Barcelona and surrounding areas

The best value for a Barcelona airport transfer is the Aerobus: https://www.aerobusbcn.com/. Pl. Catalunya is a convenient location for this bus, as well as hotels and Metro station.

I have not been to Montserrat, but I remember reading (perhaps here as well as in guidebooks) that there are nice hikes up there. That's a pretty weather-dependent activity, though.

Take a look at Google's Girona map. I'm not sure exactly how it will open up for you, but the train station is marked by the largest of the aqua icons. For me, it's to the left of a red marker. I stayed not too far from the train station at the Hotel Condal, but the area around my hotel was pretty devoid of restaurants and isn't ideal for a short visit. It would be better to be in or near the medieval district, which is on the right side of the river. It includes the peach-colored area and stretches to the right until you hit the wall. Look for the Passeig fora Muralla, then the university, then the monastery is as you move upward on the map. I don't think there are many hotels on the right side of the river, but the river is narrow and the many bridges make it easy to cross on foot. A hotel near the river on the left side just across from the historic sights will put you in a good spot.

When I asked Google to display nearby hotels, these are the ones that popped up in or near the historic district; there may well be others. I have not researched them, but you can check reviews on TripAdvisor and/or booking.com:

Hotel Historic (on the right side of the river)
Hotel Nord 1901 (on the left side)
Ciutat de Girona (on the left side)
Hotel Peninsular (on the left side)

This was one of the best hotels on our RS Best of Spain tour last summer. Don't know how the price fits into your budget http://cataloniaportaldelangel.barcelonahotels.it.

Also curious how much time to allow for a visit to Montserrat.

OK for my trip to Barcelona area in January, somehow I had it in my mind that I really wanted to go to Barcelona first before Girona. I have since decided it is just makes more sense to do Girona first. I am looking at Girona hotels and I want to be reasonably close to the train station since I will be using all public transportation. But I also would like to take a half day trip to Besalu and it doesn't look like the train goes there and I would need to take a bus. Does anyone know the details on a bus from Girona to Besalu? And then I feel like I read somewhere that from Besalu, the bus only goes to Barcelona?? Which would be fine, I guess, if we figure out what to do with our luggage.

Also regarding Montserrat in January? Anyone have any information? how long we'd want to spend in Montserrat and sightseeing options other than the monastery? We would do Montserrat as a day trip from Barcelons.

Thank you

The Girona bus station is very near the train station.

TEISA runs buses between Girona and Besalu, in both directions. There is no bus station in Besalu, so it would be risky to head off that way with luggage, praying to find a place to store it. But since the bus does return to Girona and you are not planning to head onward from Besalu, I don't think this will be a problem for you.

Since your trip is in January and you may have iffy weather, I'll mention that there is a sports bar (well, maybe just a bar; I don't remember seeing food) just a few doors up the street from where the bus drops you off. In the summer the sports bar was open till 2 PM then closed for an afternoon break. It would be a good place to get out of the weather while waiting for the return bus, assuming the pick-up point is the same as the drop-off point or across the street from it. I do NOT know that that is the case. Try to find out from the bus driver who takes you to Besalu where to get the bus back to Girona. If that doesn't work (older drivers may not speak English), allow time to get the answer from someone else (tourist office near foot of fortified bridge or--with patience since I don't think they speak English--the bar folks would know). BEWARE: My onward bus left at least 8 minutes early! Get back to that bus stop ahead of time.

I stayed rather near the train station at the Hotel Condal. Like you, I was thinking about convenience for day trips. I don't remember a problem with the hotel itself (though the room may have been very small), but the restaurants are elsewhere, in or near the historic district. Spaniards eat very late, and it's a bit of a drag to have a considerable walk back to your hotel at midnight.

@stephenkirsh.... check out https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/a-visit-to-montserrat-the-holy-mountain-near-barcelona-in-catalonia

@julesmenssen.... same than above for Montserrat. As per Besalú, it can be tricky if you travel with luggage as it's a small town with nowhere to store luggage. I have phoned their TI and they've confirmed they don't know of any place you could store luggage. In the past, the TI itself had this service, but these days -with all the terrorist alerts everywhere- this is a risk the Tourism Board doesn't want to take. So... either you carry your luggage with you -which I totally advise against as you won't enjoy your visit- or leave it in Girona and return there for a train to Barcelona (yes, there's also a regular bus from Besalú to Barcelona). The bus line servicing Girona-Besalú is the same servicing Besalú-Barcelona, and roughly speaking, there's a bus every two hours from Girona-Besalú and vice versa and the journey takes 45'. The bus schedule is here: http://www.teisa-bus.com/en/index.html

The bus stops in Besalú are in Avinguda del President Companys, 7, one is across the street from the other -yet do double-check as I've not been in Besalú for a few years myself and things might have changed! This is a rough map of Besalú and that'd be approx where #5 is. Obviously, don't forget to visit the bridge...

So, I would leave the luggage in Girona -either at the hotel you're staying in, or even much better, at the train station as I can see (albeit haven't used myself!) that there's a locker service (=consigna) there: http://www.adif.es/en_US/infraestructuras/estaciones/79300/servicios_000104.shtml Note that luckily for you, the train station is just across the street from the bus station :)) Ah yes... remember that you need to be back in Girona BEFORE 9pm for two reasons: locker service is open until 9pm only and the last fast train to Barcelona departs around 9ish too!

For extra info: on your way from Girona to Besalú, you'll be passing by the town of Banyoles (bah-nee-oh-les), which has a very beautiful lake

This is so helpful. Thank you very much. It's like having a Barcelona friend!
To be honest, if I didn't look at the links and pictures, I would have given up on Besalu as I had visions of being stranded and sleeping in the sports bar or something. I think as long as we plan for a lot of buffer with the Besalu bus, we'd be fine. We speak very little Spanish, and even there I would guess that in that area, if people don't speak English they speak Catalonian, anyway.
Are there city buses in Girona? I am still not sure where I'd want to be --close to the medieval town for sightseeing and restaurants or close to the train station (and nothing else) And we are boring midwest U.S. people. Are we going to be able to eat at 7:30pm or so?! Especially since Girona will be the very start of our trip and we'll be jet lagged.
Is there any kind of regional transportation pass that covers the trains/buses etc.?
Thanks!

@julesmenssen

No pbl... it's my pleasure :))

The local language in Catalonia is Catalan, albeit Spanish is co-official and most citizens in Catalonia can speak both. In the major cities you'll find a mix of languages, yet outside the big cities indeed you'll find mostly Catalan only. Anyhow, if any visitors knows any Spanish, be sure we Catalans -even those that don't regularly speak it- we can communicate with it too.

Yes, there are city buses in Girona. Girona is a city with a population of 100.000. Yet if I were you, I'd probably look for accommodation in the Old City, which is very charming and cozy.

About eating at 7:30, well, you'll be able to eat something at any time, rest assure on that, but a "proper" dinner on a "proper" restaurant... that can be a bit more tricky as restaurants tend to start serving between 8:30 and 9 in the evening.

Nope, there are no regional transportation passes ("regional" as in what you'd refer to as "state" in the US) as there are a bunch of different companies operating, some private, some public. Yet Girona -the same than in Barcelona- has a "metropolitan area" (an area of influence) which covers the city and the surrounding towns. This is coordinated by a Transport Authority (http://www.atmgirona.cat/en/finalitats) and there are indeed travelcards and passes for moving about. Exactly like Barcelona, there is a T-10 travelcard that allows using different means of transportation within the metro area which is also classified by zones (http://www.atmgirona.cat/en/tarifes)

HOWEVER....

all of this is of no consequence to you as a short term visitors because you're hardly going to use the public transportation (if any at all!) while visiting Girona (assuming you're based in the Old City!) as almost everything you'll want to see is in a relatively small area -which incidentally is mostly semi-pedestrianised.

The station is a short 15-20' walk (with luggage) from the Old City on flat streets (http://bit.ly/2fCH6QP)... or you can always take a taxi at the station, they're quite inexpensive.

Enjoy

Enric,
Again, thank you for your help. It is obvious you love your country and the area you live in. I always try to help travelers I meet in the U.S., as well, because I want them to love my country as much as I do.

In Barcelona, I think I'm going to stay for five days in what I believe is the Gothic Quarter. (Ally's Guest house Bruc Street n 150, Corner Diagnol Ave) Will this be a central location making it easy to get there from the train station when we come from Girona or when we head out for the day to Montserrat? Also, we will need to leave fairly early in the morning for the airport for a flight to Vienna so I'm hoping that the airport is fairly handy from there. If I understand the map correctly, the metro goes all the way to the airport.
Thank you
Juli

That address is not in the Barri Gotic; it's in the Eixample, an area particularly good for folks interested in modernista architecture. It's probanly about a mile from the Placa de Catslunya, the terminus for the Aerobus from the airport.

The Barri Gotic is down by the port. It's served by the Metro Stations Jaume I and Liceu.

Hi Juli,

As @acraven mentions, that's located in l'Eixample, a classy Modernist area with wide streets and plenty of beautiful late 19th-century buildings. The area, as much of the rest of the city, is totally safe (yet noting you're in a big city of course!).

To go to the airport, your best bet -other than taking a taxi (aprox 35€, depending on traffic)- is to walk to the train (not metro!) station in Passeig de Gràcia, located across the street from Casa Batlló, merely 10' away on foot from your apartment (http://bit.ly/2flV8Tf). If you're catching the train (35' to the airport), you can use the T-10 travelcard and then the journey will cost you only 1€ each. The T-10 travelcard for 1 zone is a card with 10 journeys that allows you to move about in the city on different means of transportation: bus, metro, tramway... and it's rather cost-effective: T-10 = 9.95€ vs single ticket=2.15€. More on that: http://bit.ly/bcn-t10 IMPORTANT: the train will end in Terminal 2 at the airport, if you're going to Terminal 1, there's a free shuttle bus (green) from there that connects both terminals. If that's your case, plan for an extra 20' or so... as you'll have first to find the stop, wait for the shuttle and then the ride to the other terminal (http://www.aena.es/en/barcelona-airport/connection-between-terminals.html)

The day you go to Montserrat, you'll need to go to Plaça Espanya (plaça=square in Catalan language, pronounced "pla-sah"), located in the west side of the city. For that, from your location simply follow the same instructions than above to Passeig de Gràcia, but instead of the train, take the metro line L3 (green) to Plaça Espanya station (~40'). Once there, you need to get out into the square and look for the entrance to the FGC train (also subterranean) which is to your right, at 100 yards or so... the entrance looks like this: http://www.trenscat.com/metrobaix/images/P080630006.jpg Easy peasy! There are other ways to travel to Plaça Espanya from your location, and you'd probably scrap a few minutes off the journey, but not knowing the city you're better off not having to transfer or anything, that's why the metro is probably the easiest way for this.

SIDENOTES

There are different means of transportation to the airport: Aerobus, bus, train, taxi and most recently also metro. You can always buy single tickets for it but if using travel cards there is a bit of complexity for this particular journey:

• T-10 travelcard: you can use that if going to the airport by train, either from Passeig de Gràcia or from Sants stations but NOT by metro (line L9). It also covers using bus #46 to the airport, which departs from Plaça Espanya. It does not cover Aerobus.
• HolaBCN! cards: you can use this card on the airport-city journey on all means except Aerobus.

Obviously none of the above can be used in taxis :)))

Note however that the metro L9 line which connects the city to the airport serves the northern part of the city so it's unlikely to be useful to most visitors, which tend to stay elsewhere. Other parts (ie southern and central areas) are already well connected to the airport by other means.