Spanish Road Trip – Barcelona to San Sebastian

We opted in renting a car and driving from Barcelona to San Sebastian, with a stop in the Rioja region.  It seemed kind of romantic idea to drive through the Spanish countryside and see the sites along the way.  Realistically, it is probably as romantic as it sounds.  A road trip is a road trip, no matter where you are driving.  Just like when you take a road trip in the US, there are sections of your trip that are long, a little boring, and the some of scenery is dull.   However, there are still things that you will see and experience that would not been seen in a plane or a train?  So if you enjoy driving, enjoy taking road trips, and can handle making a wrong turn and getting lost once in a while, then I say you should experience a road trip in a foreign country, at least once. 

Here is what we encountered on our drive.

Once you get out Barcelona, the drive is actually pretty easy. Although I am speaking as the passenger.  My husband, the driver, might say different. However, I was really surprised how little traffic there were on the motorways.  The traffic you did encounter, most everyone was going the speed limit, and not always driving in the fast lane.  We didn’t feel like we were driving on roads with crazy, lunatic drivers.

We purchased a Driving through Spain book to familiarize ourselves with the motorway signs that we might encounter along the way.  My husband, who was the one going to drive, read some sites on general driving rules and tips for driving in Spain.  If you have never encountered a roundabout, familiarize yourself with how to drive in a roundabout.  Spain is full of them.  You don’t want to end up like the Griswold’s and be stuck driving in one all night.  Although there were a couple of times I thought we just might. Also ensure you have an old school paper map.  You know those things that you used to use before Google Maps.  We tried to use our cell phones as little as possible, and the map came in very handy.

Taking a road trip in Spain is a little different than in the US.  In the US, you are used to having services available at pretty much most exits, such truck stops, any fast food restaurant or Starbucks.  In Spain this is the not the case.  You will not see a McDonalds or a coffee stand right off the side of the road.

 On your journey you will probably see a lot of these signs.  At first when we saw this we had no idea what it meant.  We called it is time to potty time.  However, when you drive long enough (and do a google search as soon as wireless is available), you learn it stands for picnic area. These are similar to rest stops in the US. The area has some picnic tables that always seem to be under a tree for shading.  Which I am sure this is nice on a summer day. We never stopped at these, but I learned later that Spaniards bring food with them and stop at the picnic area. You will see gas stations.  We stopped at several along the way, and each one offered something a little different.  One was just a very small mini mart, another one had mini mart to it with small variety of hot food to choose from.  The best one we stopped at reminded me of a Spanish smorgasbord.  It offered various tapas, some hot dishes, salads and fresh sandwiches with the delicious cured meat.  They also served little bottles of wine.  It was a perfect Spanish road stop picnic.

When you decide to drive, you think we will stop off, see some sights along the way. However, it just didn’t seem that there a lot of signs with attractions or things to stop to see.  Where we were traveling, if you wanted to exit to go to a town or village you had to pay a toll to do this.  It is a little difficult to read and understand the toll signs when you are driving the 60 MPH.  So we never really ventured off the motorways.  Also with road trips you want to get to your destination and/or you are running behind, and want to or need to get to your hotel before a certain time.  Even though we did not make any stops or explore along the way, Spain provided a beautiful backdrop of scenery for us to enjoy along the way. Below are some picture from our drive through Spain.

In a future post, I will provide more information about what you need to know about driving in Spain, and things to consider when you are planning your driving adventure.  

Spain - Barcelona

This was my first trip to Spain.  It always hard to decide what cities to visit when you are visiting a country for the first time.  Since I knew I wanted to go to San Sebastian, we opted to fly in and stay in Barcelona for a couple of days.

I didn’t know anything about Barcelona or any ideas on hotels to say at.  Barcelona Tourist Guide provides a breakdown of all the Barcelona neighborhoods, transportation information, and nearby hotels.  Use this to familiarize with your city, and you might get some ideas of attractions you might want to visit while you are there. 

Where to Stay

I always use TripAdvisor to when I start looking at hotels.  I look to see what the highly rated hotels are, where they are and the average cost.  My preference is to try to find a “local hotel” vs. a chain hotel (Hilton, Sheraton,etc).  I want to try to get the local experience if I can.  However, depending on where you are traveling the chain hotels might be best. Once I locate some hotels that look nice, within my price range, have higher ratings, I begin reading reviews.  With any type of review you have to take some with a grain of salt.  I do appreciate reviewers that provide a clear description of their stay and why or why they did not like their stay.

I finally decided on Hotel Montecarlo.  It was a great hotel.  Right on Rambles street, which for being our visit it was worth experiencing Barcelona Main Street and all the sights, sounds and people it provided.  The hotel was clean, comfortable, and the staff were very friendly and helpful.  We had to stay an extra night due to a reservation conflict at our next hotel, and they were very accommodating.  We stayed in the big standard natural light room.  The room was a nice size, plenty of storage and was very quiet for the location.

Staying on Rambles street, it easy to walk to a lot of restaurants, cafes, old town, attractions, etc.  However, if you are not up for walking, it was always east to hail a cab, or the metro stops are nearby.

What to Do

Of course we did most of your first time visits tourists visits, which I will not list out. You can find all of this information in any good guide book or travel site to decide what you want to see.  However, I will share one of the things I enjoyed the most about Barcelona. Walking the little streets of old town (Gothic Quarter). As you walk through the small narrow streets, you will see architecture dating back to the 14^th century to modern day.  It is fun to see a mix of the old and the new.  The architecture is amazing and this experience is not anything you will ever experience in the US.  You don’t have to be in a rush or have an itinerary, you just follow the roads and see where they take you.  Stroll into the 14^th century church and listen to the sounds or the music.  Sit in a pew, ad just take in all the history and the beauty. Take a break in a little café, and pretend to be a local.  A place to definitely visit in the old town is Picasso Museum.  The museum occupies 5 palaces dating back to the 13^th -15^th century.  Not only is the art great, you get a bit of glimpse inside the palaces.  The entrance alone is pretty spectacular.  If you are going to visit, buy your tickets online beforehand.  The lines can get pretty long, and you do not want to waste your vacation waiting in line.

OH..The Food!

Just like trying to decide where to stay and where to stay, trying to decide where to eat is the biggest challenge.  So many wonderful places to eat, but there is no way of even skimming the surface of all the great flavors that Spain has to offer. 

In searching for restaurants and bar, I use the following apps on my phone or websites:

      Foursquare

      Chef’s Feed

       FED Guide

      Google

Here is what I found using these tools.

Boadas Cocktails – this bar was located right down from hotel.  And what grabbed my attention about the bar is that it is the oldest cocktail bar in Barcelona, dating back to the 1930’s.  It does not get more authentic and Spanish this.  When you walk in it is like stepping into a speakeasy in the 1930’s.  The bar is cozy, intimate, with a touch of class and nostalgia. The bartenders are wearing tuxedos, and make martins with a certain flair that I have never seen before.  It was such a treat to find such a place.  I only wish there was one of these in my neighborhood.  If you go, try the cocktail of the day.  More than likely you never heard of and it may not be familiar with the ingredients. When in Barcelona, drink like the locals!

Tapas 24 – This restaurant was within walking distance from our hotel.  I decided to go here based on the reviews I read.  All the reviews said it was delicious, and it was. We had to wait about an hour to get in.  I about have up, and went down the street to a place that did not have a wait, but I am glad I waited it out.  Try whatever looks good to you, because it will be good.  The atmosphere is little crowded and little loud, but also fun and lively.

Quimet & Quimet – this wonderful treasure we stumbled across by chance, and what a wonderful chance it was.  We visited Montjuic, and were ready for something to eat.  The choices in the area where were limited.  I used Foursquare to see what was nearby, and this Quimet & Quimet came up as a top choice.  It is located at the bottom of the hill, which is about a 5 or 10 minute taxi ride.  After walking around for most of the afternoon, I was ready to sit have a cold drink and some good food.  Well sitting is not much of an option.  There are just a couple of tables, but it is mostly belly up to the bar, and rub elbows with your neighbors has you eat your tapas.  No one seems to really care that we are kind of squished in the bar, because we are all just enjoying the wonderful tapas. One of the best tapas we had was the montadito (a small, open-faced sandwich) of smoked salmon with Greek yogurt and truffled honey.  It doesn’t like these items goes together, but it is the perfect balance of sweet and savory.

An Adria Brothers restaurant – if you are a foodie then you know Ferran and Albert Adria or El Bulli.  Since El Bulli closed, the brothers opened Tickets and 41 Degrees.  From what I could tell 41 seemed to resemble El Bulli, with a couple of items that were on the El Bulli menu, but had a cocktail focus.  41 has since closed, but Albert is working on a revamped 41 Degrees called Enigma.  When is Barcelona  make a reservation at one of Adria brother’s restaurant. It is an eating experience that cannot be missed!

Barcelona is a top city, and I will always have fond memories of my time spent there.  I highly recommend that you add it to your travel bucket list. 

Traveling thru Spain

In September 2013, my boyfriend and I traveled to Spain.  Spain and been on my bucket list for a while.  Between watching several episodes of Anthony in Barcelona and San Sebastian, reading about The Ferran brothers, thinking about all the cured meat, I just had to go.  The planning I did for this trip was geared towards these activities, in this order; what restaurant will I eat at, what wine I will drink, and what I will see/visit in between meals.  I will document my Spanish experiences in 4 different blogs:

·                 Spain - Barcelona

·                 Spanish Road Trip – Barcelona to San Sebastian

·                 Spanish Detour – Biarritz, France

·                 Spain – San Sebastian

So if you are interested in learning more about how to eat your way through Spain, with you stops in between, then you want to keep on reading.