Costa Brava and Barcelona - where to stay?
 

I’m in the early stages of planning a 2 week holiday in Spain for September 2012. My husband and I, both late 20s, will fly Liverpool-Barcelona, probably Wed-Wed, leaving September 12th or 19th.

I’m already looking into some options for spending the middle week (Sat-Sat) near Rupit, we’ll self cater and hire a car. Looking forward to a mixture of exploring the local area – we both enjoy walking, mountains, countryside, churches, castles, history, gardens, music, art etc – and just relaxing in beautiful surroundings.

I’m looking for some ideas for a place to stay on the Costa Brava, north of Barcelona, for the first 3 nights (Wed-Fri). We’d like to stay somewhere fairly quiet and relaxed, not too built up and touristy, but with enough to do locally for us both to explore a bit, and for my husband to enjoy some time walking/sightseeing on his own - he is not a beach person for more than an hour or two at a time! An apartment within walking distance of a beach would be fabulous, so we can spend some of the time together and some separately. Depending on what public transport is like, we may end up hiring a car directly from the airport at Barcelona, but would also be happy to explore the coast by train/bus for those first few days.

We’ll spend the last 4 nights (Sat-Tues) in Barcelona before flying home on Wednesday morning. Any recommendations on apartments, or areas to stay in, gratefully received! We have a budget of up to £600 to cover the apartments in Barcelona and the coast, and are perfectly happy with basic as long as it’s reasonably comfortable.

A couple more questions:

Would it make more sense to return the hire car in Girona on the second Saturday and get the train to Barcelona, or to drive to Barcelona and drop the car off there?

We’ll be waiting a bit on work commitments and flights before we finally decide which week to leave. Is it likely to make any real difference in terms of weather and/or accommodation costs? I know no one can predict what the weather will be like but would be gutted if we went for the later fortnight and then discovered it was likely to be significantly cooler or wetter – we get enough of that at home!

Thank you so much for any suggestions, these boards are amazing :) I’ve already read a LOT about Spain on here!

We stayed in Begur for 4 nights in May and really enjoyed it. I did walk down to the nearer beaches, though I suspect most folks would drive or take the shuttle that is available in the summer. The town was nice and relaxed, we had some wonderful meals, did some exploring outside of Begur, spent some time at the beach. It was lovely.

We flew into Barcelona, picked up our car at the airport, and drove to Begur on our arrival day. After our Begur stay, we drove to Girona, dropped the car off at the train station, and took the train to Barcelona. That worked out wonderfully.

Last October we spent 10 days in Barcelona, Costa Brava & the Pyrenees. After spending 5 days in Barcelona, we picked up our rental car in Barcelona, then drove up the Costa Brava & made several stops along the way, such as Tossa de Mar, S'agaro & Calalella Palafrugell. Then we overnighted in Cadaques, which we loved!! It is a beautiful white town/fishing village located right on the Mediterranean. We were there in October so we didn't lay on the beach or swim, but we strolled around, took photos (it's very scenic), visited Dali's house in Port Lligat & also drove up to Cap de Creus. I think there is enough in this area to keep you busy besides the beach. We didn't have time to visit a monastery which is supposed to have magnificent views, & I think Figueres is within a short driving distance of Cadaques. We also spent 2 nights in Girona. Spend 1 day sightseeing in Girona & 1 day driving through the Pyrenees, with stops in Besalu, Ripoll, Rupit & Vic.

You can click on my name to read my trip report if that will help.

Temps were very comfortable in October (mainly 70'sF) so September should be a little bit warmer. We did see people swimming. We had mostly sun throughout the whole trip with a little bit of rain in Barcelona.

We've often been in Barcelona in late September - the weather has been perfect, 10-15C at night and 20-25 during the day, and the ocean water still warm. The huge and fun La Merce festival takes place in the days surround September 24: www.bcn.cat/merce/en/index.shtml

You may want to expand your lodging budget a little bit, at least in today's exchange rates. At under 100 euros a night you can get a decent hostal room in Barcelona; for a little more you can get an apartment. Here's one we've stayed in: http://tinyurl.com/3kpxkjj

You'll have the best selection of apartments if you book by April at the latest. You may find owners unwilling to take a reservation that far ahead right now.

Fabulous, thanks everyone! Will look into all those suggestions and start working on details :)