Driving Around The Costa Brava

by

Roberto Rodriguez

If you are flying into Barcelona Airport or Gerona Airport you should seriously think about hiring a car as there is not only much to see and do in both of these magnificent cities but also a beautiful coastline to explore.

I recently had to travel to Barcelona on a business trip and as I had a couple of days to spare I thought hiring a car at Barcelona Airport would be a good idea so that I could get to see as much as possible of the area within the short time that I had.Hiring a car at Barcelona Airport could not be easier and the whole process was very straight forward indeed and it was not long after I had arrived that I was leaving Barcelona Airport in my hire car.As I had previously travelled to Barcelona and already knew the city rather well, I decided to go on a bit of an adventure and drive up the Costa Brava towards Lloret de Mar to see what I could find and to discover a bit more of this region of Spain.My main objective was to visit the city of Gerona but instead of heading towards the AP7 motorway which leads up to Gerona city inland and away from the coast, I decided to take the scenic route along the coast and followed the C32 motorway and parts of the N-11 national road. This route was bound to take a little longer but I highly recommend it as you get to see some wonderful views of the Mediterranean Sea and also pass by some delightful towns along the way. The 30 minutes extra drive that it takes heading this way to Gerona from Barcelona Airport is well worth it to say the least.Heading out of Barcelona City can be a bit of a nightmare at the best of times from the city centre so be sure to avoid this and follow directions to the B-10 road from the airport which will take you around the city centre, along the port and towards Badalona via the C-31 motorway.Once you have passed the town of Badalona you can follow signs to the N-11 national road which follows the same path as the original Roman road and will take you right along the edge of the coastline and past the picturesque towns of El Masnou, Premia de Mar and Vilassar de Mar. The first two towns have small fishing ports and harbours and there are plenty of places to stop, admire the views and grab something to eat or drink.Along this route from Barcelona Airport and towards Mataro, which is the next town you will come across, you will notice a railway line that weaves its way around the coastline. This railway line which now forms part of the Renfe R1 suburban service was in fact the first ever railway in Spain and was opened in 1848.From the town of Mataro you can join the C-32 motorway once again and head up towards the tourist town of Blanes. The coast of Blanes has 4 km of different kinds of beaches, the most famous are Blanes beach and S’Abanell beach. Steep rocky cliffs and small inviting coves alternate within its scenery and it is well worth a visit.From the town of Blanes it is just a short drive along the coast road to Lloret de Mar which is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the Costa Brava. The main beach here which stretches over a mile is also considered as one of the best on the Costa Brava and is consistently awarded the blue flag for cleanliness.From here, the city of Gerona is just 40km away. As there is so much to see and do in Gerona city itself I decided to stay here for the night and spend the whole of the next day exploring the city. There are various hotels to choose from in and around Gerona but I decided to go for one just on the outskirts as most of these offer slightly better deals including free parking and with a hire car you can easily get to the city centre in a matter of minutes.After spending the whole day in Gerona I needed to get back to Barcelona Airport to catch my evening flight back home so I took the AP-7 motorway from Gerona to Barcelona which is a brilliant road to drive on and takes just around 1 hour to reach Barcelona Airport.Be sure to follow signs to the B-20 and El Prat de Llobregat once you begin to approach the city of Barcelona as this will take you around the busy city centre and directly towards the airport and car hire return car parks.Dropping off and checking in your hire car is even easier than picking it up and before you know it you will be in the departures lounge waiting for your flight. I thoroughly enjoyed my trip and it just goes to show how much you can discover and explore in just a couple of days if you hire a car from Barcelona Airport.I definitely plan to do it again some time soon to spend a little more time on the wonderful coastline that is the Costa Brava. Hopefully next time I will have even more time to get to know more of this region in north eastern Spain.

The author of this article is Roberto Rodriguez who specialises in writing airport guides including

Barcelona Airport

and

Gerona Airport

which contain detailed information on Barcelona Airport car hire and

Gerona Airport car hire

.

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Driving Around The Costa Brava}