Originally Posted by
sinfonia
Neither of us have been to Spain. From what I have read, it is an easy day trip to the Pyrenees. Having said that, one thought I had was to rent a car from Barcelona, drive to Andorra (country), stay a night or two there, then drive up to through the Pyrenees, staying maybe three nights, and back to Barcelona.
Is this too much to do in 8 to 12 days? Too little to do in 8-12 days?
Not too much or too little. You can go at your own pace.
I've done a similar-ish trip with a few days in Barcelona followed by drive up to a friend's place in a village near Perpignan and a few days there. Being Europe-based we didn't need to tick off much sight-seeing, more relaxing and just walking around, but there's definitely plenty to see.
Are there cafes to go just hang out? Is it realistic for the other person to go adventuring solo there or is this unsafe as I read about travel scams, etc? I would not say that situational awareness is my strong-suit but I am not super gullible either.
Absolutely you can each do your own thing and you will find plenty of cafes to hang out. Barcelona is perfectly safe - unless you're a bit of a numpty you're not going to get scammed. Up in the Pyrenees it's a slower pace of life and again you'll be fine.
Last, I read here on FT that driving in Spain and the Pyrenees is not any more difficult than other European destinations, but it occurred to me that most car rentals are standard transmissions there. I am very comfortable driving standard transmissions - drove one for many years - but never was an expert at driving standard transmission uphill from a stop in windy hills where I tried to prevent it from rolling back (before going off a cliff backwards) but then would punch it too hard and burn the clutch a bit. How tight and narrow are these turns in the Pyrenees in terms of this driving issue?
Tight and narrow. To be frank, if you're used to American roads you may well find it quite daunting - especially parking. But that shouldn't stop you doing it. I would just recommend getting excess insurance for your hire car, just in case.
