nutrvlr724

I'm planning a surprise honeymoon for my husband. We got married last year but weren't able to take a trip then. Neither one of us has been to Europe before but both have roots in Spain and always talk about it being our first stop. I started to search for tickets and next thing I knew I was headed to Paris. Since it’s a surprise I can’t ask him much. Here’s what I know: Barcelona is a must. We both like side trips, a general itinerary but no set schedules/tours. We like small inns/paradores, wine and are on a budget. BTW, we’re mid-30s.

I bought a ticket arriving on Oct. 3rd in Paris and departing from Barcelona. Below is the draft I have in mind:

Day 1 – MON, Oct 3 – Arr. 7:30 a.m. CDG, Recover from jet lag. Walking around city, see Tour Eiffel.

Day 2 – TUE, Oct 4 – Paris (Fodor’s Itin. Day 1)

Day 3 – WED, Oct 5 – Louvre (closed on Tuesdays and probably too much for Monday.)

Day 4 – THU, Oct 6 – Paris (Fodor’s Itin. Day 3)

Day 5 – FRI, Oct 7 – Versailles then dinner and dancing.

Day 6 – SAT, Oct 8 – Paris (Fodor’s Itin. Day 4)

Day 7 – SUN, Oct 9 – OPEN

Day 8 – MON, Oct 10 – OPEN

Day 9 – TUE, Oct 11 – OPEN

Day 10 – WED, Oct 12 – Girona, Spain

Day 11 – THU, Oct 13 – Barcelona, Itin. day 1

Day 12 – FRI, Oct 14 – Barcelona, day 2 & dancing

Day 13 – SAT, Oct 15 – Figueres

Day 14 – SUN, Oct 16 – Barcelona, day 3

Day 15 – MON, Oct 17 – Depart Barcelona at 12:35 p.m.

Basically I don’t know if it’s best to drive, take a train or fly (time vs. expense) to get from Paris to Barcelona. I know it depends on where we go those middle days. Is it best to go to Madrid or focus on the wineries in the South of France? If we drive Paris to BCN then Madrid is too out of the way. I saw in a posting that we can rent a car and drop it off at Perpignan then take the train to Barcelona.

I’m putting together a major conference at work for September 26th and 27th, so I haven’t been able to do anything for our trip and we leave in less than two weeks!!! I don’t even have hotel reservations!! Can someone please help???

kenderina

First of all..congratulations for your honeymoon
I don't think it's a good idea to drive so much unless you are very interested to see something in the middle of it all. You can go either by plane or TGV to Montpellier (to say a place) and do some day trips from there to Nimes, Avignon, Carcassone..and then take the train to Girona (from Montpellier is about 3 hours).
It's surely cheaper to go Paris-BCN by plane.

nutrvlr724

Thank you for your response Kenderina. So you think we should skip Madrid and take the TGV instead? If we do that, we can stop along the way and do some wine tasting right?

kenderina

Yes, Madrid is a big big detour. I'm not on the wine thing, I cannot help you very much on that. Maybe you want to visit "L'Anoia" which is very near from Barcelona. It's the zone were cava is made and you can visit the wineries.
I was suggesting Avignon, Nimes, Montpellier just because are beautiful and full of history, I don't know if they are wine related

JJBhoy

nutvlr724,

Did you know you can fly from Paris to Barcelona with Ryanair? I had a look at the possible dates on your itinerary & the fares are ridiculously cheap - for example there are flights on the 11th, 12th & 13th of October for 0.01 Euro (that's one cent!) plus taxes & charges.
The total price would be 19.13 Euro each.

I realise that flying would cut out your opportunity to stop off along the way but at such a low cost it might be worthwhile.

It should also be noted that although Ryanair describe the destination as Barcelona, the airport is actually in Girona. There is a regular shuttle bus service into Barcelona city, however, or alternatively you might want to spend a night in Girona itself anyway - I see that it is in your draft itinerary.

You can find all the details at www.ryanair.com if you are interested.

Jim

SUNSHINE1223

I would think a hotel is in order first in Paris.

JJBhoy

nutrvlr724,

Did you know you have answers on your other post? Here's a link;

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34680637

JIm

nutrvlr724

Thank you Sunshine, I think right now I am mostly concerned with where we will stay in Paris. The budget is about 100 euros/night. I know it's low but the hotel is not my priority. I'd rather spend money on food or something else.

JJBoy -- thanks also. Great idea. I think I might have to do the drive of southern France on another trip since Barcelona is a must and I don't want to waste time. I'll look into Ryanair.

suze

I think Paris and Barcelona make a great two week trip. I don't think you need much more than that. For me, I'd stick to flying or the train only because renting a car seems like it would take alot more planning to figure out the logistics. Even if you didn't have tickets ahead I'm guessing you could get yourself between the two cities easily enough.

If a countryside tour is more what you are seeking, then I guess you need more input for ideas.