Is a roadtrip out of Barcelona a crazy idea?

[happy cruzer]

I would like some feedback on an idea. We will be doing a transatlantic that ends in Barcelona on April 3 of 2008. I am thinking of doing a "roadtrip" for about 5 days out of Barcelona. I have been doing some research regarding cost of rent car and possible destinations. I also consider just staying in Barcelona. Here's some question/thoughts:

 

1. Hotels in Barcelona seem expensive. I know there is lots to see and do. However I think cost wise a car and more regional hotels may work out the same as staying put.

2. Am considering focusing on a few smaller towns in southern France like Nimes, Bezeirs, Carcassonne ,and Narbonne. We enjoy seeing historical sites such as Roman ruins.

3. I am concerned about current atmosphere regarding US citizens when traveling. Since there will just be the two us (around 50 years old) and we don't speak French, I am hoping people in the smaller towns will be friendly (last time we did land travel in Europe was in 1984

and we had no problems). Also concerned about crime against tourists in general.

 

So if anyone has an general feedback on the idea, I would appreciate it. I love doing all the research and digging into the details. But I just need a reality check if this an OK idea.

 

Thanks!

[Pacific Sandy]

Hi -

 

After our Med cruise in November we rented a car in Barcelona and drove up the Costa Brava into France. We took 5 days and stayed in the most charming B&Bs right on the ocean every night.

 

We spent a night in a beautiful town called Cadaques at a hotel called the Rocamar. It was fabulous. We took a tour of Salvador Dali's house.

 

Our last night was in a charming town in France called Coullioure (sp?).

 

You should do it.

 

Sandra

[Hlitner]

This is a great question with lots of possible answers. We have driven extensively in Spain and France (and many other countries) and a drive from Barcelona is certainly worth the time. I would suggest two possible itineraries which can have almost an unlimited number of variations. You could drive into France and work your way over to Nice (where you can get flights home) or even all the way North to Paris. You could also simply stay in Spain and work your way South along the coast and than over towards Madrid. Spain has many interesting places to visit and driving is not difficult. Not knowing the language is not a major problem (we do not speak anything other than English and a little French) as long as you keep your smile and sense of humor. If you want to explore Spain (a really great tourist country) take a look at the web site for the Paradors ( http://www.parador.es/english/ ) which are government owned hotels. We have found the Paradors to be a great bargain and many of these hotels are "one of a kind." As to being a US citizen, we have seldom had problems (in the past few months we have been in Egypt, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico) and find most folks in Western Europe to be very friendly. Keep in mind that although the US government is not very popular, most Western Europeans do not think much better of their own governments. We have often had people tell us they hate our governement but like Americans. Forget this last comment when in Paris where they do not even like themselves! (only teasing).

 

Hank

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for the input and encouragement.

 

We had stayed in Paradors in Spain and they were exceptional. And Hlitner, your comment about Paris is priceless. We loved Paris but it definitely was a world to itself.

 

I will take great pleasure in collecting data to decide on a route. But it is nice to know that a roadtrip is still doable. Nothing like recent reports to give us confidence. Our last trips we have pretty much stayed put and used public transport to see sites locally. But this time, a roadtrip seems to be in order.

 

Thanks for the comments!

[Bruin Steve]

Like Hank, I have also driven around the region a time or two...and agree it give you many options and is quite "doable"...

 

In fact, I am sitting in my office here at work and on my office walls, I have 11x16 photos from one of those trips...A couple of those shots are the Maison Carrie in Nimes and the city of Rocamadour...

 

I have a few suggestions:

 

If you are heading up towards France, not too far out of Barcelona, you will come to the towns of Girona and Figueras...Figueras is the home of Salvador Dali and Girona is an old medeival town with some significant historical sites...a tour of the old town is worthwhile...

 

Once you cross into France, I would detour up to Carcassonne...it is simply wonderful and scenic...It's great to be there overnight...They light up the walls of the old city at night and it is spectacular...

 

In Provence, we stayed in Arles...which was the home, for a while, to Vincent Van Gogh and others...Great town...

 

Arles, Nimes, Avignon and other towns in the region all have ancioent Roman sites including old Roman Coliseums...

 

There's an entire old Roman City (or the ruins of it)--Galles, in St. Remy d' Provence...near Arles...

 

Be wary of thieves if you visit the Roman Ruins at Galles ...We had our car broken into (along with about 20 other cars at the parking lot--broken glass everywhere) and my wife's purse was stolen...

 

Which brings us to the "Riviera"...St. Tropez is my favorite town, but it's expensive...We stayed in neighboring Saint-Raphael...at this hotel:

http://www.hotels-continental.com/#

 

http://en.venere.com/hotels_saint_raphael/hotel_continental.html

 

I will always remember it because the people there were SO VERY helpful in helping us cancel credit cards, replacing travelers checks and other things we had to take care of after our bad experience in St. Remy...They talk about the inhospitable French...but the good folks running this hotel were anything but...and the prices are quite reasonable...

 

In Monte Carlo, here's another hotel recommendation:

 

Hotel Miramar:

http://miramar.monaco-hotel.com/hotel-miramar-3-en.html

 

We stayed here 13 years ago...and in 2003 we stopped by with some tablemates from our cruise who booked it for a return trip later than year...it's a reasonable priced small hotel right on the harbor and very near the public elevators that take you up to the casino...

 

Other towns to visit in this area: Ezze, St. Paul de Vence...

 

Obviously, if you fly out of Nice, you can do a lot of this...If you must turn back to Barcelona, You shouldn't attempt more than Girona and Carcassonne...

 

...and, of course, you may actually want to spend SOME of that time in Barcelona...

 

Have fun...

[happy cruzer]

everyone's ideas are very helpful.

 

I was worried about the safety of the rent car. I'm sure most of the time our luggage will be in it probably will have id and money in money belt but getting luggage taken would be a problem, if only the theif knew how unfashionable and old my stuff is.....

 

It's great fun to look at the pictures of the places we have been, we have some nice shots of the aquaduct in Segovia.

 

Thanks!

[therhodes]

Where did you pick up your rental car in Barcelona? We will be arriving via cruiseship also and heading up into France. I'm hoping to find the quickest and easiest route out of town. I've heard that picking up at the airport and getting right onto the expressway is the best way to go....is this a good idea?

 

Thanks

Linda.

[Normandie-BCN]

If are you going to France, rent a car in the airport of Barcelona is a good idea as you may take the express way just there to Girona and the French border avoiding to drive by the center of the city.

 

Just leaving the airport by the "B-30" you will see the signals "Girona" and all you have to do is following the signs to arrive to Girona first and from there to the border.

[therhodes]

Thanks Normandie-BCN. That is what I was hoping to hear!!

 

I am going to assume that there are taxi's in abundance at the cruiseship terminal to get us to the airport or is there a reasonably priced airport shuttle from there?

 

Thanks,

Linda.

[Normandie-BCN]

To go from the ship to the airport the taxi is the most convenable way; it costs around 30-35 Euros, I think. Usually you have a lot of taxis; there can be queues but go fast. It has a shortage of taxis for some time when there are several cruises at the same hour, but after a while, you will find one.

 

Also you may take the transfer to the airport provided by the ship, but it is usually more expensive that the taxi.

 

Also you may take the shuttle bus provided by the port to Columbus monument and there take the subway (green line, Drassanes) to Plaça Catalunya and there, just in front of El Corte Ingles (a big deparment store) you will find the Aerobús (a blue bus) which will bring you to the airport for less than 4 Euros by person. I think that is too cumbersome...

[happy cruzer]

I priced a rent car on air gorrilla dot com. I looked at picking up at port and dropping at airport. It seemed a good deal. I am hoping to maybe leave my bags in the trunk of the car at the sea port and then seeing a tiny bit of Barcelona before hitting the road. Then dropping car at airport on the last day in Barcelona. I have not researched dropping a rent car in another city, I've done that in the past but this time, I think I'll just stick with starting and ending in BCN.

 

Thanks to everyone's input, we're pretty sure we will do a roadtrip. Thank you so much.

[happy cruzer]

Time has passed. The dollar is weaker. and maybe so is my sense of adventure.

 

I am now leaning more toward -

arrive in Barcelona, train to Tarragona, 2 nights there, train back to Barcelona, 2 nights in Barcelona and flying out.

 

The train is about 6E and only 1.5 hours. Tarragona looks like a very interesting spot and easy to tour, ruins and a Cathedral.

 

I think this option without car and some expenses in Tarragona might be half the price of a trip into France. also might have better weather in early April.

 

Tough choice.

[sailingkiwi]

I think that it sounds like a really fun idea. I know the area of France you are talking about reasonably well as I spent time in Beziers as an exchange student while I was at high school. Carcassonne is worth a visit, as is Nimes for its Roman architecture (the Maison Carree and also an amphitheatre), I would also recommend a stop at the Pont du Gard. I would also include Roquefort-sur-Soulzon famous for its cheese. There are lots of interesting places to visit in the Languedoc - with only 5 days I would probably just limit it to one region - rather than heading all the way to Nice. You may find that it is cheaper to pick up and return the car to the same place/country. My parents are coming over from New Zealand this Christmas and hiring a car in Spain and have found that dropping it off in France (they were going to head to Bordeaux) made the cost really high.

 

Language wise I would invest in a really good phrase book that included things like road signs etc. Also, unless you request an automatic, you will be give a manual (stick shift) rental car.

[missty]

We were in Barcelona about 4 years ago, and decided to rent a car and drive down the coast, Beautiful! We had our hotel we were staying at arrange the car rental, very easy. we just rented the smallest, cheapest one, and had no problems. I am so glad we did it! It was great to stop when we wanted, and see what we wanted to. We ended up not traveling far, because we stopped so much! lol But enjoyed every minute of it. I would do it all over again.

 

missty

[standby 06.30]

Great idear and itineries, pre Gps we would put the car on the ferry to Santander and drive, the only plan we had was to return via Dover 4 wks later, with Gps it would even be more fun.

We are a bit jaded with cruises, and will have our third in a year in jan, then pack it in for a year, so in late august we will drive down to my inlaws on Hvar Croatia with Gps working even in Croatia it makes it all so easy.

So get Gps,

 

To be safe just do what you do at home, it is far more dangerous for Americans in America than in Europe.

Attitudes to Americans in Europe, Hank is quite right my wife and I dislike the regime not the people.

Have a great trip, regards