Trip to Barcelona Oct-7-15 Rail vs car rental for 2 days

On Google Maps, if you search for "Car rental near Gothic Quarter, Barcelona," you'll see locations for Europcar, Hertz, Sixt, Enterprise, and various local companies.

We rented from the Europcar at Centre de la Vila because it was closest to the cruise ship port (and we took a taxi). But we did find it super easy to get on the freeway to Girona, it only took a few minutes.

We got charged extra for insurance that was not communicated to us. We're usually careful with things like that, but since the contract was in Spanish, we missed it. Lesson learned. Caveat emptor. :)

Are you sure you want to drive?... you can go very easily to Montserrat by train -and in fact, driving you'll miss part of the fun, the cable car!-, same goes for the other destinations, you can easily get there by public transportation. Also, parking in Girona, or in Figueres and, especially in Cadaques, is not easy and can be expensive.

Thank you all for your replies! I always forget to factor in the cost of parking a car. If we do rent it might be for a day drive to Cadaques where parking according to the Rick Steves book is free.

Thank you again for all the thoughtful comments. This forum is so helpful as I plan my trip.

There's fast-train service to Girona and Figueres that will be much quicker than driving. Service from Figueres on to Cadaques is by bus, so that leg would be faster by car.

From someone who always rents a car, even I took the train to Monserrat and Figueres. Easy.

@nachwilson... regrettably Rick didn't have to "find" parking space in Cadaqués, if he had, he'd know is mission impossible as the town is very small, many streets are pedestrianized and has lots of visitors, therefore, you can spend an hour looking for somewhere to park and yet if someone visits in say, August, you might not find one single space. And it's worth noting that the Police in Cadaqués is very strict with cars unlawfully parked. There are parking lots, but they are NOT free and they're quite often full. In Oct you might have a break and be able to park in one of the parking lots (again, not free) but it's not guaranteed.

Just sayin' :)