Spain, France and Cruise out of Genoa

Have you looked at other options to the rental car for getting around? Looking at all that time its going to be parked ( probably not cheaply) makes me cringe. If its not a budgetary concern to you, then my 'cringe' is irrelevant.

If you can get to Genoa without a rental car you could go directly to Paris after your cruise rather than drive back to Barcelona to drop off the car

It's a real shame to spend so much time in transit. ViaMichelin is estimating the drive from Barcelona to Genoa at 8 hr. 45 minutes. That includes no stops whatsoever, and VM is generally considered to be optimistic.

Vueling has a non-stop flight from Barcelona to Genoa on Thursday, Sept. 27. Unfortunately, there is no non-stop on Sept. 28. The current fare is about $40, but that doesn't include luggage fees and other extras that budget airlines hit you for. That fare will certainly increase as the travel date approaches, so if you're interested and are certain of your travel date, I suggest that you buy the tickets ASAP.

With that flight, you'll have no need at all for a car. You can take a train from Marseille to Paris at the end of your cruise.

If you want to explore additional flight options, you can check them out on skyscanner.com .

Hello

Thank you for your responses! I had thought it would be a good idea to travel through France and take in all the scenery but I have been told its not a good idea now a couple of times :( therefore I think the air flight is a wonderful idea. I wanted to also ask.. Where should we stay in Genoa? Is it safe? We do not leave on the cruise until Saturday therefore arriving Thursday would leave us at 2 nights in Genoa... Another question how do we get from Genoa to Marseille? We will be travelling with one large luggage each ( its 24 days LOL) and 2 kids.. Im trying to make it as easy as possible...

Heres what I came up with and tell me if you think its better!
Sept 19 through the 22nd Barcelona (we love Barcelona)
Sept 22 through 26th Madrid or Girona... ( no flight from Girona to Genoa and the Madrid price goes up significantly.. May we could visit somewhere else from the 22 through the 26th and then catch the flight from Barcelona to Genoa? Or we land in Barcelona and head to Madrid first? Ahhhh so confused...
WE leave on cruise Sept 28th (thought it was the 27th ) and are back Oct 5th... From Genoa we need to get to Paris and spend the remainder of our time which is 10 days till the 15th.. I think 10 days might be too much in Paris... We can do 5 in Paris and back to Barcelona as we depart from there on October 15th.. Sorry for all the rambling.. This is my brain in Europe!

Thanking you in advance :) Blessings!
Martha

Do you think maybe I should adjust to visit cities in closer proximity and skip Madrid for now?

I will take a stab at re-arranging things. If you do not like it, feel free to disregard it.

As I understand it, you have r/t air from USA to BCN, so my suggestion is based on that premise.

Put the Madrid/Girona visit at the beginning of your trip ( flip flop your proposal so you can be in Barcelona for the cheaper airfare to Genoa. After the cruise go to Paris directly from Genoa and then end back in BCN.

Get a rental car only if needed for local touring, but not your inter-country travels.

Pack lighter. There are laundry facilities in Europe. I spent 28 days with a 21" roll-on and small backpack. It all qualified as carry on with the airline ( Yes, i Had clean clothes every day! )

Happy travels!

Thank you so much Joe for all your suggestions they REALLY do make sense! We will be jet lagged (its an overnight flight) I was thinking 2 nights in Barcelona bc hubby has a lot of arthritis and those flights literally kill his knees! One of our kids has autism also so we need a little break.. Do you think we should take the fast train to Madrid? I think the kids would enjoy that... then back on the train to Barcelona on the 26/27 to catch the flight to Genoa... I don't know where I would be able to toss in Girona.. I was also thinking of skipping Madrid altogether (reason being my son does not do good in Catholic churches) and going somewhere in Italy instead.. We went to Amalfi and fell in love and nothing would make me happier than doing a gondola ride (we never have)
Im sorry if Im complicating things more... Its a lifetime trip we have saved for and you know how it is!

TY again! :)

The thing about the AVE train from Barcelona to Madrid is that there's a great deal of money to be saved by buying the tickets super early. Your travel dates aren't on sale yet, but you can check the schedule and fares currently available for travel in mid-May. However, if you're going to take that train on your arrival day, you have to guess how much time to allow for getting out of the airport and to the train station. And who knows whether your flight will be on time? The odds are that the folks here can advise you on how big a gap to leave and it will all work out OK, but if it doesn't, you'll be buying new tickets at the last-minute price. Incidentally, in Spain a round-trip ticket is often about as cheap as a one-way ticket.

So in this situation, Girona is more practical than Madrid, because it's much closer, so the fast-train tickets are a lot less expensive. Furthermore, there are slower trains that are a viable option due to the shorter distance. Girona is a very nice small city, and it's a good base for visiting the crazy Dali Theatre and Museum in Figueres (which might even appeal to your son), the pretty former fishing village of Cadaques, and the small town of Besalu with its fortified bridge. You could find other side-trips to fill 5 nights there (remembering that your first day will probably find you in zombieland), or you could add a night or two in Barcelona.

If Venice really appeals, you could head there after the cruise and probably find a flight from Venice to Paris. Check skyscanner. But be careful about time of day (it's expensive to get to the Venice airport for a really early flight) and the actual airport being used. Some flights from "Venice" depart from the Treviso airport, which is quite some distance away.

We are really set on Barcelona bc its our place of landing and leaving LOL ( and bc it was the cheapest) What other cities do you think we can do.. (taking Madrid out of the equation)

After a LOT of thinking.. I have decided not to try to visit so many places.. Instead to rent an apartment type place for the first week and stay in Barcelona and actually enjoy ourselves by doing some tours.. We can travel to Girona and return.. When I read all this to my husband he said that was not a vacation but a job LOL YES it made his head hurt... He works long hrs in emergency and the last thing he wants (with his bad knees) is all this commuting. I was also thinking of spending 2 or 3 nights in Genoa before our cruise and then heading to Paris.. Then another 2 nights in Barcelona and then home..
How do you find the best apartment deals or apart/hotel deals.. We will not be renting a car after all the comments. It seems to be pretty easy to travel around via buses and trains!

I don't understand why you want to double back to Barcelona after the cruise. I like the city, but...

Some of the hotel-listing websites like booking.com have apartment listings. The same apartment is often listed on multiple platforms, not always at the same price. Some folks have reported finding that Airbnb tends to be more expensive than the same apartment listed elsewhere, but I've never attempted to verify that. I just use booking.com; I prefer hotels.

I don't understand why you want to double back to Barcelona after the cruise

Its because their r/t air is BCN----- the 'open-jaw' ( multi-city) idea is what they need to explore for the next trip after this one.

Thanks, Joe, I had lost track of that. I was remembering the jog up to Paris.

does your cruise start and end in genoa or start genoa and end marseille? and the exact dates for cruise

Yes the Cruise starts and finishes in Genoa ... We thought from there the flight to Paris and then back to Barcelona to relax the last 2 days before departure. ( we land and depart in Barcelona)

Acraven believe me I also prefer hotels but travelling with children it makes it easier to have a washer and a kitchen. Our son has autism and could be a picky eater so when we dine out I feed him before just in case he doesnt like anything. Being in other countries is challenging because even the milk taste different.

Joe, after Paris where do you recommend we go (preferably close to Barcelona for departure)

Martica--- Spain is on my list of places 'yet to visit', so I cannot offer a recommendation of where to go.

I was just trying to offer some logistical ideas to reduce unnecessary travel and let you spend more time at a destination and less time 'on the go'.

This would work well for you, and no, you don’t need a car.

September
19..ARRIVE Barcelona (5N)
20..Barcelona
21..Barcelona
22..Day to Girona
23..Barcelona
24..TRAIN to Madrid (4N)
25..Madrid
26..Day to Toledo
27..Madrid
28..FLY Volotea to Genoa (1N)
29..SAIL from Genoa on MSC Divina (7N)
30..Rome - IN PORT

October
1..Palermo - IN PORT
2..Cagliari - IN PORT
3..Palma de Mallorca - IN PORT
4..Valencia - IN PORT
5..Marseille - IN PORT
6..DOCK in Genoa. FLY Air France to Paris (5N)
7..Paris
8..Paris
9..Day to Versailles
10..Paris
11..TRAIN to Nimes (3N)
12..Day to Arles
13..Day to Avignon
14..TRAIN to Barcelona (1N)
15..DEPART Barcelona