Dear DJC,
Here I hope are some helpful comments and advice on the first part of your trip to Spain. These are based on living in Catalunya for 3.5 yrs in a small town north of Vic and driving around. I have also just come back from a 3 week trip to the States from Las Vegas up to Yellowstone via Salt lake City and basically driving in Spain is nothing like driving in America. For a start in America the streets in towns are so wide, cars so big, the hire car automatic, and most everybody obeys the speed limit. This is not true in Spain. The only similarity is that petrol is just as cheap.

The drivers go very fast in Spain and even more so in Portugal. You just have to look at the number of road accidents which are reported at every bank holiday on the news.

And in big cities as has already been said the roads are a nightmare. I still haven't driven through the centre of Barcelona and would only consider doing so in an emergency. The road signs are all in Catalan with some also in Spanish.

If you have never driven in Europe before I would seriously rethink you holiday plans.

ON what you might think is a more helpful note.
You arrive in Barcelona on Fri sept 10.

Sorry, I'm not very good with these computer things.
Setember 11th is Catalunyna's independence day and usually a bank holiday. There may still be a market in Vic but possibly not. And anyway the market is mostly cheap clothes, shoes some nice plant stalls and vegetable stalls. Sometimes you get farmers from smallholdings coming to sell fresh herbs and snails but the sausages-and they come in all shapes and sizes and are gorgeous-are sold in fantastic old butchers shops leading off the main plaza. These will be shut on a bank holiday.
So the main plaza or square in Vic is impressive as it is one of the largest in Spain but is better when there isn't a market and all the tables from the bars are outside under umbrellas and you can sit and drink some of the best coffee in the world. Because it is independence day there may be demonstrations of gigantes, castelles and sardanes. The first are dancing giants the second are the towers of people and the third is the traditional dancing of Catalunya. I'm sure you can find out more in the guide books.

Vic is only an hour on the train from Barcelona. You catch the train at Placa Catalunya or Sants station and they run about every hour. If the market is on it starts early and finishes about 1.00pm. If there are celebrations in the sqare these will be in the afternoon at about 5.00pm.

The station in Vic is at the top of the main street and the square is about three american blocks walking. There is also a tourist infomation office in Vic which you can probably contact to confirm all this information nearer the time.

So I suggest a taxi or walk to the station depending on where your hotel is, train to Vic and the reverse on your way home.

For Sunday sightseeing in Barcelona I would recommend the Barcelonabus the tourist bus which takes you all around the important sites in BCN. Its a double decker and once aboard you can stay on all day or get on and off where you like after you have decided what you want to see. It costs about 18 euros and you get a free booklet with discount tickets for entry to most of the important sites. (Not a very big discount)

Your next day is BCN , Tarragona and then Bilbao.
You must like driving. BCN to Tarragona is only 111kms and on the toll motorways should take only about 1.25 hours. The roman amphitheatre is fantastic the only problem is its not easy to find with large roundabouts (you don't have those in the USA) and one way systems. I drove there with a friend but after half an hour in the city trying to find the Roman remains in the car we gave up, parked and walked down the ramblas.

Again a train journey from BCN would be simpler with a taxi from the station.

Then you plan the 536 km trip to Bilbao. Its a 5 hour trip straight through. Though mostly toll roads and A roads you still have to navigate around Tarragona and Bilbao.

Again I would recommend the train for a comfortable and reasonable way to travel and see the countryside. All you need is light luggage and cases with wheels.

Well I've written enough and I hope it helps you to plan your trip. Good luck with your planning and if I find out about any interesting things happening I'll let you know.

Carp, thank you so much for the information! The reason we wanted to go to the Vic market was that we had read about the sausages. My husband is planning on eating his way though all the kinds of sausages in Spain – with a little cheese on the side. If the butcher shops are closed, our main reason for going there is gone. I did not realize that September 11th is Catalunyna's independence day. I assume that it will be celebrated throughout the area. The gigantes, castelles and sardines sound very interesting to see. Would foreign (Texan) tourists be welcome? If so, would you recommend that we stay in Barcelona or go to one of the smaller towns like Vic or Torello?

Learning facts like the ones you gave is one of the reasons that I have started planning this trip so early. I still have so many things to learn before finalizing our itinerary and making our reservations. Finding out the days and times that things are open and making sure that you can get in where you want to go takes time. We know that we will never get to go back so we are trying to see as large a cross-section of the country and people as possible.

The bus sounds like a good way to see parts of the City for people like us who can not walk a long way – and maybe meet some local people on the way. If we take a day trip to Vic or reverse the days and do a day trip to Tarragona, your suggestion about the train might make things easier even though we still want to drive to be able to go to all the little places we intend to stop at long the way.

I do like to drive and it is a good thing that I do because we live in a small town in the center of Texas (in what is called the Hill Country) and some days I have to be in court in San Antonio or Austin (120 miles) in the morning and home in time to cook dinner that night.

I hope you enjoyed your trip to the states. From some of the pictures I have seen, the area of northern Spain in the Pyrenees looks more beautiful than Yellowstone – but without the geysers and buffalo.

Thank you again for your help.

DJC,
I am going in nov04 will give u feedback on hostels.and i am planing to do city toure by
Hop-on Hop-off bus.

Dear DJC,

Just to expand on my info above,,,,

Search on google.com for - bus turistic barcelona which gives prices and lots of other info about visiting Catalunya by car or train, good places to visit etc.etc. Taking the tourist bus on a Sunday is a good idea as there is less traffic on the roads and it will be more enjoyable. AS the Sat is independence day the traffic in BCN will also be quieter cos everyone will have left for the beach or the mountains for the weekend.

I also puy into google - catalan independence day and it threw up a few sites which explained about it and what goes on that day.

Sausages.....oh how I miss those sausages in England.

To taste a selection your husband should order embotits and the restaurant should bring you a selection of sausage meats to try. Look at th e following website for pictures and explaination of some of the different sausage types from the most famous sausage maker. embotits artesans monts

then go to their professional catalogue and look at the handcrafted cooked pork products.....and salivate!!!!! Enjoy....be in touch.

Carp, again you had great info. I looked up some of the sites, including embotits artesans monts. My husband was thrilled to see the selection of sausages -- even though we don't know the kinds taste like. I contacted them today and found out that we can go right to the processing center and pick sausages up. Then eat on them and the cheeses and the tapas that everyone has been posting about.

Eddie, thank you for the cheese info. We actually hope to stay at the Posada del Valle rather than in Ribadasella itself, and the fabas/favas dish is listed a specialty at the near by restaurants. The drive south to Portes sounds like a good one. I finally found it on my map... So many of the different kinds of cheeses appear to come from that area.

It is not easy to drive in Spain, but the buses, trains and planes are very efficient. People drive fast and the road signs are not always clear. Be prepared to miss your turn and find yourself in some unplanned location. We also had a car breakdown and had problems with Hertz. We eventually got a new car, but we lost a full day of our trip. Parking is often a problem, especailly in larger towns and cities.
The nice thing about having a car is that you have more freedom.

Try to keep your plans simple and leave yourself time to sit in the small parks and appeciate the real feeling of Spain. Spain is much more than just running around seeing places in the tour books!!

Spain is a wonderful country