Nornny

We are recently graduated friends who are in desperate need of a vacation after a year of working non-stop in a corporate environment.

We're landing in Barcelona on Dec 18th and will make our way to Brussels, Belgium by Jan 3rd, stopping in France in between.

For our Spanish leg, we're not sure how many days we should spend in Spain. I don't think we want to venture too far outside of the Catalonia region, but we're totally inexperienced with the railways, buses, etc.

One of the things that struck my fancy was spending a night at the Parador Cardona, just to say I've slept in a castle before. However, we have no intention of driving (since a majority of the time will be in Barcelona). Is there a combination of buses, trains, and cabs that can get us to Cardona? What would the estimated cost of that be? I also am finding conflicting reports of whether this Parador has internet. Can anyone confirm?

I heard Montserrat is also fairly closeby to the Parador. Where in our itinerary should we fit that in (before getting to Cardona, on our way to/from Cardona, while we're at Cardona)?

Does any of these trips make sense in December?

Any other suggestions for our stay in Spain? We were thinking of spending at least 4 nights in Spain.

Pvoyageuse

From the parador's webpage :
http://www.paradors.net/hotelview.aspx?h=6018

"Note that it is difficult to get public transport to Cardona: there is a train and a bus from Barcelona to Manresa and from there you need to take a taxi to Cardona".

Nornny

Thank you for the help, that helps a lot, and I'm surprised I missed that blurb when I looked through the site.

Would anyone know the approximate cost of a cab to Cardona from Manresa then? Would it be easy to get back from Cardona as well?

Are there any public transport options to go from Cardona to Montserrat? Would we have to go back to Barcelona instead?

Pvoyageuse

You'll probably be able to find a taxi in Cardona to take you back to Manresa. But Cardona is a very small town .... I would advise you to ask the Parador to book it for you in advance. Or since you'll be taking a taxi in Manresa, make arrangements with the taxi driver to pick you up the following day.

It is much simpler and easier to go to Montserrat from Barcelona than from Cardona. It is only one hour by train.

CathyM

Honestly, given your inexperience with public transportation and the accessability of Cardona, I'd rethink the need to say you stayed in a castle if this is the only reason you want to visit Cardona.

Have you considered staying in Girona? It's a beautiful city about an hour north of Barcelona with very frequent and easy train connections. I landed at the airport and Barcelona and easily made it by train the entire way. Girona has a beautifully preserved old quarter with historic accomodations. I really enjoyed my stay at the Hotel Historic last year.

http://www.hotelhistoric.com/eng.html

Also, is there a reason you're not simply spending 4 nights in Barcelona? You could easily spend the time in Barcelona alone and have potential day trips to Montserrat, Girona and Tarragona (if you even have the time to leave Barcelona).

Robert2533

I'll have to agree with CathyM. It's a bad choice if you are not driving.

Nornny

Thank you for the suggestions on Girona. I will definitely consider that instead.

Graziella5b

Hi Nornny I agree with the Girona suggestion. At any rate when I have a question like the one you posted I call directly, in this case I would call directly to the Parador, and ask them. I always get good answers and sometime I do not even call but send an email and most places specially in Spain respond and give good advice.

lakambini

I do not recommend staying at the Parador Cardona. The staff is not the most reliable we have encountered. I inadvertently left a few items in our room when we checked out in our 5AM rush to catch an early flight out of Barcelona. BTW, we had a 9:45AM flight and we barely made it.
I called the hotel reception right away at 6AM, as soon as I realized what I had done. I requested that the items be forwarded to my home in the US and that I would pay for shipping. When I called back as soon as we arrived in the US, the hotel claimed that there was nothing left in our room. I believe that the items were either stolen or the hotel personnel was just too lazy to provide some good customer service.

Ah_Knee

I emailed the Parador without much worthy advice.

ME: "Can you tell me the best way to reach the Parador from Montserrat by train or public transportation? Finally, I read the pamphlet about attractions nearby. Is the town of Cardona easily reached from the Parador? We plan to spend time shopping in the town nearby if it is easily reached."

Parador: "About how to arrive to Cardona. The best option is rent a car in Barcelona, because once here, is verey difficult to move without particular car.

Once you stay in the Paardor we can inform you about all the activities you can do in the area. This is the web site, of the interesting points: http://www.cardonaturisme.cat/EN/index.php."

...as you can see didn't really answer my question. I am rethinking visiting Parador de Cardona and even Monserrat at this point because it seems too stressful to reach these places.

If you ended up making the trip please let me know what advice you could give a fellow traveler to Barcelona for ~4 days. Note I have researched fairly heavily about what to do in Barcelona already.

Thanks!!

Pvoyageuse

AhKnee : there is a bus from Barcelona to Cardona : https://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa...tte.cachetoken
You can also take a train to Manresa and a taxi or a bus from Manresa to Cardona.
The small town of Cardona lies at the foot of the castle and there are not many shopping opportunities. The main attraction is the salt mine.

amer_can

Having stayed @ Parador in Cardona it would not be a choice. Was not impressed at all. Looks out onto 2 sort of open pit salt mines (the source of wealth for the duke or count or whatever) Staff was preoccupied with something other than service and/or attention to guests..Try any of the other paradors near BCN..Can't ramember them off hand, but there aren't many if I am correct..Having said that Paradors are as a rule quite lovely, unfortunately the poor ecom. has left it's mark on them. some are now closed and/or short staffed..Look around and see what you can come up with.