We plan a 6 week trip with daughters aged 15 and 18 to France and Spain.
Plan to fly to Paris then train to Brittany to visit my brother for 2 weeks. Then visit Dordogne, Barcelona and friends in Seville. Should we hire car or use train? Also need to find reasonable accommodation (apartments?) in Paris and Barcelona. Is it cheap to fly back to Paris from Seville? Any good ideas for teenagers?

Although you can get to the Dordogne by train, once there you will definitely need a car. If it were me, I'd keep the car thereafter and drive it down into Spain via the Costa Brava, but if you drop off the car there, you'll probably pay a drop-off fee.

Why not get the teenagers to go to the library or bookstore and check out some guidebooks and come up with some ideas of their own?

As mentioned by StCirq, you will need a car in the Dordogne. Aside from that, you might want to consider if you want to do and see things between the localities you mentioned: Barcelona, Seville. If you are interested in touring, you might want to consider the purchase/sell plan offered by Peugeot (www.auto-france.com) and Renault (www.renaultusa.com) and do a round trip from Paris. Or consider the drop off fee. Renault gives you a complete price of the deal on its web site, including the fee charged for picking up and dropping off the car in cities outside France.

Thanks St Cirq and Michael.
Can you help again?
If we lease a car what would be best route and is it poss to fit in Dordogne,Barcelona,and visit friends in Seville and Britelo in Portugal in 3 weeks before returning to Paris. Best to fly back there or drive? Help.
ps to st cirq-are you female-I imagined a silver haired frenchman!!

From Brittany, you can go down to Angers (visit the castle, its hanging garden and especially the tapestries of the Apocalypse). From there you can go to Poitiers and on to the Dordogne. From the Dordogne, I would go to Albi, Carcassonne (yes, it is touristy and surely overbuilt by Viollet-le-Duc, but it is a must), go over the central Pyrenees (see St. Bertrand de Comminges) to the Spanish side to see Taüll. Others may recommend going toward the French coast. The options are many. Taüll has impressive Romanesque frescoes which should be seen in their natural surroundings. The originals are in Barcelona, and should also be seen. From Taüll, go to Barcelona. I can't help you with a potential itinerary from Barcelona because I have never gone down that side of Spain. From Seville I would recommend go up the Extremadura to Salamanca, see Avila and Segovia and back up to France either by going over the mountains toward Pau or by going to San Sebastian and to Biarritz. Biarritz to Paris can be done in an easy two days if you are not sight-seeing. I must admit that this a crowded itinerary for the 4 weeks you give yourselves after the 2 weeks in Brittany. Get some guide books to decide what you want to see and what you will just drive by and visit another time.

Just some logistical thoughts:

1. Have you considered an open jaw ticket, arriving into Paris and departing from Seville? (most likely the latter flight will route through Madrid. Even if slightly higher than RT to Paris, you would save a potential one or two nights hotel lodging plus the cost of a return flight or train to Paris.

2. Barcelona and Seville are not close to one another. I've not been, but notice many on this forum recommend taking a cheap flight rather than the train from Barcelona to Seville.

3. Re: a cheap flight from Seville to Paris... not sure which airline but I see that this wouldn't work on EasyJet, Ryan Air, SpanAir or EuropebyAir. You are more likely to find a flight from Madrid back to Paris. If I were going to consider the latter, I might just take the high speed AVE train from Seville to Madrid and then take the night train from Madrid to Paris. It think it is called the Trenhotel. I've been longing to make that train trip in a family room with my family of four!

I don't see any budget airlines servicing the Seville to Paris route. The best option might be to visit Seville first and then Barcelona. You could fly SpanAir from Seville to Barcelona and EasyJet from Barcelona to Paris Orly. Of course, this won't put you at CDG.

Thanks to all. Now considering cutting down to france and maybe just Barcelona and missing seeing friends as it may be too much.

Let me offer other transportation options. Assuming that your brother can offer transportation for 5, take the train to Brittany and pick up your car at the end of your stay, perhaps in Rennes. If you decide to rent rather that use the purchase/sell plan, drive the car to Perpignan and then train to Barcelona. If you want to see your friends in Seville, fly or take the train to Seville, and then fly back to Paris. Two weeks from Rennes to Barcelona will give you a nice view of that part of France and you can spend an extended week in Barcelona and Seville.

Thanks Michael I just discovered more very helpful advise from you. I have booked the car from Rennes and said we would drop it at Orly but I could change that.
I have been looking at ryan air and the prices are amazing-its very confusing! Still pondering.
Do all you regular guys spend hours on here-I am addicted and can't stop reading fodors!! Trouble is its making my decisions harder!

in Bretagne (Brittany) definately visit Mont St. Michel, and St. Malo, Nantes, and Rennes! the teens will love Rennes, its a student city! and i recommend a car, thats what my parents used when they came over here, and it was nice! but definately take the trains its an experience ull never forget!

I'm glad you find my suggestions useful. For specific information about Brittany, search <i>Trip report: Ghent,</i> and you will get two entries, one for my written report and a second for a web site for my photos from Brittany.

The suggestion above to use the purchase/buy back for a car is excellent. It is usually referred to as a lease and is a great deal because you don't have to pay the VAT. We've used the Peugeot lease back plan for years and never had any problems. If you are staying for more than 17 days, it can save you a lot of money and they have 24 hour roadside assistance if there is ever a problem.

They don't charge for returns out of the country all the time. Some cities are exempt. You would need to call or e-mail them to see if you would need to pay extra to return in Spain. The contract is to purchase the car with the agreement they will buy it back at the end of your stay. It's a little intimidating at first, but it really works just like a lease. You use the car for the time you need it and then return it, sign the papers and it's no longer yours.

You can reach them via this web site http://www.peugeot.com/sodexa/en/ and then use &quot;contact&quot; to e-mail your questions. I believe there is also an American phone number you can use.

I highly recommend them and the Peugeot is a dream to drive also.