If you stay in or near BCN, you can do an easy day trip to Sitges from there.

Most of the Costa Brava is wonderful, and folks have already pointed out some of the best. Try to catch Tossa de Mar enroute from BCN to your base. We loved Collioure but were there in February rather than summer when I could feature it being almost unapproachable.

Cadaques is fantastic to visit but if you choose to stay there driving back and forth would be a trial. Actually just driving there once is pretty hairraising.

We stayed in Llafranc, on the coast near Palafrugell and not far from Girona sort of smack dab between BCN and Perpignan. There are several small hotels along the waterfront there that would be wonderful to spend time at. Unfortunately I'm unaware of gite availability in the area.

Enjoy your summer vacation. Sounds wonderful to me.

It sounds like a lovely trip. We visited Barcelona two years ago, with our then-12yo son. He very much enjoyed the Dali museum in Figueres (as did we). We liked the town, too. It's definitely an average town/city, and not the beauty that Girona is, but we liked it because it was so non-touristy.

We spent the night in Figueres, before heading on to the Languedoc (loved the "Cathar" castles). We spent a long time at a cafe on Figueres' main piazza, las Ramblas, ordering a succession of tapas.

The next morning, we had a typical and wonderful (especially for kids) breakfast at Xurreria Cafeteria Casa Vostra, on calle Vilafant. It was a typical local place (complete with lots of smoke), where we joined the locals in having hot chocolate and churros (though the Spaniard at the table next to our merely had a plate of jamon for breakfast). If you have the time, for breakfast or a snack, give it a try!

Hi mcburja,
I agree that all Banyuls is not made equal. O My local wine shop carries the Domaine du Mas Blanc labels, which I do enjoy. I've also serve the sweet wine in scooped out canteloupe halves, and I enjoy the rosés from the Cotes de Roussillon A.O.C.

I like your idea of flying into Barcelona and spending a couple of days of leisurely sighsteeing rather than to attempt a series of day trips from your Cote Vermeille area gite.

Figueres and the Dalí Theatre Museum (which you may find quite "over the top" amusing, would be about an hour, or less, drive from Colliure.
www.salvador-dali.org

Since your children have been immersed in the French language and culture (and probably some history to boot), I think they would enjoy a visit to Céret, surrounded by cherry orchard hills, because it's both a graceful and very authentic town with a strong Catalán identity and a plane tree covered square, Place Pablo Picasso, where the Saturday market is held. You may notice a yellow and red striped catalán flag, or hear the language spoken, paella cooking or see sardanas danced or castells (human towers) built during a festival. It also feels somewhat Spanish with flamenco, bodegas, and bullfights in their Arenes during Féria, July 11-13.
www.feriadeceret.com

Céret boasts a fine Modern Art Museum featuring works of Chagall, Miró, Manolo, Juan Gris, Dalí, the Fauvists and an impressive collection of bullfighting themed Picasso ceramics. Picasso and Braque lived in Céret for a time.
www.ot-ceret.fr

Beyond Céret, in the Vallespir, we took a beautiful drive through the Aspres foothills on the D618 up to the
Priory of Serrabone, the oldest Augustinian priory in Europe, I believe. The zig-zag road straight up proved to be quite the adventure.
While Romanesque religious structures may hold zero appeal for your kids, they are very much a part of the Roussillon's cultural heritage. From the priory you do have a stunning view of Mount Canigou.

I mentioned the ride on the narrow gauge "little yellow canary" or "Pyrénées metro", Le Petit Train Jaune (operated by SNCF), because I do think it's a quaint train that provides a stunningly scenic ride for folks of all ages. Our train was filled with mostly with French families, not foreign tourists, and we enjoyed our time afterwards in the walled town of Villefranche-de-Confluent, another with that "plus beaux villages de France" designation and a fortress town designed by Louis XIV's military architect, Vauban. We enjoyed walking the ramparts that encircle the town, although the pedestrian streets have become somewhat Carcassonne-ified (as in quite touristy).

I don't suggest you ride the entire 3 hr., 63 km. long train route to the Spanish border at La Tour de Carol, as it would be too long and the maximum speed is only 55 km./hr. The most spectacular scenery, highest elevation and the most roller-coaster like fun lies between Villefranche-de-Confluent and Mont-Louis, the highest town in the Tet Valley, which is the original section opened in 1910. The latter is the fortress-garrison also designed by Vauban. And And it has a solar oven, the town claims to be the sunniest spot in France. We rode between the two on the open passenger cars they put on in the summer. This does require careful planning and reading of the schedule, since you don't want too much time between arrival & departure at Mont-Louis, since it's a small place that can be seen fairly quickly. Try to see the schedule here:
http://tinyurl.com/7stwua
(doesn't work on my mac, but maybe someone else can give you a better link)


Before or after your ride, you could take the navette up to Fort Libéria (another work of Vauban from the late 1600s) above the town, then walk down. We enjoyed a casual meal of catalán dishes at La Casa de la Nine on the rue St. Jean, within the walled town.

On another visit you could combine the nearby caves, the Grottes Canalettes, with a visit to the 10th century Cistercian Abbey of St-Michel-de-Cuxa, 8 km. away. It's a Romanesque jewel, with a beautiful cloister (a portion of which resides at the Cloisters in NYC), and it lies in a valley just outside Prades, where the cellist Pablo Casals lived. Concerts are given there during the Casals International Music Festival starting in late July.
You may or may not visit churches with your 12 and 14 yr. olds, but the Eglise St Pierre de Prades has the largest 17th c. Baroque altarpiece in France, the work of Sunyer.

The above are the excursion which we took from our late June base in Collioure staying at the Relais des Trois Mas, which has, BTW, wonderful terrace dining at their restaurant, La Balette, with picture postcard views across the harbour of the town's pastel houses, rocky beach and Château.

Since you've already based in Narbonne, I'm assuming you already know the Cathar sites. I hope our Perpignan based poster, Pvoyageuse, weighs in here, because he can give you much better current advice about his city and the region in general.

Please forgive the typos. Since the post was so long winded, the preview function wouldn't allow me to edit!

Here are some links which I couldn't include:
www.prades-tourisme.com
www.grotte-grandes-canalettes.com

Hope this helps.

My thanks again to all of you for your generosity of time - wonderful suggestions from all.

GregY2 - do you have an alternate URL - I have a firewall issue when I try the one you left.

One last question, if I may. There are many excellent sites to search for the perfect gite in France, but I've had no luck finding something similar in Spain. The sites I've run across are more likely to show modern apartments than older, more charming options. I thought we might look not just on the French side but on the Spanish as well.

I didn't stay at Relais des Trois Mas, which I regret, because it does have the nicest view and the establishment looks lovely. I did eat there, and the food was fine to excellent (but pricey!), the only problem being the apertif of Banyuls that come with the meal!

And this might help with your search for a "gite" type place in Spain.

/en.toprural.com/holiday-cottages-spain_bn-es.htm

This is as good a place as any to say I owe Maribel an apology for once having lit into her for seeming to promote parts of Catalonia as "Tuscan-like in feel." I objected strenuously, despite my admiration and enthusiasm for Catalonia as a tourist destination.

However, I recently found myself driving through a bit of Tuscany and coming around a bend, catching a sight of a plain golden stone farmhouse in the morning light, I found myself very much put in mind of Catalonia.

I'm still going to maintain that would-be travelers who've heard over and over again about the glories of Tuscany, but fret about cost or too many tourists there, really can't substitute Catalonia (or Umbria or Le Marche) for the unique Tuscan landscape. But if you are looking for good food and wine, rural serenity, the medieval village or too, but most of all, a chance to discover and explore a place less contorted by tourism, Catalonia is an exciting destination, with better access to the sea.

Hi mcburja, that URL is correct, I just clicked on it from this thread within Fodors and it opened without a problem so I don't know why it is giving you trouble. If you clicked through from Fodors, it may be worth typing the address in directly to your browser - a bit of a pain I know as its a clunky address.

Alternatively You could try this site:

http://www.provencehouse.com.au

This is the website for a house in Provence. In the left-hand margin you will see a link to "A house in Languedoc-Roussillon" - that's the house near Perpignan. It's a link to the same URL but it may be worth trying to get there that way.

Otherwise if you'd like to talk to me direct you can email on [email protected] Greg

Thanks, Greg. It appears to be a workplace firewall issue (not that I should be dreaming of France while I'm at work!).

I'll try from home. Thanks for your response.

mcburja,
The site that zeppole has given you, Top Rural, really is your best source, I think, for a country rental in the Girona province. And the Alt or Baix Empordá is where you would probably want to base for ease of access to great sightseeing both on the coast and inland. The Baix Empordá would put you closer to the most beautiful stretch of the Costa Brava, IMO, the area between Begur and Calella de Palafrugell.

I've also seen a lovely stone farmhouse, or "mas" rental or two at www.costabravacentre.org/en/
and
www.gironaturistica.info

I do think that the somewhat remote, bohemian arts colony of Cadaqués would be too limiting for your family for an entire week. As Julie wisely notes, driving back and forth can be quite an ordeal. Plus the traffic in and out on the narrow, serpentine road can be annoyingly bumper-to- bumper on wkds in July/Aug., as we've experienced.

I have a beautiful book that lists many lovely stone farmhouse rentals, some with pool, "Las mejores casas rurales de Cataluña". So if you can't find something you like on the aforementioned web pages and would like to give me your specifics (size, # of bedrooms, baths, pool?, budget, etc.), I'll be happy to look through this lovely guide to see if I can match up something for you.

Have fun planning!

Popping back into this thread 4 months later, and as always, so grateful to the many Fodorites who give so generously of their time and advice.

Plans for our August trip are now much more firm. Found an amazing flight from Toronto to Barcelona and back (about $500 USD) - we're going to spend the money we saved on three extra days in BCN! So the plan is 6 nights in BCN, then 3 nights in Begur, then the last week at a gite in Prades.

From our Begur stop, I think we'll visit Girona one day, and the Dali museum in Figueres another, with one day left unplanned for wandering.

From the French gite, I expect we'll take le petit train jaune to Mont Louis, as Maribel has suggested, for one day, Perpignan on the Thursday for the wonderful medieval fete, and a day for caves/grottos. Perhaps a day for just lying around by the pool.

In Barcelona, I think we'd have no probem at all filling five days, but if we did one day trip out of the city, what would you suggest? We won't be picking up our car rental until we leave for Begur, so we'd likely need to rely on some other mode of transport.

As always, many thanks for the wonderful advice.