Intercity car rental

Our fleet for intercity car rental in Barcelona numbers 44 vehicles, with crossover, SUV, comfort and minivan classes from €38 per day. We deliver the car to you and agree the booking with a manager.

Intercity car rental in Barcelona and where you can drive

Intercity car rental in Barcelona means taking the car out of the city to another town or region and bringing it back — with the vehicle delivered to you and the booking agreed with a manager. Below we set out what the service covers, where our renters actually drive, and how pick-up and return work when the two ends of the trip are not the same place.

What intercity car rental in Barcelona actually covers

Rent-Trip intercity car rental in Barcelona covers trips from the city to another town or region and back, with the car delivered to you and the booking agreed with a manager rather than at a counter. The 44 cars on this page — Crossover, SUV, Comfort and Minivans — are all available for routes that leave the city and return, from €38 to €72 a day, weekly from €228 and monthly from €798. What separates intercity use from a city hire is not the car but the shape of the journey: a longer distance, often mixed motorway and secondary road, sometimes a mountain pass, and a return leg that has to be planned before you set off. In our practice the trips that go wrong are the ones where the client decided the route after collecting the car. Agree the return point and the route with the manager when booking — that is where the trip is actually shaped.

Routes out of the city our renters drive most

• Sitges: a short coastal run south of the city, easily done in a day and the most common first intercity trip our renters take.
• Girona and Costa Brava: the longest-used route on this page, usually two to four days with the car kept overnight.
• Tarragona and PortAventura: a family route — the seven-seat Minivans and the 7-seat SUVs are booked for this one most often.
• Penedès wine country: short distances, narrow secondary roads, and a route where a smaller Crossover is easier than a large SUV.
• Andorra and the Pyrenees: the longest trips we arrange, with mountain passes and a border crossing on the way.
• La Cerdanya: a Pyrenees valley route, normally booked as a multi-day trip rather than a day return.

Mountain and cross-border routes need the class and the paperwork checked with the manager before you leave, not on the morning of departure.

Can you pick up in one place and return in another

Pick-up and return points are agreed with a manager when you book, so a one-way intercity trip is arranged in the same conversation as the car itself. That covers the common cases: collecting at your address and returning to the same place after a loop, or starting in the city and handing the car back somewhere else at the end of the route. Nothing about the return is fixed automatically — it is part of the booking, which is why it is worth raising it before the car is confirmed rather than during the trip. Settle the return point before the trip starts: a change made mid-route is harder to arrange than one agreed up front.

Choosing a car class for Intercity car rental in Barcelona

Four classes sit on this page, and each does a different job once the route leaves the city. The table below puts them side by side.

Classes and daily rates for intercity car rental in Barcelona

Models we deliver for longer routes

The cheapest Crossover here is the Citroen C3 Aircross at €38 a day, and a week of it starts at €228. Above it sit the MG ZS at €39, the Ebro S400 at €40 and the Seat Arona at €41, all 5-seaters with front-wheel drive. For rougher ground, the Dacia Duster at €42, with front-wheel or four-wheel drive, is the cheapest SUV in the range and runs on petrol or LPG; the Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq at €48 and the Nissan X-Trail at €60 cover longer motorway stages with hybrid power. Groups of seven should look at the Peugeot Rifter at €55 or the Seat Tarraco at €58. On a week-long route the fuel type moves the running cost more than the daily rate does — diesel and hybrid models repay the difference over distance, and the Duster's LPG option cuts it further on Spanish forecourts.

Seats, transmission and fuel across the fleet

• 5 seats: Crossover, Comfort and most SUV models, including the Citroen C4, Ford Focus, Hyundai i30 and Kia Ceed.
• 7 seats: the Peugeot Rifter, Dacia Jogger, Seat Tarraco and Nissan X-Trail — the only seven-seaters on this page.
• Automatic: the Ebro S400, Opel Astra, Peugeot 308, Toyota Corolla, Toyota C-HR, Citroen C5 Aircross and Peugeot 3008.
• Manual: the rest of the fleet, including every Crossover and all four Minivans.
• Fuel: petrol, diesel, hybrid, petrol-hybrid, petrol-electric and petrol-LPG, so a long route can be planned around whichever is cheapest to run.
• Booking early: the Minivan class holds 8 cars here, the smallest group on the page — a 7-seat vehicle for a group trip is worth reserving well ahead.

In our practice, the class decides the route more than the price does: a 4x4 option matters on mountain roads, and seat count matters the moment a group travels together.

Picking up and returning an intercity rental car

Where the car meets you at the start of an intercity trip and where it goes back at the end are settled in one conversation with a manager when you book. Nothing about collection or return is fixed at the last minute — the whole loop, out and back, is agreed up front.

Where your intercity car hire in Barcelona starts

The car is delivered to you: we bring it to the address agreed when booking, and the booking itself is agreed with a manager rather than dropped into a checkout box. For an intercity route that matters more than it does for a city errand, because the delivery point and the departure hour decide how much of the day is left for driving. If you are setting off early towards Girona or the Costa Brava, say so when the booking is agreed — the hand-over slot is agreed when booking. Our fleet on this page holds 44 cars, from €38 a day, and any of them can be brought to you. The return point is named in the same booking: for a loop trip it is the same address, and for a one-way run it is the address you give the manager.

Returning the car after an intercity trip

• Same point, same address: the return address is the one agreed when booking, so a loop trip ends where it started without a detour on the way in.
• Fuel and mileage: the fuel level and the mileage allowance are written into the rental agreement — check them before you leave, not at the end of the route.
• Damage and the excess: the deposit and the excess sit in the rental agreement too, and we go through them with you when the booking is agreed.
• Late changes: a return address moved mid-route is harder to arrange than one agreed at the start, so settle it before the first kilometre.

Keeping the paperwork simple across borders

An intercity route out of Barcelona does not always stay inside Spain, and the manager flags that when the booking is agreed — Andorra and the Pyrenees sit within reach of a day's drive. Documents, the deposit and the excess are all set out in the rental agreement, and we walk through them at booking so nothing is a surprise at the hand-over. Driving in Spain is on the right, and every car on this page is left-hand drive. In our practice, the trips that run smoothly are the ones where the return point, the fuel level and the route were named in the first conversation — not the ones where a driver improvised a drop-off at the end of a long day.

What an intercity car rental in Barcelona costs

Rates on this page run from €38 to €72 a day, and the class you pick moves the figure more than the length of the route does. Below are the four classes we deliver, what each one starts at, and what it is actually good for once you leave the city.

Classes and daily rates for the longer routes

Crossover is the largest group here at 13 cars and the cheapest way in; Minivans is the smallest at 8 cars and the one to book early.

Models we deliver for longer routes

• Citroen C3 Aircross: the cheapest Crossover on this page at €38 a day, 1.2 L, 110 hp, petrol, manual.
• Dacia Duster: SUV at €42 a day with a front-wheel or 4x4 drivetrain and petrol/LPG fuel — the one to ask about for mountain roads.
• Peugeot Rifter: a 7-seat Minivan at €55 a day, diesel, manual, for a group that still wants one car.
• Nissan X-Trail: the top of the range at €60 a day, 7 seats, hybrid, automatic, front-wheel or AWD.
• Weekly rate: any of these at daily x 6 — a week of the C3 Aircross starts at €228, a month at €798.

Fuel type changes the running cost of a long route more than the daily rate does, so a diesel or hybrid model often works out better over a week of driving than the cheapest petrol car on the list.

How the price is put together

The daily rate is the headline, not the whole bill. What you actually pay depends on the class, how long you keep the car, and the options you take — and those are set out in the rental agreement rather than quoted here. Longer bookings follow a simple rule: a week is charged at daily x 6, a month at daily x 21, so the per-day figure drops the longer the car stays with you. Deposit, insurance excess and any delivery fee are agreed when you book, and the manager confirms them before the trip is fixed. Ask about them in the same conversation as the route — a figure you know in advance is worth more than one you discover at hand-over.

Driving an intercity rental car in the city

Traffic in Barcelona drives on the right and every car we hand over is left-hand drive, so the first ten minutes are about leaving the city rather than learning the car. This section covers what governs an intercity hire before it reaches the open road: the low-emission zone, tolls, parking and the speed limits that apply while you are still inside the metropolitan area.

Low-emission zone and the environmental sticker

A car needs a valid environmental badge to enter the Zona de Bajas Emisiones Rondas de Barcelona (ZBE Rondes BCN), which covers more than 95 km² — the whole municipality apart from the Zona Franca industrial estate and the Vallvidrera – el Tibidabo i les Planes neighbourhood, plus L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sant Adrià de Besòs and parts of Esplugues de Llobregat and Cornellà de Llobregat. The scheme runs on working days, Monday to Friday. Vehicles on foreign plates must be registered in advance in the Registre metropolità de vehicles estrangers i altres vehicles autoritzats a les zones de baixes emissions. Badges are graded 0 emisiones (blue) and ECO (blue-green). Check the badge class of the vehicle you are given before you plan a route through the centre — a class that cannot enter the zone changes your whole morning.

Speed limits, tolls and parking while you are still in the city

• Motorway: 120 km/h on autopista and autovía for cars, motorcycles and motorhomes up to 3 500 kg; 90 km/h on an ordinary country road, which the road owner may raise to 100 km/h.
• Inside the city: 30 km/h on a street with one lane in each direction, 20 km/h on a street where the carriageway and pavement form a single platform, and 50 km/h where there are two or more lanes each way — bus and dedicated public-transport lanes do not count towards that number.
• The Rondes: B-10 and B-20, the ring roads inside the built-up area, are capped at 80 km/h unless a sign says otherwise.
• Tolls: the C-16 and the Túnels de Vallvidrera, the tunnel out towards Sant Cugat and the Vallès, charge €4.7 for a car.
• Parking: the AREA Blava blue zone costs €2.5 an hour at tariff A and €2.25 at tariff B, and residential zones apply at weekends.

Fines, fuel and what to watch on a long route

Speeding penalties follow the DGT table: €100 with no points, then €300 with 2 points, €400 with 4, €500 with 6 and €600 for the most serious band, with a 50% reduction if you pay within 20 calendar days. Holding a phone in your hand is €200 and 6 points. Petrol 95 E5 averaged €1.953 across 74 filling stations in the municipality in our reference measurement, with a median of €1.987. A child under 135 cm needs a child restraint. In our experience the two things that catch people out on a long route are the badge class and the return fuel level, so settle both before you leave the city rather than on the way back.

Booking your intercity car rental with a manager

Every intercity booking runs the same way: you tell us the dates and the route, a manager confirms the car and the price, and the car is delivered to you. Nothing is promised before a person has checked it.

What the manager settles with you before the car is confirmed

• Dates and duration: the days you need the car, and whether the booking runs at the daily rate, weekly from €228 or monthly from €798.
• Route and return point: where the trip goes and where the car comes back — the same place or another one.
• Class and model: the class you want and the specific car if it matters to you, from Crossover at €38 a day upward.
• Delivery and hand-over: the place and the time the car is brought to you, agreed in that conversation.
• Documents: which licence and identity documents the driver holds, and whether anything else is needed for the route.
• Deposit and protection: the deposit amount and the insurance excess are set out in the rental agreement.
• Extras: child seats, an additional driver and anything else the trip needs, arranged while booking rather than on the day.

Why the booking is agreed rather than automatic

An intercity trip has two variables a booking form cannot check on its own: the route and the return point. A one-way run to Girona or Tarragona and back is a different booking from a loop through the Penedès, and the manager is the person who matches the car, the days and the drop-off to what you actually plan to drive. The same conversation covers the paperwork side — the deposit and the excess sit in the rental agreement, and the manager tells you what they are before anything is confirmed, not after.

In our practice the trips that go wrong are the ones where the return point was assumed rather than stated. A renter books a car for a week, drives to the Pyrenees, then decides to hand it back near the coast instead of where it was collected. That is a change to the booking, and it is far easier to arrange before the keys change hands than halfway up a mountain road. Say the whole route out loud when you book, including the leg you are not sure about yet.

What to have ready when you book

• Driving licence: the licence the main driver will use, and its category.
• Identity document: the passport or ID of the main driver.
• Payment card: the card the deposit will be taken against.
• Route outline: the towns and the rough distances, so the class and the days can be checked against them.
• Passenger count: how many people travel, since 7-seat cars sit in the smallest class on this page.

The manager works through this list with you in one conversation, and the terms that apply to your booking — deposit, excess, delivery and any extras — are the ones written into the agreement you receive. Ask about them at that point if anything is unclear; it is the moment when they can still be changed.

Documents, deposit and excess for an intercity rental

Intercity car rental in Barcelona runs on the same paperwork as any other booking — what changes is that you take the car further and for longer, so the documents, the deposit and the excess all matter more than they do on a short city hop. Everything below is what Spanish law requires and what is agreed when you book with a manager.

What you need to carry

• Driving licence: an EU or EEA licence (including Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) is fully valid in Spain while it has not expired, with nothing further required.
• Third-country licence: valid if it is in force, you meet the Spanish age requirement for the equivalent category, and no more than six months have passed since you took up ordinary residence in Spain; the DGT advises getting an international driving permit before you travel.
• Licence not in Spanish: valid either with an official certified translation into Spanish, or if it was issued to the model of Annex 9 of the Geneva Convention or Annex 6 of the Vienna Convention.
• International driving permit: a supplementary document only — shown together with your passport and your national licence, valid for one year.
• Passport or ID: the original in the name of the main driver.

Deposit, excess and what the price includes

The deposit is a pre-authorisation on a credit card under the main driver's name, held against possible damage and extras; the amount is set out in the rental agreement and told to you before anything is signed. The excess works the same way: it is the sum you carry yourself if the car comes back damaged, it is printed in the agreement whether or not you have bought an excess waiver, and the figures depend on the company and the class of car — there is no single official number. Collision damage waiver and theft protection are options that remove your liability down to that excess, and the Super and Full versions buy the excess out in part or in full. By Spanish consumer rules the advertised price must include every compulsory charge you cannot legally drive without, compulsory third-party insurance and the young-driver surcharge among them, and any scratches or dents must be written into the agreement or the inspection sheet before you drive off, signed by both sides, with a copy left in your hands.

Insurance that is always there

Third-party liability insurance is compulsory under Spanish law and comes with any booking, covering injury and property damage to others up to the statutory limits of 70 million EUR per incident for personal injury and 15 million EUR for property — it does not cover you or the car itself. Glass and tyres usually fall outside basic collision damage waiver and are covered by a separate option. On a longer intercity route, walk the car with the inspection sheet before you leave and photograph nothing that the sheet does not already list; a mark agreed at hand-over costs you nothing later, while one discovered at return is argued about at the counter.

Practical takeaways for Intercity car rental in Barcelona

Intercity car rental comes down to a short list of decisions: which class you drive, where the car goes and comes back, and what the agreement says about damage. Get those three right and the trip runs itself.

The decisions that matter before you leave

• Class: the daily rate matters less than the route. Crossover from €38, Comfort from €40, SUV from €42, Minivans from €52 — a 4x4 option and a seat count decide more on a mountain road than €4 a day does.
• Trip length: weekly starts at €228 and monthly at €798, so a longer booking is worked out from the daily rate rather than quoted as a separate package.
• Return point: one-way trips are arranged in the same conversation as the booking, not on the road.
• Papers: EU/EEA licences are valid in Spain until they expire. Licences from outside the EEA are valid if they are in force, if the holder meets the Spanish age requirement for the category, and within six months of taking up ordinary residence in Spain. Licences not in Spanish need either an official certified translation or a format matching Annex 9 of the Geneva Convention or Annex 6 of the Vienna Convention; the DGT advises getting an international driving permit before the trip.
• Damage: the franquicia is printed in the rental agreement whether or not you buy an excess waiver, and the cover options are set out in the rental agreement. The deposit is a preautorización on a credit card, and the amount is told to you before signing.

What to settle with the manager

The minimum rental age, the young-driver surcharge, which cards are accepted, the fuel policy and where the car may be taken are not fixed by Spanish law — they are agreed when booking. The same goes for delivery and collection: the place and time are set in that conversation, not assumed from a map pin. Ask about the ZBE Rondes de Barcelona sticker at the same time — the low-emission zone covers more than 95 km², and foreign plates need prior registration in the Registre metropolità de vehicles estrangers. Charge the car before the return if you took an electric one, and keep the fuel receipt if you drove under 100 km.

Three things worth doing on the day

Walk round the car and get every scratch and dent written into the agreement or the inspection sheet before you drive off — both sides sign it and you keep a copy, which is what protects you afterwards. Photograph the fuel gauge and the odometer at hand-over. And check the return point on the booking confirmation against where you actually plan to finish, because changing it mid-route is harder than agreeing it up front.