Michael -- that did whet the appetite. It looks beautiful.

It looks like we found a nice place to stay in Jaca -- do you think that would be a good place to base ourselves to explore the area or should we look elsewhere?

Also -- I have another wrench in my plans -- the place we want to say in La Rioja is booked on the dates that I had planned to be there. Would I mess up our drive if we went from Pyrenees to La Rioja and then to San Sebastian?

I'm no avid hiker, but Torla stands out as one of my two-three favourites in the Pyrenees for the spectacular views, excellent and no fuss restaurants and nice walks.

Torla hotels: http://www.booking.com/city/es/torla.html

Restaurants in Torla: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...ca_Aragon.html

Jaca is close but very different.

What are other places that you would recommend we stay in the Pyrenees?

I hear that it might be best to stay in the lower elevations of the Pyrenees and drive up to higher elevations to visit. Some have suggested that we stay in a few places as we drive through the Pyrenees. I would love some recommendations!

We don't have lots of experience traveling in the Pyrenees but liked our stay in Saint-Lary Soulan. We went to a book shop there and purchased a book with maps of the hiking trails in the area. There is a small Casino grocery store with lots of picnic supplies.

Not sure how this might fit with the rest of your itinerary but Googlemap it to check it out. The drive to and from was lovely. Our last stop on this trip was Toulouse, just a couple of hours away.

We stayed at Les Arches--a small, basic hotel with clean, comfortable rooms.

I like Cauterets on the French side. It is fairly high up, but the roads coming up from the picturesque towns at lower elevations are excellent. I am sorry I didn't drive through Andorra while I was in the Pyrenees. Everyone says half of it is awful dreadful and horrible, especially the main city of Vella, and yet some people say the half that isn't awful is just spectacular. I don't know!

http://www.aladyinlondon.com/2011/11...ra-travel.html

http://www.arinsal.co.uk/walks.php

How does this itinerary look? Are we moving around too much in the Pyrenees?

My husband found a place in Palomos that he would like to visit so I'm trying to fit that in.

9/8 Arrive in BCN 7:30pm. Get car and sleep in hotel nearby
9/9 Drive to Palomos (1 1/2 drive) Spend night
9/10 Drive to La Seu D'Urgell through Girona, Vic, etc. Stay in La Seu d"urgell
9/11 Walk in Parc Nacional dAiguestortes. Stay night in La Seu D'Urgell
9/12 Drive to Jaca. Stay in Jaca
9/13 Walk in Ordessa Park . Stay in Jaca
9/14 Drive to San Sebastian
9/15 San Sebastian
9/16 San Sebastian
9/17 San Sebastian
9/18 Drive to Balbao for day, drive to La Rioja
9/19 La Rioja
9/20 La Rioja
9/21 Drive to BCN
9/22 Fly home

We have two alternatives to our Pyranees drive and since we don't know the roads and the real time it takes to get from point A to point B, I'd like your input:

Alternative #1: Palamos to La Seu d'Urgell to San Martin de la Solana to San Sebastián
Alterntavive 2: Palamos to San Martin de la Solana to Cauterets to San Sebastián

www.viamichelin.com should give you a pretty good estimate excluding stopping times for meals and viewing.

tt

You can make the drive from Palamos to La Seu d'Urgell in about three hours (driving time only), but you can add 3 to 4 hours if you make any stops to see anything, of which there are many along the way. I would follow the road to Besalú (first stop) before heading on to La Seu d'Urgell. The last time we drove through Besalú to La Seu d'Urgell it took nearly all day, with stops in Olot, Rupit, Ripoll, La Molina, finally getting into La Seu in the late afternoon.

I would skip Cauterets if you wanted to take some time for a walk in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido Park.