso.
Accommodations at one of the following: Hotel Rialto, Astoria Hotel, Hotel Granvía, or Hotel Catalonia la Pedrera.
Days 4–5: Madrid: Tasty Tapas and Art Museums in Spain's Capital City
The trip heads southwest by speed train to Spain's vibrant capital, Madrid. Called “the true city that never sleeps” by _Travel + Leisure, Madrid is a blend of contemporary nightclubs, artistic culture, and historical architecture.
Day 2 in Madrid includes a double-decker-bus tour, which you can use to hop off and sample some of the city's cuisine. Madrid’s colorful restaurants are famous for their paella, smoked fish, and tapas-style dining, where diners share multiple small plates. Be sure to try patatas bravas, fried potatoes drenched in a savory hot sauce.
The next day is a leisure day, when you can explore Madrid's famed Golden Triangle of Art—Museo Nacional del Prado, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, home to Picasso’s Guernica. Frommer's calls the Prado “one of the most important repositories of art in the world.” It boasts nearly 7,000 paintings, including masterpieces by Sandro Botticelli, Raphael, Titian, and Francisco Goya.
Accommodations at one of the following: Hotel Ganivet or Ayre Gran Hotel Colón
Read the Fine Print for important info on travel dates and other restrictions.
