Hello! I am going to Europe with two friends early next fall (likely September) for approximately 12 days. We would like to rent a car and drive so we can explore a little bit more than you would get to taking trains/flights. To avoid an international drop off fee with the vehicle, we would ideally like to start and end in the same country but want to see at least two countries (probably Spain and France). What are your thoughts on the following: Paris - Bordeaux - San Sebastian - Barcelona- Marseille. Is this too much for 10 days? Do you have any other suggestions of trips to do?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32921 posts
I'm sure from your question that you do know that this is far far too much to do in the time you have available.
I see that you have reduced your available time from 12 to 10 days. I expect that you have taken off your arrival day because of jetlag and becoming established, and your last day which is your pack up and go to the airport day. Good move.
So then you have 10 nights. You need two nights to get one full day somewhere, three nights for only two days.
With 5 destinations all over the map - we will look at driving times in a minute - that is a maximum of 1 day in each place. Is that what you had intended? Can you do justice to Paris, Barcelona and Marseille in one day each, to say nothing of Bordeaux and San Sebastian? Because sightsee a day then drive a day, sightsee a day and drive a day, rinse and repeat is what you have.
So, ignoring the huge prices for autoroute tolls, here are the most optimistic driving times for your legs, no pee breaks, no leg stretching, no fuel stops, no meals, no traffic, no wrong turns - from google maps which is more optimistic than via michein who are themselves fairly optimistic.
Paris - Bordeaux 5.5 to 6 hours, an entire day
Bordeaux - San Sebastian 2:40 to 3:00
San Sebastian - Barcelona 5.5 to 6 hours
Barcelona- Marseille 5 to 6 hours, seeing nowhere on the way
Emily, have you been to these places before?
I know it is melodramatic but taking one day to see Paris is heartbreaking.
To turn your question back to you, do you think it is too much for 10 days?
By the way - will you fly home from Marseille or do you have to get the three of you back to Paris to fly out (that's another whole day)?
You say you want suggestions of more, and that you will be able to "explore a little bit more than you would get to taking trains/flights". When and how can this possibly happen given that all you will see every other day is the two or three lanes of the autoroute ahead of you?
Posted by
Washington DC
27221 posts
I agree with Nigel: Back to the drawing board. If you want to focus on cities, you could combine Paris and Barcelona, though you wouldn't have as much time as I would want in either city. If including some smaller towns is important, I suggest Paris and one region of France--maybe Normandy, Alsace or the area around Bordeaux. In Spain, Barcelona and the Basque Country (San Sebastian, Bilbao, plus a small town or two) would work. Or Barcelona and elsewhere in Catalunya.
When covering long distances, the train will usually be faster than a car. I'd use ViaMichelin.com for driving-time estimates. VM also provides information on tolls and estimates of fuel consumption. Don't forget to factor those in, plus parking expenses, if you're assuming that a car-rental would be cheaper than three train tickets. Use the Deutsche Bahn website for train times, though it will not give you rail fares for France or Spain. You can save a great deal of money on tickets for fast trains (TGVs in France, AVEs in Spain) if you but the tickets when they initially go on sale; that will not happen until next year.
Posted by
3122 posts
You say you want to "rent a car and drive so we can explore a little bit more than you would get to taking trains/flights" but actually you get to explore and meet people on the train so I wouldn't count that out. OTOH, with 3 people you may save $ with a car versus buying 3 train tickets.
As others have commented, your destinations are too spread out and too numerous to fit in your time frame. If you have only 10 days on the ground and you really want to get at least a glimpse of the two countries, I'd say:
Day 1 -3 Paris
Day 4 drive to Bordeaux
Day 5 see Bordeaux
Day 6 drive to San Sebastian
Day 7 see San Sebastian
Day 8 drive to Barcelona
Days 9-10 Barcelona and fly home from Barcelona.
The fee to return the car in Spain shouldn't be prohibitive compared to the cost spending another day driving back to Paris and having to spend a night there before your flight.
Posted by
Washington DC
27221 posts
I wouldn't assume the drop charge on the car would be low enough to be tolerable, but I haven't contacted any rental companies to check. The common advice here is to check with the three major consolidators: AutoEurope, Kemwel and Gemut.
I haven't been to Bordeaux yet but it's on my list for a trip to western France, probably in 2019. San Sebastian is an attractive small city with a magnificent beach and mobbed tapas bars. Although they are both worth visiting, the prospect of spending five days to have, basically, one full day in Bordeaux and one full day in San Sebastian strikes me as misguided. Changing cities and hotels takes considerably more time than you expect it to. Adding two stops that are so far from Paris and Barcelona turns a 10-day trip into pretty much a 7-day trip.
Paris and Barcelona are among Europe's top destinations. Two days and some jetlagged hours in Paris; two days and a few hours in Barcelona--that's not much time at all. You'd have more actual sightseeing time if you stuck to two places. It's not like there's any shortage of stuff to do and see in Paris and Barcelona--just as one example pair of destinations.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
With only 10 days on the ground, and assuming Paris, I guess you could take a swing through Belgium and/or Germany. I think you'd have a better time combining train and car, and probably staying in France. EG Paris, Normandy, Loire; Paris, Burgundy, Lyon.
If you want to see both Paris and Barcelona, fly or take the train.
Posted by
milwaukee, WI, USA
174 posts
I would agree with the others and limit your itinerary to France. Taking the train (TGV) would save significant travel time if you will be visiting larger cities as you have mentioned. Not much to be gained by renting a car unless you plan on visiting smaller cities that are more "off the beaten track". Paris to Bordeaux by TGV is about 3 hours. Toulouse is a wonderful stop a few hours by train east from bordeaux, and then you could move on to Lyon (4 hrs from Toulouse) before heading back to Paris.
Good Luck !
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11243 posts
here is google maps view of your itinerary.
It has an AMAZING estimate of averaging over 60 mph for the trip.
I think after you look at this you will be able to answer your question ( "Is this too much for 10 days?")