Mediterranean Road Trip?
April 3, 2017 11:24 AM Subscribe
We're finally taking a trip to Spain--11 full days, with the idea of hitting at least Madrid, Grenada and Barcelona. But we've gotten it into our heads that it might be nice to road trip along the Mediterranean from Grenada to Barcelona rather than go back to Madrid and take the train. Is this crazy?
We are spending a little more than a week and a half in Spain, flying in and out of Madrid, in early May. We want to spend three days in Madrid at the start, and end with four or five days in Barcelona before taking the train back to Madrid for a morning flight on Day 12.
In between, we'd like to go to Grenada to see the Alhambra and visit a winery (ideally with a B&B or hotel attached). Because Grenada is so far out of the way, we're thinking about renting a car and driving along the coast to Valencia, where we'll take a train the rest of the way to Barcelona.
Is this trying to take on too much? Will renting a car for a one-way trip be way more expensive than renting one that we can return? Alternatively, is there anything that we shouldn't miss along the coast?
Our flights have been booked but we're still working on booking hotels / cars / train travel, so we're open to all suggestions. I'm a very experienced driver but have never driven outside the United States.
We are spending a little more than a week and a half in Spain, flying in and out of Madrid, in early May. We want to spend three days in Madrid at the start, and end with four or five days in Barcelona before taking the train back to Madrid for a morning flight on Day 12.
In between, we'd like to go to Grenada to see the Alhambra and visit a winery (ideally with a B&B or hotel attached). Because Grenada is so far out of the way, we're thinking about renting a car and driving along the coast to Valencia, where we'll take a train the rest of the way to Barcelona.
Is this trying to take on too much? Will renting a car for a one-way trip be way more expensive than renting one that we can return? Alternatively, is there anything that we shouldn't miss along the coast?
Our flights have been booked but we're still working on booking hotels / cars / train travel, so we're open to all suggestions. I'm a very experienced driver but have never driven outside the United States.
That is a great idea! It's been so long ago I rented a car on that route that I can't advise you on prices, but the trip in itself will be a great adventure. Experiencing the landscape and the small towns and villages is so much what Spain is about. And you can go to Cordoba!
Maybe just rent a car for the whole trip. Trains are great, but you need to check wether there might be a better offer for an 11 day rental than checking in-and-out at different cities.
Alternatively: rent a car and drive from Madrid over Cordoba to Granada, and then hand in the car in Malaga, and go from there by train or plane to Valencia. From Valencia, either rent a new car or go by train to Barcelona, stopping in Tarragona. TBH, the coast from Malaga to Valencia is very damaged by tourism, even though there are hidden pearls on the way.
Prebook tickets for the Alhambra and be sure to be there in the morning when they open.
posted by mumimor at 12:00 PM on April 3, 2017
Maybe just rent a car for the whole trip. Trains are great, but you need to check wether there might be a better offer for an 11 day rental than checking in-and-out at different cities.
Alternatively: rent a car and drive from Madrid over Cordoba to Granada, and then hand in the car in Malaga, and go from there by train or plane to Valencia. From Valencia, either rent a new car or go by train to Barcelona, stopping in Tarragona. TBH, the coast from Malaga to Valencia is very damaged by tourism, even though there are hidden pearls on the way.
Prebook tickets for the Alhambra and be sure to be there in the morning when they open.
posted by mumimor at 12:00 PM on April 3, 2017
Best answer: 11 days isn't a whole lot of time to hit up the two biggest cultural cities in the country, plus a full 1-2 days in Granada for Alhambra + food eating. I think renting a car to drive to Valencia would be stretching it really tight, in addition to ethidda's good advice.
If you'd like to explore more of the south while you're there, there's likely some cheap bus connections between Granada and Cordoba or Sevilla. Or even just rent a car in Granada to explore those places!
FWIW, I lived in Spain for a year and never visited that particular stretch that you're targeting; there's likely some nice small towns, but as a tourist you probably won't really see the interesting side of them as you're quickly passing through.
posted by Paper rabies at 1:31 PM on April 3, 2017
If you'd like to explore more of the south while you're there, there's likely some cheap bus connections between Granada and Cordoba or Sevilla. Or even just rent a car in Granada to explore those places!
FWIW, I lived in Spain for a year and never visited that particular stretch that you're targeting; there's likely some nice small towns, but as a tourist you probably won't really see the interesting side of them as you're quickly passing through.
posted by Paper rabies at 1:31 PM on April 3, 2017
I would just rent the car for the whole thing. You'll need a whole day for the Alhambra as the tickets are timed by area of the complex, so you can't do it the same day you drive to Granada from Madrid or the same day you drive to Valencia, so that's 3 days 2 nights minimum in Granada. Adding that to your Madrid and Barcelona time, you're already at 11 days, plus the day/night you stay in Valencia, so that's 12. Trying to fit a train schedule, not to mention transport from the train stations to hotels and back, will probably be overwhelming.
Rent a car and you can control when you leave and where the car is parked, to a certain extent. You don't have to take a bus or taxi to the train station, then the train to a new city, then the metro to the downtown area, then a taxi to your new hotel, etc. etc.
posted by chainsofreedom at 3:48 PM on April 3, 2017
Rent a car and you can control when you leave and where the car is parked, to a certain extent. You don't have to take a bus or taxi to the train station, then the train to a new city, then the metro to the downtown area, then a taxi to your new hotel, etc. etc.
posted by chainsofreedom at 3:48 PM on April 3, 2017
Best answer: I wouldn't do this. I just checked and Grenada to Barcelona is something like nine hours of driving. I don't know how much time switching from a car to a train in Valencia would add, but I'd imagine at least a couple of hours.
The main point of renting a car in Europe is so that you can take back roads, see the countryside, check out-of-the-way towns and villages. You will not have much, if any, time to do this given your proposed itinerary.
I'd suggest one of three options:
1) If you are really set on doing Mardid, Grenada and Barcelona, fly from Grenada to Barcelona.
2) Forget about Grenada and find a place that's not too far out of the way from Mardid and Barcelona. I've heard good things about the Catalonian coast, for example.
3) Forget about Barcelona, and do Madrid plus a road trip through Andalusia. This could include Grenada, Seville (highly recommended) and maybe a day or two roaming the countryside and visiting wineries and stuff.
On driving: I drove in Portugal and Spain last year. The roads were good. Some of the country roads were narrow but not too bad, and the highways were excellent (better than US interstates). The only thing that weirded me about about the local driving habits was that many people go very very fast on the narrow country roads; this is a little unnerving at first but they're not shy about passing, so just relax and let them go around you.
My two main pieces of advice for driving would be: A) Avoid the old centers of cities and large towns as much possible. If you want to check out a town, park on the outskirts of the center and walk. B) Get the smallest possible car you can rent for your needs. Parking spaces are very tight by US standards.
posted by breakin' the law at 10:33 AM on April 4, 2017
The main point of renting a car in Europe is so that you can take back roads, see the countryside, check out-of-the-way towns and villages. You will not have much, if any, time to do this given your proposed itinerary.
I'd suggest one of three options:
1) If you are really set on doing Mardid, Grenada and Barcelona, fly from Grenada to Barcelona.
2) Forget about Grenada and find a place that's not too far out of the way from Mardid and Barcelona. I've heard good things about the Catalonian coast, for example.
3) Forget about Barcelona, and do Madrid plus a road trip through Andalusia. This could include Grenada, Seville (highly recommended) and maybe a day or two roaming the countryside and visiting wineries and stuff.
On driving: I drove in Portugal and Spain last year. The roads were good. Some of the country roads were narrow but not too bad, and the highways were excellent (better than US interstates). The only thing that weirded me about about the local driving habits was that many people go very very fast on the narrow country roads; this is a little unnerving at first but they're not shy about passing, so just relax and let them go around you.
My two main pieces of advice for driving would be: A) Avoid the old centers of cities and large towns as much possible. If you want to check out a town, park on the outskirts of the center and walk. B) Get the smallest possible car you can rent for your needs. Parking spaces are very tight by US standards.
posted by breakin' the law at 10:33 AM on April 4, 2017
Response by poster: Ultimately we dropped Grenada and stuck to Madrid and Barcelona. My wife now jokes that we flew to Spain just to ride trains in another country.
posted by thecaddy at 4:28 PM on May 19, 2017
posted by thecaddy at 4:28 PM on May 19, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
First, the highway and gas are much more expensive (assuming you're used to American prices). I think we paid ~$70 in highway tolls.
Second, parking is difficult. Street parking is narrow and parking garages are expensive. Also (some) parking garages are not open on Sundays, so if you arrive or leave on a Sunday you may be forced to find street parking and then hike to your hotel with your luggage.
Third, the streets can be difficult to navigate. The old city centres were not built for cars and are narrow, twisty, and sometimes have stairs. Your navigation system may not understand that cars can not go down stairs.
posted by ethidda at 11:55 AM on April 3, 2017 [1 favorite]