caroline.kyungae

Hi Flyertalk! I am taking a three-week trip to Spain in June and am considering renting a car to road trip around the country as there are a lot of places I'd like to see/experience and I don't want to be restricted to bus schedules or spend the money on in-country flights.

Has anyone done this and/or could anyone recommend the most cost-efficient way to do this? I have heard about the car rental agency Centauro which apparently allows you to rent cars with unlimited mileage.

My proposed itinerary:
Madrid
Toledo
Segovia
Seville
Cordoba
Cadiz+Jerez (optional)
Granada
Valencia
Bilbao
San Sebastian
Barcelona
Figueres

Thank you in advance!

Winston3-4

If you're starting in Madrid, take the train to Toledo for goodness sake. After doing that, if you still want to rent a car, have at it. The convenience of that single trip will almost certainly give you second thoughts.

spainlover

I think there's a lot of value in having a car rental in Spain as there are so many fantastic places off the beaten path. Saying that as someone who has mostly gotten around via public transportation, but wishes she could have explored more.
I did do a one-way rental once from Madrid Barajas, returning at XRY (Jerez Airport). I believe it was with National, though it may have been with Europcar. Don't remember much on cost.

JR14

Completely agree, but caroline.kyungae, are you planning to do "off the beaten path" locations? If so, renting a car will be great.

If you're planning to stick to the cities listed on the posted itinerary, I'd do some serious research on whether renting a car will actually be more practical than just taking buses and trains. Remember that with a car you'll have to deal with parking in all these major cities!

The website rome2rio.com might be a good starting place to just see how one can get from point A to point B, and what takes longer. Also check out the Spanish bus websites (Alsa is a big one).

And if you do end up renting a car, you might think about going to some smaller destinations like the white villages in Andalusia or somewhere like Cudillero in the north -- make the most of that mobility!

caroline.kyungae

Thanks everyone for the insight. I'm totally open to going to places off the beaten path--I just don't know what those places would be! Open to any and all suggestions.

JR14

Aside from the white villages (especially Ronda and Arcos de la Frontera) in Andalusia and Cudillero up north, I've heard great things about Merida (and its Roman ruins) in Extremadura. A lot of the national parks look pretty amazing too -- for example, the Picos de Europea national park is very scenic and the red salt lakes (salinas) in Lagunas de la Mata y Torrevieja Natural Park might be worth a visit.

Disclaimer: Out of all of those, I've only visited the white villages and Cudillero, but the rest are on my list!

Would love to hear other people's recommendations for "off the beaten path" places to visit, too

spainlover

I highly recommend some of the beaches and villages between Cadiz and Tarifa (don't skip that part of the trip!). Tarifa is a personal favorite, but also Canos de Meca, Zahara de los Atunes, Bolonia, Vejer de la Frontera.
You could also stop in La Rioja for some great wine.
Along the coast north of Barcelona, Tossa de Mar is really beautiful.
Just a handful of suggestions there.