Connie

Trip Report-- Spain to Venice<BR><BR>We went on a spur of the moment trip in August for 12 nights. I booked most of the hotels in late May and June. We got a good airfare on Iberia flying from JFK to Barcelona. I booked mainly 3 and 4 star hotels. Since we are a family of 5 and need two rooms I tried to keep the room rates down. <BR> In Barcelona we stayed at the Hotel Rivoli Ramblas. The hotel was reasonably priced for a 4 star hotel and a great location. Our rooms overlooked the Les Ramblas. The Ramblas is a fun street. There were tons of street performers. I had read in the guide books to be careful at night. We really didn’t have any problems. We did avoid going into the El Ravel area at night, but on the Les Ramblas and Barri Gotic there were so many people walking around till the wee hours that I didn’t feel unsafe. Of course I am a New Yorker so I am use to being cautious. <BR> Barcelona is a great city and we would all go back in an instant. My kids are 13, 15, and almost 17 and they had a great time. My older son is into alternative music and managed to find several great cd stores by asking around. He walked all over with my 15 year old son. My daughter loved the shopping. There is a street behind Les Rambles that goes from Placa de Catalunya. There are tons of little shops with fairly reasonable clothing. The people were nice and helpful. A good thing to do is to take the tourist bus, Baracelona Bus Turistic, that you can catch at the Placa Catalunya near I think the department store El Corte Ingles. It goes on two loops of the city and you can get off at many stops. I had wanted to see the La Sagrada Familia. It was really amazing. Actually just riding the bus was fun. The architecture is really interesting…beautiful buildings with elaborate metal work. We also got off at Poble Espanyol which is a recreation of a Spanish town. The little art museum there was nice and we had a good lunch sitting outside. There are a lot of little crafty shops there. We road the bus past the port, the Olympic stadium and got off again in Barri Gotic near the Cathedral. The other good thing about the bus is they give you a very good guide of the city. Unfortunately we had gotten up too late to stop at too many places…but sleep is important to teenagers. In the morning while they were sleeping we walked over to the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. It was interesting…and the courtyard in front was full of skateboarders doing great tricks. <BR>

Connie

We ate at a great restaurant…Los Caracoles, Escudellers, 14. It was an easy walk toward the port from our hotel. It is a very fun place…the waiters were friendly…and the food was good. There are a lot of restaurants in that area that looked good and a lot of tourists/natives walking around. We went later to hear Flamenco music at Tablao Flamenco Cordobes on Les Ramblas. The show was good. Just a note…the icecream is very good in Barcelona and there are places to get it all over. <BR> We also ate at Garduna Restauant…recommended in the Frommers book…but the food was terrible. <BR> We got up early and took a cab to the train station. I had gotten tickets and a reservation in advance from Barcelona to Perpignon, France where we rented a car. For some reason it was cheaper to do this then to rent a car in Spain and drop in Italy. To do that was a hefty $700 drop off fee, but from France it was 100. We rented from Hertz and got a great car…the Laguna. After my husband figured out how to get it in reverse…it was easy driving the stick shift?! This is getting long…if anyone wants to hear more let me know. <BR>

Connie

I should say, we also went to Carcassone, Avignon, Nice, Milan and Venice.

Judy

Connie, I would love to hear more.

Connie

We drove next to Carcassone.. I loved the hotel we stayed in there. It was the most inexpensive and nice hotel on the entire trip. It was alittle outside of the town. To get to it you passed fields of sunflowers and vines. The hotel was Hostellerie chateau Saint Martin. They gave us a family suite, which had two separate rooms and two bathrooms. It was great…very clean and well appointed. Of course the boys wanted to sleep so my daughter and I went for a swim. It was so amazing to swim surrounded by vineyards. The hotel has a beautiful garden with a pond. They also have a restaurant with what is suppose to be a great restaurant. I had heard about it in advance and emailed to make a reservation, but unfortunately they were closed that day. The owner emailed back and said…don’t worry you”ll eat well in Carcassonne. He made us a reservation at a great restaurant in town in which one of the students in his restaurant had opened. It was Auberge Des Lices. That was by far my favorite meal of the entire trip. The salad with pate was incredible. The entire meal was good and quite reasonable. They had prix fix menu as well as ala Carte. I really want to go back. We only stayed at the hotel one night and I could have easily stayed a few more. Carcassonne was fun to walk around. They had a play going on that you could sit on the wall and watch. Of course the boys thought that was boring…but they did love the meal.<BR> We headed next to Avignon. My husband was enjoying driving. He gets frustrated in New York because slow drivers just stay in the left lane. There people know the rules and move over. We really zipped along. I had worried about getting lost, but it was really easy to find the right roads. <BR> I will write more later.<BR>

Tom

It's a good report, but...<BR><BR>&lt;&lt;We went on a spur of the moment trip in August for 12 nights. I booked most of the hotels in late May and June.&gt;&gt;<BR><BR>Does anybody else think that a trip with hotels booked two months in advance is not &quot;spur of the moment&quot;?<BR>

marcy

Getting airtickets and hotels in june for an Aug. trip for 5 can't be that easy. That is why all these posters are asking about and planning trips for next year. Aug. is a busy month and it cant be easy to find a double and triple.All she has to say and you pick on that??

tim

Connie, I really enjoyed you report. We were thinking about going to barcelona in the spring and I like the idea of visiting southern france as well.

leslie

I have enjoyed your report. Will you be writing about the rest of your trip. I have 2 kids and we are thinking about a european vacation...but I am wondering whether they would first want to go and second where to go. They are also teens and you know traveling with them has its challenges. Where did your kids like it the best?

connie

I will try to write more about the trip. We had a slightly different trip planned and had to change in the middle and go to milan vs florence and portofino. They liked barcelona alot and also enjoyed venice. I think they enjoyed running around all the narrow streets. There were actually things about each place they liked and didn't like. It is hard to stay away from home too long for them. They were missing their friends and home by the end...so more than 2 weeks, I have found, is too long... for them at least.

Jim

I would like to hear about the rest of your trip.