French wine country
 

DH and I will be taking our first trip in MANY years, starting (and ending) with a visit to my son in Barcelona, then renting a car and driving through western France. The ultimate goal is Vouvray, but it would be nice to make a loop instead of driving there and back on the same route. We will have just 10 days, and trying to do it as frugally as possible. Looking for suggestions on routes, best places to stop, inexpensive places to eat, stay, etc. DH is most interested in wine, but we are also into walking, beautiful scenery, and taking in local culture. Any help would be greatly appreciated. We are hoping to do this mid to late May, so there's not a lot of time to plan.
Also, where can we get maps of Spain and France before we leave?

Thanks.

<< Also, where can we get maps of Spain and France before we leave? >>

Any bookstore, order from the web, AAA, etc. I prefer regional Michelin maps for driving.

When you start from Barcelona, I would recommend to spend a day or so for some sightseeing at the Costa Brava. Figueres, Cadaques and Cap Creus are excellent attractions. Given your taste for Vouvray, you should visit Castillo Perelada - they make an excellent sparkling wine.

http://www.castilloperelada.com

Over the border, you may visit the wine museum in Beziers right in the Corbieres. Corbieres has a reputation for mass market wines, but they have increased their quality during the last two decades and you will find some decent wineries. St. Chinian has a good reputation. This site gives you the information you need:

http://www.beziers-tourisme.fr

From Beziers, take the autoroute back southwards and then westwards, with a stop in Carcassone.

In the Atlantic region, you can start your wine tour in Cahors (heavy reds made primarily from Malbec) and spend a couple of days in the Bordeaux region. St. Emilion is a nice town with smaller wineries around, whereas the Médoc is dominated by large chateaux which are worth a tour.

Do not forget to make a trip to the ocean - the dune of Pyla near Arcachon is impressive!

On your way to the Loire, you may stop in Cognac.

You have a LOT of territory to cover, driving from Barcelona to Vouvray and back in 10 days. Does it HAVE to be Vouvray? There are myriad good white wines being made in territories closer, and there's a huge stretch of really dull driving between the Loire and the SW of France that you'd have to endure twice to do this trip, even if you did a loop. If you DO do a loop, I'd recommend Barcelona up the coast to Narbonne, to Carcassonne, to Toulouse, to Cahors, to Brive, to Limoges, to Orléans, to Saumur, to Niort, to Saintes, to Bordeaux, to Agen, to Auch, to Toulouse, to Foix, through the mountains and Andorra back to Barcelona. It could be a pretty exhausting roadtrip.

Oops, I did not notice that you want to drive to Vouvray and back. This is theoretically possible and you can drive back via Burgundy, but you will spend most of the time in your car and you will have hardly any time to visit wineries.

Think twice whether you need really to drive up to Vouvray. For a 10-day loop drive, it makes more sense to drive to Bordeaux, and from there back on the Spanish side through the Rioja.

For maps, try this:

http://www.thesavvytraveller.com/ins...ional_maps.htm

As for the loop, follow StCirq' way up, But you might want to come back down through the Auvergne via Bourges and stopping in places like Le Puy-en-Velay.

You have all been so helpful! We will definitely re-think the trip, since spending most of the time in the car is not our idea of fun.