Trip Report: Madrid and Barcelona (and How We Paid)

In early October, my husband and I took our kids on a two-week trip through parts of Spain and France. The trip itself was amazing, and I wanted to write about all our rewards-fueled activities. So, I’m breaking our trip up into two parts – Spain and France. This is part #1.

First off, we paid for our flights earlier this year during one of those crazy fare deals to Europe. We booked four Delta flights into Madrid and home from Paris for $393 each, then used travel credit from our old Citi Prestige credit cards to pay for most of our upgrades to Delta Comfort seating during the overnight leg of our trip.

We landed in Madrid on October 7^th, and were fairly well-rested considering we flew overnight. Fortunately, we were able to check into our hotel/condo early. I am so happy I booked Eric Vokel Apartments Madrid Suites for two nights at 18,937 Chase points per night. It was great paying for our condo with Chase Ultimate Rewards, and the condo itself was in a cute neighborhood in Madrid. We had two bedrooms and two separate bathrooms, too. If you’ve ever traveled with kids, you know what a huge deal this is.

We did some basic sightseeing that first day, but mostly wandered around. We ate some tapas, saw the Royal Palace of Madrid, and walked through the major plazas. Our goal was keeping our kids up until 8:00 p.m. so their sleep schedule would adjust to being in Europe. Fortunately, it worked.

On our second morning in Madrid, we had booked a day trip to Segovia and the La Granja Royal Residence through Chase Ultimate Rewards. This was an awesome day trip, and it only set us back 16,940 points with the Chase Sapphire Reserve.

I loved the La Granja Royal Residence, and it was fun to explore Segovia for a few hours. The gardens behind the palace were especially enchanting, and the perfect fall weather made our visit even more amazing. Of course, Segovia is beautiful too with its narrow, winding streets and ancient Roman aqueduct. That night, we went out for more tapas and walked around some more before finally going to bed and packing up for our departure the next morning.

When we woke up, we took a three-hour train trip to Barcelona. This trip set us back around $100 and we were able to pay for it with travel credit from our Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite MasterCard. We were once again able to check into our condo early. Here, I booked the Aspasios Rambla Catalunya Suites for four nights at 19,812 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per night.

This condo hotel had two bedrooms and a large bathroom along with a kitchen and washer and dryer. It was perfectly situated at the far end of the Rambla, making it perfect for sightseeing, walking around, and dining.

We were in Barcelona for five days. During our time there, we did a lot of fun stuff. For starters, we booked two day trips with Chase Ultimate Rewards points:

• Afternoon trip with cogwheel train ride to Montserrat – 14,040 points for four of us
• Vegan food tour – 12,688 points for the four of us

The day trip to Montserrat was okay. I’m glad I went, but I don’t think I would do it again. The vegan food tour, on the other hand, was amazing. Despite the fact we ate and drank too much, we had fun visiting several vegetarian and vegan restaurants around Barcelona and trying new dishes.

While in Barcelona, we took it easy. I worked a few mornings and let my kids sleep in or relax. We also did some souvenir shopping, walked all over the city and especially the Gothic Quarter, and went to the Barcelona aquarium to see the sharks. We also did a guided tour of Sagrada Familia and went to Park Guell.

We thought we might witness some political unrest while in the city since Catalunya was in the midst of potentially declaring independence from Spain. We did notice some marches and protesting on our last day in Barcelona, but that was it.

Over all, we had a great time during the Spain leg of our trip. We didn’t get to do everything we wanted, but we were able to do enough. My kid’s favorite part of Spain, as predicted, was the churros with drinkable chocolate. They also loved the Barcelona Aquarium and the buzz of both cities, along with the kindness of everyone we met.

 

Have you been to Madrid and Barcelona? What was your favorite part of both cities?

[Image: Flickr]