Best way to get from South of France to Spain

Posted by Sarah (Monrovia, CA, USA) on 04/15/24 01:02 AM

Hi,

I am trying to find the best location to pick up a car from the train station on my way to Pals, Spain. We will be coming from France on Sunday, June 30th from St Remy. So far the best I can see is to take the train to Avignon if I were to get off at Perpignan it would only be a $17 train ride. However, I don't know the best way to get across the border and find another car once in Spain. If I take it to Girona (which is a 45 drive to Pals after) it's $84. However, I'm struggling even to find a car rental at the Girona train station. I also see a stop on the way for the same $ 80-ish fare I can get off at Figueras and it's not out of the way to Pals but again, I cannot find any car rentals at the train station. The best I could see was a 10-minute car ride away. I'm just looking for the simplest option and not to waste unnecessary money and time. I would love to just drive the whole way but the two-country fee is ridiculous adding hundreds of dollars to the car rental cost.

Posted by Kenko

Citizen of the World

04/15/24 01:26 AM

1432 posts

Hi Sarah, after Covid shut down the car rental industry for a couple years, when cars did start renting again, the airport locations were the first to be revived. So, Girona’s Airport (GRO) is the place to look into. I reserved most of my cars a few months ago through AutoEurope, a reputable consolidator that offers sizable rate reductions from the major car rental agencies ( Hertz, Avis, Sixt etc). www.AutoEurope.com is their website.
While in Tossa de Mar, I did rent one car from an independent car rental agency that will deliver the car to you at your hotel and then pick up the car as part of their service. “GANXORENT” is the name of the agency, which is based in the coastal town of St. Feliu de Guixois. Pals is about 19 miles from St. Feliu de Guixois and they will bring cars to Pals.

www.GanxoRent.com is their website.

Contrary to what I expected. It actually looks like GanxoRent has manual/automatic transmission cars starting at €45/€53 per day and AutoEurope’s rates at Girona’s Airport are more than €100 per day.

That settles that.

Remember that an International Drivers Permit (IDP) is legally required of foreigners driving in Spain. Any American Automobile Association office can prepare your IDP and take the photos that are needed for $30
Have a great trip!

Posted by Sarah OP

Monrovia, CA, USA

04/15/24 07:59 PM

60 posts

Thank you for your reply and information! Unfortunatley the suggestion you provided doens't allow me to drop off the car at Madrid Airport :( I have used auto europe in the past... what would your recomendation be to get from the train station to the airport? Do they have uber or some type of taxi service readily available at the train station? Is there any suggestions for a better way of going about getting from France to Spain?

Posted by Kenko

Citizen of the World

04/15/24 08:55 PM

1432 posts

There are hourly buses taking about 25 minutes to Girona’s airport from Girona’s bus station which is right next to Girona’s train station. Taxis are ubiquitous at Girona’s train station.

With gas now running about $7.50 per gallon in Spain, it will be far less costly to take a 2.5-hour high-speed IRYO train from Barcelona Sants train station to Madrid’s Atocha train station than it will be to drive a rental car the 425 miles. Iryo has tickets starting at €28 and up during July and you can buy them now at www.iryo.eu which is IRYO’s website. www.TheTrainline.com will show you all high-speed train options and prices for July from Barcelona to Madrid, Girona to Barcelona and Figueres to Barcelona. If you’re spending any time in Madrid, a rental car will be difficult to drive in the city and expensive and problematic to park. Cercanias commuter trains travel from Madrid Atocha station to Madrid Airport’s Terminal 4 in about 30 minutes with trains running every 20 minutes. Tickets are €2.60.

Posted by Sarah OP

Monrovia, CA, USA

04/15/24 09:46 PM

60 posts

Holy moly gas is $7.50?! omg I didn't know that! So here is our complete itinerary. All of which has free cancellation if it in the end doesnt make sense.... After france its 4nights in Pals costa Brava area (i read its difficult to get around without a car) Barcelona 2 nights, 4 nights in the Rojia area staying in Briones and 1 night in Madrid just to get to the airport to leave on the 10th.