Newbies - 4 or 5 weeks in France & Spain? Fly in and out of same city?

I suggest a trip that looks like a horseshoe. Have you thought of flying Into Madrid, driving up the East/middle side of Spain through the French Alps over to your interests to towards the north of France? Then go south stopping at Normandy & Paris & onto Spain taking in west/middle Spain. Make your final stop in Barcelona where you would take a departure flight home. (That's just a rough draft.)

If you have 4 to 5 weeks & feel one of you will not be found dead one morning, go for it! You will have time to digest what you see. Most people have to return b/c of work or family responsibilities after 2 wks.

Bon Voyage!

I like the route flying into Paris and out of Madrid...with 4-5 weeks you can go at a fairly leisurely pace, stop where you want, and really soak things up!
There are plenty of places you can stop on the way that will give you both bigger city experiences as well as small town ambiance. With planning you can easily do it. I suggest getting out a map, a good guidebook to France and Spain, and detailing out the route you want to take based on your interests. You can either swing down through France, through Provence, and then west through Languedoc and southwest France into Spain, OR you can head west from Paris and go down the western part of France, through the Pyrenees and Basque country and head into Spain from there.
There are a million options so get out the map and a guidebook and start dreaming!

Collette's geography is a little confusing to me. I'd recommend an "open jaw" trip like Paris to Madrid, EXCEPT that returning a car in a different country will cost you a very big drop-off charge. Maybe the best strategy is from Paris into Spain, around Spain as you like, then back up to Toulouse or Bordeaux or Marseilles or Nice, wherever in southern France you can get a flight home. Or drop the car somewhere in southern France, cross into Spain by train, pick up another car there, and fly home from Spain.

My wife and I have taken 4-week trips without violence, and 5 ought to work too. It's sometimes good to split up and do different things in a city once in awhile, depending on your interests, energy, etc. I wouldn't think you'd need much itinerary planning unless you're going in the height of summer tourist season. Take a tablet or smartphone if you can to plan your lodgings a day or two ahead if you want (but be sure to stick with wifi to avoid big data charges).

You're wise to mix big cities and smaller towns. Somewhere in the middle, maybe a few days near a beach or mountains or someplace you can just relax and recharge batteries, also known as "a vacation from your vacation." You're also wise to stick with a couple of countries instead of trying to "hit" every place in Europe as many on this board plan to do (and always get advised not to). So you're way ahead of the game already, you'll have a wonderful time!

Since you are leaving in October, I would start in Paris, head south thru France, thru Spain and out of Madrid.

This will provide you with the best possible weather.

Agree, drop France car rental before you cross border and pick up new car in Spain. Usually short train or bus ride.

Based on experience, 4-5 weeks is a fairly long time to be on the go. Here are some general recommendations:

• plan for at least 2 longish stays (4-6 days each) besides Paris, maybe one in the middle and one at the end.
• Avoid one-nighters as much as possible, and don't have several in a row. It takes time to get in and out, even when you are traveling by car.
• plan for one day out of every 6-8 for laundry, shopping for necessities, etc., and just relaxing.
• Use trains as much as possible, save the auto trips for places that really benefit (Loire valley, some of Andalusia come to mind). European trains are very comfortable. You can walk around, the trains are rarely crowded, the scenery is often very nice. Relax, read, nap, picnic, write in your diary, edit your photos on your laptop, relax some more.
• You can plan day trips from larger towns to smaller ones. Both countries have good train service.

I like the idea of flying open-jaw and starting in Paris for the reasons others have named. Consider flying from somewhere in France to somewhere in Spain, perhaps Seville. Paris to Seville is over 1,000 miles. It is likely to be expensive to drop of a car near the border and pick up another one, to drop off somewhere else. I don't see any cities on the border.

After researching the idea of visiting Morocco as part of my Spanish trip, I let it go. Either fly back and forth and visit Marrakech and Fez or skip it. Tangier is a border town (think Tijuana). I spent 3 weeks in Andalusia, thinking it would be enough. Guess what, 1.5 years later and I'm planning another visit! You can see much of it using the train - you won't want to be bothered with driving or parking in many places. I rented from Jerez to Granada (5 days) to visit the pueblos blancos (white hill towns) and a couple of nature sights. The rest of the time I used the trains and would do it again that way.

Unless you are fluent in the language, don't count on too much interaction with the locals in smaller towns and villages. In Spain, mostly only the youngsters speak English, except in the south where there are lots of British ex-pats in residence. I think it's similar for France, sans the ex-pats :-).

"Unless you are fluent in the language, don't count on too much interaction with the locals in smaller towns and villages."

I just want to emphasize this point of Chani's, and I would add, don't count on it in the cities either. Spain is the country where I have encountered the least English. And this includes Madrid, Barcelona, and Andalusia (the three places where I'd expect the most English). Fortunately I have survival Spanish; without it, I would not have been happy. Others have different experiences, and say they get along in Spain just fine without speaking Spanish. I do find more English in Paris, but again, not always in smaller French towns and cities.

I think 4-5 weeks is a long time for a first trip. You don't know how you'll feel being away from home for so long, even if you are enjoying the trip. Some do get homesick after a few weeks.