HELP!! I am a 56 year woman and will be traveling alone in France and Spain this June. I plan to take the fast train from Paris to Perpignon. I would like to go to Costa Brava and stay in Cadaques (or I'm open to any other placesI) for a few days before heading to Barcelona. Any hints on how to get from France to Spain??? And how to get to Cadaques without a car??? Safety is an issue of course. Any suggestions on travel and where to stay would be much appreciated.
Posted by
Barcelona
64 posts
Public transport is quite bad in the Costa Brava. You should rent a car in Girona.
From Perpignan there are high speed trains to Figueres, Girona and Barcelona. You can look at them at www.renfe.com or oui.sncf.com
From Girona you can use Sarfa buses (www.sarfa.com) to go anywhere in the Costa Brava region. The bus station is next to the High Speed train station.
Europe is super safe at all hours, don't worry, take the usual care as in any big city and you should be ok.
Posted by
898 posts
Google maps lists some public transport options, about 3.5 hours versus 1.5 hours driving.
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Perpignan,+France/Cadaqu%C3%A9s,+Spain
(click the bus icon above 'Perpignon France' at the top left corner to get the public transport options. Also specify the approximate time of day for the trip)
There may be better options. Ask at your hotel in Perpignon & at train station when you arrive.
Posted by
Washington DC
28085 posts
I'd take the train to Figueres and get the bus from there. The ride to Cadaques is very scenic.
I can't speak to the desirability of Cadaques for a multiple-day stop (I just made a day-trip there), or from the standpoint of beach-going. It's a very attractive white-cubic town dripping with bougainvillea. I think I would have run out of things to see after about one day, but I have no interest in beaches.
I see that there is some bus service between Cadaques and Figueres, but it's possible that for other coastal towns you'd have to go back to Figueres and head out again. This is something I would definitely check on if you don't want to rent a car. You can use Rome2Rio.com to find out how to travel between Cadaques and other places you might like to visit, but do not trust the fares or travel times. Keep clicking through the website and you'll probably find a link to the appropriate bus company. Alternatively, you can Google "bus Cadaques to Begur"; that often turns up a good link to the schedule.
I used Girona as my base for visiting Cadaques and Besalu. It is a lovely small city: walkable wall, large historic district, good museum, and two nice churches (both with English audio guides). It is not on the coast, however.
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2301 posts
I would advise taking the SLOW train to Figueres. The fast train station is out in the country and just adds another layer of transit to get downtown to where you can get the bus to Cadaques. The slow train station and the bus station are about a block apart. Cadaques is beautiful and would be a lovely place to spend at least a couple of days.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
6485 posts
Girona was a highlight of our trip to Catalunya. We were there three days and could have stayed longer. The cathedrals are magnificent, the river and bridges are picturesque (one designed by Eiffel) and the walk around the old town on the medieval wall was very memorable. We took a bus to Besalu one day and I highly recommend that as well.
I spent almost a month in Europe with my college aged daughters and Girona was very close to the top of the list of places we visited.