avee

Hello there,
I have a 2 week holiday planning in Spain. I will be spending approx. 5 days in Madrid, 4 in Seville and 5 in Barcelona. We will be sightseeing everyday and there will be these daytrips:
from Madrid - Toledo and Segovia.
from Seville - Granada (maybe a stayover)
from Barcelona - Cadaques and maybe Sitges.
Would renting(and driving) a mid size automatic be convenient and cheaper? Or would you recommend using public transport. How comfortable/reliable/convenient is public transport in Spain? I do have my 1 year old with me.
What are some good places to rent a car. I do have this link for one:
http://www.booking-centre-online.com/
Your help is much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

ribeirasacra

If you are only visiting cities then public transport is the only way to go.
Parking and navigating city centres is a real pain .
I gave you the 2of my favs for booking a car in this thread.
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...p-in-spain.cfm

Cowboy1968

What ribeira wrote.

Only for your trip to Cadaques I would find a rental car useful to explore the byways and coastal areas of the Costa Brava.

Sitges is a very easy day trip with suburban trains from Barcelona which are cheap and frequent (2-3 per hour).

danon

Granada is about 3 hours by bus or train from Seville.
Staying overnight would be a good idea. An easy day trip from Seville is Cordoba.

CathyM

I agree about using public transportation- the only place it will be useful is to get to Cadeques. I might swap Girrona or Tarragona instead of Cadeques. Both are great cities and easier to reach than Cadeques.

My advice would be to not try to visit Granada as a daytrip from Sevilla. It's 3 hours each way and although doable makes a very long day - especially with an infant. I'd probably take a day from both Madrid and Barcelona to make time for 2 nights in Granada. Or if 4 stops is too much for a 2 week trip with a one year old i'd probably just leave out Granada I'd also stop for a daytrip en route from Madrid to Sevilla in Cordoba. You can store your luggage at the bus station directly across the street from the train station.

rg12345

Hi Avee

We did two car trips in Spain just in April. Currently on the Amalfi coast. Barcelona was our first stop on the first leg (car pick up after 4 days in BCN to Sitges, Zaragoza, San Sebastian, Bilbao (Guggenheim Museum only), Burgos and Madrid. We relied on public transport, mainly the Metro and walking to get around and it was easy (made easier as it was also our second visit to BCN).

For our second leg, we picked up a car after 6 days in Madrid (once again public transport) and drove to Seville, Granada, Toledo and back to Madrid before flying to Lisbon.

Whilst in Seville and Granada, we just parked our rental car and relied on public transport, driving once in Granada to the Sierra Nevada.

It was already hot in April - the week we spent in Seville and Granada, temps were between 30-35 Celsius degrees, rather warm and uncomfortable.

We travelled with two children, 12 and 9, and it didn't take long for them to wilt, it would be considerably more challenging with a one year old if you did day trips from your 3 city bases. Within those cities, there are lots of attractions to keep your family occupied and happy!

Re car hire, we went with Europcar in the end. Initially with another company we found online. Luckily we did a review search and pulled out once we read the really poor and negative reviews it had gathered.

Parking can be stressful depending on your use - we found it was convenient travelling with children that once you get in, you can drive off to the next major destination.

Hope our experience helps out a little. No matter what happens, you will have a great time as Spain is a great country to visit - culture, people, food and shipping!! Have fun!

avee

Thank you so much guys. All that info really helps.

Nepenthe

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