My husband and I are planning a trip with another couple. 3 of us have been to Barcelona before but my friend's husband has not. We're looking at renting a house or apartment rather than hotel rooms so should have flexibility in where we actually plunk ourselves down. If it were just my husband and I, we'd only stay a few days and then move on but I'm afraid that too much travel with another couple may get too tedious. Plus my friend's husband is very limited in his travel experience and this is a test drive to get him outside of his usual comfort zone of only vacationing in 1 particular place in Mexico.

So, if you had 10 days for that general area, where would you stay? Beyond the attractions in Barcelona, what is further afield that is accessible for a day's drive or train ride? Their air tickets will be in and out of Barcelona so we could do a few days there, move to another location and then back to Barcelona to depart.

It depends on your interests! Options include Tarragona, Montserrat, Girona, Figueres, any where on the Costa Brava....

I would strongly encourage you to get a good guidebook or two -- and perhaps ask your friends to do the same so you can all research your options and decide on a mutually agreeable plan. The cost of even a few guidebooks will be nominal in comparison to the cost of your trip, you will gain a wealth of information, and you (and your friends) will learn things you never thought to ask.

Thanks for your response. I did some research last night and added those towns to our list. We drove the coast 2 xmas' ago because my husband thought he wanted to retire to the coast of Spain and to be honest, we weren't terribly impressed from a tourist standpoint.

Myself and my husband are very seasoned travelers. Was looking for some input from those who have spent a lot of time in Barcelona itself with a neighborhood to rent an apartment or house and possibly a 2nd destination for a stop. If it was just the 2 of us we'd definitely drive around central Spain.

I liked Barcelona a lot more when I stayed in the Eixample instead of near the Ramblas. I had no trouble filling four days, and could easily have added another, but ten might be overdoing it. In addition to kja's suggestions, how about Zaragoza? I'd suggest the Pyrenees or the Basque country but it may be a bit early in the year.

we rented apts. from Habitat scream times. Good outfit.
Eixample woks for us.
Zaragoza is a nice spot ...can be reached by train ( on the line to Mdrid)

several times ....

Hi. We stayed in a fabulous two bedroom apartment in the El Born neighborhood a few years ago. It was right behind the Picasso Museum. The host was marvelous and we loved the area. Close to everything. Home Away #15898. I would suggest Girona, Figueres or Cadaques for a second stop.

Thanks for the info, folks. I'll check out those locations for an apartment in Barcelona. We stayed in Eixample as well when we were there and thought it was a perfect location but always looking for other areas we may not know about.

I'd like to see the logistics of getting to one of the islands (in a non euro-party spot) but the traveling may be more than our friends want to take on. I may check a 3 hour radius and see what is more to the east of Spain that we haven't been to.