Costa Brava

There is usually a large drop fee for renting a car in one country and dropping it in another, so that would be the least preferable option. It would be better to train to Spain and then rent.

What kind of suggestions are you looking for? Train information? Towns to visit? Things to do? You have given us absolutely no information about your interests, what you will have already done on your trip, or anything else. I would start with a good guidebook to see what is where, then use a website like www.viamichelin.com to see how long it could take to get to various places you might be interested in. That way you can get a better feel for how far you can go in the time you have.

We want to spend two nights in a nice seaside town but don't know if it would be easier to take the train south from France, stopping somewhere to rent a car and drive to the coast, or whether it would be better to go straight to Barcelona and rent a car to drive north. Rick Steves doesn't cover this area in his book and I'm looking for info on the best town/drive/area of that coastline. Or maybe it's better to rent a car in Collioure and just drive the coast route to Barcelona?

Carole, the Costa Brava is a quick trip from Barcelona by train or by bus. When we were researching our trip to Spain this June, one RS fan suggested staying in Stiges and training to BCN each day. One excellent website recccomended taking the bus: http://www.bcninternet.com/touristinfo.php?contentid=1972 Another had this to say" While most beaches between Tarragona and Blanes can be reached by train from Barcelona, the more enchanting ones north of Blanes are not easily accessed via public transport and the use of a car is highly advised." So it depends on which ones you want to go to. I would also check schedules for Oct. the Lonely Planet guidebook does a good job explaining all of your transporation options to the different Costa Brava towns.

Thanks, Steve - that helped a lot. I'm off to the bookstore to pick up Lonely Planet.