FOUR CITIES in a day? Lunacy of course, particularly when the quartet in question are as diverse and individually enthralling as Barcelona, Zaragoza, Madrid and Valencia. However one can't ignore the fact that, with a new AVE link between the latter two proving the final piece in the high-speed rail jigsaw, the challenge is at least chronologically possible.

With bragging rights at the Railway Tavern up for grabs, I set out to see if my nerves would hold, or whether the cultural and culinary overload would simply be too much.

Whisked into a sweltering Valencia by the airport Metro, it is a 10-minute walk to the air-conditioned luxury haven of the Ayre Hotel Astoria Palace, perfectly located for the city's excellent galleries and magnificent cathedral. A fabulous five-course dinner by English-Burmese chef Stephen Anderson at the justly acclaimed Seu Xerea in the Old City costs just €25 and sets me up for the accelerated adventures that lie ahead.
I get my head down early; this is not a night for going off the rails.

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BREAKFAST: VALENCIA

A hot breakfast cooked-to-order from the hotel's top-floor restaurant sends me on my way. Keen to get moving, I have to miss out on such sights as the City of Arts & Sciences building and instead head straight for the Joaqu­n Sorolla station where my AVE train awaits. It's a sleek metal sliver whose streamlined modernity is softened by an elongated nose. Inside, first impressions suggest not much difference from a British inter-city service, until a stewardess hands me headphones and I notice TV screens dotted every few yards along the ceiling of the carriage. Then there's the carriage speedometer which, just five minutes after departure, is showing 137mph.

Within 20 minutes we're cruising at 186mph and the gentle strains of Handel are flowing through the headphones from one of several music channels. The initially drab landscape perks up with the appearance of little lakes, woodland and bursts of colour from fields of sunflowers. A church strikes an ecclesiastical pose against the expansive horizon and, 90 minutes after leaving Valencia, we glide into Madrid's Atocha station, early.

LUNCH: MADRID

It's not even 11am so time to take advantage of the excellent town planning that puts two of Europe's finest art galleries close to one another. I queue first for the Museo Na§ional del Prado to cherry-pick masterpieces by Bosch, D¼rer and Goya before its overwhelming vastness sends me into the sunshine in search of lunch. I find quality tapas of razor clams and octopus at Maceiras on Calle de Jesus, peek at the botanic gardens in lieu of dessert and then amble down to the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sof­a, perfectly placed opposite the station. It's more intimate than the Prado with great modern work including Picasso's legendary Guernica.

The old part of Atocha station also shows artistry, with fine wrought-iron work by Spanish engineer Elissagne (a collaborator with Gustave Eiffel of tower fame) plus a tropical garden providing a luxuriant oasis in the concourse.

For the 14.30, I'm bumped up to Preferent (first) class, with its hot towels and in-seat drinks service. The landscape beyond Madrid seems upgraded too: clusters of historic buildings between wheat fields dotted with towering haystacks. With a glass or two of delicious rioja, the 75 minutes to Zaragoza fly by.

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AFTERNOON TEA: ZARAGOZA

The city's Delicias station turns out to be some way from the heart of things so by the time I find myself standing by the old town's majestic Roman walls (10 minutes by taxi, 25 by bus) I have barely an hour to explore Spain's fifth city. As that hour coincides with Spanish afternoon closing, no museums and few shops are open.

Thankfully the magnificent Bas­lica de Nuestra Se±ora del Pilar and the 12th-century La Seo cathedral provide grand, Godly sightseeing opportunities.

With more time, I'd have hot-footed it to the 11th-century Moorish Pala§io de la Aljafer­a, the Pablo Gargallo Museum or strolled along the river Ebro towards the station to see Zaha Hadid's stunning Bridge Pavilion over the river.

Instead I grab my obligatory coffee in the lee of the Bas­lica and try not to be annoyed at having to leave Zaragoza just as it starts to reawaken at 5pm.

DINNER: BARCELONA

Sinking gratefully into another Preferent seat I scan a desert-like vista framed by foreboding hills while a saccharine Hollywood comedy plays on the carriage screens. We pass a striking town with a hilltop castle which I guess to be Lleida. Freixenet's vineyards provide the first clear Catalonian landmark and soon we glide into Barcelona Sants station, 90 minutes after leaving Zaragoza.

Stepping into early-evening sunshine, the Catalan capital envelops me with warmth and bustle. I head for Hotel Granv­a, by the hub of Pla§a d'Espanya, and then into a cityscape of floodlit fountains, grand architecture and the stunning La Sagrada Familia.

Dinner is several courses of gorgeous grilled meat at local favourite Braser­a Canota on nearby Carrer de Lleida. Dining in the Catalan capital is a leisurely process; after the day I've had it suits me down to the ground.

GETTING THERE

Rail Europe (0844 848 4070/raileurope.co.uk) offers high-speed tickets from Valencia to Madrid from £71.50; Madrid to Zaragoza from £54 and Zaragoza to Barcelona from £59 (all one-way). easyJet (0843 104 5000/easyjet.com) offers flights from Gatwick to Valencia from £27pp and from Barcelona to Gatwick from £22pp. Ayre Hotel Astoria Palace (dialling from the UK: 0034 96 398 1000/ayrehoteles.com) in Valencia, doubles from £52 per night (two sharing), room only.
Hotel Granv­a (93 367 5500/ ayrehoteles.com) in Barcelona, doubles from £83 per night (two sharing), room only.
Spanish National Tourist Office: 00800 1010 5050/spain.info