picking up car in downtown Barcelona
 

We plant to stay in an apartment in Barcelona for a number of nights and then want to rent a vehicle to drive to SW France. We will return a week later to fly out of BCN airport.

How difficult is it to pick up a rental car in central BCN and drive out of the city? ( we will likely be staying near Placa Universidad).

We will drive back from SW France the day before we fly out (mid-afternoon departure). Where should we stay and drop off the vehicle? Should we rent a hotel in central Barcelona, drop off the car from the same spot we took it from and then catch public transit (or a taxi) to the airport the next morning? That way we could enjoy Barcelona for another night.

OR, should we stay at a hotel near the airport and drop the car off at the airport the day of our departure? (airport hotels have never thrilled me!)

OR should we stay the night in Sitges (or somewhere closer) so that we see another town?

TIA!

I always like to get a car from a facility on the edge of the city, so I do not have to navigate the streets.

Q) How difficult is it to pick up a rental car in central BCN and drive out of the city?
A) How confident a driver are you? Can you easily adapt to a new car? Will you have a GPS with you. Is that up to date?

Europcar has a location at Gran Via de Les Corts Catalanes, 680. From there it's an easy drive out of the city heading for France.

You can drop the car off at the airport and take the bus, train or a taxi to a hotel in the city. No need to stay out near the airport.

It's not that hard to drive out of a European city. Plan your route and leave outside of rush hours. In most cases I prefer to pick up the car as close to our hotel as possible. If you have your own GPS, take it and have it pre-programmed with your route.

When returning a car before a flight out I prefer to arrive late in the day and use an airport hotel. YMMV.

@ribeirasacra said,
"A) How confident a driver are you? Can you easily adapt to a new car? ..."

We are a group of 4 people. We will likely have 2 people get an International Drivers' license. I'm a pretty confident driver (as long as I am driving an automatic!) and a pretty good navigator, but perhaps not both at the same time. Add in talking and, well, all bets are off! :P

I had a bad experience driving out of Florence a few years back, driving a standard (which I have limited experience at). I had presumed that my elderly father would at least be able to read out street signs to me. No dice. And then the car broke down. Not one of my best days.

Having said that, I'm not too worried about Barcelona...and I will be with others who won't be over

(accidentally posted too soon!)

....who won't be overwhelmed.

We will be hauling luggage though so convenience will be a factor.

@Robert2533, you suggest dropping the car off and staying in town and @ParisAmsterdam, you suggest dawdling and checking in late at an airport hotel. These are the two we will likely consider. We will be driving around with our luggage though. Will that cause a problem if we stop along the way and sightsee?

I also take it that there aren't any interesting towns just on the west side of Barcelona that are worth staying in for the Saturday night before we leave?

Since you will be leaving late on your departure day, I think that your first idea, Sitges, could be a nice alternative - IF your hotel has or can arrange a parking space and is not too far from the "town center" (pedestrian zone mostly) where most of the restaurants and pubs are.
I would not recommend it if you travel in winter, when Sitges is somewhat dead.
It's a really short drive from Sitges to the airport - 20-30 minutes appr.

Thanks Cowboy!
This would be in mid-May, so perhaps this is something we will consider.

>We will be driving around with our luggage though. Will that cause a problem if we stop along the way and sightsee?<

It will depend on where you plan on being. If your luggage is in the trunk/boot, then there shouldn't be a problem, but be aware that most rental car agencies like to advertise their services and the car will have some type of agency sticker on the back of the car to identify the rental agency, making it an easy target in some busy tourist locations.

As nice as Sitges is, it has nothing over being in Barcelona on your last night.

I disagree with the above post.
First off Spaniards go on vacation, they too will have luggage in the car. We often get people staying with us here in Galicia who live too either too far away for them to drive or they live on one of the Spanish Islands. Thus they rent a car they too will have luggage in the car.
Sometimes they bring their own car that too has luggage in it. A rental car may or may not have an advertising sticker on it. However there are some other give aways that show the car is a rental. Bar codes car bee place , either to the front or rear of the car. The other dead give away is that fuel type is indicated on the flap.
I personally would not worry too much as long as you use your common sense and do not leave items on show. Even small items.

I think we've decided to stay in Barcelona for the night before we fly out. That should simplify things. We'll try to stay on the "west side-ish" and that will be an easy trip to the airport.

You can drop the car and leave your luggage at Barcelona airport (in the left luggage) so that you don't have to lug it into the city for one night. It is only 10 euros per bag for them to store it for you.

I don't like to leave a car with anything in the trunk, ever, but if I have to then I run a thin bike lock through all the handles and lock it.

thanks for your tips, @rialtogrl. That's helpful.