barcelona-costa brava-andorra-france
 

Hi all, me and my husband paid for a holiday in Santa Susanna , Costa Brava for 7 days in the middle of September, but we are intending to hire a car and to travel around.I read here something about travelling along the beach to France. What can be seen there , I mean is Perpignan touristically attractive, we are intending to go to Carcassonne, plus we want to visit Andorra.Can you help me with an advice how long it may take to visit all and what else is worth to be seen.Thanks in advance

Girona on the Spanish side is worth a visit.

Barcelona to Carcassonne is a 3 hr drive using the motorway. You can't possibly visit Carcassonne and Andorra on the same day. You can drive from Santa Susanna to Collioure in France visiting Cadaques on your way and drive back on the motorway via Figueres (Dali Museum). Barcelona to Andorra will be a long drive. See www.viamichelin.com for an estimation of driving time - usually very optimistic.

Last October we visited Barcelona for 5 days, then we rented a car & drove along the Costa Brava, stayed overnight in Cadaques, & then spent 2 nights in Girona. You can click on my name to read my trip report, which might help you finalize your plans. It did take us all day to drive to Cadaques because we stopped along the way in Tossa de Mar, S'garo, & Calal Palafrugell. It took us 1.5 hours to drive from Cadaques to Girona. We also spent a day driving through some of the Pyrenees. We didn't have time to go to France.

See Cadaques and Cap de Creus, Dali's House is much easier to digest than the museum in Figueres, and offers an insightful view into his homelife. The coast here is beautiful, there are lovely places to stay, and the reserve at Cap de Creus is beautiful, with plenty of inlets to explore, with hiking, snorkelling, swimming etc. A serious favourite of mine!

Perpignan is rather boring, so I would skip it, drive instead straight to Carcasonne.

There are plenty of scenic drives in the Pyranees, but do keep in mind your timing. Also calculate time you would like to spend at each spot.

Cadaques etc is off the motorway, it takes a good 2 hours to get there from Barcelona, if you don't get lost, then exploring up to the lighthouse in Cap de Creus, Port Lligat (where Dali's house is) and the village of Cadaques can take a whole day, if you want to be relaxed!

I would suggest staying in Cadaques, then driving to either Andorra or Carcassone, spend a night or 2 in either...

Andorra is possible to drive through in one day, there is more or less one road, that cuts through the central valley. The country is tax free, so is rather odd and the capital has a strange feel of being an airport duty free lounge. A good place to shop though! Bare in mind that it is a kingdom and not part of the Schengen states, so check your visa. I have never been stopped at the borders between France or Spain, and probably if you have spanish plates on your car you wont have a problem!

The scenery is beautiful and there are plenty of hikes to do, and drives up the very steep winding mountains. There are also great places to sample Catalan / French food. Try the raclette and pate / cheese spreads.

Im not sure of Carcassonne really, but probably you would need a day to explore.

Also are you leaving from Barcelona? You could probably make a 4 or 5 day triangular drive. Either Barcelona - cadaques- carcassonne - andorra - barcelona----- Or barcelona, andorra, carcassonne - cadaques - barcelona...

hope this helps!

Kat Cameron has some great ideas! Cadaques was one of the highlights of our trip; we went to Cap de Creus & drove up to the lighthouse. The scenery is beautiful with olive groves & the Mediterranean, and we loved Dali's House in Port Lligat. I definitely recommend staying overnight in Cadaques & I recommend the Playa Sol.

Do I hear you all saying you would choose Dali's house over the museum?

Virginiafish,
We didn't go to the museum in Figueres so I can't answer your question except to say that we loved Dali's house. I agree with Kat_Cameron that his house offers an insightful view into his home life; it is very unique, to say the least, and a real treat. We enjoyed it more than we thought we would.