maile

I would like to fly into Heathrow (from the west coast) and then somehow get to the Island of Jersey and from there to the southwest coast of France or northeast (Bilbao, etc.) coast of Spain. There rent a car and travel through and about the Pyrenees (a Parador excursion) ending up in Nice, fly back to Heathrow and back home. Can this be done with any "ease" or is it going to be much trouble with different modes of transportation and "out of the way" destinations?

Michael

You can land in Heathrow in the morning and possibly grab a Ryanair flight out of Stansted in the afternoon which would get you to Biarritz (we did that, but going to Porto). Rent the car in Biarritz and return it in Nice, which would avoid the cross-border drop-off fees. Return to London on Easyjet and then do a round-trip excursion to Jersey.

http://www.flylc.com/directall-en.asp

nukesafe

I'd suggest you try a site that lists cheapo flights, like WhichBudget

http://www.whichbudget.com/

I found one way flight from LHR to Jersey on BMI for 58 Pounds, on a random date.

zeppole

Is there some particular reason you want to go to Nice?

If you rent your car in Spain, you can easily return in Girona and fly back.

If you rent it in France, I would look at flying out of Montpellier, Perpignan or even Marseilles.

I drove from the Basque Coast, zigzagging through the Pyrenees, frequently crossing the border, but ultimately ended up in Barcelona (lots of flights there, too.)

By the way, when are you making this trip? Driving "through and about the Pyrenees" is only advisable between May and September.

maile

Nice was just a focal point (I will probably meet up with friends who live near Nice) but I was really interested in how to get to Jersey and seeing if I could then ferry/fly to France. Once in France or northern Spain I wanted to rent a car and go in and out of the Pyrenees .... and this is being planned for late September, early November. Does the weather turn in November? Should I plan mid September instead?

Jeff801

Maile,

We spent two weeks crossing from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean in 2003. We stayed only at Paradors.

Several of the Paradors in the Pyrenees are modern ski lodges. We found them to be comfortable but not particularly memorable. If we were to do a similar trip again, we would try to stay only in the older Paradors. (Hondaribia and Cardona were both wonderful.)

When there are north winds blowing into the Pyrenees, orthographic (I think that's the term) cooling causes fog, rain and, if it is cold enough, snow to form as the air is forced upward. One can run into cold and fog approaching the summits even on a warm and sunny day. (See the stages of the Tour de France today and Wednesday for an example.) I've been caught in snow as late as May. It seems to me that you would be better advised to make the trip in September or early October. On the other hand, in September it is possible that the Spanish side will be hot and dry. You might check on this board about that or try wunderground.com in the trip planner section.

zeppole

If you mean to criss-cross the Pyrenees, I think you really need to think of September. The Spanish side is just as subject to poor driving conditions as the French side. I was caught in a blinding fog once on the Spanish side in May. I would not have wanted it to be icy or snowing on top of that. There were no guard rails on the road, and I was up thousands of meters.

If you only mean to drive into the lower Pyrenees to well-traveled destinations, like ski lodges, and your plans are flexible, might be okay later. But read up on the Pyrenees and be sure.