KHarms

Hi!
My husband and I will be taking 11 days for our honeymoon in late September. We arrive early morning in Paris and have scheduled our departing flight out of Barcelona. We are having a very difficult time figuring out an itinerary. We would like to make one stop inbetween Paris and Barcelona. I am going crazy doing research. I just want to do it all. I am a little worried we won't feel that we have seen beautiful scenery if we spend all our time between Paris and Barcelona, we want to see some land and country inbetween. Some of my ideas are below, but really we are open to anything that fits in our time constraint.

About us:
1. Wish we could belnd in with the locals. Always looking for an authentic cultural experience.
2. We live by good food and good scenery. We could probably plan the entire trip based on unique restaurants.
3. History is interesting, but mostly going in one and out the other. Seen one church/historical sight, seen them all.

Below are my ideas:
1. Drive (so that we have the choice to stop and enjoy) from Paris to Zurich (or Geneva) through Alsace. Spend 2 days in this region. Fly from Zurich to Barcelona.
2. Drive from Paris to Geneva through Burgundy. Spend 2 days in this region. Fly from Geneva to Barcelona.
3. Fly from Paris to Cinque Terre region of Italy. Spend 2 days in this region. Fly from Cinque Terre to Barcelona.
4. Fly from Paris to Vienna. Spend 2 or 3 days in this region. Fly to Barcelona.
5. Fly from Paris to Barcelona, rent a car and explore the Pyrenees and maybe Basque Country.

Thank you for your help.
- very confused!

Robert2533

11 days doesn't allow for a lot of time to explore such a vast area. I would concentrate on Paris in the fall. It's quite beautiful and it would be easy to spend your first week there.

If you wanted to spend a couple of days in Zurich or Geneva, you can take the train and then head down to Barcelona for a couple of days before catching your flight home.

Just remember, every time you change locations, and travel by plane, you will end up loosing a day. Traveling by train is much easier given your main choices, except if you were to take the train from Italy to Spain.

Michael

Option 2 and 5 are the best. Option 2 because you can drop off the car on the French side of the Geneva airport and avoid cross-border drop-off fees. Option 5 because it give you an opportunity to explore an area. I would stick to Catalonia on both sides of the border.

Another option is to drive to the Dordogne (cave and foie gras country), spend a few days there, and then drive to Perpignan, drop off the car and take the train to Barcelona.

ira

Hey KH,

>We are having a very difficult time figuring out an itinerary. <

That's because you have only 11 days and you want to visit Paris and Barcelona.

You could do the obvious thing and spend 6 nights in Paris and 4 in BCN.

Have a nice visit.

StCirq

You can't realistically cover that kind of territory in a mere 11 days. And picking up a car in one country and leaving it in another will cost you an arm and a leg. If you want to see Paris and Barcelona, spend four days in Paris, take the train through the countryside for three days to Barcelona, spend four days in Barcelona, and fly home from there.

KHarms

Thank you everyone for your responses.

I am still a little confused- as some seem to think 3 destinations can be done, others not so much.

(Note: I spent a weekend in Paris while studying abroad in college)
What is there to do in Paris for 6 days if the only museum you want to see is Musee D'Orsay (already been to the Louvre) and the only church you plan to see is Notre Dame?
Of course we will go to the Eiffel Tower. I found the Champs Elysees to be quite touristy. Any favorite experiences not having to do with history?

I'm leaving towards plan #2. Any thoughts on going through Burgundy vs Alsace? Which is more beautiful?

Michael

<i>What is there to do in Paris for 6 days if the only museum you want to see is Musee D'Orsay (already been to the Louvre) and the only church you plan to see is Notre Dame? </i>

Looking at a guidebook may be in order.

Alan_CT

We've made this trip several times, including stopovers in Switzerland, but never in less than 15 nights. With 11, and your expressed desire to "blend in with the locals" you should consider an apartment in Paris outside of the tourist centers. Then you can find a favorite local cafe, shop in a market and stroll around to get a better feel for the city and its inhabitants. I'm mystified that you might think there's nothing else to do or see once you go to the d'Orsay. There are many other fine small museums, parks and gardens.

So, say you stayed four nights in Paris. Then you could take the TGV to Dijon (about 90 minutes) and rent a car at the station. (Check office days and hours; not open Sundays.) From there you can drive south through Burgundy and stay at least one night, or two if you'd like to wander about. We love Domaine des Anges in the charming wine village of Puligny-Montrachet; www.domainedesangespuligny.com.

The easiest way to Barcelona from there is to fly from Lyon. EasyJet has flights into Barcelona El Prat. Then do the same in Barcelona as in Paris, and if you get bored (hard to believe this could happen), take a day trip to Montserrat, Tarragona or Girona.

Another option would be to take the train to Avignon and stay somewhere not far from there. You could then fly from Lyon or Marseilles to Barcelona.

We've done the train from/to Perpignan; it's pretty slow and not a lot of departures, plus the drive to Perpignan takes a few hours.

StCirq

<<(Note: I spent a weekend in Paris while studying abroad in college)
What is there to do in Paris for 6 days if the only museum you want to see is Musee D'Orsay (already been to the Louvre) and the only church you plan to see is Notre Dame? >>

This is actually making me LOL, as I'll be making my 109th trip to Paris next month. Are you really serious? Just read any of the thousand and one posts here on Fodors about what there is to do in Paris, or pick up a guidebook or two. People spend lifetimes in Paris and never run out of things to do.

KHarms

Ok Ok, I'm getting beat up for acting like I thought there was nothing to do in Paris. I know that is not true, it's just that I didn't want to read a million replies about how we should just spend all of our time in Paris.

Alan- I really appreciate your input and will probably take your advice.

Thank you everyone!