Barcelon / Gerona with kids
 

Hi,

We'll be travelling to Barcelona at the end of June with our 12 yr old son & 10 yr old daughgter. We'll probably stay in Barcelona for a few days then travel to Calonge - Girona where we rented a small villa for a week - approx 2 km from the beach. We like the idea of being close enough to the beach/shops/town but still "away from it all". What do you think of 1 week in Girona with the kids? Will they be "bored"? Any other suggestions before we finalize our plans?

I've never been - but with a beach close by - how can they be bored? Enjoy.

I live to get my little cousins to Spain and I think that Girona would be fun for kids. Barcelona is pretty wild, but Girona is much more subdued and I imagine that it is very visually impressive to a child (with the hills, the small streets, the stairs to run up an down, etc). Also, there are other things to do around there. . . hiking is particularly good.

Make sure you get to Parc Guell in Barcelona with them--they'll love it (so will you).

Have a great trip.

I completely skipped over the fact that you all will be in BCN for a bit. . .
On commerc street you will find the Chocolate Museum (Museu de la xocolata) which is sooo much fun for kids to see. If they are not afraid of crowds, I recommend showing them the Boqueria market on the ramblas.

the port is very commercial, but it is interesting to walk around on, especially if they are not used to seaside cities.

Montjuic has all kinds of stuff to see. The Military museum is iffy (not very well put together in my opinion), but the views are fabulous. The cemetary there is also really beautiful to walk around in, as long as the idea of the cemetary does not bother them.

The Museu de la ciutat de Barcelona (near Plaza Jaume I) is really cool. . . you get to walk on clear glass over ruins of old Barcelona, called Barcino. I was there when a school, group was and those kids were delighted. It is also a cool respite from the weather.

have fun!

Thanks so much for the feedback! Now I feel confident about going to Gerona. But it seems that there might be a change of plans and we may be flying into Nice, France instead of Barcelona. I guess we can rent a car or take the train to Gerona...the airfare from Nice to Barcelona varied from $400 - $600 per person! I'm still looking into flights from Nice to Gerona.....

The regional train connection from Girona to Barcelona is good, and I think there is an express or two as well. Regional trains stop in all the little villages (watch for the train station near Caldes de malavella that looks like a birthday cake gone horribly wrong). It costs less than 10 euros per person to get down to BCN.