Public transportation in Catalunya region

The rail network on the coast Barcelona to Callela or Blanes is a cercanias (commuter) rail network, schedules and map here -
http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/cercanias/barcelona/index.html

Which town are you talking of when alighting from the TGV?

Why do you not want to obtain a guide book?

The coast is pretty well covered by local trains. If you need to get off the coast, use a bus. Spain uses buses to augment their limited train lines. They're comfortable and cheap. Every station I went to had an information kiosk, with an English speaker to help you sort out your choices and book the right bus (their stations are like our airports, multiple competing lines in one building).

Barcelona is fairly infamous for pickpockets, especially for tourists loaded down with bags. If you don't take precautions, you may be sorry. Keep track of your valuables, use a money belt for anything you can't afford to lose (anything that would put a dent in your vacation) and keep a small supply of walking around money in your front pocket.

Hopefully the TGV brings you into the same station where you can catch a local train back up to Blanes. I flew into Barcelona so I'm not sure.

The direct TGVs from Paris (2x/day) only stop at Figueres, Girona, and Barcelona Sants stations. Sants station appears to work fine to connect to the Cercanias trains through Neil's link. This map indicates that you could explore a little more and also find a connection from Girona.

Thank you all so much for your help. I do plan to purchase a guide book, just haven't done it yet.

Also, we're looking into the Barcelona Card, can anyone tell me if they will mail the card, etc to me when I order, or if I have to pick it up from a kiosk when I arrive?

Hi Kassie

You can purchase the Barcelona Card online at the Tourist Information Board: http://bcnshop.barcelonaturisme.com/

HOWEVER... which sites are you planning to visit?, this card is worthwhile only in a small number of scenarios. Note it does NOT include any discount (or significant discount that could remotely justify the cost of the card!) in the most popular attractions -which are run by private foundations -i.e. Casa Batlló or Sagrada Família among many other.

As per free travel on public transportation there are alternative options (ie. T-10 travelcard) that, albeit not free, at the end of the day result in savings over the overall cost of several Barcelona Cards (this card is personal, therefore each one of you would have to purchase one).

As per your initial post:

1.) For you to have an idea about distances, Catalonia is about the size of Maryland.

2.) I am not sure what you mean with "cable train", the lines running along the cost are normal train lines that cater for regional and MD trains (for medium distance, that is within the region), fast trains (AVE and Avant types) and commuter trains (short distances, named "Rodalies"). This is a map of the network for Rodalies: http://bit.ly/BCNRodalies and this is for schedules: http://rodalies.gencat.cat/en/index.html In Barcelona, the train station the fast trains arrive to from Paris is Barcelona-Sants, I'm mentioning this because in Barcelona there are 10 train stations, most of which have links to the metro network: http://bit.ly/BCNmetromap in case you need to go somewhere else.

3.) If you want to really explore Catalonia you might want to rent a car. While public transportation is available everywhere, schedules might not always be suitable to your trip planning. Among small villages and towns, bus lines might operate only a couple of times each day.

4.) If you're coming down from Paris on TGV you could get off in Girona -I believe the TGV stops there prior to arriving to Barcelona, but double check it please- and take a rodalies train to Blanes or a bus to Calella as it's closer than traveling from Barcelona -well, for Calella is about the same distance from either city.