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Spain and France itinerary help

Hi all! I posted a thread yesterday trying to create an itinerary for Spain, France, and Italy for about 3 weeks. After some feedback I've decided I’ll leave Italy for another trip.

I’ve narrowed down my cities of interest and would like some input on how to put my itinerary together. (Trip is planned for the end of May, departing from LAX) Thanks in advance. Once again feel free to inform me on what you think should be left out, included, must-sees, best way to travel within the countries/cities, or even what cities you’d add in or replace etc....

Spain:
Barcelona
Madrid
Sevilla(?)
Granada (?)
San Sebastian (?)

France:
Paris
Bordeaux (?)
Nice(?)
Monte Carlo
Marseille(?)

*? cities I don’t mind leaving out

I realize we probably won’t be able to do it all in 3 weeks which is why I’m asking for help :)

Posted by
809 posts

If you decide to include Sevilla in your itinerary, do try to see the Alhambra Palace. This day trip to Grenada, where it is located, requires planning and advance purchase of tickets, and it's not cheap, but it is totally worth it. Try alhambra.org for info, but also consider tour companies like Viatour. You've got to get in early though. There's a max number of entries per day. We were in Nice and Monte Carlo a few months ago. Nice is pleasant and interesting, but we found Monte Carlo expensive and dull. Neither city is great for museums or art, if that interests you.

Posted by
8158 posts

You can do something like this based on my knowledge of transportation options; add or subtract days

This is a good first trip for a young person:

Fly LAX to BCN Barcelona
Barcelona 4 nights
Train to Madrid
Madrid 3 nights (we took day trips to Toledo and Segovia).
Train to Granada
Granada 2 nights
Train or bus to Seville
Seville 3 nights (I would go to Cordoba on a day trip).
Fly Seville to Nice
Nice 4 nights
Monte Carlo
(You can just stay in Nice and go to Monte Carlo and other places on daytrips to satisfy your curiosity.)
Train or fly to Paris
Paris 5 nights
Fly Paris to LAX

I would get the plane ticket settled first and then start filling in the blanks. You might not find a price that you like for the flight.

Posted by
27908 posts

I have to disagree with some of Wanderlust's comments. First, I would discourage attempting to see the Alhambra by day-tripping from Seville. Stay in Granada instead. Tickets to the Alhambra cost only 14 euros when purchased from the Alhambra's website; certainly you need to buy them well in advance, because the general often sell out months in advance. Based on past patterns, I would guess the May tickets will go on sale at the beginning of February, but I'd be checking at least weekly, beginning in early January since sales policies could change at any time.

But as you realize, that's a long list of potential targets for a 3-week trip, and Andalucía is likely to be quite warm (aka "hot" to most people) by late May. I'd recommend holding off on that area until you can visit at a somewhat cooler time of year and allow time also to see Cordoba as well as Seville and Granada, and perhaps some other Andalucian towns as well.

There are worthwhile side-trips from both Barcelona and Madrid--plus interesting destinations in north-central and northwestern Spain--so you'll have no shortage of interesting places to go even if you decide to postpone Andalucía.

As for France, Nice has at least six art museums. True, none is the Louvre, but I visited at least five and thought they were all worthwhile for those interested in their particular type of art. My favorites were two of the less-conventional museums, the Museum of Naïve Art and the Museum of Asian Arts. But it all depends on your taste.

Nice is the transportation hub for the Riviera with easy access to the coastal towns by regional train and bus service (less frequent) to many of the hill towns in the area. Some people prefer to stay in one of the smaller towns rather than Nice, and that is workable as long as you don't plan to spend most of your days visiting hill towns by bus.

I haven't been to Monte Carlo, and quite a number of posters here have said they didn't much care for it. I wouldn't hesitate to go if I particularly wanted to see something described in my guide book (casino, aquarium, gardens, etc.). I think the casino has a dress code. As already noted by Jazz, it's an easy day-trip from Nice. You could travel one way by train (faster) and the other by bus if you wanted to see different scenery.

Bordeaux is attractive but I don't think anyone except the mayor would recommend heading all the way across France to see it during a short trip. It's often a stop for people planning to spend time in the Dordogne, for example. If you want to see another large city in addition to Paris, Barcelona and Madrid, I think Lyon is more interesting than Bordeaux (and easier to get to from Nice). But you might prefer to explore a less-urban area, like Provence.

Unfortunately, you might be unlucky with the weather along the Riviera and in Provence in late May/June. If you have a low tolerance for heat, you might consider heading to Normandy and/or Brittany instead. Those are interesting areas and very unlikely to be hot.

To give you an idea of how many options there are in France and Spain, I have spent about 4-1/2 months in each of those countries within the last few years. And I still haven't made it to Paris.

If you want a relaxing trip, I'd suggest focusing first on your top one or two destinations and reading about about the areas around them. That might lead you to cover less ground and have more time at each stop--meaning less time wasted on trains and buses.

You'll find fast trains available between most major city pairs. Smaller cities may require use of slower trains or buses. You can easily check the train situation (though not fares) on the easy-to-use Deutsche Bahn website.

Posted by
809 posts

I agree with acraven about the Alhambra and Granada. Looking at your original list, I assumed that you'd be staying in the larger Seville rather than attempting both in a short time frame. My mistake. If you decide to go for it, obviously, staying in Granada is a better choice. It does make for a long day trip from Seville. As for Nice, yes, it does depend a lot on what you like. Of the lot, I enjoyed the Chagall Museum the most as I learned quite a lot about an artist about whom I knew very little.

Posted by
11 posts

Thank you all. I'll look into everything that has been share thus far.

I guess I should have added I'm not really picky when it comes to France outside of visiting Paris, meaning suggestions to look into Bordeaux, Marseille or Toulouse wouldn't bother me either if anyone has some good advice or personal experiences to share with me.

Posted by
8158 posts

Yeah but you don't want to be going all over the map spending too much time trying to get places,

Posted by
1258 posts

I don't know about Spain, but if you haven't been to France yet I would stick with Paris and areas a bit closer like Normandy and the Loire. I'm not sure with a limited time that Bordeaux, Nice, Monte Carlo, and Marseille would be worth it. We will be in Nice next spring on an RS tour, but it is the place I am looking forward to the least especially as none of the museums (which I normally love) are really up my alley. You could find plenty to do to fit your tastes with places like Paris, Bayeux for the tapestry and D-day Beaches, Mont St. Michel, Loire for Chateau, Chartres, Rheims, Giverny, Fontanbleau, Verdun,...so many possibilities.

Posted by
11 posts

Has anyone visited San Sebastían? It might be another city I might consider. I'd love to hear some personal experiences. I'll do some of my own searching in the Forum of course as well.

Posted by
8158 posts

I went to San Sebastian 3 nights in July 2016 from Bordeaux to attend the 52nd outdoor music festival https://heinekenjazzaldia.eus/en/ It is a party on the beach

From there I went to Bilbao. San Sebastian is touristy but man there is some serious cooking going on there; you can smell it depending where you are walking

The weather was weird there in July you need long sleeves sort of like San Francisco

Posted by
4171 posts

Hi Dominique, first things first, know that Spain is quite a large block of land compared to other countries in Europe, I think maps belie the distances and time it takes to go from place to place. If it's your first jaunt to Spain (and you are combining with France), I'd focus in on one geographic region for 1.5 weeks, either Andalucia, Northern Spain, or the classic Barcelona/Madrid; going in May gives you some flexibility weather-wise.

As for San Sebastian, I've been there a few times and honestly I think it's over-hyped, I much prefer its more grounded cousin, Bilbao. But know that both San Sebastian and Bilbao belong to Northern Spain, which is often referred to as "Green Spain".

It's quite the contrast compared to the south of the country, and looks more like Ireland mixed in with the Alps. From medieval villages, to the picturesque wine regions, the emerald waters of Bay of Biscay, the culinary delights of the Basque country, the Celtic culture of Galicia, and finally the towering jagged peaks of the Picos de Europa; Northern Spain has something for everyone and is less touristy than the rest of the country.

Posted by
27908 posts

I spent some time in the Spanish Basque Country in 2016. San Sebastian is a very attractive city with a knock-out beach. Unfortunately, its fairly small historic area (which is where most of the tapas bars seem to be) is swamped by tourists. I imagine it's fun if you enjoy bar-hopping, but that's not my thing, so I much preferred Bilbao with its larger historic area and far fewer tourists (except inside the Guggenheim Museum). I'd urge you to see both cities. There is frequent bus service between them--faster than the train in this instance, though the train traverses some very pretty countryside. There are some other worthwhile spots in the area, the largest of which is the interior capital of Vitoria-Gasteiz, Then you have the smaller town of Hondarribia that's practically on the border, plus quite a lot of tiny coastal villages (many touristy in high season).

One thing to be aware of is that it takes a lot of extra time on a train to insert the Basque Country into your itinerary between Barcelona and Madrid. Basically, it will cost you about one full day in terms of extra time spent sitting on a train. It would be worth checking to see whether you could fly to that area from one of your stops in France (most likely Paris) so you didn't have to travel both in and out by train. Bilbao's airport is larger and busier, so do check both. Skyscanner.com is a good place to look for intra-European flights.

Posted by
1229 posts

I was in Northern Spain for 3 weeks this past summer, and previously in France for 2 ½ weeks another summer (I travel with hubby and three t/w/eenagers). We opted for N. Spain bc of the timing+summer temps, and bc we live in an arid part of the US that resembles S. Spain, so wanted green! I enjoyed San Sebastian. Not loved, but it grew on me a lot in hindsight. I told my friends its like if Santa Monica and Paris had a baby. The Old Town is very old and interesting to wander. The beaches are nice, but again, they are beaches, so if you're not a big beach person, hold small appeal (much more for my kids, though they 'only' spent a few hours playing in the waves).
Bordeaux and Marseille would not be on my list (nor Monte Carlo, although I know people have a fascination with it). You can get to MC from Nice on the train in an easy day-trip. I enjoyed Normandy (stayed near Bayeux, visiting the American cemetery, Bayeux tapestry and Mont St Michel in 2 days) and the Loire Valley, but both require a rental car to get around (but both are accessible by train and then you can easily rent a car for 2 days at the train station). But again, it sounds like you have ~10 days in each country, and if 4-5 of those are in Paris, only one of these plus Nice would fit. Then fly from Nice to Spain (or reverse direction as you like) and pick perhaps 3 places in Spain. If its two cities, Barcelona and Madrid, you could add one more place like Seville (or Toledo). As you can see, there's always so much to see, and so little time!

Posted by
11 posts

Thank you Carlos, acraven, and Jessica. Your comments have been very insightful and helpful. Very appreciated :)

Posted by
677 posts

Your list is big and it can be a bit daunting figuring out where to start. You might try figuring out how much time you need in a given city/area to see what you ideally want to see. On our first trip to Spain, this is how I figured out I had to cut Barcelona. Using this method, I knew I needed 4 days to really see at a minimum the things I wanted to see. There was no way to realistically fit it into a 10 day trip with Madrid and Sevilla and Granada so we had to save it for another trip. I like to pick my priorities and then group them together by what makes sense logistically to make the most of our time. With some good planning I’m sure you’ll make sense of a trip that works for you :)

I also have to add that I really loved Granada and the Alhambra. We had two nights there but I would have been happier with three.

Posted by
8168 posts

1) You have three weeks. Pick a country, France or Spain. Enjoy your trip without so much traveling.

2) For Spain, put Seville at the top of your list, it is the best. I recommend 4 nights in Seville, then move to Granada, Madrid (4 nights) including day trips to Toledo and Segovia. Take the High Speed train to Barcelona 4 nights. If you do San Sebastian and the Basque region, that will take up the rest of your time.

3) For France, you need 5 nights in Paris. Not sure that you can do Bordeaux and Provence (SE France) as well (opposite ends of the country. There is a lot more to Provence than Nice and Monte Carlo. Skip Marseille. Visit St. Paul de Venice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, Nice, Aix, moving up the Rhone, Avignon, Pont du Gard, Vienne and Lyon. Take the High Speed train to Paris.

Posted by
27908 posts

With all of France and Spain to choose from, Andalucia is not where I would head in June. Before committing to spending a great deal of your time in southern Spain (and the area around Madrid can also be quite hot) check actual, day-by-day historical temperatures for June in some of the key cities. That data is available, usually going back about ten years, on timeanddate.com. I've linked to the statistics for Seville in June 2019. I see that the high temperatures for the first three days of the month were 97 - 100 - 97 (F).

Posted by
11 posts

After some thinking I’ve put some Itineraries together, and I’d like to you hear your thoughts.

Paris (6 nights)
San Sebastian (3 nights)
Madrid (4 nights) - daytrip to Toledo
Granada (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)

Madrid (4 nights)
Seville (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)
Avignon (3 nights)
Nice (3 nights)
Paris (6 nights)

Paris (4 nights)
Nice (3 nights)
Arles (3 nights)
San Sebastian (3 nights)
Madrid (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)

Barcelona (5 nights)
Madrid (4 nights)
Seville (3 nights)
Paris (6 nights)
Nice (3 nights)

Paris (6 nights)
Nice (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)
Madrid (4 nights)
Granada (3 nights)

Sorry for the lengthy post, I guess I just really like to hear others personal takes and it's been awhile since I've been to Europe so I'd like to make the most of my trip. :)

Posted by
27908 posts

The pace of each of those seems generally OK. My two concerns are:

  • The link between Arles and San Sebastian seems as if it could be tough. I haven't dug any deeper than the top level on Rome2Rio.com (which is often wildly off-base on fares, travel times, and frequencies), but it appears that you'd be looking at either a very long train trip or a multi-leg/multi-mode trip that was a bit shorter. I try to avoid switching modes of transportation unless it's absolutely necessary, because you have no protection if the first provider lets you down. I really like the Basque Country, but you'd be going through a lot of hassles to have 3 nights there (which would only be two days). It looks easier/faster to get to San Sebastian from Paris; you can do it by train in a bit over 6 hours, but there's only one good connection a day, apparently.

  • In a similar vein, I would not go to southern France for just 3 nights. I know it may seem that Nice gets you closer to Barcelona, but the fact is that the Nice-Barcelona train trip takes three hours longer than the Paris-Barcelona trip. Incidentally, Barcelona to Avignon is considerably faster. The train lines running east-west near the coast do not support TGV speeds, so it takes longer to travel from Avignon or Arles to Nice than from Avignon/Arles to Paris.

Any of the itineraries would be workable; it comes down to how much time you're willing to spend getting from place to place, especially (I would say) those places where you only plan to spend 3 nights.

Posted by
8168 posts

You posted:
Paris (6 nights)
San Sebastian (3 nights)
Madrid (4 nights) - daytrip to Toledo
Granada (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)

Madrid (4 nights)
Seville (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)
Avignon (3 nights)
Nice (3 nights)
Paris (6 nights)

Paris (4 nights)
Nice (3 nights)
Arles (3 nights)
San Sebastian (3 nights)
Madrid (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)

Barcelona (5 nights)
Madrid (4 nights)
Seville (3 nights)
Paris (6 nights)
Nice (3 nights)

Paris (6 nights)
Nice (3 nights)
Barcelona (5 nights)
Madrid (4 nights)
Granada (3 nights)

I don't have the patience to go after each option, but you haven't improved your plans very much. Have you researched these places? Have you researched transportation between these places?

1) Granada is nice, but I would not spend three nights there. No more than two.
2) Barcelona is great, but I think you are shorting Seville. Consider spending 4 nights there and 4 in Barcelona.
3) Some of your options have silly travel. Have you looked at a map to see where these places are? Option 4 has you going from Seville to Paris and then to Nice. Better to do Spain ending in Barcelona then up to Nice, ending in Paris.
4) Avignon is great, but for three nights? I suppose if you do Aix, Arles and Pont du Gard, it might work.

I still think you should do one country.

Posted by
11 posts

I think I might commit to the first itinerary posted by Jazz+Travels

Fly LAX to BCN Barcelona
Barcelona 4 nights
Train to Madrid
Madrid 3 nights (we took day trips to Toledo and Segovia).
Train to Granada
Granada 2 nights
Train or bus to Seville
Seville 3 nights (I would go to Cordoba on a day trip).
Fly Seville to Nice
Nice 3 nights
Monte Carlo
(Stay in Nice and go to Monte Carlo and other places on daytrips)
Train or fly to Paris
Paris 6 nights
Fly Paris to LAX

I don't think I would do both Granada and Seville. For people who have visited if you had to pick one of the two which one, and what did you enjoy over the other or particularly about the city you visited?

Posted by
1229 posts

Well, Ill disagree with geovagriffith except to agree that you the travel needs to be considered and you would want to re-order. So instead of going Arles to SS (in that one case), I would go Arles to BCN -> Madrid -> SS and fly out of SS (you could do BCN -> SS-> Madrid and fly out of Madrid).

And the travel between places is easily ½ day. I would fly between them - from Nice to BCN, or BCN to SS, or MAD to GRN, or PAR to Nice, etc. You can certainly check train times, but for example, train from BCN to MAD is 3 hours. BCN to SS is 6 hours. Im guessing Nice to BCN (train) is 6 hours. MAD to GRN by train is 5 hours. Flying MAD to GRN is a 1 hour flight. You still need to get to the MAD airport, go through security, and get from the GRN airport into the city, so add all that to the hour (train stations tend to be easier to get to and from), but I still think you'd be under 5 hours with a flight. Same for BCN to SS by plane v. train. So you'd be in and out of several airports. Taking a taxi to these makes things much more efficient. Using carry-on luggage makes things much more efficient.
I think you've done a good job on pacing with all of these. 3 nights in GRN means two full days, which is what I would say you'd want there.
Keep in mind that Provence is very spread out. You will want to rent a car at the airport or train station and be driving distances between each place to see what you want. I loved Arles, but there's so much around it you'd want to see (Le Baux...) that would require a car. Whereas SS, or Granada would not. Being in a car adds another layer of travel time - getting to and from places you just want to 'be' - which, given how much travel you are proposing, you might want to reduce. Thus Provence might be a good one to eliminate on this trip.

Posted by
27908 posts

No amount of shuffling the destinations is going to completely solve the problem of too many interesting destinations, widely scattered, within a fixed amount of time. You can either drop one or two places or rush through several of them. I would give serious consideration to the travel times and how many flights I would need to take. I hate flying in the middle of a trip. My usual practice is to find a place I want to visit for a few days along the way so that a flight is not necessary.

Now that the AVEs are running all the way to Granada, it doesn't take 5 hours to get from Madrid to Granada by train. The current schedule shows a morning train at 3 hr. 40 min. and an afternoon train at 3 hr. 17 min. That's clearly better than dealing with airports (assuming no rail strike--but those don't seem to be common in Spain).

When you get up to a 5-hr. train trip, I think it's a close call and depends on how much time you figure you'd waste in being conservative about planning your trip to the outbound airport to be sure of not missing the plane. Getting to San Sebastian from either Madrid or Barcelona by train takes at least 5-1/2 hours, and most trains take substantially longer than that. The minimum train time between Granada and Barcelona is 6 hr. 20 min.

These are not bad itineraries; plenty of people do a lot more scurrying around. But you did ask. And I see several things in Jazz's layout that I would not do:

  • Only four nights in Barcelona as your first stop (meaning just 3 hopefully-not-jetlagged days there).

  • Three nights in Madrid with two full-day side-trips (meaning just a few hours in Madrid itself; if there's that little interest in a huge city like that, why bother to go?).

  • It's about 320 miles from Madrid to Seville. The train takes about 2-1/2 hours; I wouldn't even consider a bus (probably 6 hours or more).

  • Three nights in Seville with a day-trip to Cordoba would provide only one day and a few hours in Seville. I consider that seriously short. It's a large city with a lot of sights--more than in Madrid if you have no interest in Madrid's art museums.

  • I still say it isn't a good plan to detour to southern France (extra travel time makes it a detour even if it doesn't like too much of one on a map) for only three nights. Too much travel time, not enough time to see the charming towns people usually want to see there.

As already noted, choosing between Seville and Granada is tough. I will just add these considerations: It may be easier to get in and out of Seville (larger airport, more frequent trains). Seville tends to be a bit hotter (record high for June: 113F) than Granada (record high for June: 104F). I'd recommend three nights in Granada and four nights in Seville, so if you're really time-pressed and have only three nights available for Andalucía, I might choose Granada. And then there's Cordoba. It's a real shame to go to Seville and not have at least a full day for Cordoba (I think it's worth spending about three days there).

I'd solve the problem by eliminating Andalucía. Having been there from April 10 through May 6 this year, I know I wouldn't want to be there in June.

Posted by
8158 posts

We spent 3 nights in Madrid and took day trips to Segovia (we had a car in this instance) and Toledo. In those 3 days we saw the Prado and the Sofia Reina.
In the end we felt like we had seen enough of Madrid (given we went in summer when the sun does not set until about 10 pm) and were ready to leave.

Everyone is different there is no ideal way. I've taken to Europe at different times a 70 year old, 55 year old, 21 year old and person my own age of 50.

They all had different levels of energy and interests in things compared to my own. In some cases they would say "I don't care if I ever go back there and 1 day would have been enough I don't see what all the hype was about"; in others they would say "what we're leaving already"?

Like I said earlier you should adjust the number of days in the schedule I suggested; but you have to do your own research to gauge what you want to see and do and then ask the forum how many days you need in a particular place. I took my 21 year old niece to Granada and the Alhambra last January; she loved it. We also spent a night in Cordoba. If I could do it over I would spend more time there. We saw some great flamenco there, another thing that not everyone is interested in but we love it.
And I think it is exciting to fly from Seville to Nice if you've never been to either.

Posted by
12313 posts

Here's my two cents, starting from the top (note my bias is toward history):

Spain:

Barcelona - Great choice. I think you need at least three days. One for the Gothic center, one for Modernist architecture, and a third for beaches/Mt. Juic.

Madrid - Why? What are the things you enjoy most? Reasons to visit Madrid are nightlife, El Prado and nice green spaces during nice weather. Reasons not to visit Madrid, no history, high crime, nothing really worth seeing (except El Prado). Barcelona and Mardrid are the two most expensive cities (and highest crime) in Spain, Barcelona at least has some sights to make it worth your visit. Madrid is the newest city in Europe. It has no old center - which I consider the best part of any European city. Madrid's "old center" is a short train ride away in Toledo. I highly recommend Toledo. El Prado is walking distance from the train station (Attocha) where you catch the train to Toledo. Toledo has better food, better sights, less expensive lodging and much less crime.

Sevilla - Yes. The cathedral and alcazar are some of the best sights in Spain. Skip the Plaza de Espana; it's a fair ground that has no real historical significance. Depending on the time of year, the April Fair is fantastic. Easter week is world famous (but I'd recommend Valladolid for an equally impressive time without masses of tourists). This is the home of Flamenco, so a good place to find a show/performance.

Granada - The Alhambra is certainly one of the great sights on the planet (but my ex liked Seville's Alcazar better). We also enjoyed a Sambra performance (similar to Flamenco) in a cave home in the Albaicin district. There is much to enjoy just walking around the Albaicin and old center.

San Sebastian - This is a fair weather option. It's best to visit in the high summer months when the weather's nice. A great choice when the rest of Spain is too hot. Outside of summer, it's rainy and chilly. Still a pretty town but not a must-see. If you go, there is great sea food and many bars that make signature "gintonic" (one word rather than gin and tonic). If you are in this area, Olite (about 30 minutes by car from Pamplona going toward Zaragosa) has one of my favorite castle visits. It was one of the castles for the Kings of Navarre.

Cordoba - If you're going from Seville toward Madrid (or Toledo) by train, a day stop in Cordoba is worth your time to visit the Mesquita and surrounding old quarter.

I also like Ronda as a stop between Granada and Seville if you can make it work. It has considerably more sights than most towns it's size. A good stop for prehistory is in Antequera; there are passage tombs and a museum that are worth a stop if you're driving.

I spent a month just driving around Spain and felt like I could have spent a second month and not have seen everything I wanted.

Posted by
12313 posts

My two cents for France:

I think you have time to pick one direction or the other, not both.

One direction is essentially north from Barcelona (by train) to Perpignan then (by rental car) through some of Languedoc, Lot Valley, Dordogne Valley toward Bordeaux (turn in the rental and take a fast train to Paris). I spent two weeks in this area but you can pick only your top sights and reduce it to a week enroute with time left over for Paris.

My favorites through this area were Carcassonne (only visited the old cite at night), Foix (great castle visit), Cordes sur Ciel (have heard it's crowded in the summer, it was fine when I went in June), Najac (great castle and town), St. Cirque Lapopie, Pech Merle cave, Conques (similar but by far better than Rocamadour), Domme, Beynac and Catstelnaud castles, Sarlat, Saint Emilion then Bordeaux. Be sure to stay walking distance from the center/river. Bordeaux's public transport isn't nearly as useful as Paris - and generally closes before most people finish dinner.

The second direction would be toward Nice and Monte Carlo. Again start with a train from Barcelona to Perpignan. Then stick with the train. On the Riviera a car is more hassle than help. The local train gets you up and down the coast better than a car (neither is particularly fast). I skipped Marseille because too many friends have told me it's a dump. Nice is a decent large city with a lot of beach front. You can work your way up and down the coast from Cannes to Monte Carlo, by local train, fairly conveniently. My favorite town to stay is Antibes. It has the best sand beaches, a nice marina, ramparts, a medieval center, one of the top art galleries and a restaurant/cafe/bar zone - all within walking distance. I stayed in Juan les Pins, which is the other side of the same peninsula. Four to five days is a good visit to the Riviera. It will give you time to explore, time to relax a little and evenings to go out for nice meals.

After you're done exploring, take a flight from Nice to Paris. I flew Air France. It's faster and cheaper than a train. Ideally you will fly into Orly (rather than CDG) and use the Orlyval to get into town (small train that connects to the RER, buy one ticket for the whole trip to downtown).

Posted by
11 posts

Paris is mostly a priority for me. So I wouldn't have a problem staying in Paris for 6-7 days and leaving the rest of two weeks dedicated to Spain. Leaving from Paris, what itinerary would make the most sense heading to Spain? For Spain the priority for us is Barcelona and Madrid, wouldn't mind a stop in Sevilla, Granada, or Valencia depending on what makes the most sense. Thank you all again for your comments.

Posted by
481 posts

Our recent trip was flying into Toulouse and exploring Cahors, Domme, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and more. Next: Basque Country with Saint-Jean-de-Luz for three nights.
Then: bus to San Sebastián for five nights
Last: fast train to Barcelona for three nights.

You could easily get from Paris to Basque Country, and choose what size cities you wanted to explore in both France and Spain. For us, this was a beautiful trip, and Barcelona was the biggest city we’d visited, by design. We also were seeking cooler temps if possible...somewhat successfully, but we did not venture father south in Spain for that reason.

Have fun!
Laurie

Posted by
27908 posts

You can get from Paris to Barcelona by train in 6-1/2 hours. Any farther into Spain will take longer. If you wanted to stop over in the lovely, historic town of Girona (north of Barcelona), that would take 5-3/4 hours.

If you're going to go all the way down to Andalucía, it will almost certainly benefit you to fly there from Paris and then work your way back north (mostly if not entirely by train) to Barcelona, from which it should be relatively easy to fly home. But do check on flights from Barcelona to your home airport. If they are a lot more expensive than flights from Madrid, you might prefer to end your trip there.

I think Malaga has the busiest airport in Andalucía (I haven't checked), but I believe there are others in Granada and Seville.

If you want to see the Basque Country rather than southern Spain, check flights from Paris to Bilbao (the larger airport) or San Sebastian.

skyscanner.com is a good place to check intra-European flight schedules.

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1131 posts

Curious as to why you want to go do Monte Carlo. It was the biggest bust of our Mediterranean trip last year. Hot, crowded, very commercial, very hilly, the famous "road curve" is hard to see standing on the ground, the casino charges 17 Euro just to go inside...I had heard on this board and on another board that I frequent that it wasn't worth it, but the husband really wanted to see it, and after we went, he was like, "I wish we had listened to those people on the boards."

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27908 posts

I disagree with the idea of day-tripping from Seville to Granada. It would mean at least 5 hr. 20 min. on trains (bus takes longer), the Alhambra is a large, time-consuming sight, and it is not the only worthwhile attraction in the city. While Granada isn't huge, it is far from small, it is hilly and the sights are fairly spread out.

Nimes to Carcassonne is two hours each way. That's more doable since there's not as much to see in Carcassonne, but I'd prefer to spend the night somewhere along the way between Nimes and Barcelona if I wanted to see Carcassonne. That might allow some time in Carcassonne outside the overrun, day-tripping hours.

Three days in Barcelona would be tight for a lot of visitors, based on the wishlists of attractions often posted on this forum, which typically include a large number of Gaudi sights, time on Montjuic, the Picasso Museum, etc. The situation is complicated by the need to buy so many admission tickets in advance to avoid ticket lines. That means guessing how much time you'll want to spend at each place before you've been there, possibly leading to lots of small chunks of unusable time.