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Car Rentals in Spain

Posted by on

We want to break up train travel and driving on our 3 week travel in Northern Spain in August. We will spend
4 nights days in Barcelona (1 recovery day)

5 nights in the area of Girona
Monserrat, Figeures, and Costa Brava (for some relaxed hiking and beach time)

2 nights in Zaragoza,

8 nights in Vitoria, Bilbao, San Sebastián, and the Altamira Caves

2 nights in Madrid

We don't want a car in Barcelona
Want a car for Costa Brava but not sure if we should rent the car in Barcelona or Girona
Return the car and take the train to Bilbao and rent a car in Bilbao for the days we want to visit the caves San Sebastián and Vitoria.

Return the car in Bilbao and take the train to Madrid where we will spend a couple of days and fly home.

It seems like a hassle renting and returning cars, but also driving and parking is a hassle too. Suggestions?

Posted by
16895 posts

I probably would not rent two, separate cars. Weekly rentals usually give you a price break, with 5, 6, or 7 days all the same price. Several major agencies are represented in Girona, both downtown and at the airport, so you could certainly pick up a car there after the first day or two, when you want it. Either train or driving to Vitoria both take 6 hours at the fastest and both have a cost associated. If you already have a car, it seems simpler to drive. If you're using Bilbao as a base for other daytrips, then I guess that you'd try to get those done early, rather than keeping the car for the whole stay in Bilbao. Also, although they're not far apart, it's not unusual for travelers to sleep in both San Sebastian and Bilbao. Then continue with your plan to take a direct train (5 hours) from Bilbao to Madrid Chamartin station.

Posted by
28084 posts

Montserrat is much, much closer to Barcelona than to Girona. Enric wrote a detailed post last year about visiting Montserrat in which he laid out all you need to know about making the trip from Barcelona by public transportation. You should be able to find it easily by Googling "ricksteves.com enric montserrat".

Bus service between Bilbao and San Sebastian is relatively fast (the train is not), but I agree that it's nice to stay in both cities if your schedule isn't too compressed.

Having a car would put the charming hilltown of Laguardia into play. It's not terribly far from Vitoria-Gasteiz. And Santillana del Mar (though very touristy) is a popular stop not far from Altamira.

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