Good Day,
Back in 2012 we spent 10 fabulous days in Spain but only 3 of those days were in the northern region. We would like to go back and visit the northern region as well as venture up into southern France. We are looking to spend 10 days there and was hoping for some ideas on where to visit. We would like to see Barcelona, San Sebastian and Bilbao but are not that familiar with southern France. I would appreciate any ideas on what places to visit.
Thank you
Posted by
shingle springs, CA, USA
782 posts
We did a similar trip three years ago,Hotel in Barcelona with one side trip to Montserrat which is about an hour by bus,well worth visiting,the boys choir sings at 1 PM,this is an all day trip.Barcelona,lots to see and great food scene,the Sagrada Familia,waterfront walk,The Market on La Ramblas,Maritime Museum,Picasso Museum,The Fortress on the hilltop Montjuic,The Park Guell.You can drive from Barcelona to Coliure,France about 2.5 hours right on the coast,then west to Carcasonne,the walled Medevil city.To get to San Sebastian leave Carcasonne and go west to St Jean de Luz in Basque France on the Atlantic Ocean,great place to stay and explore the towns in the hills.Head south to San Sebastian,about 1.5 hours,this a a great city right on the Bay of Biscay,the culinary capital of Europe,beautiful Old Town and water front and beach walk,drive into the Pyrenees to some small villages and enjoy the sights.Bilbao about 2 hours from San Sebastian,the Guggenheim worth about 4 hours.Get a Rick Steves Spain book and it will have the French Basque Region in it,hope this helps.
Posted by
Long Beach, California, USA
3398 posts
Southwest France has amazing things to see! I would echo Lourdes - one of the more interesting pilgramage sites I've seen anywhere! Consider going to Coullioure, a beautiful coastal village that was a favorite of the Fauvre painters. The Abbaye Fontfroide is lovely and worth a visit. The Cathar castle ruins in the Pyrenees are lovely and Carcassonne is fun to explore. We love the areas even further east in Herault. Beziers, Narbonne, Pezenas and Montpellier are gorgeous towns in this beautiful, vineyard/winery filled region. You could spend some time cruising the Canal du Midi, relaxing on the water under the plane trees. It's a beautiful region!
Posted by
Worthington, Ohio
16 posts
Southwest France is very unpretentious: Cahors and its bridge, market towns of Catus, Cazals, and Les Arques (eat at La Recreation!) and anything between the Lot and Dordogne rivers. The area is know for walnuts, goat cheese, truffles, foie gras and very red wine (the Black Wine of Cahors) -- cant go wrong. Caves, castles and vineyards to explore. St Cirq lapopie and Rocamadour are wonderful to visit. Plenty of nice places to rent on gite.com. This site is a nice resource: http://www.frenchentree.com/france-lot-quercy/
Barcelona for sure but also the small coastal towns north of Barcelona with sangria bars on the beaches (Tossa del Mar especially) are fun to spend a day. Many are very old. The monastery at montserrat and then a visit the Freixenet cava house make for a packed outing.
We did this over 2 weeks: a week in Spain (north of Barcelona), and week in France (near Catus), 2 families, 4 adults, 4 kids (6 thru 10), lots of wine, 2 rental cars, houses with pools, cooking and eating in. I'd do it all over again.
Enjoy!