# Question on Driving from Barcelona (or Madrid) to Marbella



## tim (Jun 15, 2009)

We are planning a family trip next year to Spain and may have to drive from Barcelona to Marbella or maybe from Madrid to Marbella.  Has anybody done either of those drives?  My wife is worried about the drive from Barcelona to Marbella as taking forever and dangerous.  Any thoughts?  Thanks.  Tim


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## stmartinfan (Jun 15, 2009)

We did the drive from Madrid to the Marbella area.  We actually spent one night in Seville on the way to sightsee there. After a week in a timeshare in the area, we flew from Malaga to Barcelona.  We had considered driving but after looking at the distance and route decided it would be longer than we wanted to spend driving.  We really loved Barcelona so would encourage you to go there as well.


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## Jimster (Jun 15, 2009)

*Train*

Why not take the Train?


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## tim (Jun 16, 2009)

Jimster said:


> Why not take the Train?



I didn't give much thought to a train as we want a rental car in the Marbella area.  Also, counting me there are 5 in my family so a train can be rather expensive.  Although, finding a reasonably priced rental car for 5 with all of our luggage is always a challenge as well.  I travel with 4 lovely ladies (wife and 3 daughters) and I swear they take half the house with when we go on vacation.


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## Jimster (Jun 16, 2009)

*luggage*

I have a wife and two daughters.  I had the same problem for a while- - - then they had to start carrying their own luggage.  Now they pack more reasonably.  We go to Europe 2 or 3 times a year and they have learned it is no fun to cart their luggage around and they also have found out it is no fun to have it lost in transit.  Another thing that stops that right in the bud is to tell them they can buy some things in Europe but they can not add to their current luggage and the weight has to be the same or less.  So if you want to buy in Europe- leave as much room as you can for your purchases in the one bag that is allowed.  To be quite  honest with you, I do not find it humorous (I used to) to have a wife or daughters that couldn't learn to pack sensibly.   There have been some heated discussions on here about packing but now that they start charging you (unless you are an elite as I am) for your baggage, then it even makes less sense than before.  Quite simply I won't stand for it and they know it.  As for taking the train, even with 5 I opt for the train.  That is how Europeans travel and it is a more genuine experience.  When everything is said and done, I bet the car costs more.  In fact, I wouldn't just take the train- I'd probably take the first class cabin.  You are there to enjoy yourself and driving in European traffic won't allow that to  happen.


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## ecwinch (Jun 16, 2009)

tim said:


> We are planning a family trip next year to Spain and may have to drive from Barcelona to Marbella or maybe from Madrid to Marbella.  Has anybody done either of those drives?  My wife is worried about the drive from Barcelona to Marbella as taking forever and dangerous.  Any thoughts?  Thanks.  Tim



We did the Madrid to Marbella trip by car and were fine. The roads are well marked highways, and we did not have a problem. It was a long day after our flight, and I did most of the driving, while my friends crashed.

One tip if you go from Madrid to Marbella. Give some thought to making a short detour and routing through Cordoba to see the Mezquita or Great Mosque, in Cordoba. You take a different route to get to Marbella, but it is one of the top sites in Spain. The 90 minutes or so it adds to your trip is worth it times 10. Truly remarkable site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Mosque_at_Cordoba

We rented a mini-van from Hertz. Cost for the week was about $500 in 2008.


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## beejaybeeohio (Jun 16, 2009)

*Tolls*

In Spain, we travelled from Marbella to Granada, to Seville, and to Gibraltar using the toll roads.  Be prepared for them, and while most take credit cards, have euro coins handy as well.

The speed limit is 120kph but most drivers go faster than that.  Be prepared for them to come up suddenly behind you, pass you and then return to the right lane so quickly you think you're going to be clipped.

BTW, driving the highways was not the challenge in Spain- the narrow streets in towns and cities were!


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## stopfraud (Jul 16, 2009)

*Driving in Spain*

This is our experience. We just came back from a month in Spain (actually three weeks ago). We arrived at Malaga and we spent one week each at two different resorts and the rest of the time at different places. We were renting a car all the time, so we drove a lot on the coast to the East (to Almeria), to the West (Marbella, Gibraltar, Tarifa), and inland (Granada, Sevilla, Ronda, Jerez) in addition to a boat trip to Tunisia.
I’d say highway driving there was better than in the States (at least compared to the part we live in): roads are in excellent condition, signs are clear and not confusing. Generally, people seem to drive well above the speed limit – but I haven’t seen anyone stopped. On the other hand, I had to pay 105 Euros for not wearing the seatbelt.  One note: between Malaga and Gibraltar (before Estapona) there are sections of toll roads (AP-7). In my opinion, unless you are in a big hurry, they are not worth taking them. They are a bit faster, but it is a nuisance getting on them, you don’t see much except trees and hills, and you pay.  Just stay on A-7, or even better, on N-340.
As BJB mentioned, driving in cities are a different animal. It is maddening. We spent many hours in any city trying to find a place – a hotel or whatever – even with a map in our hands. A jungle of narrow one-way streets, you cannot read the street names, no place to park, you cannot stop to try to figure out where you are, and often we got farther and farther away from the place we were trying to get to. And there seemed to be a subway construction almost everywhere we went to, throwing us off completely. In one city (Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote, Canary Islands) even after one week there, the only way we could drive from one part of the city to another was by driving out of town in one direction, going around it on a highway, then returning to the other part. I don’t know the solution. A taxi all the time?
All this should not discourage you. We enjoyed the trip and saw a lot of interesting places. It was fun.
One more thing; be prepared for a price shock, due to the low dollar/euro ratio. A simple dinner for two in a small little place: 45 Euros.  Oh, OK, you say, but after when you convert it into dollars, you will say it was just too expensive. And watch out for the water. They might put a bottle on your table and will charge you 2.50 Euros for it – unless you tell them that you did not order it and did not use it.
So much for now.


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## Passepartout (Jul 16, 2009)

Tim, it's a looonnngg way. About 1100km by the most direct route, and 1200ish via Madrid. You will be needing a minivan at the least for your party and luggage and with gas about $8/gal after you do the convoluted math to convert litres to gallons and Euros to dollars. This drive will also be no walk-in-the-park after an all night flight unless you sleep better on airplanes than I do. Even so, it's about 10 hrs driving time minimum.

If you are bent on flying into Barcelona, I'm with Jimster. The train is the way to go. Better yet, fly the whole mob into Malaga. Even Madrid will be closer and have better- less expensive- connections.

Then, of course, you will be driving a (by local standards) huge vehicle for the duration of your European visit. Believe me, as one who's been there, done that, in Europe, smaller is better. Even if you need 2 of them for your family. 

Hopefully we've dissuaded you from plan 'A', and got you working on a back-up plan. 

Good luck and enjoy your European adventure!

Jim Ricks


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