atalanta934

Hi everyone,

My boyfriend and I are planning a month long (or thereabouts) trip to Spain and France. We know we want to go to Paris (perhaps my favorite city). Beyond that, we are pretty wide open. We like to be pretty active while travelling, not necessarily climbing mountains but lots and lots of walking. Food and drink are important too (we do love to eat and explore). I am more interested in spending a decent amount of time in a few places rather than trying to see the entirety of the two countries. We're going in mid-June to mid-July (hot, I know, but it's the only time we have). Our budget isn't huge but this is a big trip for us and we'll splurge when needed.

I would love any help. Ideas, places you went to that you tell everyone about, thoughts for cities to base ourselves in... I'm just starting to look into this and am a bit overwhelmed.

Thanks so much.

Michael

How do you plan to travel between the various locations? That might help define the possibilities of where you go.

caroltis

My husband and I visited Provence, Costa Brava, Barcelona, and Southern Spain including Madrid. I agree, what is your choice of transportation - that will make a big difference in what advice you receive. We rented a car.

BarbaraMH

Check out France's SNCF (railroad) website. See where you can get easy connections to from Paris and make that your first destination in France, then do the same from there to Spain. So many to choose from... maybe Paris to Pau (or somewhere else in southwest France), then maybe Barcelona, then somewhere a bit smaller in Spain, like Salamanca (maybe a bit too far from Barcelona) or somewhere in the Basque area in the north... or you could go south to Seville or Granada....

Where will you fly out of? Is that still open?

atalanta934

Thanks for the advice and sorry for not enough info...

I think we would prefer to rely on trains, renting cars sporadically as needed.

atalanta934

We don't know where we're flying out of yet...nothing booked.

Michael

If by train, I would recommend going to Dijon, Lyon, Arles, Nimes and on to Barcelona, Madrid (from which you can easily travel to Segovia, Avila and Toledo by public transportation).

rjkollar

Don't miss the Costa Brava and the Dali Museum and Castle!!! We stayed at the Hotel Aigua Blava and it was absolutely wonderful. A private cove and great swimming beaches and good food. The Costa Brava is on the North East coast of Spain just below the border of France. Then you can continue on to Barcelona!

Robert2533

You've already found out that you have many options, but my personal recommendation, depending on the time of year, would be to take the train south to Biarrtiz and spend time in the Pays Basque and País Vasco (the Basque country). You'll find you have the best of everything and it's fairly easy on your budget. You might want to check out Maribel's Guides to the Pays Basque and País Vasco for a little more information on what to see, do and expect (maribelsguides.com)

DalaiLlama

Try this:

1 week in Paris.

Get a car - train service to smaller towns in the provinces can be sketchy, and once you’re beyond Bayeux and Mont St. Michel you want to be in small towns where not every other tourist competes for your enjoyment...

Drive to Bayeux, look for a little hotel in a nearby small town - should not be hard to find before lunch. Go check out the tapestries in Bayeux, the nearby Normandie (Allied landing) beaches - on your own, or there are tours aplenty from Bayeux.
www.bayeux-tourism.com/ENG
Stay a night or three - nice region, flat country, you can hike or bike, good regional food in small villages along the way - google other people’s biking reports etc.

Drive to the access to the abbey of Mont St. Michel. Read up on the options and the tides etc. re getting out there, at
www.ot-montsaintmichel.com/accueil_gb.htm,
also about staying in the region.

Drive to the coast of the Bretagne - pick a location after researching it, or wing it, anywhere between Brest and La Rochelle - there are lots of fishing towns and non-touristy places where you rent a room from private for a week and indulge in walking, beaches, strolling through the markets, biking - you need to do your homework or you end up where everybody else ends up. It’s worth the effort!

Now you’re into your third week. The Bordeaux region beckons, and inland the Dordogne - great for hiking and countryside driving and discovering towns with practically no tourists.

A day’s drive away is the Burgundy region, and from there it is easy to circle back to Paris. Lots and lots of worthwhile places to stop by on the way!

Do you really want to go to Spain on this trip? You can hit the road and go to San Sebastian, Bilbao, into the mountains (Pamplona...watch out for the San Fermin crazy bullfighting week July 7-14, there will not be an empty hotel room for a week before and a week after).

You’ll have to decide on the logistics of the car if you rent one - get quotes for one-way rentals from autoeurope, europcar, kemwel, sixt - they all are brokers/consolidators, you rent from a contracting local franchisee, but not at local rates, at the better rates that the brokers negotiate for your online booking.

But one-way rentals across borders either are not available or cost a ton, so consider ditching the car while in France (Bordeaux for example - it has to be a big city) and taking the train.

Then rent a car for a few days locally in San Sebastian or thereabouts.

Or leave Spain for another trip when you will have more time for just that big country, and take the car back to Paris. Cheaper and simpler.