1st leg of trip from Barcelona Spain to southern France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, end in Paris France by car. I have mapped fastest roads from Barcelona to Cather castles in France but thought it might be fun to drive slowly instead thru Spain's coastal towns after leaving Barcelona before heading to Cather Castles. Any recommendations on routes or is this going to dramatically slow down my trip? I thought it might be slower but prettier so worth the slowdown but would like thoughts and route recommendations, and cool things to do along coastal route.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10600 posts
I can't give you a recommendation for the route, but I wanted to mention that it is quite expensive to pick up a car in one country and return in another. There will be a large drop off fee. My suggestion would be to take the train from Barcelona to Perpignan, then pick up your car there. Then you would be picking up and dropping off in France.
How long will you have a car?
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Would it take some of the pressure off to know that the Cathars neither built nor occupied castles? How about knowing that the Cathar Trail was an invention of the Aude tourist bureau about thirty years ago?
There's two almost exceptions: Cathars holed up and were massacred in already existing Beziers and Montsegur during Albigensian Crusade.
Some are still pretty good castles. Some require hefty humping to get to.
Posted by
OP
33 posts
Thank you everyone, yes I am aware of the huge drop off fee in another country and I still want to incur it. Yes I know of the history of the Cather Castles etc. and still want to explore it.
Back to the original question, can anyone recommend a route along North Spain coast and possible cool things to see?
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
www.viamichelin.com also has an option to map a "discovery" route. Driving through towns always comes with traffic, so the plan is more worthwhile if you have time to stop. Along the Spanish north coast, Tossa de Mar and Cadaques are both recommended towns. Figueres if you want to see the Salvador Dali theater/museum.