Sept. 16-27, flying in and out of Madrid

[WillTravel]

I got a great airfare on Delta, for $275 USD all-in, SEA-MAD.
More about my itinerary as it develops!

[herrbert]

I have my holidays from the 12th until the 22nd. (and maybe I am gonna take a few more days before or after.) But I hope you can make some time to meet up, and go for a drink.

[WillTravel]

The thing that is certain is that I will be in Madrid on September 26, so maybe we can meet up then. Would be nice .

[herrbert]

I will probably be in Madrid that day. It's more likely I will stick some days at the front of my holidays.

What kind of trip do you want to do this time? Do you want to stay in Spain (and Portugal) or do you want to catch a cheap flight from Madrid to some an other place? I know that you've been in Madrid before, so probably don't want to spend a lot of days here.

[WillTravel]

I am going to the UK for several days in the middle, because I'm attending an event in Nottingham. It's perhaps not ideal, but I think it won't be too bad. I wanted to take advantage of this fare deal which was exactly perfect for my dates. An open-jaw flight was way more expensive, and there are good deals right now for UK-Spain flights with EasyJet and Ryanair.
My tentative plan:
Fly into Madrid, arrive Sept. 17.
Stay in Madrid for four nights, making daytrips to Segovia and Toledo. Although I've been to Madrid before, I didn't get a long look at the city, and there are a number of sites I have yet to see.
Fly to the UK on Sept. 21 (or possibly 20). I haven't decided whether to go straight to Nottingham, or visit another Midlands city or London first. I haven't been to the Midlands, but have been to London a lot.
But on Sept. 22, I need to be in Nottingham, until the evening of the 24th.
Then I am thinking I will either go to a Midlands city (Manchester or Liverpool), or to London.
Then fly back to Madrid on the night of Sept. 25 or the morning of the 26th. I'll probably just stay in Madrid.

One attraction of the Midlands is seeing the pre-Raphaelite art collections.
In your opinion, would I need air conditioning in Madrid in September? So far as I can see, it cools off at night, and doesn't get unbearably hot in the day, most of the time anyway. There are a number of hostales with private rooms in the 25-Euro range. I will need a private room due to traveling with a laptop.

[WillTravel]

I'm probably going to have to make daytrip choices among Segovia, Toledo, and Avila. Any recommendations?

[herrbert]

Airco can be nice, but in September not really necessary. If you can do without, than do without. The thing is that in Madrid I never needed to stay in a hostal, as I always had a place to sleep, so I am really badly informed as it comes to hostals. (and the ones that I know, because other people stayed there, have no indiviual rooms.) All I know is that the ones in the Gran Via / Calle de Fuencarral. area are considered to be the worst.

For daytrips: Toledo is beautiful, close and easy to get to. That would be my first choice. Segovia would be my second choice. And I think that before I would go to Avila, I would rather go to Salamanca (with an overnight stay.) or Cuenca.

[WillTravel]

Thanks, herrbert. I saw some very good Ryanair airfares, and I set up the UK part of my trip.

So I'll fly out Sept. 19 in the evening to Stansted Airport, and then I'll take the National Express bus (50 minutes) to Cambridge, which I've always wanted to visit. I have to figure out where to stay.
Sept. 20 in the evening I will take the train from Cambridge to Nottingham, about 2.5 hours. Booked in advance, this can be 18 pounds, and the train is more convenient than the bus here.
Then I will be in Nottingham until the evening of Sept. 24 when I will take the train to St. Pancras station in London. So I'll get most of a day in London.
Sept. 25 in the evening I fly back to Madrid.

The Ryanair fares were 0 cents, but with all the fees, I ended up with a roundtrip fare of 90.64 Euros. Still to go all the way from Madrid to the UK for 45 Euros each way is not bad. Ryanair was more convenient and cheaper than EasyJet here. I also wanted to avoid early morning flights or very late flights so that I could easily use public transport to/from the airports. I sort of hate leaving as early as the 19th, but I felt it would make me feel less rushed in the UK, and I like how much time I have for what I'm visiting there.

So now I am thinking:
Land Sept. 17 in the morning at Madrid airport. In theory, I could go somewhere other than Madrid, but given I'll be moving around a lot, I'll probably just stay in Madrid.
Sept. 18 - take a daytrip to Toledo
Sept. 19 - Unless I am convinced a half-day daytrip is a good idea, I will stay in Madrid. Like I said, there's still a lot to see.
Sept. 19-25 for the UK as above.
Sept. 26 - Maybe a daytrip, but otherwise stay in Madrid, and then if possible, meet you in the evening!
Sept. 27 - fly back

Expenses so far:
$275 USD airfare SEA-MAD + 90.64 Euro airfare MAD-STN
Madrid metro - so cheap I can almost forget about it!
National Express bus 11.50 pounds to Cambridge
Train 18 pounds Cambridge to Nottingham
Train 17 pounds Nottingham to London
~20 pounds to get from London to Stansted Airport

[WillTravel]

I'm considering going straight to Toledo from Madrid airport, and then returning to Madrid airport 2.25 days later when I catch my Ryanair flight. Any thoughts on spending that long in Toledo?

[herrbert]

For Toledo that is too long. It's a nice town but I would stick with a daytrip. It would be nice to see the town in the evening, to the the town illuminated, but if you plan a late retun that should be possible.

As it's only 30 minutes from the Atocha trainstation to Toledo by train, and a good 15 minute walk in Toledo to get to the old center. It's a daytrip on which you don't lose a lot of time for the travel. (in contrast to Avila, Salamanca or Cuenca.)

If you want to go somewhere else from the airport and stay there for one or two nights, than I would choose Salamanca, and go to Toledo on the 26th. As the 26th is a saturday, we can also meet up earlier, and I can show you some of the less touristic places in Madrid.

If you want to go straight to Toledo from the Airport, take into account that you need at least one hour to get to the station from the airport.

Upon arrival from Seattle you will find yourself at the new T4-S Terminal from which you will need to get to the Metrostation at T4. Which works fine. Remember that you need to pay a 1 euro surplus on the tickets from and to the airport. You can buy these at the machines, just before entering the metro.

When you fly with Ryanair, you will fly from the old Terminals 1-2-3. If nothing changed the check-in for Ryanair is behind the restaurant between T1 and T2. I only went there once on a very early flight to Eindhoven, and even than it was crowded. Also security check there only has 2 machines for scanning. So be there with some safety margin. (The same for Stansted, or maybe even more so for Stansted.)

[WillTravel]

Herrbert, thanks for the suggestions. The main problem with going to Salamanca at the start for two nights is that I feel a bit uncomfortable being that far away for the return to the airport. I suppose I could do one night in Salamanca at the start. I've heard very good things about it. Or I could do two nights in Salamanca, come back in the morning, and store my stuff at the train station if the train station has lockers.

The trip feels really short for what I want to do, but it's just the way it is.

[herrbert]

On the flight that I took with Ryanair to London, they offered discount on the Stansted Express. You can ask if they have single tickets to get from London (Liverpool Street) to Stansted. I think it saved us something like 3 or 4 pounds. (in 2006)

[herrbert]

Jun 12, 2009 14:14:26 GMT -5 WillTravel said:

Or I could do two nights in Salamanca, come back in the morning, and store my stuff at the train station if the train station has lockers.

The trip feels really short for what I want to do, but it's just the way it is.

Sometimes you just have to work with what you have.

I was close to Chamartin station, the big station in the north, where the trains to Salamanca leave, and I can tell that there are lockers there. They are in a little building just outside of the station. You can take the exit opposite the 17th and 18th platform. You will find the taxi stand there, and on the other side the lockers. The building is opened between 7.00 and 23.00. a big pack will cost EUR 4,50 to store.

But ... I think it would be better to store the bag at Nuevos Ministerios, it would be easier to pick them up there on the way to the airport. Chamartin is a bit out of the way. While Nuevos Ministerios is on route, when heading to the center of town, from Chamartin. When you arrive from the airport this is the station at the end of the line that goes to the airport (pink, 8) so you can have a look around if they have lockers. (or maybe I will find myself in the neighbourhood soon.)

Depending on how fresh you are when you arrive you can head to Salamanca, which is slightly under 3 hours by train. (one thing to keep in mind is that by AVE, Sevilla is 2,5 hours away, but probably more expensive - I thought I'd mention it, as you (and the Madam) are very good in finding cheap tickets for the train.)

[WillTravel]

I'll think about this some more, but I'm tending more to staying in Madrid, and doing a daytrip to Toledo. I really want to have time to do the rounds of the art museums again, and that requires enough time to absorb. I am definitely interested in seeing some musical performances.

I saw an article about hanging out late in Lavapies, but from my recollection this is not the safest-looking area. What is your opinion?

[WillTravel]

Also, if going to Toledo, is it best to take the train or the bus? My friend said the bus, which surprised me.