Do you live in Catalunya as well? It looks like you’ve done some research about routes and roads so you must! I think your tip on Via Michelin is a great one. We use that often. What is important to keep in mind when you’re doing your estimates is that non-toll roads are popular because they are free not just with normal cars but with trucks. Via Michelin cannot, sadly, add on traffic times.

My experience has been that many times it is much faster to take the toll roads out of Barcelona – and that with traffic, roundabouts, and lights the non-toll roads, especially along the coast of the Maresme. That road you mention to Garraf is a beauty but very curvy and a lot of ups and downs – I would not want to drive it at night, for example and it’s pretty slow going. La Mola is quite far from Barcelona, but yes, it’s pretty for skiing in the winter and perhaps for summer as well.

I think Hidden Europe does have a good point in mentioning that old, non-toll roads can be pretty and if you have the time then go for it. If you need to get somewhere or have a lot of driving in font of you the non-toll roads can be a gamble.

The tolls apply only to the following routes out of Barcelona: the C-16 (only as far as Sallent), the AP-7, the AP-2, the C-32 and the C-58. Any others? We think not, but perhaps you can put us right, Regina.

What’s great for most leisure travellers (and indeed for many local residents) is that the old network of highways supplanted by these new tolls routes are all still in place. And they are often a delight. In Barcelona, as elsewhere across Europe, all you need is a very good map (ideally at a scale of 1:300,000 or higher) and a spirit of adventure.

Good road planning websites like Via Michelin can help. For Barcelona check http://www.viamichelin.es. That site shows that the 100 mile ride from Barcelona to Bellmunt del Priorat can be done in just less than two hours on the toll highway (with a toll of €28 return). But take just half an hour longer, follow the old roads, and you’ll not a pay a cent in tolls. You can select non-toll options on the Via Michelin website. We would just add that we do find that they tend to assume overfast driving times (especially on freeways). We just don’t bomb along at the speeds they expect! So perhaps a more realistic estimate for the Barcelona to Priorat journey would be 2hrs 5mins using the toll highway and 2hrs 35mins using the much prettier old road.

Much look forward, Regina, to reports of some toll-free driving adventures through the Catelunyan countryside. You have some fabulous options. The various routes around La Mola are great for summer explorations. For heading west the A-2 to Lleida and beyond is completely toll-free (and oddly sometimes faster than the expensive AP-2). And coast-wise, the old C 31 down the coast to Sitges is superb, especially as it cuts a ribbon along the Costas de Garraf. The toll highway is just tunnel and tunnel.

I’d be curious what other Barcelona locals think about all the tolls (if you drive).
Anyone?

Reg