Opinions on staying in Sants neighborhood of Barcelona, and itinerary suggestions for Spain.

Hi (again) Peggy

So my post didn't help you at all? :))) .... https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187497-i44-k10766833-Opinions_on_staying_in_Sants_neighborhood-Barcelona_Catalonia.html#85540547

For what you're describing, you're staying at Vallespir corner with Avinguda Madrid... the latter can be a bit noisy as there are several lanes of traffic... but in general, most of Barcelona at midnight is relatively quiet. Again, if you live in the countryside you might find anything and everything disturbing, but again, you choose to come to a city, and that's what cities are. If you're already living in a city, as I mentioned earlier, Barcelona at midnight in September -in the area you mention- is relatively quiet.

In any case, Barcelona is a city with an excellent public transport network (metro,bus,tramway... and taxis) so it really doesn't matter where you are located as going from one end to the other is fairly quick and very easy.

Second question:

Welcome to Catalonia
Catalonia Experience
Map of roads in Catalonia
Routes and getaways

And browse this: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/spain/infox-planning-your-visit-to-barcelona-and-catalonia

Getting in an out of Barcelona by car can be a bit stressing -as it can be in many major cities!- due to the maze of roads and (sometimes) confusing signs. So you know!

Enjoy

I appreciate it is stressful not having a lot of time to plan, but really, my 3 recommendations are
1. ear plugs (you never know what partier is around, or the time they pick up garbage)
2. a guide book and decide your priorities. Guidebooks often give short road trip suggestions (though I think Enric gave some links)
3. While you are reading the guide book and seeing what catches your interest, decide on a town, and book a charming family run hotel (with free cancellation) so you at least have a plan B until your plan A has developed. Personally, a beach town would still be nice in September for a cooling dip after a day in the car.

There are two kinds of noise in hotels: internal noise and street noise. When I spent last summer in Spain as a budget traveler in a single room, I was often given rooms that looked out on airshafts. No view but also no traffic noise. I did experience quite a bit of internal noise as multiple parties on my floor returned from dinner between midnight and 1 AM. That is not late is Spain and the other guests tended to speak at normal volume as they walked down the hall. If you don't plan to partake of restaurant dinners on the local schedule, you need really good earplugs.

Thank you acraven and Maria--yes, I'm well-stocked with earplugs, lol. Have also, in terms of Plan B, been making a few reservations but choosing the options with the most lenient cancellation parameters.

Enric, I think I didn't get notified by email by TripAdviser that I had a response, and had so much going on that I forgot I even posted the same question there! So, thank you--I've finally reached a place where I can settle in and look at the various links you posted. I agree with you about driving--I hate going in and out of cities and find it very stressful--but no reservation has been made yet, so if I could nail down an itinerary that we're enthusiastic about which can be managed on public transport, we'll consider it.

It's amazing how you can think you're going on a decent-length trip, then realize you really don't have all that much time...here is where we are now:

Still planning on S, M and TU nights in Barcelona, but we have switched to the Gracia neighborhood on the advice of a friend in the city. I am not trying to pack too much in, perhaps La Sagrada Familia on Monday and Parc Guell on Tuesday, and after the remainder of the itinerary is settled, I'll do the city research for anything else we might like to see--perhaps Las Ramblas and Boqueria market--and places we might like to eat/neighborhoods to wander, etc. Although my husband and I are both healthy and fit, we are past the age where one can go to bed late and rise early day after day, then catch up on sleep when the trip is over. Relaxing and absorbing the feel of a place, good scenery, food, and drink, and a few, select sights/experiences is the right style for us. We will also be spending one or two nights back in Barcelona at the end of the trip.

The tentative plan is to pick up a car (thinking at Sants Railway station) on Wednesday, returning it either the following Wednesday or the day before. We are definitely going to Cadaques, just deciding whether to head up there first or leave it till last. My husband wants to see some of the Pyrenees, but we've determined the capital city of Andorra should be avoided. I did find a charming-looking inn in Bixessarri, Andorra, but am now wondering if there is a town farther east that might provide the same mountain scenery without the travel time. We are thinking some kind of loop--either Cadaques up into France then west to the mountains (Bixessarri or somewhere else) and back down to Barcelona, or, up to a Pyrenees town, over into France (how far, is a question--thought of Avignon and Aix-en-Provence, but also don't want too much driving time) down to Cadaques and back to Barcelona.

Since we have only 6-7 nights to work with (and it will probably be six) I'd like to stay in no more than 3 different places, and we are thinking of 3 nights in Cadaques.

I will look at the links and continue to research, and check back with any more specific questions. If anyone has any thoughts, in the meantime, thank you.

My suggestion for your 8 nights, visiting Costa Brava & northern Catalonia.

Day
1. Via St Feliu de Guixols to Llafranc (3)
2. Visit Girona
3. Visit Tamariu & Begur
4. Via Empuries & Roses to Cadaques (3)
5. Visit Figueres (Dali Museum)
6. Visit Port Lligat, Port de la Selva, St Pere de Rodes
7. Via Besalu & Olot to Ripoll (2)
8. Visit la Seu d'Urgell
9. Via Vic to Barcelona

I definitely wouldn't try to get to Avignon or Aix-en-Provence. Too far away and bypassing too many worthwhile destinations.

I hit quite a number of David's stops (via public transportation) in 2016 and enjoyed them all. You can play around with distances and driving times on Viamichelin.com. Pad the times since everyone seems to think they are over-optimistic.

I enjoyed a day on the French yellow train, which runs between Latour de Carol (right near the Spanish border) and Villefranche-de-Conflent. I based myself in Puigcerda (Sp), a very colorful historic town a few minutes' drive from Bourg Madame (Fr), a stop on the yellow train route. VdeC is highly touristy but for a reason.

Thanks to all of you--have been researching many of the destinations David suggested and acraven seconded, and the links you provided, Enric, have been really helpful.

If I am not mistaken, Enric, you are a native/resident of the city? Can you (or anyone else with an opinion, of course) tell me which of these Hertz locations would be the easiest, as in least stressful, for getting in and out of the city by car? I do not have any qualms about driving in other countries, generally, except getting out of the city I rent a car in!

1) Airport
2) Av Diagonal 622, Spain 08021 (In Sarria maybe?)
3) Hotel Hesperia del Mar, Espronceda 6
4) Sants Railway Station
5) Av de les Garrigues 1-3 (El Prat de Llobregat) 08820
6) Calle Joaquim Blume 8 (Sabadell) 08205
7) Av Comunitat Europa s/n (Badalona) 08917
8) c/ de la Serra de Galliners s/n (Sabadell) 08205
9) Av Marina 17 (Sant Boi del Llobregat) 08830
10) Ctra. Rubi s/n (Sant Cugat del Valles) 08174

David, I have been following your suggested route and investigating the towns, and love the idea of meandering up or down the coast to/from Cadaques, where we are definitely going. Can you suggest one town to throw in the middle of this, that would give us more of a taste of the Pyrenees? Looks like Ripoll is the most northern stop, and while I had previously made a cancellable reservation in Bixessarri, Andorra, we'd be fine if we could get a mountain 'fix' somewhere a little closer, in keeping with the sort of looping around that your route does. Someplace in France, or perhaps Nuria? Thanks again.

Sorry, but only 2 to 4 are "in" Barcelona, the rest are not... and are not convenient whatsoever. As per easiness for getting in and out, that'll depend on where you want to go, of course :)) but, for several reasons I would probably choose the one in Diagonal regardless.

Some days ago I suggested an itinerary for someone also visiting the north of Catalonia, maybe it helps you as well... check it out, and check the intermediary stops. This particular one was for someone staying in Besalú for a few days so I divided the itinerary in two: Barcelona-Besalú and the return via a different area: https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8881557,2.4141003,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s1YPgMCRQI4VodYbfLDlFQ-MDtlYo

I have spent extended time in Andorra with friends who owned a hotel. Whilst yes, it's the Pyrenees, as a destination it's extremely bland. I'd point you to Enric's advice as best.

Enric,

Thank you for the links--they have been very helpful. I have another question--one I should be able to figure out, but can't--regarding train/metro/buses around the city. The owner of the Airbnb where we are staying on the front end of our trip is not being responsive, which makes me nervous, and the more I try to decipher train and metro maps/schedules, the more my brain fries.

The address there is Carrer Torrent de l'Olla 84 and I'm thinking maybe: take airport shuttle from T1 to T2, go to RENFE station and buy a T10 ticket, take train and get off at Sants, then metro to nearest stop.

If that's a good way to go, which subway line would it be and which stop would be closest?
Is there an easier way (don't want to taxi--trying to economize)?

Thank you!

I think either Fontana or Diagonal is the closest metro stop to our apartment. So, it appears we could take L9 subway line directly from T1 and switch at Collblanc to L5 for Diagonal, or go one more stop to Zona Universitaria and take L3 to either Diagonal or Fontana? (Latter trip would be longer, maybe. And both go through Estacio Sants?)

Last year I was able to purchase a T10 at a tobacco stand at Sants. I bet the same thing is possible at the airport. There might be a vending machine selling T10s at the subway station, too, but I never needed to look for one.

@Peggys2007... don't complicate yourself... grab a cab... it's going to cost you around 35€ but after a transatlantic flight, carrying luggage and probably being a bit grumpy after such a long flight it's worth not having to fight against an unfamiliar transportation network, right?

Yet if you want to go on public transportation, among the several options available, "my" take would be to get to Terminal 2 via the free (green) shuttle that communicates T1 and T2; purchase a T-10 travelcard for 1 zone (9.95€) at the train station (remember a T-10, NOT a Bonotren-10, that's useless for anything else but trains) and grab a train to Passeig de Gràcia. There get off into the street and at the bus stop, just metres away, grab either bus #22 or #bus 24. Go to https://maps.tmb.cat/en/bus and tick on the lines I mentioned to see the itinerary. If you zoom in, you'll see that each stop has a code. You'd be getting on either bus at stop #55, just in front of the train station, and getting off at stop #1260. From there is literally a 10' walk to the apt.

Enjoy!

PS: Tip, to get to the airport, simply reverse the route... it's the easiest way from your apt. Another tip... when you get off the train into the street you'll stumble upon two famous attractions: Casa Batlló and next to it Casa Amatller.

Thank you both! Enric, when you say 'grab a train,' that's the RENFE train?

Enric refers to train as Renfe train, in particular the Rodalies Renfe train, which is the commuter branch of Renfe trains that run in and out of Barcelona and once in Barcelona are like a fast metro to move inside the city. Those trains connect the Airport with Barcelona and beyond.
Never take Metro L9 Sud. That line is useless, very slow, and expensive, as T-10 cards aren't valid there (and the transfer at Collblanc is horrible, really deep). Just follow Enric advice, it is much cheaper and easier.