We appear to have tweaked our itinerary, finally, so that we may have noon Monday till noon Thursday to drive out from Barcelona and back, into the Pyrenees/Provence region. The preliminary idea is to, in some order, see Girona, Figueres, Cadaques, Collioure, Perpignan, and on to Montpellier. We thought of returning via Carcasonne and then...and please tell us if this is worth it...driving through Foix. My husband has been a biker for years and would enjoy traveling through a town or two that are on this year's Tour. We see that Foix fits that bill.

Any ideas on...whether this sounds possible or reasonable, and where to stay for our three nights? The first night would not have to be too awfully far away, since we probably won't leave Barcelona till shortly after noon...possibly Perpignan? Or maybe we could save that, or Collioure for the last night, so that we're closer to Barcelona airport? And maybe a night in Montepellier in between?

Anxious to hear...so much expertise here. Ira, if you're about, you were such a help with our Ireland trip last year. It was like finding an old friend when I saw your posts!

I would stick fairly close to the Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es, and on the French side see that and the <i>pays des Cathars</i>. You could go back to Spain by going over the Pyr&eacute;n&eacute;es at La Tour de Carol (enjoy the mountains and do not take the tunnel on the Spanish side), which would take you by Foix. In my mind, Montpellier and Carcassonne more changes of stays than you are willing to consider.

If you do not leave Barcelona before noon, you will not have time to visit Girona, Figueres, Cadaqu&egrave;s, Collioure and spend the night in Perpignan. I suggest you spend your first night in Spain (there is a nice parador in Begur).

The next day visit Collioure and go to Carcasonne via Lagrasse (nice abbaye)and spend the following nights in the area.

The phrase should read

&quot;Montpellier and Carcassonne <b>impose</b> more changes of stays&quot;

Thanks for the input - obviously, we are not yet at the phase of having thought this out very well! Let me ask this: which of the places we listed (Girona, Figueres, Cadaques, Collioure, Perpignan, Montpellier, Carcasonne, and now Mirepoix) would be on your priority list? We don't have to see them all, they're just places we've read about. Even driving past (Carcasonne comes to mind, with all we've heard about the most impressive part being the outside view) may be enough. Is Montpellier itself worth making it our primary destination?

If you take a look at those choices, where would you spend those three nights, both leaving and returning to Barcelona airport at about noon? If you were going to limit your time to just a few of those places, what would you do?

Caseyhen :

IMO, Girona is a very nice city worth spending a few hours.

If you are interested in Dali, don't miss the Castle of Pubol (near Girona), the Dali Museum in Figueras and the Port-Lligat Museum (near Cadaques).

Otherwise, you can skip Figueras unless you want to go to the Thursday market (near the main P.O.).

Collioure is a lovely place (very crowded and touristy in summer). The tourism office organizes tours called &quot;Fauves itineraries&quot;.
There are usually exhibitions in the Royal Castle.

I would take the coastline road to go from Cadagues to Collioure. It's very winding but the views are beautiful.

From Perpignan you can go to Carcassonne and visit the so-called Cathar castles (they were NOT built by the Cathars at all!) on your way : Peyrepertuse and Queribus are very close to each other, La Pradelle Puylaurens is a few km after Saint-Paul de Fenouill&egrave;des.

I would not go to Montpellier considering the fact that you only have 2 full days to spend in the area.

Barcelona to Girona by the motorway : minimum one hour.
Girona to Figueras by the motorway : 30 mn.
Figueras to Cadaques : 40 mn (the road is very winding)
Cadaques to Collioure via Port-Bou, Banyuls : 50 mn (very winding road and probably lot of trafic in summer. You'll want to stop to get the best views.

Collioure to Perpignan : 30 mn - excellent road

Perpignan to Saint Paul de Fenouilledes via Estagel : 45 mn. excellent road.

Perpignan to Carcassonne by the motorway : 1 hour.

Perpignan to Barcelona by the motorway : 2 hours.