getting around Spain without trains
 

I am going to Spain this summer, and have started to plan my itinerary. One of the people I am traveling with doesn't feel comfortable taking the trains. I don't feel the same way, but I respect her decision. Is there any way to get from city to city without a train? Are there buses? Are they reliable? Would it be very expensive to hire a car? We'd like to take a day trip from Barcelona to Girona, and a day trip from Madrid to Toledo.

You might want to try posting this on the Europe board to get more responses!

Oops, I keep doing that.

Hi, I live in the UK and have been to Spain several times. I have stayed in Madrid for a week (look for hostels. which are small hotels with just a reception and rooms off - very good value - try one on the Grande Via) We went on a couple of day trips on the train which was great.There are buses as well. We also picked up a car at Madrid airport 2 years ago and went to Toledo, Cordoba, Saville then down the coast to Gibralta and the Costa del Sol where we had an appartment for a week. Car hire is cheap compared to most other countries but automatic cars are few and far between in Europe.

What about driving? I rented a car in Madrid about a year ago for 11 days and it was not very expensive at all. It was about what it would have cost for oen train trip for the 4 of us to Seville. It was very easy to drive, but you have to get used to EXTEREMLY narrow streets. At one point in Carmona I had to slow to a crawl because I thought the mirrors were going to hit the walls. But other thanin a few small towns, it felt like I was driving here at home.