Staying In Barcelona - Car Rental for Pyrenees Mtns (Spanish)

What negative things would that be?

Anyhow, some food for thought:

• https://www.catalunya.com/en/things-to-do/destinations/pirineus
• Routes and getaways - http://act.gencat.cat/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Itineraris-i-escapades-ENG_web.pdf
• Map of roads in Catalonia - http://act.gencat.cat/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CataloniaMap.pdf

Ah, so you know, these are referred to as "Pirineus Catalans" ("Catalan Pyrénées") ;)

While it's doable to visit the Pirineus in a day trip from Barcelona (f.e. Vall de Núria which you can reach by train too), if you can, stay overnight and go instead to the Vall d'Aran area, in the north-west of Catalonia, it's simply spectacular. You could book something in Vielha, the capital of this county, and do short getaways from there. The Parc Natural d'Aigüestortes is a must for nature lovers.

Enjoy!

I stayed at an Airbnb apartment in the Eixample neighborhood this past March. I have nothing negative to report. I didn't encounter any local residents who seemed in any way bothered by the presence of tourists.

The only advice I would offer is to be considerate. Don't cluster in markets or shops and make it difficult for others to get around you. I took a few walking tours, and that was enforced effectively by the guides.

We’ve gone through Costco the last few years on our trips with Enterprise being the rental company. An advantage of going through Costco is you get a second driver for free. I rent a compact SUV and have gotten a Seat Arona most of the time. In 2024 we were given a Kia Stonic. On one trip I reserved an Economy car, model Seat Ibiza (or similar). On one occasion I was given an automatic without extra charge, but I always reserve a manual since it is less expensive.

Price will vary by pickup/drop off location, the insurance you opt for, size vehicle, number of days, time of year, etc. Our 21-day 2023 rental by itself was €513, pickup/drop off at Madrid’s airport. We always get full coverage insurance so the final price was significantly higher. I never get a GPS since Google maps works perfectly fine most of the time.

You can do a dummy booking to find out the price for the days you’d need a vehicle.

Once you know the route you intend to take, research the towns along the way to see if there’s anything in them that sparks your interest. Ensure everyone traveling has input into the itinerary

I agree with Lane. We went to Barcelona and stayed in an Airbnb in the Eixample area for 2 weeks in May 2024, and had no problems with locals whatsoever. Everyone we met was kind and friendly.

Yes, short term rentals are a hot political issue in Spain. But I will leave it to them to deal with that issue. It's not my problem. If they want to do something about it, it's up to them.

For going to the Basque Country, we took the train from Barcelona to Zaragoza. It's 1.5 hours on the train but 3 hours to drive. We picked up our rental car at the train station (Hertz) and drove to San Sebastian. We stopped in Olite along the way to see the castle. We dropped the car at the Bilbao airport when we were finished. We rented something small and ended up with a Subaru Outback. It was kind of big for some parking garage spaces.

We went to San Sebastian, Hondarribia, and Bilbao. We drove a fun road from Tolosa to Villabona. There is also a nice drive from San Sebastian to Hondarribia that is along the coast. 2 lanes, winding through the forest with ocean views (although the day we drove it it was foggy and raining and we didn't see much). There is also a coastal road from San Sebastian to Orio, although not much to see in Orio.