Epic train ride advice

We will be taking a cruise on Epic out of Barcelona next month. We are goin into Barcelona a few days early. Should we take a trian to Madrid to spend a day there??

Any advice, is Madrid even worth it?

Thanks all.

Madrid is lovely, but there is so much to see in Barcelona as well. You might just feel like staying there to recover from jet lag.

You can take some day trips from Barcelona as well. I sent my parents on a trip up into the Monserrat area on a tour. They ate lunch at a monestary and had a delightful day. There was also a tour to a Cava winery that was very interesting. There is really so much to do in Barcelona I would just stay there. We spent a week in Madrid and still had things we missed, so make it a land trip.

I agree. First you will be adjusting to the time change, so make it a light first day. Barcelona has plenty for a couple days!

There is so much to see and do in Barcelona. I don't see a need to schedule a trip to Madrid. About 8 years ago we did a Med cruise out of Barcelona. For me to get over jet lag, I booked our flights to arrive 3 full days before the cruise, staying near Las Ramblas. The first day I was in fog but the second and third day. I was good to go. We visited many of the sights and ate at restaurants.

Post cruise, due to flight times, I had booked a hotel near the airport for one night. Figured we would just hang out. However when we got to the hotel, found out that it periodically ran a shuttle to Las Ramblas. Me and my wife looked at each other and nodded at each other. We quickly dropped off our luggage in our room and made a beline for the shuttle pickup. We spent the afternoon tapa bar hopping.

Last year we had other major vacation plans, where some of my in-laws suggested a Med cruise out of Barcelona. After checking the intinery, I agree for us to change our plans and join the family with the provisio that my wife, myself and MIL would arrive three days in advance and stay an extray day post cruise. The rest of the family members arrived a day early, and left the day the ship disembarked.

We did some of the things that we did before as my MIL had never been to Barcelona, but we did a few different things.

I still feel we have only scratched the surface.

We flew into Madrid, spent a couple of days there and then took the train to Barcelona. Went to Montserrat the day before the cruise. We also had a couple of days after the cruise in Barcelona. Worked well for us. If you want to book the train, I suggest booking the renfe fast trains - takes about 2 1/2 - 3 hours for the trip between Madrid and Barcelona. Booking about 60 days in advance gets you the best fares.