side trip from barcelona?
 

Hi- I will be in barcelona next week and have 2-3 days that i would like to get out of the city and see somewhere else. Is the south of france too far? costa brava? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks so much! -allison

You could take the around 9am Talgo train to France and just across the border get off and go to Couliere, one fine old seaside village and then take the afternoon Taglo back to Barcelona.

But i'd recommend Montserrat, right near Barcelona as being a marvelous experience, both stunning geographically, perched on top of a mountain, and spiritually as this is one of the top pilgrimmage shrines in Europe. People flock to see the famous Black Madonna in the church.
Others come for the monk-brewed wicked strong in alcohol potion concocted here or to walk on nice footpaths. Bout 45 mins from Barcelona by train, then funicula up top. exhilarating views for miles around.

Great art museum at Montserrat as well.

You could easily go south to Valencia via the autovia or head north along the costa brava coast road. I would recommend two hotels that we saw - one we stayed at and the other we will do.

Hotel El Far at Llfranc (magnificant views)

Hotel AiguaClara at Begur (very traditional town)

Only just been there are the details are on my blog http://stumblebumstravels.blogspot.com

Author: alwags22
Date: 03/05/2007, 01:44 pm
Hi- I will be in barcelona next week and have 2-3 days that i would like to get out of the city and see somewhere else. Is the south of france too far? costa brava? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks so much! -allison



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Author: PalenQ
Date: 03/05/2007, 01:48 pm
You could take the around 9am Talgo train to France and just across the border get off and go to Couliere, one fine old seaside village and then take the afternoon Taglo back to Barcelona.


The problem is that the Talgo does not stop in Collioure. You'd have to change trains at Port-Bou (and lose a lot of time.

From Barcelona you can easily go to Girona or Figueras by train.

Thanks so much for all your suggestions. I am thinking that it might take too much time to get to france (and the weather might not be so great) so i think we'll go to costa brava and valencia. if anyone has some info on what to do/where to stay that would be great. i will check out your blog too stumblebum. thanks everyone!

if you have a car you might want to try to go to the wineries or cava bodegas in the Penedés region south of barcelona.

i do think someone once posted on how to get there with public transport.

if you come to valencia.. we are having Fallas celebration. www.fallas.com til march 19th. check out possible hotels beforehand. could be very expensive. but lots of fun!

there are some fallas tours going on. if you are interested, let me know.

<The problem is that the Talgo does not stop in Collioure. You'd have to change trains at Port-Bou (and lose a lot of time>

Talgo arrives Cerbere 11:15; from May thru Aug except Sun a train leaves Cerbere at 11:22 for Coluiere, a mere 9 miles away.

Still a long day trip but you don't always lose much time at the border from Talgo to Couliere.

Yeh i'd do something closer in.

You don't say if you will rent a car. If so, you might consider what we did: Drive through Vic/Rupit/Begur area and overnight in Cadaques. You can also include Dali museum if you get an early start.

We LOVED this day trip and wished we had stayed longer. It would work only with a car, though.

Hi

with a car, it is much quicker to get to France.

Barcelona to the border is about 1 hr.
Even Montpellier is under 3 hrs away.

A nice trip is Barcelona - Perpignan via autoroute, then follow the coast road Collioure to Cadaques, then cut inland to Figueres, then visit Girona old town, and back to Barcelona by autoroute.

Along the way you could visit Perpignan, Collioure, etc, Dalis house at Port Legat, Cadaques, Dali museum in Figueres, medieval town Girona.

The coast road has spectacular views and the driving has become much easier over the years.

This would be a just possible, but very long day trip ( I do it from the montpellier side with visitors missing Perpignan and Girona).

But a night in one of the French coastal villages would make it quite relaxed.

Peter

Marking

why not drop by Torres

If you have a car, I would definitely explore the Costa Brava region. My husband and I spent three days there last fall... Calella de Palafrugell, Llafranc, Tamariu, Begur, Pals, Peratallada, Girona... there's so much to experience, with the sea and small medieval villages everywhere. It's a beautiful area in which to relax and explore!

thanks for all of this info! yes we will be renting a car. are there any hotels and restaurants that anyone would suggest in the costa brava region? we´re going to stay for one night and then head down to valencia. thanks so much!!

It depends where in the Costa Brava you want to stay... for instance, inland in a medieval village? Or on the beach?