Spain/Portugal/Gibraltar - Barcelona to Girona?

Greetings. My wife and I will be arriving on Delta into Barcelona for a two week bike tour. We need to transfer to Girona where the tour starts. As we will be originating in Oregon and will each have our own bike (packed in a bike box), I was looking for the easiest way to get to Girona. We will be tired and am thinking of renting a driver to get us there. Any other thoughts? We could take the train, but it involves a lot of lugging our bikes around. I am getting about $230 for a car and driver one way? Thanks.

Sounds like a lot of fun. I cycled into & out of Girona a couple of times but for not as long a time.

You could take the train although I'm unsure of the bikes. IIRC that route does not allow bikes on board, although in your case if they are still in the cases that might be treated as "just" luggage.

The $230 fare doesn't sound bad. Two years ago we paid about 150-160 Euros, i.e. about as much, to be transfered from Girona to Ribes de Freser up at the edge of the Pyrenees.

Feel free to ask any questions (by PM or otherwise)

Enjoy!

Taking the train is much easier than you think. You only need to change once at Sants (the main station in Barcelona). There are frequent trains from BCN to Sants, and probably 2-3 trains an hour from there to Girona. Spanish trains are really nice, and they are clean, reliable and nearly always on time.

You might also want to think about going by bus. There is a direct service from Barcelona to Girona (http://www.alsa.es/portal/site/Alsa).

Either option will be much cheaper than a car/driver. And probably just as quick (Barcelona traffic can be bad when you need to get from the south side of the city to the north side).

I agree that the Spanish trains work well and would be cheaper than a hired car. However there is the issue of the bicycles. Here is the link to the bicycles page on www.renfe.es: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/info/bicicletas.html.

I agree that the Spanish trains work well and would be cheaper than a hired car. However there is the issue of the bicycles. Here is the link to the bicycles page on www.renfe.es: http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/info/bicicletas.html.

Shouldn't be a problem because train travel from Barcelona to Girona is via Media Distancia service. Agree that taking a bike on a longer distance train can be hit-or-miss, though.