Transportation advise in Barcelona

[movinout]

We are staying 3 nights post cruise in Sant Cugat del Villes on the outskirts of Barcelona city. Can anyone who has been to Barcelona area give us advice on whether it would be better to rent a car at BCN and drive or do taxi's and trains. We would want to tour the city a day or two but also would like to go to Montserrat and perhaps Girona. Is there parking available at Montserrat? Can't seem to find that info.

Trying to decide between rental car or just using the public train transportation from Sant Cugat. Rental cars are not that expensive and with GPS...but then do we want to drive there? How easy is it to get to these places outside of the city. It's our first time in Spain. Who knows when we would return so we'd like to make the best of our time. Thanks!

[riffatsea]

I wonder why you picked that spot? Perhaps a time share? It is certainly out of Barcelona,NOT a city neighborhood on the "outskirts" at all, and if you have not visited the city before my first suggestion would be to stay IN Barcelona and get to know it!! It is a wonderfully fascinating place!!!

The commuter railroad web site says it's about a half hour ride on the train from Sant Cugat into the center of the city at Placa Catalunya. I did not look at the prices for tickets. According to Google maps it is also about a half hour drive. I don't know about rush hour traffic.

IF you are trying to stay outside because you don't like big cities then you might like the neighborhood of Sarria or of Gracia which feel like smaller towns but are IN Barcelona.

Montserrat does have parking because folks on Trip Advisor have written about parking there. I tend to travel alone so am not comfy with driving alone in Europe. Sorry can't help with that part of the issue.

Hopefully others will know more on that topic.

Here's the train web site:

http://www.renfe.com/viajeros/cercanias/barcelona/index.html

[edunava]

Hello from Barcelona.

 

Well, actually Sant Cugat is a town that is 20 kilometers from Barcelona. I do not think that is very comfortable to stay there because you lose a lot of time traveling. The train will be the means of transport easier and faster.

In Montserrat there is parking, but is some way off. If you go by train will reach the Plaza of the Sanctuary. This link will solve many questions:

 

http://www.cremallerademontserrat.com/website_cremallera/eng/index.asp

 

 

Greetings.

[4774Papa]

We are staying 3 nights post cruise in Sant Cugat del Villes on the outskirts of Barcelona city. Can anyone who has been to Barcelona area give us advice on whether it would be better to rent a car at BCN and drive or do taxi's and trains. We would want to tour the city a day or two but also would like to go to Montserrat and perhaps Girona. Is there parking available at Montserrat? Can't seem to find that info.

Trying to decide between rental car or just using the public train transportation from Sant Cugat. Rental cars are not that expensive and with GPS...but then do we want to drive there? How easy is it to get to these places outside of the city. It's our first time in Spain. Who knows when we would return so we'd like to make the best of our time. Thanks!

 

We loved Barcelona, but I would not want to drive there. Traffic was heavy except on Sunday morning.

 

Also, parking would be a royal pain.