Barcelona to San Sebastian via South of France
 

We're a couple in our late 50's who enjoy independent travel. We've travelled quite a lot in Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, Toledo, Valencia, Granada, Ronda, Cordoba, Seville) but not the central north/north west. After spending a couple of weeks in Estonia and Finland (business & leisure) in early November we will visit friends in Barcelona for 10 days or so. We then hope to head north to Girona and spend about two weeks driving to San Sebastian via the South of France. We are flying out of Madrid on 12 December, with a 4 night stop over in Tokyo, arriving in Sydney on 18 December. I know it's not a great time of year to travel in this area but work commitments leave us little choice. Any suggestions on an itinerary for the two weeks would be appreciated. We enjoy small towns and villages and prefer to spend minimum of three nights in each town.

I have traveled a great deal in this region but not by car or in the time period you mention. A guide book I recommend highly is the Rough Guide Pyrenees if you can find it. There's so much to see, that I couldn't possibly suggest an itinerary. Your friends in Barcelona should be able to help with that and give advice on the mountain driving conditions in December.

NB The Rough Guide is not the Snapshot Guide sold for Kindle. With only 10 days for your travel though, that Kindle version might work. My well used copy of the paperback is dated 1998.

We traveled from San Sebastián to Barcelona over ten days. We stayed in Olaron-Ste-Marie, Sauveterre-de-Comminges( Hostellerie de 7 Molles), Carcasonne, Collioure( Casa Pairal), Costa Brava- Begur, Parador Aiguablava. We especially enjoyed Collioure and Begur. The Hostellerie de 7 Molles was packed with guests who traveled there for their dining. Excellent and a very pretty setting too.
We had beautiful views of the Pyrenees as we drove east across France.

Depending on your interests, you might want to head for Vielha by way of Vic, Berga and Baqueira, crossing into France from the Val d'Aran (www.visitvaldaran.com/en/), or head up to Puigcerdà from Berga, crossing over into France on the N-20 to Foix, in the High Ariège of the Midi-Pyrénées (www.ariege.com/en/discover-ariege/4-regions). Once in France, you will find a number of beautiful small villages where you can spend some time dining of great local cusine and drinking some exellent wine.

Or you can drive into France, stopping at the historic costal village of Collioure for the night, then up to Albi by way of Béziers before heading west to Auch and then to Tarbes, in the Hautes-Pyrénées. From there you drive to Pau and on to the village of Moumour, in Béarn, where you will find an excellent chateau to spend a couple of days relaxing in the foothills of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques (www.chateau-de-lamothe.eu) from your adventures.

You might find some useful information in my trip report on northern Spain and Catalunya -- just click on my name to find it.

Robert-
Disregard my last question on another post... IYO, can I do a road trip from Barcelona to Pao to San Sebastian in 3 days and 2 nights?
Thanks!

Places to check along the itinerary:
Salvador Dali Museum at Figueres, Fortified castle of Salses, Medieval city center of Perpignan, entirely walled city of Carcassonne, Toulouse, Lourdes, Pau.
For Roman stuff: proceed from Narbonne up to Nimes and Arles (with backtracking to Narbonne, all motorway).

Are you suggesting all of this for the OP's trip in 2016?

However, I was thrilled to see old posts by my friend Envierges who is arriving in Paris at the end of the month.

No, I was just trying to hit the "hot spots" many of you mentioned in the shortened timeframe that i have. I'm headed from Barcelona to Madrid and have 3 days, max 3 nights along the way. You all mentioned Girona, Beziers, Andora, Tarbes, Pau, and San Sebastian (obviously I will make it to SS) so I was wondering what route to take and the best overnight spots to stay (hotel and dinner). I'm travelling with my 70+ yo parents and this may be our last trip so I'm trying to make it as nice as possible without being too strenuous... thanks for any insight!

Thanks! Will def look into all of these...