Cadaques, Collioure...where to stay?
 

I've posted this with France as the keyword but wanted to associate it with Spain, too, so pardon the repetition if you've seen it already...we'll be beginning in Barcelona but driving north, so here goes:

We're closing in on our departure date, my husband and I, for a 15-day trip, including four nights in Barcelona, three-day drive through Pyrenees/Provence, flight to Rome for a few days, train to Amalfi for four nights, then return Rome to Barcelona to fly home. We've made all our reservations except for those three days when we'll drive north out of Barcelona.

Here's what we're thinking at this point:

leave airport with rental car around 2 or 3 p.m., drive to Girona and spend a few hours, then on past Figueres (probably not stopping there) and on to Rosas, Cadaques, Collioure, Port Vendres, wherever you good people suggest to stay for the night. Any favorites?

The next day we'll go to Perpignan and on to Montpellier to spend the night. Third day...a busy one...driving through Carcassonne, Mirepoix, and Foix. Should we stay in Foix or another town, should we make a detour and go to Quillan? The next morning, we'll have a few hours to spend before heading directly back to BCN to return the car by 2 or 3 p.m. and then fly to Rome.

Help! It's been a busy summer and I definitely haven't spent an adequate amount of time obsessing about these plans, at least not as much as I typically spend. If you have ideas for major changes, we're open to that as well.

Thanks,
Casey

caseyhen,

The forums are Europe, USA, Asia, etc as listed in the drop down menu to the left. No need to post copies under Spain, France etc.

BTW, it looks like you are much better organized than I am. But what do you plan to do on the third day? Just drive around, see anything in particular, taste some wine, rob a bank ;), what? Give some clues and others will be in a better position to advise you.

Stay in Collioure for sure.. Try Casa Pairal but it may be full by now. ..Don't miss Dali Museum in Figures.. Try to pick your car up earlier in Barcelona as you have so much on your schedule that first day.You do not make make good time driving on the coastal roads but it is so beautiful.

Definitely Collioure over Cadaques. And another vote for the Casa Pairal.

Thanks for all the info so far. Collioure it is, then. I've written both Hotel Templiers and Casa Parail to inquire about availability.

Hopscotch - as you can tell, we're a little unsure about what the days will look like and frankly not always in total agreement about the balance between drive-drive-drive to see as much of the countryside as possible versus having time in each place. Having said that...I'm not sure if you were asking about our last day. That would be when we awaken in Foix or thereabouts and have to end up in Barcelona by 2 or 3, depending on the time we pick up the car on the first day. So it would look like this:

Day 1 Pick up car, drive to Girona, then on through coastal towns, ending up in Collioure

Day 2 More of coastal towns or just spend some time in Collioure, on to Perpignan, end up in Montpellier

Day 3 See more of Montepellier, drive through Carcassonne, Mirepoix, to Foix (totally open for suggestions here) Stay...?

Day 4 See more of wherever we've stayed and head back to Barcelona to return the car...ideas?

I think you're being overly optimistic, to say the least, about mileage and travel times.

It's no picnic to get out of Barcelona, and while it's not hard to get into Girona and find parking, it's not like you just drive up. Plus, Girona is a significant site. Unless you were thinking of just walking up to the cathedral and snapping a picture, walking around the town and looking into its historic monuments takes several hours.

It's going to take you another 90 minutes to get to Rosas, at best, and then from there, at least 45 minutes to traverse the winding mountain road to Cadaques or, in the alternative, to get into France and drop into Collioure.

My advice? Spend the night in Girona, which is positively crammed with great restaurants, or if that seems too urban, try the parador in Vic, or some country establishment in the foothills of Catalonia, like near Rupit. If you prefer a seaside location, try Calella da Palaufrugell or another quaint town on the Costa Brava, preferably one easier to get to than Cadaques, although the tradeoff there is that the easier it is to get to the town, the more developed it is.

Given your interest in going to places like Foix, have you thought about working this the other way? Head from Barcelona into the Pyrenees, spend the night in the mountains, and drop down the French side, through the tourist route and to the sea.

Is there some reason you are going to Perpignan? I enjoyed my visit to the castle -- but I was spending a week in the area. The castle at Foix is a charming sight, and so is much of the town, but in 3-day span, I wouldn't do all that driving in lieu of lingering someplace pretty.

I'm not a big fan of Collioure, which is a tourist town par excellance (whereas Cadaques has developed its own unique creative culture. It's certainly the "prettiest" town along that stretch of the southern French coast, but if you are headed to the Amalfi, it's positively anemic in terms of beauty and charm.

It's either Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide that puts a book entitled "Costa Brava." I recommend you pick it up and perhaps rethink spending all your time in Catalona. It's a fascinating place. I've nothing against that part of France, but given your short time span, I don't think you're going to enjoy racing around to all these tourist-snap places when you could be savoring a beautiful, unspoiled part of Spain, with great food and wine.

fall06,

You've given us much food for thought. I neglected to point out that the main reason for this portion of our itinerary is my husband's strong desire to see part of the Pyrenees (he's a cycler and Tour de France fan, and in lieu of seeing the Alps has agreed to settle for the Pyrenees this time around). I was lobbying for a little foray to Montpellier to see just an ounce of Provence. At least one of the coastal towns seems like a good goal as well. If we were to use that as a guideline and you took a look at our list of possible stops, which would you keep and which would you drop? Would you recommend Girona, either Cadaques or Collioure, and Montpellier, skipping Perpignan? On the other leg of the trip, we'd considered Carcassonne (maybe only seeing that from the outside and not venturing in for the more touristy portion), Mirepoix, and Foix. Keep in mind that we're basing all of this on snippets of information we've read and understand that we don't really know enough on our own to make this decision! I suppose we'd done the itinerary in that direction because it seemed clearer where we would head to (Girona)...we don't know enough about the Pyrenees, it seems.



My husband is the one who likes to go, go, go, and we both take a ton of photographs (came back from Ireland with nearly 1,000 and had a hard time deleting any!). I tend to prefer a little more time in each place, but we're doing that in much of the rest of our trip, and this is his time.

Any specific suggestions for where to go in that section of the Pyrenees, if we were to just pick a town or two? Are Foix and Mirepoix good choices?

I've spent a little time in Montpellier and I am afraid you will not get even half an ounce of Provence there. A few yellow buildings and tile roofs, but I don't think it will be what Provence is about.

And there is so much to do in the area around the coast and the border between Spain and France, I would narrow your focus, drive much less, enjoy much more.

We really liked Ceret, inland a bit. Wish I'd had time to go see area where they make the beautiful striped fabrics, typical to the area, even further to the west and into the mountains.

We stayed in Collioure just before Easter, before the tourist masses descended. We could see an inkling of what it could become (overrun) but enjoyed it very much. Stayed at Templiers. Basic but comfortable. Tried for two days to get the hairdryer they promised me brought to the room. No one ever seemed to find one...

There have been a few threads on Carcassonne lately. I am one of those not in favor of going. It is beautiful from afar though. Search for those treads and decide for yourself...

Have fun!

We stayed in Cadaques for 3 nights at the start of our honeymoon in late May 2005 and loved the setting and our hotel. While most of the drive from Barcelona was hideous, Cadaques has managed to preserve its charm (probably because you face a 30-45 minute drive down a twisty windy road to get there). We stayed at the Hotel Rocamar, which was about a 10 minute walk from the centre of town, on a low cliff overlooking the water. It wasn't a fancy hotel (a 3* with simple bathrooms) but it had a lot of character and we found the multi-lingual staff to be friendly. It's definitely worth paying a little more for a sea view room.

We absolutely loved The Llane Petit hotel in Cadaques, which was also one of our favorite places in Spain. If you go there, be sure and get a corner room overlooking the sea.
http://www.llanepetit.com

caseyhen,

When are you going on this trip? Personally, I would spend all my time in the Pyrenees, but that's only doable certain times of year, say mid-May to mid-September, and in summer, you must be careful of thunderstorms in the highest areas.

Barcelona and the Amalfi are going to give you plenty of beach/sea time. There are a few charming spots by the sea near the Pyrenees, but I wouldn't plan anything around them. The routes of the Tour are well marked -- and it quite impressive to see some of them, especially Larrau -- so just go there. It's probably faster if you head directly into France and cut up north. In that case, I would drive from Barcelona to either Banyuls-sur-Mer or Collioure.

I adore Girona, but I really don't think you have time to see it. Foix has this pretty castle right in the middle of town, but once you've seen it from your car, that's it. I've never been to Mirapoix, but everyone has mixed feelings about Caracassone -- and again, your just planning a drive by. Perpignan is a quirky place, but it's ringed by suburbs, and it's historic core takes some research to appreciate.

If you are going in nice weather months, go up to the Pyrenees on either side of the border and get out of your car and walk through the beautiful pristine landscape. Tourist towns along the beach are a dime a dozen. The Pyrenees are unique, unspoiled and lovely. If you'd like a little French charm thrown in, check out towns like Aix-en-Thermes, Cauterets, St Bertrant des Comminges and even Pau. On the Spanish side, there's Rupit, Basalu, Peratalda and some other abbey towns. I understand that half of Andorra is spectacular and the other half is horrid, but you might enjoy just doing the climb.

Go to Provence -- which is miles from where you are -- some other time.

Sorry -- make that Peratallada in Spain.

I seem to be totally spelling challenged this evening. I meant to write St Bertrand de Comminges.

It's very tough to find information on the Pyrenees. Here's a pretty good source

http://www.pyreneesguide.com/

I found it useful to take the Michelin guide to France and a good Michelin map. I never made reservations. I just figured out where I wanted to go each day, and stayed and ate in the Michelin recommended places. It's a very cheap area of Europe.

fall06, amy40, nancy 1652, kate_w, Amy40 - wow, great information that really helps us mold those few days into what we want it to be. fall06, your advice about staying in the Pyrenees is what my husband would like to hear! We'll do some research since we still want to have some idea of the general route, with time to veer off to see those natural wonders you described. You're right, we haven't seen much info. on the Pyrenees, so chose names of places that we've read about most (Foix, Mirepoix, Carcasonne...). We'll take your advice and map out some routes with the towns you've mentioned.

Amy40, I'm thinking we may skip Montepellier and will definitely include Ceret. Thanks for the input. I hear all of the advice about not driving as much - but you have to understand that this is what my husband wants to do ...drive all around to see the countryside. His real focus is the Pyrenees, though.

Sorry for jumping around - fall06, the Tour route changes every year. We've seen the 07 route - is that the one that would be marked? Any further advice on this?

Another thought is to stay the first night in Girona, which would give us the evening and next morning there (not enough time, I know, but I think we'd like to at least see it) and then head into the Pyrenees for the next couple of days.

Any other thoughts?

Oh yes...one more thing...fall06, just what do you love about Girona? Husband will want to know this. I had read it was a walled city and we absolutely loved Lucca, riding bikes around the wall of the old city. We had not nearly enough time there either - much less than we'll have in Girona...but since it's doable from Barcelona, we might want to give it a try. Can you share what makes you love that city? Sights, or just being there?

Okay, it's been a long weekend and my brain is not running on all cylinders...we're going in just a couple of weeks (8/15) so our time for this drive will be 8/20 - 8/23.

I would stay in one of the smaller towns, like Collioure or Cadaques.
The Pyrenées are stunningly beautiful. You must must must visit at least one of the Cathar castles (Peyrepertuse or Queribus). Not so much for the ruins but the drives up there are magnificent. Your husband will love it! Another must is Les Gorges de Galamus and Les Orgues in Ille-sur-Têt.
If you happen to drive through Maury around lunch/dinner time, have something to eat at La Maison du Terroir which is Pascal Borrell's newest restaurant. Delicious food!

caseyhen, I think Fall06's advice is right on. Hover around the border. Steep yourselves in the Pyrenees! Do not dilute!

As the crow flies (or the hen...! uh, do hen's fly? maybe not...) the distances look reasonable. But the roads will be small and peacefully slow. There will be a few wrong turns here and there. Not to mention impromptu stops. In short, your husband will get plenty of driving in without leaving a limited region.

I echo the recommendation to see either Peyrepertuse or Queribus. We saw both and they are spectacular. We also enjoyed Carcassone, but we stayed for a couple of nights in the area so we could enjoy it after the hordes of day-trippers left. We also stayed in Collioure and really enjoyed it.