A Spanish Inquisition
March 10, 2017 5:25 PM Subscribe
Primary travel destination August-Sept is Barcelona, staying about 3 blocks from the La Floresta train station...is this manageable?
After years of reading travel Asks, I finally get to join the fun! I'll be flying out of Seattle to Barcelona in mid August and coming home mid September and booked an airbnb that is a little farther out than I expected, though I have no sense of distance when trains are involved. My travel companion has been around Europe a few times but always stayed in squats, vans, people's couches...and so he's not much help.
I'm mostly wanted to poke around Spain that'll be accessible by train (and haven't yet figured out what type of rail pass I need, by the way). I also plan on visiting Paris for at least a couple of days to visit a friend, and don't mind having a "home base" that I don't always make it back to every evening, as well as not feeling obligated to go out and see all the things every day. But I also don't want to end up spending all my slender travel budget trying to get out to the city and back again, missing trains or not bothering to leave because it's too much of a hassle to travel to and fro. Is La Floresta close? Far away? I know it's about 35-60 min by rail...but don't have a sense of what's "normal" travel times (this sounds extremely far to someone who lives in a city of rarely leaving our neighborhoods!)
Some of the reasoning behind this question is that the lodging is 800 euro for the entire month, which seemed pretty damned reasonable cp to 2-4000 euro in Barcelona proper. I'm starting to worry it won't add up if I'm paying 50 euro a day in travel, though. I am not very interested in staying exclusively in squats and hostels, though I would consider those options better than going (farther) into debt or having constant travel hassle.
Um, also, am I overthinking this?
After years of reading travel Asks, I finally get to join the fun! I'll be flying out of Seattle to Barcelona in mid August and coming home mid September and booked an airbnb that is a little farther out than I expected, though I have no sense of distance when trains are involved. My travel companion has been around Europe a few times but always stayed in squats, vans, people's couches...and so he's not much help.
I'm mostly wanted to poke around Spain that'll be accessible by train (and haven't yet figured out what type of rail pass I need, by the way). I also plan on visiting Paris for at least a couple of days to visit a friend, and don't mind having a "home base" that I don't always make it back to every evening, as well as not feeling obligated to go out and see all the things every day. But I also don't want to end up spending all my slender travel budget trying to get out to the city and back again, missing trains or not bothering to leave because it's too much of a hassle to travel to and fro. Is La Floresta close? Far away? I know it's about 35-60 min by rail...but don't have a sense of what's "normal" travel times (this sounds extremely far to someone who lives in a city of rarely leaving our neighborhoods!)
Some of the reasoning behind this question is that the lodging is 800 euro for the entire month, which seemed pretty damned reasonable cp to 2-4000 euro in Barcelona proper. I'm starting to worry it won't add up if I'm paying 50 euro a day in travel, though. I am not very interested in staying exclusively in squats and hostels, though I would consider those options better than going (farther) into debt or having constant travel hassle.
Um, also, am I overthinking this?
Best answer: La Floresta is lovely, it's in (next to?) a lovely park, is a cool small village and an easy train ride into Barcelona. Barcelona can be a bit of a zoo in the touristy areas so I think that you will like being up in the hills since you are there for a month.
posted by fshgrl at 7:35 PM on March 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by fshgrl at 7:35 PM on March 10, 2017 [3 favorites]
It's in zone 2, so a 10-journey ticket will cost just under 20 euros. I agree it's definitely practical. Sant Cugat is very close, in the opposite direction, if you need things La Floresta doesn't have.
posted by gregjones at 2:15 AM on March 11, 2017
posted by gregjones at 2:15 AM on March 11, 2017
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Mind you I haven't been to La Floresta specifically. But I wouldn't rule it out based on a 20-minute ride on a frequently running train. That seems like a reasonable trade-off for the accommodations savings. YMMV of course.
posted by veggieboy at 7:00 PM on March 10, 2017 [2 favorites]