I just crunched the numbers for a trip from Barcelona to San Sebastian through France, and while it is indeed longer, a lot of traveler's wouldn't consider it all that much longer, and maybe a trade off for being more scenic.

Just a thought for people who want to consider alternatives.

I picked that route for my trip because I did want to be in the pretties part of the Catalonia coast as well as the Basque Coast for my trip, and because Spanish friends of mine recommended it as a more interesting route overall and having better highways. I ended up criss-crossing the mountains a lot rather than just moving from sea to sea, because I did find the roads on the French side more reliably better than those on the Spanish side, for what that's worth.

Again, just added info for people looking to combine the Costa Brava with the Basque Coast.

Thanks to everyone for your input! I think we've got the lodging down, save the last day if I switch from BCN to outside the city/near the airport. Our close-to-final itinerary is:

- Sept 14-21: Hotel Arts (BCN)
- Sept 22-23: Hotel 7 Astoria (SS)
- Sept 24: Hotel Villa de Abalos (Abalos)
- Sept 25: Hotel 10 Raco de Pi (BCN) - might change to Sitges??
- Sept 26: Fly back to Cleveland

One final question - at what point in the above itinerary should we have a car? My initial thought was to take the train to Bilbao/bus to SS. Should we rent a car on the 2nd day in SS to do a day trip? I was thinking we could stop in Bilbao on our way to La Rioja to avoid seeing the Guggenheim while dragging our luggage along.

I'd prefer to take the train back into BCN on the 25th, rather than deal with traffic into the city on a Friday and during the La Merce festival. Is there a good point to pick up a train between La Rioja & BCN? What about if we head to Sitges instead - just keep the car and return it in Sitges?

As always, your opinions would be most appreciated!