My wife and I are flying into Barcelona mid March, and renting a car for 7 days. We have done this in the past in both Italy and France, and love the freedom it gives. Wine, food and romance are what we are after. Any help, tips, and recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
Help, tips and recommendations for what? What cities do you plan to visit? Do you have any interest in historical sites, art, architecture, sports, shopping? The more specific you can be with your request, the better answers we can give you.
Posted by
LaGrange, Ga, USA
1178 posts
Suggest you contact a friend of mine. [email protected] His company www.classicsontheroad.com offers tours and he may be able to assist you in a trip scheudle even if he can not conduct the tour. I have known him for a good while and he is first rate!! H J Thomas, Jr.
Posted by
Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada
629 posts
You will love driving in NE Spain. To give you an idea of distances - In one day we drove from San Sebastian, stopped in Pamplona and arrived in Barcelona late. It was a long, tiring day and I would not attempt that drive again. Have cash handy for the tolls and enjoy the ultra modern highways and side roads. Don't forget to stop at Montserrat, it was a high light of our trip. Hasta la vista!
Posted by
Florida, USA
12172 posts
Here's my not quite ready for prime time itinerary for driving NE Spain: Barcelona (3 nights) 1,2,3, Leave early, 1 hr to - Monasterio de Montserrat (half day) 3 hr to – Zaragoza (stay night, spend morning) 4, 2 hr to – Pamplona (afternoon, night) 5, 2 hr to – Burgos (night) 6, 1 ½ hr to – Valladolid (stay night) 7, 1 hr to – Zamora (brief visit) 1 hr to – Salamenca (visit/night) 8, 1 hr to – Avila (brief wall visit) 1 hr to - Segovia (night) 9, 2 hr – Toledo (2 nights) 10.11. Madrid (2 nights) 12, 13 The driving times are from ViaMichelin's website. I'm sure there will be changes. I prefer doing mostly 2 night stays, but I also don't like more than 4 hours of driving in any given day. Five of 13 nights are in Barcelona and Madrid, so it's 8 nights on the loop, but I'm expecting to add a night at either Burgos or Valladolid (and possibly both).
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Besides the fact that not much is in northeast Spain except the departure point: Driving times are sufficient. Times in stops are about right. Good picks, but leave a bit of time to wander inside the walls at Avila. Salamanca might not be as great as you think.
Posted by
San Diego, CA
133 posts
San Sebastian has great food. Lots of wonderful pintxos bars in the old city. Bilbao had good food too. I don't know about parking in the old city sections of either of those towns but I guess you can search for hotels that offer parking. Some locals recommended to us to visit Getaria (a little bit west of S.S.) which is where the Txakoli wine is produced. Since we didn't have a car (and its not easy to visit via public transport) we missed it but maybe you can see it.