Sunita

We are planning a short trip visiting our son in Barcelona who is doing a semester at IES. We will all be there for 4 days during the Thanksgiving break from Nov 25-29. My husband and I will be in Barcelona starting Nov 21 so will have a chance to see Barcelona then. What we can't come to a consensus is what we should do from Nove25-29 that will give us the most bang for our buck. One thought is to do city hopping and go to Madrid, London, Paris and Florence and the other is to rent a car and drive up from Barcelona to South of France along the coast or Barcelona to South of Spain. I understand it is not peak season so hotel bookings will not an issue. But my problem is if we drove what should the route be and what are some good places to touch while driving? Also does one need International driving license to drive in Europe or can one drive with U.S. driving license? What is a good company to rent from and does anyone know of any good deals for car rental?
Any insight/help that will help us plan would be greatly appreciated.
We are all foodie's so also let us know of good things to eat and any eating place recommendations.
Thanks and look forward to great insight.

Sandylan

I have plans to visit Barcelona and have been reading all about it. The one negative feature I have come across is that one is more likely to be the victim of a pickpocket there than anywhere else in Europe.Rome and Florence are very bad too in that regard.

clawedart

Lots of things to do in city itself but if you get chance got to Montserrat...it's beautiful

Sunita

yes my son told us about that. best thing to do is to split your money in different parts of your clothing so you have options. Also make 2-3 sets of copies of your passport and also make sure you know where the embassy for your country is.

JulieVikmanis

We've been to BCN several times. I have at least 2 trip reports covering our time there. The one most related to your question would be the report of our trip which combined Barcelona and Costa Brava. Click on my name and then go to trip reports in my profile and you'll find it. We really enjoyed our time in Costa Brava and our day trip to Sitges. We love BCN. You should have a wonderful time.

Pegontheroad

Barcelona has fabulous architecture--the Sagrada Familiar, the Parque Güell, the Block of Discord, the Palau de Musica (spelling). I hope you will be sure to see and anjoy those places.

The city hopping you mention looks to me like way too much too fast. I don't even think it's possible to see that many cities in that amount of time. From the choices you mentioned, I'd suggest driving to the south of France. Roads are very good in Spain.

I usually rent from AutoEurope and have had good luck with them. Remember that there will be an extra charge for leaving the car in a different country from the one in which you picked it up. You don't absolutely need an international drivers permit, but it would be handy if you are stopped by a policeman whose English isn't good.

I always wear a money belt in Europe. In some countries, it's probably unnecessary, but it's become a habit with me. My sister gave me her debit card and passport to put in my money belt--the only time she's ever done that--and that was the night her purse was stolen by a very slick thief.

You need to get a couple of guidebooks.

leuk2

Lots of things to do in Barcelona. Just walk around. Check out Maribel's guide(available on line only). We were there three weeks ago. I would not lose sleep over the pickpockets etc. No worse than any big city. There was a very definate police prescence on the Ramblas and surrounding streets. ( I think the city got the message). We did a cooking class at Cook and Taste. I would recommend if you are in to that sort of thing. You can check out the reviews on trip advisor. Four days will go very fast.

galaxygrrl200

My two favorite things in Barcelona were

(1) Palau de Musica you need to get advanced tickets, so make sure to do that

(2) The tram across the habor that goes from the Hill where the Olympics were to the beach. Totally worth doing it.

Barcelona is small you can do it in a few days.

NEDSIRELAND

Sunita writes: "We are planning a short trip visiting our son in Barcelona ... We will all be there for 4 days during the Thanksgiving break from Nov 25-29. My husband and I will be in Barcelona starting Nov 21 so will have a chance to see Barcelona then. What we can't come to a consensus is what we should do from Nove25-29 that will give us the most bang for our buck. ..."

Barcelona can be Magical on Sundays: it's a great day for visiting Parc Guell and just 'hangin out' there; and there's often dancing the Sardana (Catalonia's nationalistic dance) in front of the Cathedral Sunday evening; so plan to be back in Barcelona for 28 nov.

You don't mention the total length of your stay in Spain or your proposed itinerary; so I suggest that you plan a short visit to Sevilla, or Granada, or Madrid (just one, not all three) flying there and back from Barcelona's Llobregat airport.

traveller1959

Four full days will be sufficient for Barcelona. You might even include a half-day trip to Montserrat (only if the weather is fine).

Here are some options for the other four days (Nov. 25-29):

1. You can fly to Andalucia to catch some warmth and to see a completely different part of Spain (I would prefer this option since it is late November).

2. You can take the train or plane to Madrid to visit the Royal Palace, the Prado and some more museums, including a day trip to El Escorial.

3. You can rent a car and drive up the Costa Brava. Even if the weather is not good, you will enjoy Cadaques and Figueres. You can proceed to Southern France. Carcassonne is a worthy destination (mediaval city) and you may even drive up to Nimes with its rich Roman history. Driving time Nimes-Barcelona is 4 hours. Or you take the train to Nimes and explore Provence from there (rental car recommended).

traveller1959

I see that the train takes 6 hours from Barcelona to Nimes with at least one change. So better drive (only, if you plan to return to Spain - otherwise you have to pay a heavy drop-off fee for returning the rental car in a different country).

Sunita

Cooking is definitely my thing.
Leuk2 how do I go about registering for the Cook and Taste class.
Galaxygrrl how can we procure tickets for "Palau de Musica"
Andalucia sounds like a great suggestion.
I can't thank you all enough for such wonderful suggestions. Isn't this an absolutely wonderful resource we have for FREE!!!
One thing we are observing about car rental is that they have extremely high prices for automatic cars and none of the online car rental companies give you the option to request GPS??

tejana

Barca is one of our favorite cities in the world, and 4 days is a really good length of time for a good taste of it. If you like Paris, you will love Barca - it has a similar feel to the city. The architecture is amazing - explore all of the Gaudi buildings that you can - especially the Casa Battlo. Get lost in the Barrio Gothic, and visit the Picasso Museum for a great look at his early work. The Palau de Musica Catalan is fabulous, and yes, it is even better if you can get tickets to a concert (you can get them online), otherwise at least do the tour. Mainly, just walk and walk and walk - it is a beautiful city. And the food in the city is pure heaven. A long lunch at Los Caracoles is usually our first stop (fried chiperones from there would be my choice for an appetizer for my last meal), and we always try to make it to Set Portes at least once for the best paella in the city. No wrong answers! Damn I'm jealous...

traveller1959

I just checked www.holidayautos.de.

For Nov. 25-29 2009 from/to Malaga the all inclusive rates are

- €150 for a sub-compact, ultra-small car with manual transmission,
- €213 for an automatic compact car,
- €230 for an manual intermediate car,
- €260 for an automatic intermediate car,
- €321 for an automatic large car.

The rates include all insurances and fees.

I would never rent a car with an inbuilt GPS - often the preinstalled maps are useless. Better take a portable GPS. They are dirt cheap.

Lexma90

Most car rental companies in Europe charge higher (sometime much higher) prices for automatics. Most cars in Europe are standard transmissions. We have used Auto Europe many times, and have been very happy with their service and rates. We have taken our portable GPS system the last two times we've been to Europe, but to be honest, before then we did just fine with regular printed maps.

For the Palau Musica, google it for the official site, where you can see the performances and book online.

Barcelona is a town with a lot of sophisticated cuisine. When we visited two years ago, in the high-end category, we ate at Cinq Sentits (the famed tasting menu) and Sauc. I preferred Sauc because it felt more Spanish/Catalan, but both were great experiences. Our most fun dinner was at Passadis del Pep, where we were served a succession of seafood tasting dishes - no menu. Obviously, you need to be adventurous for that, but it was a great meal, except for the lobster main course - not worth the price or the effort.

In terms of what to do with your additional 4 days, I would suggest going into southwest France, either the Languedoc or the Dordogne areas, but the weather at that time of year might not be the best for that kind of trip (and I would guess, though I don't know, that places will be closed for the season). Maybe fly to ONE other city, or other cities in Spain, as already mentioned.

Enjoy your decision-making, and Barcelona. I loved Barcelona, it's an interesting city, culture and food-wise.

Egbert

I like the Andalucia idea but the logistics of getting to Seville and Granada and back to Barcelona is too much. I like the Costa Brava idea but I really like San Sebastian the best for 3 or 4 nights, especially if you like great food.

Kyliebaby3

Leuk2,

Glad to hear you had a good experience at Cook and Taste. I found it online and I'm planning to take a class there next year. What did you make?

Bellini1

Hi Sunita. You are going to one of my most favorite cities, Barcelona. I would suggest taking the bus tour. It is quite inexpensive and you can get a one- or two-day pass. You buy the tickets and catch the bus in front of the department store Corte Ingles. You get transportation to the most important tourist attractions in the city itself and can get on and off the bus at will. For example, you can visit Sagrada Familia, get back on the bus, visit a very interesting Gaudi building, etc.
I would suggest a visit to the opera house Liceo, if you are interested in opera. Even if you just tour the building. It is one of the most beautiful opera houses I have been in. I sang there and in the Palau de Musica in the 1970s. Enjoy the town. Walk down the back allys and down to the port area. Go into the Mercado, which is very near Liceo on La Rambla.
A train trip south to Valencia is beautiful, as is Valencia itself.
Wish I were going.....

jetsetj

bookmarking for the future...

leuk2

We signed up for Cook and Taste online. Google cook and taste Barcelona, and i'm sure it will come up. Our chef was Bruno, and I thought he was great. We did the market tour followed by the cooking class. We made gazpascho(sp), creme catalan, tomato bread, tortilla, and paella. The food was great. Two or three people made each dish, with Bruno supervising. Lots of fun, good laughs, good food,and good wine.