I'm new to the Spain section of this board, as I can't believe that we have yet to set foot into Spain. We are thinking about doing so in very late May and the first week of June.
We would be dipping down into Spain after a 3 week stay in SW France. We think we might spend a week with a car between the French border and Barcelona, then spend maybe 3 days in Barcelona without our car, flying home from there.

We are thinking of the Costa Brava, as it sounds very appealing. We would like to spend a couple days in a simple B&B or hotel that is beautifully located. At that time of year, could we find it when we get there, or would we have to make advanced reservations? That's probably my main question.

I'd prefer to make it up as we go if possible. If the weather is clear, we might like to spend more time in the mountains, who knows. If the weather is cloudy and the mountains aren't clearly visible we'd move on. I'm not interested in the beach, but the coastal communities and the scenery along the Costa Brava sound quite nice. I don't know the actual driving times involved, but ideally we would spend a few days in the mountains, a few days on the Costa Brava, then our final days in Barcelona. We can always return for a more in depth trip later, which is our preference.

I'll focus on Barcelona later. Any recommendations of course are welcome. I've already spied some good info on this forum.

Linda

Hey, I'm already responding to my own post. Hotels reviews recently posted for Niu de Sol look amazing. Maybe this is my place and would be worth making a reservation if necessary! Is this just what I'm looking for? How empty might they be the first week of June for a couple that isn't wanting to commit?

Linda

Hi;
I've posted a review of Niu. We found Merce very accommodating regarding our plans. We extended our stay and she juggled reservations so we didn't have to move rooms. She was great in responding to all our questions and straightforward with what she could (and couldn't) do. She responds quickly to emails.
There are two sections to her place because of regulations regarding designations: Niu de Sol - a rural hotel; and El Cau de Palau - a rural tourismo. Both are the same place but different parts of the building. We stayed in the Niu section - green room.

I have a trip report regarding the region in the queue awaiting approval. If your trip is imminent, if you email me (address in profile),I can send a copy to you.

It's a great area even if one doesn't go near a beach.
Buen Viaje
Dennis

Thanks, Dennis. I see your trip report was just posted!
This hotel looks wonderful.

If anyone has been to Catalunya (rural, north of Barcelona) in early June - Can we expect summer crowds, with restaurants and hotels be full? Or is this still an uncrowded shoulder season?

Linda

I wish I could help you Linda but I'm not going until October! My only thought is, you should be able to get a base somewhere for a week and make day trips, rather than moving all around. I don't think it's that far down to Barcelona. We are a week in Girona, and plan to make day trips north from there - maybe into France even (I am waiting for my brother's band to figure out their Barcelona date as they will be playing while we are an hour away - don't want to miss that.)

I can't wait to hear how your plans come along.

Linda,

We are just back from Catalunya--like you we had never stepped into Spain and now can't imagine why we did not do this earlier. We stayed in a farm house Can Cruanyes and I have posted both a trip report and the review in this forum.

Regards,

Letha

I am confused about your trip dates 'late May and first week of June'; is this next year?

Shannon, we have come to the same conclusion. I think we will park ourselves in a great spot and daytrip from there. This is much more consistent with what we like to do, and as you said, I'm realizing that the distances are not great.
Letha, I read your report. Perfect reading for us! We're planning now for 2010 because of our need to get some timely FF tickets. We need dates and airports to do that.
You'll see me back on this section of the forum again as I need to do more planning! There has been a lot posted about the NE corner of Spain and it has been so helpful.
Linda