Driving from Barcelona to Venice: Where to visit and how to avoid one-fees for car hire?

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This was published 7 years ago

Driving from Barcelona to Venice: Where to visit and how to avoid one-fees for car hire?

By Michael Gebicki
Serrano and Iberian Ham for sale at La Boqueria Food Market, Barcelona,Spain.

Serrano and Iberian Ham for sale at La Boqueria Food Market, Barcelona,Spain. Credit: iStock

THINKING OF DRIVING FROM BARCELONA TO VENICE WITH THREE DAYS AT LAKE COMO. ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR WHERE TO VISIT IN SPAIN AND FRANCE OVER TWO WEEKS, AND WHAT ABOUT EXORBITANT ONE-WAY FEES FOR THE HIRE CAR? C. EVANS, HAWTHORN EAST

There's no getting around the one-way car hire fee. Although the Costa Brava is pretty enough and Girona is a lovely city that sees far fewer visitors than it deserves, you could take a train between Barcelona and the French border as far as Perpignan and pick up a vehicle from one of several car hire offices at the station. From there my overnight stops would be in or close to Saint-Remy-de-Provence and Antibes. Spend three nights in each and use these towns as bases for exploring Provence and the French Riviera. Drop the hire car at Antibes or Nice, and you're still in France so there should be no one-way fee. You've got about eight days in hand and since your plans involve Lake Como and Venice you might dispense with a hire car altogether. On Lake Como a car is not necessary, the lake ferries are a much better way to get around. The train from Antibes to Lake Como takes about round 6½ hours so spend three nights on the lake, and somewhere between Lenno and Tremezzina would be a good choice. Devote the remaining five days to Venice, about a four-hour train ride away.

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