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Ways of moving to Barcelona, Spain
If you can afford it, why not put the whole enterprise of moving
to Spain with a reliable moving company? Maybe even a Spanish
removal company. However, most of us can't afford this option,
so I've also covered travelling to Spain by cross channel ferry,
or by taking the Motor Rail to Barcelona.
Ferries to Spain
There are two options: Brittany Ferries and P&O; I chose Brittany
Ferries. You do have to drive to Plymouth to catch the Brittany
ferry but their ferries are newer and cross the Channel in 18 hours.
The P&O ferries go from Portsmouth but take longer to cross
the channel.
The Brittany ferry arrives in Santander and the P&O ferry
in Bilbao, so not much difference in distance between the two
once you get to Spain.
 If
you book online with Brittany Ferries you get a discount of about £5.
Beware though, if you book a return journey because it’s
cheaper than a single trip, you will be charged more if you don’t
use your return ticket.
I can highly recommend the Brittany Ferry. The service was excellent,
food was great, the cabin was small but very clean and everything
ran to time.
Driving from Santander to Barcelona was easy; I think the
most difficult part was arriving in busy Barcelona traffic at 7pm.
It took about 8 hours which included several stops along the way
to have a break from driving and to have something to eat and drink.
If you take the toll roads most of the journey is free of heavy
traffic and it costs about €38 in toll fees.
www.brittanyferries.co.uk
www.poferries.com
French Motor Rail
This was an option I seriously considered. You can drive your
car on to the train in Paris and then relax on the train all the
way to Narbonne (near the Spanish border). Again you can book a
cabin and get a good night’s sleep. Narbonne to Barcelona is
about a three hour drive.
However, if you use the Motor Rail, you still have to get to Paris,
so you need to look at options of getting across the Channel (see
right-column). There is Eurotunnel, of course and various
ferry companies. It goes without saying that you need to arrange
your cross-channel journey to coincide with the check-in times
stipulated by French Motor Rail.
Motor Rail has strict length and height restrictions for cars,
so you need to make sure you are within the limits.
www.raileurope.co.uk/frenchmotorail
www.eurail.com
www.eurostar.com
Using a removal company
There are international moving companies that you can employ to
do all the hard work for you, some specialise in moving to Spain.
I recommend you look in your Yellow Pages and get some quotes.
I obtained quotes from six companies and the prices ranged from
between £500 – £1,000 (this was based on moving
the contents of a small flat, not including furniture).
It can take up to two weeks for your belongings to arrive at your
new address in Spain. These companies usually run a container load
every week or every two weeks over to Spain and back. They wait
until the container is full, then set off. As I had some very fragile
items to pack, such as computers and a large screen, I decided
not to choose this option. But if you are making a permanent move
and have all of your possessions to move, I think this is probably
your best bet.
Hotels in Barcelona
Before you actually arrive in Spain laden with all your worldly
processions, you will probably need several reconnaissance trips
to check out where you want to live and to find a flat.
If you need to find a hotel in Barcelona the Hotel Pronto group
have several hotels in the city, and they are a good place to start.
You can book
hotels online.
About my trip
When I moved to Barcelona I decided to travel as light as possible.
Most of my baggage was made up of work items – my personal
items fitted into two backpacks. However, the car (an estate) was
packed full of computer equipment and files for my work; I’m
a graphic designer.
 My
move to Barcelona is a temporary one. I plan to be here for one
year, so I could afford to travel light. I had help too –
from my brother who offered to drive me to Barcelona in his car,
and from a friend, who came to Barcelona to help me move and to
do an intensive language course. So, after looking at the various
ways to travel: drive all the way through France, take the motor-rail
through France or get the ferry to Santander, we chose the latter.
We travelled from Banbury, Oxfordshire to Plymouth where we took
the Brittany ferry overnight to Santander. I can recommend this
as a way to travel; you get a good night’s sleep (if you
book a cabin) which prepares you for the drive ahead, and as long
as you enjoy travel by boat (and the sea’s not too rough!)
it’s very enjoyable. There's plenty to do onboard: several
restaurants and bars, a casino, a swimming pool and even a cinema.
My brother caught the ferry back after spending a few days in
Barcelona with me and visiting a friend in the Pyrenees.◊
Let me know what you think about this page. Please rate
it! Thanks.
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