Driving Route in Spain?
 

I am just starting to plan a 13 day trip to Spain (June 2008). We fly in to Barcelona and out of Madrid. My first thought was to take the train from Barcelona to Madrid, then rent a car for a drive to Sevilla, Granada, and Andalucia (not sure which order, and would consider taking a high speed train if the drive is too long). We could drive back to Madrid or take a train.

Before I get too far into that itinerary, though, I wanted to explore the possibility of driving down the coast from Barcelona to Granada, etc. then up to Madrid. We've had two recommendations from friends who have lived in Spain that this would be a better way to do it.

We like beaches/coastline, but also like architecture and areas with a lot of historical interest.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

mappy.com

Thanks - that looks like a great resource!

That's a lot of driving and many places to see. I would suggest flying from Barcelona to Granada- it's v quick- when you are ready to leave Granada- pick up your car there (you don't need a car there and there's a ridiculous amount of traffic). Drive through andaluscia to seville. If you want to drive the coast- you can drive to costa del sol then to seville- take high speed AVE train to madrid. That will save you a lot of time but allow you several days in the countryside to enjoy driving.

Hope that helps.

We did that drive and it wasn't bad. We stopped for the night in Elche (Elx) between Barcelona and Granada but not sure how all your stops would best play out.

Thank you for the replies!

Minooka, how long did the drive take and was it scenic?

Julieod, is the train you mention the AVE that goes through Madrid?

Also, I'm wondering if there is any sort of transportation by boat for a portion of the trip from Barcelona to the Costa del Sol (not a cruise, and not necessarily the entire distance).

Thanks for the help!

I can't remember how long the drive took. You can mapquest it and get distance/time.

No, it wasn't particularly scenic. My bf had fond memories of the coast of Spain from 20 years ago and wanted to spend the night there. Thankfully I did some research and didn't find anything quaint/scenic etc mainly because it looked like an overgrown Ft. Lauderdale! As we were driving down the coast there would be factories on one side and the water on the other but there'd be a large cloud of soot/smoke/toxic waste overhead from the factories!

However, it was interesting to get out and see what it looked like.

Thanks for suggesting mapquest - it looks like the drive is about 8 hours...a bit long for something not very scenic.

my goodness..
barcelona -granada.. not scenic??
google these towns, etc.:

peñiscola
morella
coves de san josep
sagunto
valencia
port america´s cup
denia
altea
moraira
villajoiosa
hotel montiboli
guadalest
orihuela
guadix

need i go on?

give yourself a couple days and ENJOY this area of spain.

I agree with julieod - fly from Barcelona to Granada then rent a car and drive from there down to the coast, maybe to Nerja, then up through the white villages like Grazalema and Zahara then on to Seville. If tired of driving by then take the AVE train to Madrid stopping in Cordoba on the way. The flights on Vueling in Spain are easy to book online and are very inexpensive.

Okay, I'll do some googling before I make any final decisions.

I'm still wondering if travel by boat might be a possibility, since we love being on the water.

Agree with Lincasanova. I'd choose these stops: Peñiscola, Valencia, La Vila Joiosa and Lorca.

you could probably arrange a private charter motored sailboat to do denia-alicante, or valencia-denia or something like that.

there are o "boats" that go along the coast.

oc ourse, forgot to add, you can take a boat to the tabarca island off alicante for the day, ibiza off denia for a couple nights, and if you like the water.. maybe you should be spending more time on one of the balearic islands?

lincasanova, I'll check out your suggestions. Great idea about the islands - thank you!

Driving to Madrid from Granada was no big deal.