Am trying to arrange a trip next year w/ a couple friends. For me, Madrid is always a MUST! and my friend Jacqui wants to see Barcelona. No problems getting from Madrid to Barcelona but the third (maybe 4th, too)in our party wants to see some of Italy. How on earth do I work Italy into the schedule? Do we fly into Madrid, train to Barcelona and ??? fly?? or drive? or take a train to Tuscany? I am hoping to see Florence and Sienna. My thought is 3-4 days in Madrid, 2 in Bacelona, 1 in Bilbao and 7 days in Italy. Anybody have any ideas? (Those 'open-jawed' airline tickets really are pricy,too...unless there is someone out there who knows some inside info...)

Might be better to check round trip tickets from Madrid or Barcelona. Iberia and Alitalia often have promotional fares as low as 70 Euros or so from Barcelona to Italy. Also check Volare airlines, which is Alitalia's budget airline that flies between Madrid and Venice.

I suppose the question is, WHICH PART of Italy does your friend want to see?... or is ANY PART of Italy acceptable.

I believe, but am not 100% certain, that there is a ferry between Barcelona and Genova(?) Italy (or another Italian city).

It was something that I heard in passing last summer when I was in Barcelona but never investigated. Maybe you want to look into that....

Yes, there is a ferry that runs from Barcelona to Genova, Italy. I had investigated it about a year ago (My brother had taken the same ferry in 1979, so the route's been around for years).

The ferry to Genova runs from 22:00 to 16:00, or 02:00 to 20:00. It takes 18 hours, so probably 3-4 more hours than going by train, but I think it has lots of advantages: cheaper than the train (even if you have a private cabin), there are no changes of trains, and the boat is large enough that you plenty of space to walk around to get exercise, fresh air etc.


Here's the web site, which has improved a LOT since I last saw it (for example, they now have safe online purchasing; before there was no obvious data encryption for the credit card payment page):

http://www.ferriesonline.com/traghetti/trg.taf?_lang=UK

1

For button 1, "Type of searching", in the "Choose a Harbour" drop down box, select "Barcelona"


2
For button 2, "Select the harbours of ARRIVAL", choose the desired harbor.

(Hey besides Genova, they now also go to Civitavecchia, which is near Rome).

3
For button 3, "Period of searching", either choose the early/mid/end of a month in the "I want to leave for ..." drop down list, or enter a date in the "Date" drop down lists

4
Click the "Next" button that's located in the lower right corner of the page.


The color code along the bottom gives the fare grouping.


As not to make this message too long..I'll put a comparison in a separate message following this.

I made a sample comparision for using the ferry + train to get to Florence, and just using the train. I used May 27 (my b-day) as the date:

I went to the ferries website as identified in the last message. I chose Barcelona-Genova, May 27 and clicked Next. On the following pages, I indicated 2 people age 40s, cabin with a double bed for night, nothing needed during the day.

Total came to 215 Euros, 18 of which was mailing the tickets to the US.

(Maybe there is a way to pick them up in Barcelona and avoid this cost, but I didn't check the website. While it is an "English" version of their website, there are plenty of portions that are written in Italian. )

Also, I went to the Italian train schedule site and found out that getting from Genova to Florence takes about 3.5 hours and costs about 20 euros per person

So, total cost for two people = 215+40 = 255 Euros


Next, I went to Renfe to see what it would cost to go by train only.

I chose the Barcelona->Milano TRENHOTEL "Salvador Dali", with Doble Preferente cabin for two people...the cost is 207 PER PERSON...

I agai went to the Italian train website and discovered that the Milano->Florence train takes about 3 hours and about 25 euros per person

So, total cost for two people = 414+50 = 464 Euros


The ferry+train method does take probably 4-5 hours longer, but considering many of those hours you are on a ferry (where you can walk around) and not stuck in some stuffy train compartment, the comfort factor + the 209 euro savings would make it worthwhile.

Toni,

I have a question....why are you planning to visit Bilbao? The Guggenheim? We visited it in 1999 and I thought it was great, but we mostly did it because it was along the line of our travel destination and served as a convenient transportation hub: We had rented a car in Santiago and took a week driving eastward across the northern coast to Bilbao, dropped the car off, stayed in Bilbao that night, saw the Guggenheim the next day, then took the night train to Barcelona.

In contrast, Bilbao is far removed from the other places you plan to visit. Unless you REALLY have your heart on seeing the Guggenheim, going to Bilbao is going to seriously eat into your trip budget...and even more importantly, your TIME, no matter if you go by air, day train, or night train.

IMHO the time and money you'd expend going to/from Bilbao could be better used in another part of Spain. For example, to break up the time it takes to travel from Madrid to Barcelona, consider an overnight stop in Zaragoza (Aragon).

Four AVE trains leave Atocha daily for Zaragoza (7:00, 11:00, 17:00 and 21:00) and the ride takes 2 hours.

Besides the kilometer-long Plaza de Pilar and its basilica, there are the Aljaferia (Moorish castle now used as the seat of Aragon's government) and many other things to see.

We've been twice and have stayed at two-star Hotel Las Torres both times, thoroughly enjoying it. I think last time it was ~60 euros/night for a double with bath, with balcony overlooking the plaza.

Hotel Las Torres **
Plaza del Pilar, 11
Zaragoza 50001
Tel: 976 394 250
Fax: 976 394 254
(ask for a plaza-facing room)

Here's Picture of Hotel Las Torres (at right) from a tower in the Basilica de Pilar

From Zaragoza, you can take the Altaria train and be in Barcelona in about 3 hours.

I have a lot of other information about Zaragoza, so if you want it, I can burn a CD and mail it to you. (I had collected it for an upcoming trip that got changed to another destination.)

just my 2 cents.

I didn't know about the ferry from BCN, but that sounds lots more interesting than the train. Great tip. I will check the Airitalia prices,but so far had not seen any great prices on tickets.

There has been so much hype about the Guggenhiem that we thought it would be worth the trip. Although I must admit that I have been concerned about the amount of time spent getting from one place to another.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will continue to explore the possibilities...and keep you appraised.

Hi all,
I'm thinking of going to Italy to visit a friend in the spring and I found an airline called Meridiana which seems to have really cheap flights. Only 39 euros each way to Florence not including taxes. The total was about 170 euros which still doesn't sound bad. Has anyone flown with them in the past?

Their website is...

Cheers,
Bonnie

hey Bonnie.

never heard of them but was looking around and looks like the best madrid - florence - madrid deal is the one they offer.

go for it!!!

saludos,
jer...