I am traveling to Spain this July for the third year in a row, but this time with my mother and my two children, ages 5 and 10. We found incredibly inexpensive flights from the States to LHR and will spend a few days there, then on to Paris for three more days (my husband will join us in London and Paris then fly back to the US). We have approximately twenty-four days between DH's departure and our return flight from LON back to US.
My mother and I had been planning all along to take the kids to parts of the Costa Del Sol that we missed on our last trip. However, flying London -- Paris -- AGP -- London (times four people and baggage add-ons) with either train fares or rental car fees for day trips seemed excessive compared to round trip LTN-ORY and the all-inclusive fee to lease a car and return it to Paris. This included that added bonus of taking the kids through the Loire, San Sebastian, Madrid, Barcelona, and Lyon. Has anyone made this return trip from North/Central France to Andalucia in a three-week turn around? Does it seem reasonable with a 12-day stay in either Fuengirola or La Cala and day trips to Granada, Cordoba, Ronda, Gibraltar, and one day to Tarifa/Tangiers? My children are very well traveled and ride for 6+ hours regularly on long trips here in the US. My agenda tries to cut driving down to 5-6 hours per day with two overnights in San Sebastian on the way down and two overnights in Barcelona on the return. I am just worried that on day twenty I will be dreading the four-day drive back to Paris!
Tentative agenda:
(Days 1-3) London
(Days 4-6) Paris
(Day 7) Leave Paris to Bordeaux for overnight
(Day 8) Leave Bordeaux for San Seb
(Day 9) San Seb
(Day 10) Leave SS for Madrid overnight
(Day 11) Madrid to Fuengirola or La Cala
(Days 12- 24) Stay in apartment with 5 day trips (Granada, Cordoba, Ronda, Gibraltar, Tarifa/Tangiers)
(Day 25) Leave to Barcelona
(Days 26) Barcelona
(Day 27) to Montpelier or Avignon for overnight
(Day 28) to Lyon for overnight
(Day 29) to Paris, return lease
(Day 30) catch return flight Paris to London
(Day 31) return London to US
Otherwise, we just fly Paris - Malaga on day 7, spend days 8-26 on the Costa del Sol, train to Barcelona for days 27-29 and fly to London day 30.
*As a note, both Mom and I have been to some cities/stops along this route (Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Grenada, Seville, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Tarifa/Tangiers), so our goal with the driving agenda is to see the places we missed the first time around and maybe experience a touch of southern France and northern Spain. Of course, with two kids along we want to get in quite a few beach days and kid-friendly sights and museums along the way.