You will need to drop the car off on the French side of the border to avoid hefty cross-border drop-off charges.


I would visit a chateau or two (Blois, Chambord) in the Loire valley, and then drive through the Auvergne on E11 or a parallel secondary road (get a map), with a detour to Le Puy-en-Velais and on to Narbonne or Perpignan where you will have to take the train to Barcelona.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157623313123155/

Driving 5 or 6 hours a day in Europe is not like driving 5 or 6 hours a day in the United States, and even if it were, a direct route to Barcelona from Paris only takes 10 hours of driving. So you probably don't want drive that much every day, and you don't need to.

It is really impossible to give you advice about where to go without knowing what you like to do. There is nothing objectively wonderful about a trip from Paris to Barcelona that all families of 4 would thrill to do. Were it me, I would go over the Pyrenees, but other people would make a beeline for coastal France, or go town hopping, or castle climbing, or cave exploring, or hit every quaint town market they could.

If you would like suggestions that would appeal to your family and you, you need to describe what types of things engage your group.

The fly in the ointment of your plan is the issue Michael identified. Although Western European countries have open borders, they have national registration and exorbitant drop charges when you cross that open border.

If you go to the Loire, see Chenonceau over Blois if you're only going to hit two castles. Amboise would be #3 because it has Da Vinci's tomb and the carriageway exit, which is fun.

Hi ac,

Not what I would do, but
Sarlat la Caneda is 1/2 way between the two cities - 6 hr driving time. That gives you 2 nights to visit the Dordogne.

Have you checked drop off fees?

This plan will likely cost you around $500 more than another plan would because, as people have pointed out, if you rent a car in France and drop it off in Spain, someone has to get that car back to France.

I would do it differently. I'd use trains. There are myriad possibilities for routes, but I'd probably go to La Rochelle from Paris and spend a couple of nights there. Then I'd head to Biarritz. If you can get to St-Jean-de-Luz on public transportation from Biarritz (which I'm sure you can...I just don't have time to look it up right now), that would be my destination, again for a couple of days. At that point you're just over the Spanish border, so I'd figure out how to get to San Sebastian and pick up a car there and head across northern Spain to Barcelona.

I wouldn't do the Dordogne for only 2 days. That would be too painful. It needs a bare minimum of a week.

Having made this trip more than once, here's what I'd suggest. Plan two, two-night stopovers in between, so that you are driving at most four hours on any day and can spend a full day and night at each stop. We like Burgundy and have a favorite chambre d'hote in Puligny-Montrachet named Domaine des Anges, www.domainedesangespuligny.com. Might be a little tame for the 12-year-old, but it's beautiful wine country. The La Rochepot castle is nearby and it's great bicycle riding terrain.
We then stop somewhere in Provence for a couple of nights, but you could go into the Auvergne at about the same distance.
Then drop the car at Perpignan and take a train into Barcelona. WARNING; traffic can be very congested and come to a standstill near the station, so allow plenty of time. The Avis office is right across the street from the station, so that may be a good choice for a rental company.
We've found that when crossing borders by train the Rail Europe premium isn't that great - compared to traveling within one country. There's a choice of departures and speeds, although frankly there isn't a great deal of difference. Bring snacks and a bottle of wine and you'll have fun.
Once in Barcelona, take a taxi to your lodgings if you have much luggage. Unless you are staying within a short distance of the Sants or Franca stations - watch for the arrival station when buying tickets.
With four people, traveling by car is likely less expensive than taking trains from Paris, and when you get into the countryside a car allows you to see villages etc. you otherwise would miss.

<<With four people, traveling by car is likely less expensive than taking trains from Paris>>

I'd do a careful comparison before coming to that conclusion. When you add up rental fees, insurance, fuel, and tolls and compare them to PREM fares or family fares on the SNCF....I dunno.

Thank You everyone for your responses. We did consider as many suggested using the train, but from what I can tell and if the car rental websites are accurate, it is actually more expensive for 4 people to take the train than renting a mid size car. Also, a train takes you from point A to B without the ability to visit anything in between... I will study the different routes suggested carefully.

it is actually more expensive for 4 people to take the train than renting a mid size car

The only way you can tell is to plug in a train itinerary that would take place in 3 months and see what you get as a price. To get those tickets, you would have to purchase them on March 16 2012, but they would be non-refundable and non-transferable. But the freedom of the car may trump price anyway.

You'd also have to be sure you were getting the train pricing directly from SNCF and not some place like Rail Europe that would show marked up prices for point-to-point tickets.

Thanks Alan I think your idea about dropping the car off and crossing by train is great. we also think that we would like to stay at Domaine des Anges. Your reply has helped us greatly. Any suggestions on where to stay at Provence?

Some ideas ...

1)Take TGV to Vendome and rent car there
2)Explore Loire valley chateaux
3)Tale A71/A75 autoroute over the Massif Central (quieter than A6, stunning scenery, and free after Clermont Ferrand)
4)Either head for Montpellier (if you want to visit) or Beziers
5)Follow coast or A9 autoroute through Catalonia, Costa Brava to Spain

Research the options and plan diversions to, for example, Gorge du Tarn, Millau, Cevennes, Languedoc, Catalonia, Costa Brava, etc

Peter

Sorry, should have said drop French car in Perpignan, take www.frogbus.com to Girona airport and rent Spanish car there, or consider the train to Barcelona.

The fast TGV Perpignan - Barcelona is now scheduled for end 2012 whilst the Montpellier - Perpignan section is currently scheduled for 2040.

More local rail info : http://the-languedoc-page.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=923


Peter

whilst the Montpellier - Perpignan section is currently scheduled for 2040.

That's what I call planning ahead.