One Day Car Rental in Barcelona - Difficult?

We rented a car in Barcelona for one day and it was no trouble at all. We took a day trip to the medieval town of Carcassonne in France. We pre-booked a car using a discount code (Hertz) and took a cab to pick it up - you can use the metro also, but we had my mother with us and the cab was easier. Hubby got all the available insurance (he is paranoid and Rick Steves suggests that you do so) and in less than 20 minutes we were on our way. We used our own Nav with Europe maps preloaded, but you can also rent the Nav if you need it. We knew our return would be after the office closed and were given alternate instructions on dropping off the car and leaving the keys. Except for a few unexpected street closures in Barcelona drop off also went well. Think of it as all part of the DYI adventure:-)

Thanks Donna! Mind if I ask how much you payed (ballpark)? I think I'll do all the insurance also just to be safe...approx how much was that for the day?

It's not a problem at all. But think about where you want to go. A perfectly good train runs as far up as Blanes before it cuts inland. If you want to go to Cadaques, the care makes sense. I always drive, so I don't have a dog in the train wars. You can easily do it in advance and that's bound to be cheaper. Figure about eighty bucks a day if you buy the insurance, fifty dollars if you let your credit card cover it. Probably $150 and $250 if you need an automatic, but I don't have a good feel for that since its never been a consideration. Now the pitfall. If you use kayak to find the deal, look real closely at where you actually wind up. Autoeurope is good enough, but watch out who they push you off upon. If it's Hertz or Europcar you're fine, otherwise back up. If it's one of the other consolidators (Holiday or Rentalcars) run like the very devil. Driving is easy. You'll be running essentially a straight line along the coast or along the E15 and cutting in to the coast. A map and highways signs will work just fine. You might want to rent from the train station since you can pick up the tracks easily enough at the northern bypass and led them lead you back. A gps might help, but isn't essential. I don't know what they rent for, maybe twenty-five dollars.

Thanks Ed! I'm driving to L'Escala for a 9 AM sea kayaking trip (4 hrs long), then am planning to just drive along the coast and enjoy the beach, etc. I started looking at car rentals and it looks like locations don't open until 8:00 AM or later, meaning I'd have to pick the car up the night before to make the 9 AM trip (approx 2 hr drive according to Mapquest). Does anyone know if parking at a hostal or hotel is typically expensive and/or problematic in Barcelona? We'd have to park overnight and leave first thing in the AM.

You're going to have to work that one out with where ever you decide to stay. Most of the urban hostals I've seen are so small they don't have enough real estate. The hotels back in the Gothic Quarter don't have room either. There are parking garages around, but the ones we've used don't open real early. We usually just park on the street and don't worry about it. I'm out walking early (by dawn) and haven't noticed any problems. Worst case was we'd left the car on the lower end of the Ramblas, lugged the suitcases out to a spot about half way up, and Herself stood with them while I walked down to get the car. I had to nudge a doped-up hooker out of the way who was asleep against the front tire (I know her occupation on account of I speak Spanish and she quoted a price - - no guessing involved). I didn't pursue the conversation on of account that Herself was starring down the sidewalk tapping her toe wondering what was taking so long.

Ha! Hilarious!!