Renting a car in Barcelona for a day

ViaMichelin estimates just over 3 hours' driving time to Carcassonne, so I wouldn't go there just for the day.

There are many wonderful day-trips to be made from Barcelona. My favorite is Girona. Although it doesn't have the pointy towers you'll find in Carcassone, it still has part of its medieval wall, and you can walk on top of it. There are two lovely cathedrals (English audio guides available) and a really good museum (especially recommended if you don't have time for the much larger MNAC in Barcelona). The historic area is large and atmospheric; it has many lively restaurants and cafes. I spent chunks of several days wandering through the medieval quarter, but I don't think I managed to see every corner even in that amount of time.

Another vote for Girona! You won't need a car as you can easily travel there via train.

Barcelona has some nice beaches, however since I haven't been there for quite some time, I'll let others give you their suggestions.

Enjoy your trip!

I see I forgot to mention how close Girona is! The fast train (AVE) takes just 38 minutes each way. The slower/cheaper trains take twice as long.

To make things easy I'm going to suggest alternatives.

Firstly, as suggested above take a full day out for an excursion to Girona by train.

Secondly, after a morning on the Ramblas for La Boqueria, or on Passeig de Gracia visiting Casa Batllo, head to the beach at Sitges. South of Barcelona. Take the R2 Rodalies line from the Passeig de Gracia station just above Placa Catalunya. It's about a 40min train ride and you can enjoy a seafood lunch at the many restaurants fronting the promenade. Explore the old town around the famous church before heading back to Barcelona Estacio de Franca (for el Born).
http://www.fgc.cat/renfe_aplicacio/media/pdf/Xarxa_Rodalies_Zones.pdf

Depending on where you decide to go, you may want to look at bus routes, too. We took a Sarfa bus (http://compras.moventis.es/en-GB) to Tossa last summer and it was a nice trip. You may find it to be a cheaper and easier option then dealing with renting and driving. They cover a lot of the Costa Brava towns and the Barcelona bus stations are easy to reach by metro.

Janet... think carefully if you really "need" a car... perhaps you can do with a train or a bus instead. While the car does obviously give you the freedom to move about at your own pace and wherever you wish, you might also find that parking in many small towns, especially in the coastal areas, it's a nightmare; it can also be expensive, both in toll motorways (which is the norm for motorways here in Catalonia!) as well as in parking zones -in some towns and cities. Note that even street parking is not necessarily free in all cities/towns.

In short, if you wish a day escapade to say Girona for example, a very nice choice indeed, you're far better off on a train ride -which btw is on a very modern high-speed bullet train.

Just sayin'.

Yet if you decide to book a car, please carefully read the small-print because this is often the cause of misunderstandings between companies and customers (all companies btw, both local and global companies operating here).

As per "where" in Costa Brava... uff, it's difficult to settle for one place, LOL!.... so I instead give you a video of different parts of Costa Brava for you to slobber over :))... and a second one which overlays the names of some of these places, so you can identify on a map where are they located. Note also that Costa Brava is "just" one of the areas where you can find little gems and fabulous landscapes... you have quite a few other: Vall d'Aran, Costa Daurada, Terres de l'Ebre, Catalunya Central....

Since you are asking about beach towns, I would offer going south to Sitges (or another of the many little coastal towns). Easy to take by train and you pass through the lovely little town on the way to the beach. This has the added benefit of taking the train to Tarragona for a few hours. Beautiful Roman town with a coliseum right along the coast, a very nice archeology museum and another site incorporating several Roman ruins next door to the museum. All an easy, short walk from the train station.

You could also do this by car, although un-necessary and probably more of a hindrance. But it would be easy to rent from the airport and avoid any city traffic.

Since Douglas mentioned them...
SITGES
TARRAGONA

Visual clues are always better than text posts, right :)

Wanted to make clear that Girona is lovely but not a beach town, so if you're set on the beach don't choose that one!

What in particular are you looking for? So many lovely beaches and a lot of variety in the towns they're in. We spent time in 3 different Costa Brava towns last summer and enjoyed each, but they were each very different from each other. If you have things you're looking for (sand beaches vs. pebbles, historic sites, shopping, views, resort town vs. hideaway, etc.) that info could help people help you choose one that would be a winner for you!

Sorry Enric, you may have caught me slobbering still over the Costa Brava video.

David... http://mybrownnewfies.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DSC_16401.jpg

And THIS is why this forum is so great! Thank you!
And Enric - yes - videos are wonderful!

So - we DO already have a day in Girona planned. I am so glad to have confirmation from you all that we are on the right track with that.

For a beach - ideally, we would love to find a place that is a bit remote and quiet. My "vision" is that we would gather up supplies for a picnic, pick up the rental car and take a scenic drive to a pretty little beach, have a fun family beach day, then go back to Barcelona and drop off the car. If this vision is completely unrealistic, please go ahead and crush it before I get my family into a stressful situation. We are pretty resourceful, have rented cars in many places, but never in Spain.

Thank you!!

... a quiet remote beach.... in June, here in Catalonia?.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpGO2VTksIw

We went to Tossa de Mar last summer, it wasn't empty by any stretch but it wasn't too crowded. We stayed a few days there so I can't comment on public facilites, but the beach itself is lovely with clear blue water and old city walls and turrets to look at from the beach and explore for a break. We have some lovely beaches at home so we were looking for something a bit different and a beach with "castle" certainly fit the bill!

The are a couple of downsides, the first being that it's about an hour and a half from Barcelona. We took a bus which was cheap and easy, but it might be a bit farther than you're looking to drive for a day trip. The other thing is the beach is small pebbles rather than proper sand. It wasn't painful or anything, but if you're envisioning sandcastles this isn't the place (on the other hand you do get real castles to replace it!).

I'm sure others will have great suggestions, too. Have a wonderful trip!

Another great suggestion indeed, yet again... an image is worth a thousand words :) TOSSA DE MAR

I was hesitant to recommend Sitges, but the (attractive) Tossa del Mar video suggests that it's a ridiculous dream to imagine finding a deserted beach in Coastal Spain. Avoiding the hassle of the car and driving, and being nearby Barcelona, makes Sitges an easy decision. Why do you need a beach, janet? You've not put your home city in your profile - is in a landlocked place?

The way to get a private-feeling beach is to stay at a very expensive and remote resort. The Carribbean comes to mind, maybe a private island.

... or any of our beaches here in Catalonia -ie. the cute coves at the Costa Brava-... but certainly not in June! In fact, not from May to October.

Alas, yes -- we are in Atlanta so at least 4 hours to the closest beach. We will be in Europe for a bit over two weeks and are staying in cities the entire time- Madrid, Barcelona and London. So we thought a day at a "quiet" beach would be nice. But maybe we alter our vision and think, instead, of an atmospheric beach!

Tossa looks lovely. But then it all looks lovely!!

If (if!) you happened to be short of time and "had" to remain in the city, know that Barcelona has 3 miles of city beaches, named the best urban beach in the world by National Geographic. There are 10 of them, each one with its own personality. They can be packed in hot months, yet it's an option, LOL!

Enric, you are a TREASURE! Thank you for all the wonderful information you provide here. What a great ambassador you are!

My pleasure Janet. Btw, when exactly do you plan to be around in June?

We will be in Barcelona the very first week of June - flying to London on the 6th. We are hoping to avoid the biggest crush of tourist by traveling early!

Hi again Janet,

Just for info, during the week you are in Barcelona, surprisingly there are no castellers' competitions in Barcelona (sayin' so because it tends to be always something in one of the districts!). However, in a neighbouring town, Montcada i Reixac --which can be easily reached by train, in just under 20' from Passeig de Gràcia in Barcelona-- you could see them, at noon on the 4th of June (Sunday) in the Plaça de l'Esglèsia (Church's square, in the centre of the town). The train is rather a metro service because there are several per hour during all day.

Three teams will perform that day: Castellers de Mollet, Castellers de Montcada i Reixac and Castellers de Sabadell. I am assuming you know what castellers are... do you? In case you don't, this video is from the final competition on the season, sort of your Superbowl :), celebrated in the Roman city of Tarragona. During the season performances are not as spectacular... and normally they're celebrated in open-air regular squares in towns and cities. This is a more typical performance during the season, in this case, in the main square of the neighbourhood of Vil·la de Gràcia in Barcelona. No tickets, no reservations, just show up and enjoy.

In fact, Montcada i Reixac is celebrating its Festa Major during that weekend. What's a Festa Major?... well... a Festa Major it’s the most important celebration in the annual calendar in any town or city in Catalonia. Each one has its own Festa Major, a sort of a crazy party full of tradition and symbolism, heritage and culture, in this case, of course, Catalan culture since this is Catalonia :) You’ll find these quirky events around the world, in one form or another, as both big and small towns celebrate the unique traditions and occurrences that make their communities special.

The Festa Major is the meeting point of the local community that meets annually around some common scenarios -ie. the main square, the church, etc.- to affirm their existence as a group with shared symbolic references. These festivals are held at least since the 13th century. It combines both religious and profane ceremonies (ie. religious sermons and processions, and parades, dances and other traditional art performances). Over the years, the profane ceremonies have really taken over the religious essence of the festivity and nowadays its role has substantially diminished turning the festa major in a civic festivity with plenty of entertainment for everybody and streets adorned with garlands. There are different displays of popular and traditional arts such as castellers, grallers (music), giants and big-heads, tabalers (music), sardanistes (dance) or diables (devils) and correfocs (fire-runs) among others. Many of them carry a strong symbolism rooted in old legends, beliefs and popular characters dating back several centuries.

Perhaps you'd like to include this in your itinerary... :))

Enjoy!