Hello,
My husband and would like to travel to the French countryside before our visit to Barcelona
in early June of 2010. We enjoy beautiful natural scenery and medieval history. We like to stay in small villages that have access to groceries, wine and a few restaurants in the area. We plan to rent a car and stay for one week.

Our problem is that we cannot decide which area would be the best for us. Should we choose the Dordogne or Languedoc? We would like to avoid large crowds but but we enjoy visiting with other people.

For those of you who know both areas, which would you recommend for our early June stay?

Visiting with other people? What do you mean by that?

Both areas are wonderful. As first-time visitors, however, I would suggest the Dordogne, as it is prettier and has more attractions. Both areas will have plenty of tourists in June, but neither will be overrun at that time of year.

Hello StCirq,
Thank you for your response. I meant we do not want to be elbow to elbow with crowds but we enjoy being around people and we don't mind small crowds. We like talking with fellow tourists and locals.

What would be the fastest way to get to Barcelona after a visit to the Dordogne? Should we drive to Narbonne and take the train from Narbonne to Barcelona? Is there a better way?

Thanks again for your help!
Laurie

The fastest way to Barcelona would be to fly. But yes, you could drive to Narbonne or Perpignan or some other coastal town and take the train. You don't want to end up in Spain with a French rental car because of the huge drop-off fee.

Thanks for the information, St Circ.

I tried to find a flight from Toulouse to Barcelona but there does not seem to be one.

What nearby airport has a flight to Barcelona in mid June?
Thank you for your help!
Laurie

I googled toulouse barcelona flights and got loads of hits.

You could also try Bordeaux, Bergerac, Périgueux, Montpellier.

Laurie, St Cirq is right---If you have the time, driving from the Dordogne to Perpignan is wonderful...then drop off the car, hop on a train to Barcelona. Easy and wonderful scenery!

We did just that in 2005, except we flew into Barcelona, rented a car and spent a week in the Dordogne, then returned the car in Barcelona. We were near Cahors. After our time in the Dordogne, we drove to the French coast and stayed in Collioure, then down to Cadaques in Spain before making our way back to Barcelona. One of the best trips of my life

Hi Laurie,

We went from Dordogne to Barcelona this past July. Having committed to dropping the car off in Toulouse I then found it quite difficult to find flights from there to Barcelona. Or at least flights on the day I wanted for a price I was willing to pay. In the end we caught the train from Toulouse to Barcelona, but we changed trains in Narbonne so that would have been the better option.

The drive to Toulouse was about 2hours and the train from there to Barcelona was 5 hours. From Narbonne it was about 4 hours.

Have a great trup.

Thank you all for your advice. I think we will drop our car in Perpignan and take the train to Barcelona, as suggested.

I found a flight to Barcelona from Toulouse but it was very expensive.

Thanks again!
Laurie