We are a family of 5 flying in and out of Madrid. Plan to spend a few days in Madrid and a week in Barcelona.
Seems like renting a car makes the most sense but don't really want to have a car in the city. Wondering if people have experience with renting a car in Madrid and returning in Barcelona and vice versa.
Posted by
Coquitlam
237 posts
For five people a car makes sense. It also makes sense not to have a car in Madrid, big cities are challenging. You certainly can pick up a car in one city and drop it off at another one. If Madrid has areas where cars are restricted try and find a location to pick up near the edge of the city.
When returning it try and do so at the airport. Very easy to do at either city.
Some thoughts on who to rent from. I have used gemuet.com (spelling may not be correct). It is a us company that will assist you. Same price or better than booking direct in my experience. Makemsuremyoumtake a GPS from home. I have a tomtom with Europe maps built in. For less than a couple of hundred dollars. The problem will be getting a large enough car,to hold five people and luggage.
While I think a car will work,if you are only going to big cities, it will be nuisance in each city. If you wish to explore hill towns and wander, the car will be great.
A couple of obvious thing. Get an international drivers license for each driver. I have experience random police stops and they want to see it and your passport. The police are likely to have limited English. Finally do not drink and drive. The consequences are severe.
Enjoy your trip. I have driven three times in Spain and Portugal. Never a problem.
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
A few points.
1. No, you don't want a car in either city, for any amount of time.
2. The journey between the 2 cities is not particularly compelling. Zaragoza, however, is a nice mid size city with some interesting sights.
3. Train one way, and plane the other perhaps.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15788 posts
Do you only want the car to go to Barcelona and back? viamichelin.com estimates the net driving time at over 6.5 hours with a cost of over €100 for gas and tolls, maybe more because you may need a larger car for 5 people plus luggage. The train takes 2.5 to 3 hours, depending on which one you get. How much the train costs depends on the ages of your family. You can get deep discounts by buying tickets when they go first on sale, usually around 2 months in advance.