fuzzylogic

Hi folks,
Maybe my question about road trips was too broad. So let me try again as I'm sure there is someone out there with thoughts to share.

I want to take a car for a few days and trek off into the countryside. I have explored car rental on the web and of course you can't hire a car just anywhere; and options for one-way hire are limited unless you are going major centre to major centre.

I don't think I can handle arriving at Barajas, picking up a car and negotiating the traffic as a total beginner on right hand side driving (and I will not have a navigator). So I thought I would make Valencia my starting (and returning) point.

I have some ideas. But what would you do?
Trip duration 2-3 days. Interested in landscape, villages, just being there. Not fussed about special places to eat or stay - as long as one can do both somehow!

I will be bussing or training-it to Barcelona later.

Thanks for all and any input.

kenderina

If you only have 2 or 3 days in Valencia I won't tell you to move too much. Sagunto is half an hour north from Valencia (most of it free motorway, easy to drive, it deserves a visit.
A really interesting place for villages and landscape is the Maestrazgo, which it's Castellon province (where I live ) but it's 2 hours drive from Valencia. There you can visit Morella in the mountains, Peñiscola at the seaside, it's beautiful. It's more or less half way between Valencia and Barcelona so I don't know if you really want to drive so much

lincasanova

inland towns i think you would like and they are doable, some of them, with NO CAR.

cuenca.. from madrid/train or bus. 2 hours. lovely small town but has university,a nd unusual rock formation 20 km outside of town. hanging houses also intown , a parador also. it is halfway to valencia.


Xativa.. from valencia by train . 4.5 euros/return. ( 45 minutes)then take taxi up to castle ruins. ( 5 euros).

have lunch at mont sant hotel/restaurant at base of castle ruins.

guadalest: from benidorm/alicante or valencia. by CAR or bus, changing in bendirom/alicante.( 1.5 hours from valencia by car)

the above mentioned sagunto , bus/train from valencia. taxi up to castle fortress. don't miss the dungeon!! ask where the "calabozo" is.

if you really want to drive into the countryside, i think you should take kenderina's advice and drive to VILLAFAMES, then MORELLA, and on back roads crossing either to PEÑISCOLA, or continue up to the wine PENEDÉS region and drop the car off in barcelona.

this could take easily two days to do it slowly and you would get as good feel for the interior.

however.. depending on when you are planning this.. it will be beastly hot in august, and very cold in winter.

oneillchris

I always loved segunta it has a fantastic roman fortification, when in valencia, I always stay at sidi saler just outside of town on the beach I also like to go south to Alicante. We often go North to sitges just south of Barcelona too. But never without a car, I have to say the roads in Spain are great except for the price of the tolls. It also depends where you are arriving, from Madrid I always take the AVE as far as Zaragoza its not direct but you can nap on the trip, probably longer than other ways but I love the train

fuzzylogic

Thank you all.

oneillchris - Plan A was to take train to Zaragosa and hire a car and drive from there to Valencia, and that's still a possibility. But discarded for the time being in preference for train or bus to Cuenca (one night). Thank you lincasanova for reinforcing an idea that it would be a good place to go. Then on to Valencia (one night). Hire car and travel for two days returning to Valencia for another 2 nights. I thought I'd do it this way because I want to have a reasonable amount of time in Valencia and thought a Sat/Sun would be good.

What do you think? Is a weekend a good time to be in Valencia - better than during the week? I read there was market - worth at look?

The alternative would be to spend my two days in Valencia Thurs/Fri and then hire a car to drive one-way via inland up to Barcelona, leaving Sat and arriving Monday, with two nights on the road.

Either way, I am leaning towards the Maestrazgo. Kenderina - could I comfortably do a loop valencia - some of the villages you mention - and Teruel - and back to Valencia in two days? Which town/village would you pick for my one overnight stop?

Or would it be better to forgo the market in Valencia Sunday, and spend two nights on the road between there and Barcelona?

I'm laughing at myself for wanting to plan so far ahead - I'm usually a busk it sort of person, and have never hired a car in Europe before, but I only have 10 full days and want to make the best use of it.

If you've read this far - thanks! And, again, all comments would be welcome.