Girona to Barcelona - a transport question.
 

Hi all,

while wandering around the web, i came across "free" flights to Girona over Xmas from my local airport, and was wondering how easy it is to get from girona to BCN and back.

we would be arriving at 3pm local time in Girona on Sat 27/12, and departing at 10am on 30/12.

how easy would it be to get back to Girona in time for the flight back [8.30 am at the latest] or should be reckon on staying the night before in Girona?

I'd prefer to stay in BCN for the 3 nights, obviously.

I know this would be a short trip, but we'd like to be home for New Year and there are no flights on either 26th or 31st December.

thanks for any help,

regards, ann

I have never done it. Ryanair does not fly from my airport. If you don't get an answer here, try tripadvisor.com's Barcelona Forum. "local experts" there could answer you.

catch the train but check for running times over the holiday

hi, thanks for the tips so far.

I've posted on TR - but managed to get it on the Madrid forum the first time - I really find their forums quite usuer-unfriendly.

Renfe's site was down when i tried it earlier, but I'll try them again - is there a station at the airport?

my researches so far have given me a hire car for £76 - the same as the flights so not too bad, and private transfers for £66 each way -definitely not a good deal.

I'm going to try Renfe again in the hope that they've decided to stop eating tapas and do some work!

regards, ann

Ryanair operates a bus that is scheduled to the arrival of every (every) flight.
This is the same when departing from BCN to the airport, buses run regularly at about 15 minute/half hour intervals, in time with each flight.

You catch the bus right outside the airport door, you need to get a ticket in the entrance hall. its about 22 Euro return, make sure you bring Euro cash, they dont take cards.

The journey is about an hour and 15 minutes, it takes you into Estacio Nord bus station in the centre, near by the Arc de Triomfo monument.

If you're looking for accommodation:
www.waytostay.com.

Barcelona's gorgeous at christmas!

Girona airport-BCN

http://www.sagales.com/pubdocs/778_a...2008-10-26.pdf

BCN-Girona airport

http://www.sagales.com/pubdocs/779_b...2008-10-26.pdf

Trains from Girona to Barcelona run about every hour, and the journey time is an hour and a half or less. The fare is 6.50 or 6.70 euros, depending on the type of train.
www.renfe.es

> I've posted on TR - but managed to get it on the Madrid forum the first time - I really find their forums quite usuer-unfriendly.

You mean TA (Tripadvisor)? I'm used to post there too (Venice, Prague, Marseille, etc) but I find them fine, in a different way than Fodors. If you have not posted there before, it might take some time but you will get used to it soon. Some questions are better answered there.

Travel_buzzing, I cannot open your URL's.

About using train, of course the disadvantage is you have to find a transportation between, Girona Airport and the train station. I suppose there is another bus line?

try thus one

http://www.spanish-airport-guide.com...ort-buses.html

hi annhig,
An easy way to access the Sagales page airport to Barcelona, Barcelona to airport Ryanair bus schedule is here:

www.aena.es

It's the official Spain airports page. Change to English at top. Choose Girona as your airport, then click on Practical information, then Getting there, then Choose a Category-bus.
You'll see the link to the Sagales bus schedule page, both for Girona airport to Barcelona and Barcelona to Girona airport. It works for me.

I would just take the Ryanair bus back to Girona in the am on Dec. 30 to get you to your 10 am flight. Great info from Travel_buzzing. Looks like buses depart Barcelona for the Girona airport as early as 3 am!

Have fun!

thanks to all of you, especially Maribel who came up with a link that worked!

looks like the bus is the way to go, at €22 each return.

for the return flight, the bus back to the airport leaves the estacion norde at 7am. now I have to work out how to get from wherever we are going to stay to the e/norde in time for that bus. any ideas of good areas/hotels to stay which will give an early morning connection to the bus station?

I'm sorry to say that the apartments recommended by travel-buzzing are full/unavailable for 3 nights over the Xmas period. Anyway, for three nights and just two of us, i think I'd prefer a hotel. my budget is €100 per night, preferably.

this "cheap" travel is hard work, isn't it?

what's girona like in the winter?

regards, ann

Hi ann,
Look at www.hotelbanysorientals.com in El Born-that would be my first choice.

Me again, ann
In the Barri Gotic, around the corner from the cathedral, there's the Regencia Colón, although it's a bit over your budget at 112 for a double.
www.hotelregenciacolon.com

I checked Chic and Basic Born, but the least expensive "M" rooms aren't available for your dates. And Habitat apartments didn't have anything for a short term, 3 night, rental in that budget.

I also checked the 3 Gothic quarter hotels of the Gargallo group, but they're booked for one of your dates.

I'll keep thinking...

Ann,
In case the above are fully booked (this appears to be a very busy time), check the Hostal Goya. It's not in El Born with super handy access to the bus but instead on very chic Pau Claris in the Eixample. Doubles with bath go for 90 euros. What you save in hotel rate can be easily applied to early morning taxi!

They don't have online booking, but there's an email booking request form. Gets solid TA reviews.
www.hostalgoya.com

yeah the link didnt post properly, but if you copy and paste the whole thing into your web browser it'll come up.

The simplest way to get to estacio nord at that time is : Hail a cab.
At 2am on a tuesday night you'll be able to stop one easily, think around plaza catalunya or the cathedral on via laetana (both have taxi ranks if you are worried about hailing from a random street).

The journey would cost you about 5 euros. I wouldnt compromise on where in the city you'd like to stay just to get to estacio nord at 3am. its easy.

Girona is pretty but quiet in the winter. Again I dont recommend doing it for your last night just to get to the airport. You have to catch a bus anyway and they run every hour to the airport in girona.

You'll get plenty of cold sunshine and blue skies here :)

hi, y'all,

thanks for helping me sort this all out! I was getting to the stage that cheap flgihts or not, we might be staying home this Christmas. It's become a bit of a tradition for us to take a short break sans enfants this time of year, and the chance to fly to Barcelona for less than £50 each return looks too good to miss, especially as traveling from our local airport, DD can give us a lift there and back!

I've now managed to find the timetable for the buses in BOTH directions [curiously, the girona airport web-site only gives the link for buses TO Barcelona, not back - makes it seem like a tourist black hole] and the location of the estacio nord which is the bus terminus, and which seemed decidedly coy about letting me know where it is.

so now I've found it c/o google maps, I need a hotel either near-by or one that makes the return journey as easy as possible - I'm not worried about arriving so much as getting back.

travel-buzzing - thanks for the tip about the cost of cabs. If we're only paying £15 each for the bus from Girona, I don't mind paying a bit for cabs anyway. Fortunately, we won't need a cab at 3am - we don't have to be at the bus station til 7am. so i reckon a cab at 6.30 should do, unless we decide to stay somewhere a very long way away.

maribel - thanks for the hotel suggestions. The banya-oriental looks very nice. I've also found that the Derby chain has got some very good offers at that time - €99 per night at the Derby &/or Gran Derby. what do you think about them for position and service generally?

anyway, i think that this might just be on. two days plus a bit is rather less than I'd like but it should be long enough to give us the flavour of the place.

and flights that cheap are difficult to pass up in these straigtened times.

thanks again to all for your help,

regards, ann

Hi ann,
I mentioned the Banys Orientals first because its rack rates give one of the best values.

I hadn't thought of the Derby group because I forgot to check to see if any would be within your budget for those dates, assuming for those dates rates could be high, but no! They have some really great promotions going on at that time! Their promo rates really can't be beat.

I've stayed several times at the 3 star Derby Astoria for the price to quality ratio. It and the 4 star Derby Balmes would be the ones most central for sightseeing.
So I would choose either one-the Astoria for 90 or the Balmes for 95, so as to be in the heart of the upmarket (and safe) Eixample.

I don't stay at the Grand Derby or Derby because they are located further afield, way up off the Diagonal on the western side of town, but they're fine hotels. But it would be a longer taxi ride over to the Estacio Nord, and they just wouldn't be handy for your 3 days of sightseeing.

Hope this helps.

I misunderstood that you would need to leave that early.
To arrive at the bus station at 7ish, you could easily take the metro. The Arc de Triomf station is beside the Estació Nord.

I recommend Banys Oriental for location.

Here is the metro map for BCN:

http://www.tmb.net/es_ES/barcelona/m...xarxametro.jsp

Any station on the green and yellow line easily connects with the red, to get to the bus station.

Hi again, Maribel,

as well as the derby group, the hesperia group have offers on too, including 3 nights at the H/tower for €465, or €305 at the sagrada familia sport and spa.

I've also found that the hostal girona has got rooms for €85 a night and the saint augusti for €160. [which is out given the cost of the derby].

but I'm drawn to the derby, either the astoria, or your suggestion of the balmes. at €85 per night for a double, they each look like a steal. [I'm assuming that there's no point in taking the offer which includes breakfast, etc.].

Which would you choose and why?

travel -buzzing - the BO has only got rooms for the fist two nights, so that's out. but it looks as if we could walk/get very cheap taxi from either the astoria or balmes?

regards, ann

Hi ann,
Those two offers at the Derby Astoria and Balmes are indeed a steal! (They're both 3 stars-I miswrote).

I was afraid the BO wouldn't have a room for those 3 nights, since it's hugely popular due to its under 100 euro pricing and location in trendy El Born.

There are so many wonderful spots in the Left Eixample for coffee and pastries (I've listed some in my Barcelona file)-I wouldn't bother with the extra cost of the hotel breakfast (although our buffet brk, at the Astoria, included in our rate, was quite nice).

Regarding the location-
The Astoria and Balmes are only about 4 blocks apart, the Astoria being north and closer to the Diagonal, where you can easily catch a taxi down to Estació Nord for your 7 am bus back to the Girona airport.
But the Balmes is 4 blocks closer than its sister to the Plaça de Catalunya.
The Astoria is 3 blocks from the Diagonal metro. The Balmes lies 4 blocks away from the Passeig de Gracia metro. But I wouldn't take the metro to the bus station since you'd have to change lines, from green to red at P de Catalunya. Also from either hotel it would really be too far to walk. Just grab a taxi (unless you really need to save some money and have 2 rides left on a T-10 pass).

Choose the hotel that appeals to you the most and enjoy the Eixample!

Hi maribel,

thanks for helping me sort out the advantages of each hotel.

it looks like the Balmes is slightly more conveniently placed.

I can't believe that they are both so CHEAP!

I'm assuming that it'll be easy enough to get a cab from either of them.

regards, ann

Hi ann,
Yes, getting a cab should be no problem.
Have a great, great time!

Regards,
Maribel

I recently visited Barcelona and arrived with Ryanair to Girona airport, and prepared my trip with an excellend Girona airport travel guide, online for free, with lots of interesting tips from independent tips and reviews, timetable of public transport and taxi prices to different destinations www.barcelona-girona-airport.com

hi peter,

sadly we never got there.

I'll have to remember your helpful tip for next time we have barcelona on the horizon.

regards, ann

Hi,
there is a very good connection between Girona and barcelona. What is more there is also a train.
Here is a website, that collects all information about the tranfer from the airport to barcelona. I think it will help you, because there are also prices.

http://www.travelinformationbarcelon...transfers.html

Saludos!

hi travelgoofy!

thanks for the info; we abandoned the Christmas idea and ended up going in the autumn as my birthday treat from Bristol straight to Barcelona as Ryanair no longer fly from Newquay to Girona.

they do fly from Bristol to Girona, and were I tempted to go, I'd stay in Girona I think and just do Barcelona as a day trip.