Northern Spain or Southern France - Which would you suggest?

I've traveled in all 3 of those areas and LOVE them all. However, since you are already in Spain, I would stay there. Northern Spain is just gorgeous from one end to the other and if you have the time, drop down to the walled city of Laguardia. LLanes is a nifty place to stop/stay and well as San Sebastian, Bilbao, Cudillero, Santilla del mar, and, of course, Santiago de Compostela. Spain is a clean, well kept, well loved and spectacular country. The Picos de Europa is worth a day or two as well. Do take the time to visit the Dordogne and Provence, but do that that on a different trip. In the southern (White Towns) section Ronda is out of this world wonderful! Seville is one of our favorite towns in the whole world. Jump the high speed train from Madrid to Seville. You will love it there. Sleepy little towns? Laguardia, Ronda, LLanes and Cudillero all fit the bill. We stayed in Llanes while we visited Picos de Europa. Great hiking and great mountain scenery!

Great suggestions above!! Last year I stayed at the Parador Fuente De in the Picos Europa Great accommodations and a spectacular drive from the coast through the gorge to the Parador. Nice museum on the way in and the cable car to the top of the mountains is right across from the hotel. A little bit of quiet paradise.

There is much to recommend in all of those areas and one is not "better" than the other. Whichever you don't do on this trip, you can plan to do on the next trip. Staying within Spain would somewhat reduce time spent on transportation. It may help your decision to watch some of Rick's videos online.

Thank you for your ideas. We have planned 2 days in Barcelona, 2 days in Madrid with a day trip to Toledo. We have 8 more days to fill. I like the ideas in Northern Spain around Bilbao. Or would you suggest going up the coast from Barcelona towards Cannes, Monaco area. We like to do things so spending time in a sleepy village isn't our idea of fun - maybe a stopover on the way somewhere if it's an awesome place. What would you suggest?

My advice would be Andalucía, primarily because you'll be there in May. Southern Spain can be oppressively hot in the summer, and I'd jump at the opportunity to extend my visit there during more mild weather.

Basque would be my second choice, maybe with a side trip to Biarritz.

I wouldn't spend the extra time required to go to Provence or Dordogne; they're both great destinations, but there are so many terrific things to see and do in Spain that I wouldn't spend the extra travel time to go further.

The RS Spain book has a great 3-week itinerary which can easily be reduced to 2 weeks by eliminating either the northern or southern half.

Since we had a car, we ended up making Segovia our base instead of Madrid; took the TGV into Madrid for a day, and then stopped in Toledo on our way south.

We were in Madrid and other Spanish points to the north this past November. Weather was cool-to-cold, so May may give you warmer temperatures. Girona, northeast of Barcelona is worth at least an overnight visit, and San Sebastian (Donostia) has wonderful offerings (especially food), to the east of Bilbao. Don't know if you're planning on driving, taking trains or buses, or flying, but San S. has pricey parking garages - be prepared. We didn't have time to explore much more of the Basque Country (Spanish or French), but would've liked more time. You may or may not have that option, but could at least get a bit of a France visit by venturing just east of San Sebastian if you're in the area.

Segovia is another great place, not far from Madrid. Worth a day trip, if not a stopover for one night or more. Speaking of that, are you determined to keep your Barcelona and Madrid visits to 2 days in each place? We were in Madrid for a full week and left with a lot unseen and undone. Many other folks would find it beneficial to extend your stay in either city for at least another day or two.

Provence is worth a week (or much more) on its own, so getting from northern Spain to a transportation hub for Provence (like, Avignon) might not leave you time to see the area "properly," with the other things it sounds like you're considering for Spain. Make the most of you time this time in Spain, and look forward to Provence on another trip.

We like to stay active on trips as well. I appreciate the atmospheric sleepy town but in the context of lots of other activities. I've been to Andalucia and to Provence. We were just in Provence in the first half of May and the weather was glorious - cloudy days in the low 70s, sunny days high 70s low 80s. We were in Andalucia in June a couple of years ago and the temperature hit 105, which definitely damped our enthusiasm for outdoor activities - but perhaps in May the temps would be fine. I agree with everyone else that you will lose some time in travel to Provence from Barcelona, but I found there was a lot more to do in Provence than in Andalucia. The historic sights in Provence rival or surpass anything I saw in Andalucia. Also I felt that Provence is more geared toward outdoor activities such as hiking and canoeing and spectator activities like the bull games. It felt like the wineries were more accessible and varied in Provence as well. In both places you have lots of atmospheric little hill towns. In both places there are opportunities for great dining; I think the workaday food in Provence is better than the basic food in southern Spain. I felt that staying near St Remy in Provence gave me easy access to days worth of varied things to do. Basically all those things are available in Andalucia but Provence is better organized to receive the tourist with multiple interests. But having said all that, Seville and Cordoba are amazing and if you aren't sure you'll get back to Spain you may want to see if while you're there because it will be less travel time. I'm sure I've said some things here that others disagree with - no need for flaming : )