Originally Posted by
Kuma
I've also heard that Barcelona is very cool, but don't have any firsthand experience there, cycling-related or otherwise. It is near Girona, though, which is where lots of cycling pros live and train, I'm told.
Barcelona is cool and the countryside is readily accessible from the city. It's easy to navigate as its mostly laid out in a grid pattern.
Originally Posted by
Kuma
Also, I'm told that Madrid is a modern, sprawling city similar to lots of others in Europe and elsewhere, so it has much less charm than some of the other places on your list. That's only hearsay, though. Someone who has actually been there probably has a more valuable opinion.
Nice place to visit (cultural activities and the place definitely has a pulse) but impossible to get around in by car as it's a maze. Madrid drivers are friggin maniacs and driving there is insane. Why double park when you can triple or quadruple park, a Madrid speciality? A bike would be 500x worse with the maniac drivers and the surrounding countryside is a flat, dusty featureless shthole only good for dumping toxic waste or car wrecks unless you head about 60km north.