My husband and I are trying to plan a trip from Barcelona to Paris (either via Car and/or Train). We want to stop in various different wine regions and stay at adorable inns. We're not too fancy and would rather spend $ on wine and food rather then accommodations.

We have about 11 days in May to accomplish seeing vineyards, beaches and both cities if possible....

NEED SUGGESTIONS PLEASE!

If you rent a car in Spain and drop it off in France, it will cost you a fortune. If you take trains you won't end up near vineyards or "adorable inns." You need to work out the transportation issues, and 11 days is quite a short time for such a distance, given all that's in between the two cities.

Take the train from Barcelona to say the Burgudny area in France - put up in say Beaune and rent a car or take local trains or buses to one of France's most famous wine districts - then it's just a short train ride from Dijon to Paris.

If 11 days includes visiting Paris and Barcelona you will not have much time for vineyards and beaches.

3 or 4 days in Barcelona, 2 to 3 days en route to Paris and 3 or 4 days once there wouldn´t allow much time to see everything on your list. I would pick Bordeaux, the Rhône Valley, or Burgundy for wine exploration and take the train to Bordeaux, Avignon, or Dijon from Barcelona. From whichever city/region you select, take the train to Paris.

It´s very rushed with little time for beaches or adorable inns but can be done with a well organized itinerary.

I agree with Sarastro, a very rushed trip but you can do 3-4 days in each major city and then stop in ONE wine country village to sightsee there a couple days. Forget the beaches.

Ditto PalenQ's advice. There was formerly a gal named Coco from Dijon who posted on here and has an adorable inn. I haven't seen her for a while. Look her up. There are scores of vineyards and degustation places in Beaune, Nuits-St-Georges, and surrounding hills. May is the perfect time to go to Burgundy. Everything is in bloom and tourists are scarce. I've been there many times. In Dijon buy some of that mustard. It is much better than the Americanized version. There is a specialized mustard shop downtown.

11 Days

4 days Barcelona

3 days in between- either take the train Barcelona to Lyon then change to a regional train to Beaune - use local trains and buses or bicycle rentals to reach the nearby towns spaarne also recommends then take a train to Dijon to go to Paris via TGV train in just over an hour.

OR

Rent a car at Lyon and drive north along the Burgundy Wine Road via Macon, a renown wine center in its own right, up to Beaune and return car at Dijon train station for trains to Paris (have a short look around Dijon, one of France;s most delightful larger cities- follow the Owl Trail provided by the tourist office).

For info on trains: www.voyages-sncf.com for discount tickets that must be booked far in advance to guarantee as they are sold in limited numbers and also can't be changed nor refunded from a specific train on a specific date - also www.capitainetrain.com has the same trains and fares and apparently is easier to use for Ferriners. For lots of train info check www.seat61.com - great advice on discounted train tickets; and for general info on trains www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.


4 days Paris

Coco's flat is in Dijon and gets rave reviews as does Coco who goes out of her way it seems to help guests but Dijon is a large city and many find Beaune, a not too small regional town, much more whatever - relaxed, etc or stay in one of those sweet wine villages like Nuits-sts-Georges (rail and bus service from Dijon and Beaune).