Barcelona Holiday, Fly, Hire, Drive, Ferry?

[zed4]

Hi,

I really want to go to Barcelona next year, I'll probably tie it in with the Grand Prix too.

At the moment I'm not really sure how to get down there. What would you do? I have the following options:

1. Drive all the way, so there's the short ferry crossing, lots of fuel in the Chimaera, B&B and food to get down there. Extra miles and wear on the car, european insurance and breakdown cover to sort out. But it should be a nice drive.

2. Get the ferry to Bilbao or Santander and drive across France. Quite expensive, around £400-600 depending if I have a cabin, a long time to be sat on a ferry and a bit boring. Quicker than driving down though.

3. Fly and hire a car out there. I've seen Sixt do an SLK or Z4 for about £400 for the week which seems reasonable. Should be a nice reliable car, got air con if it gets too hot, steering wheel is on the correct side and means more time in Spain for us. This is probably my favoured option. Can't help but wish I was in something more exciting though.

Any recommendations for sports car hire companies in Barcelona?

What would you do?

Thanks,

Dan

[Froomee]

The roads down the west of France are pretty nice as are the towns and cities. You could always do a few stop offs and make a holiday of it. Pretty sure getting to the Spain is easy as they have toll roads all the way there from the ferry in the North of France.

[CAPP0]

Only thing I would add is, if it's GP week and you want to hire a car, book it PDQ and try to get some sort of assurance that you won't get there to find that the SLKs/Z4s have all gone to Bernie's mob and you end up with a Seat instead.

[zed4]

Good point.

I would be planning on being there for a week, so will be there a few days prior to the F1.

[littleredrooster]

Option 1. Deffo.

Ferry to Le Havre or Caen; first night somewhere near Clermont Ferrand; the Relais du Puy is a lovely little family hotel run by petrolheads.

South to Millau Bridge for photos then on to somewhere near Barcelona - we stayed just up the coast at Calella which was a cheap-ish taxi fare from the circuit.

Return via West coast of France - Chatelaillon Plage (just south of La Rochelle) is a classy place.

Ferry home from Caen because there is an abundance of good restaurants only 100yds from the port for a good feed before the overnight ferry!

[Ari]

zed4 said:

3. Fly and hire a car out there. I've seen Sixt do an SLK or Z4 for about £400 for the week which seems reasonable. Should be a nice reliable car, got air con if it gets too hot, steering wheel is on the correct side and means more time in Spain for us. This is probably my favoured option. Can't help but wish I was in something more exciting though.

Does this suggest your car doesn't? Depending on the time of year you do NOT want to be down there roasting to death in a car without air con!

[chris7676]

IF you mean the city of Barcelona, you can fly there for peanuts (£50) and stay in the city without the car And then have a lovely drive somewhere local
I'm not sure mixing city with car is best. I would probably still fly and hire something reasonable / sporty for the days I want to drive.

As it looks like you want to drive around there, do your own calculations (crossing, petrol, possibly french tolls, wear & tear, hotels - unless intended as part of driving holidays).

Edited by chris7676 on Friday 23 August 16:51

[chris7676]

Ari said:

Does this suggest your car doesn't? Depending on the time of year you do NOT want to be down there roasting to death in a car without air con!

He might as a TVR owner. (I assume he would survive)

[zed4]

chris7676 said:

Ari said:

Does this suggest your car doesn't? Depending on the time of year you do NOT want to be down there roasting to death in a car without air con!

He might as a TVR owner. (I assume he would survive)

Lol!

No, no air con. It is a concern. Last year we drove to Italy in the VX220 and it was mega hot. Particularly queuing up for the Grand Prix car park, it was nearly unbearable!

I'm tempted to do as suggested, fly down, stay in a hotel, go to the F1, explore the city and maybe hire a sports car for a day or two to blast out of the city.