Suggested Itinerary: The Big Three - Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid (& Zaragoza)

By Damian Corrigan, About.com Guide

The three biggest cities in Spain can all be found in a small(ish) triangle in the east of Spain. This itinerary takes you to all of them, with an additional stop in the much-overlooked city of Zaragoza. On the following few pages, find details of how to plan this itinerary yourself.

This itinerary is possible either as a guided tour or self-guided. See this Four-Day Barcelona, Valencia and Zaragoza Tour from Madrid for more details.

Cities Visited on this Itinerary

Where are you going to start? Read more about travel details for each step of this itinerary, with pictures, ideas of what to do and information on travel times and costs for each stage.

1. Barcelona
2. Valencia
3. Madrid
4. Zaragoza

Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia all have good language schools, so these are good places to learn Spanish. If you can find a school with branches in all three cities, you could take a week or two in each city, move to the next city and resume where you left off. One school that allows you to this is Don Quijote schools. Read about Learning Spanish at Don Quijote or Request a Brochure. Such a program may also be possible with International House.

Total Travel Time & Costs

• By Train
  • Total Travel Time: 11h30m
  • Total Cost: 149€

  Read more about Train Travel in Spain or Book Train Tickets (book direct)

• By Bus
  • Total Travel Time: 19 hours
  • Total Cost: 61€

  Read more about Bus Travel in Spain or Book Bus Tickets (book direct)

• By Car
  • Total Travel Time: 14 hours
  • Total Cost: 178€*
  *This cost includes petrol and road tolls, but doesn't include car hire. Remember, this cost is for the whole car carrying as many people as will fit, while the other costs on this page are per person.

  Read more about Renting a Car in Spain or Compare Prices on Car Hire in Spain (book direct)

See also Full Travel Details (Costs & Travel Times) for this itinerary.