Barcelona Weekend Break

Car rental

Renting a hire car for a holiday in Barcelona could not be easier. Barcelona is a large and cosmopolitan city and it receives massive numbers of visitors form all over the world.

Because of both the size of the city and the number of travellers that it sees, Barcelona has many car rental companies. You will find all of the big international car rental names like Alamo, Holiday Autos and Hertz, and you will also find a number of possibly less familiar Spanish (and Mainland European) car hire companies. Examples include Record Rent a Car and Sixt car rental.

The easiest and cheapest way to rent a car or vehicle for a vacation or weekend break is to make the booking in advance. In most cases early bookings get the best deals because at the beginning of the season the rental companies are eager to get business and they often offer special deals, vehicle upgrades or an extra day free.

Last minute bookings can be good value, but only if the company in question has plenty of cars available for the dates that you are after. If this is the case they may decide to cut prices in order to gain business and you may be the beneficiary of a good deal. If however, most of their vehicles are already reserved the opposite will happen and they will hike prices up knowing that demand will outstrip supply.

What kind of vehicle to rent

Always think about the type of vehicle that you want to rent in the context of how much you will use it, where you are located, and how many passengers you will have in the vehicle.

Small economy cars are ideal for local journeys where there are a maximum of two adults and two children. If the journeys will be short and the streets are busy (e.g. like Barcelona), these circumstances reinforce this decision, but think carefully if you intend to make longer journeys.

If you think that you will travel outside of Barcelona and cover a reasonable number of Kilometres, consider a bigger car. A bigger engine will make the journey easier if you have to cover the surrounding hills and elevated areas and, on longer and faster journeys, it will be almost as economic. A bigger car also means more room, both for passengers and any luggage or items that get bought along the way.

Check the car

When you pick up your rental car, typically at the airport, give the vehicle a thorough check before you drive off.

Normally a representative from the rental company will complete a diagrammatic form that indicates any existing damage to the car prior to you taking possession of it. However, it is not unusual for an area of damage to be omitted or missed and this is your only chance to point this out to the rental company. Discovering any un-noted damage at a later stage may see you paying an excess for damage done by someone else.

Finally, if you made your car rental reservation online, ensure that you have a printed version of all of the details to take with you. If not you will be unable to collect the vehicle without a lot of hassle.

Holiday Autos - Cheapest car rental in Barcelona