Pyrenees-French & Spanish villages

It’s difficult to suggest a route if you have no idea where you want to go. There are few roads through the mountains so you will be limited by them. Interesting towns to me might not be interesting to you. Once you’ve identified some places you want to visit a route might be apparent. There is a list of the prettiest villages in Spain online. You can look up towns by name or region.

You will need a valid U.S. drivers license and an international driving permit. It is required although nobody will probably ever ask to see it.

Yes, there still are Paradors. In the area you want to visit, there are Paradors de Bielsa, Vielha, Arties, Hondarribia, and Parador de la Seu d'Urgell.

Edited: When reserving the vehicle check to see which countries you can drive it in. I’ve never had to pay extra to drive into France from Spain. We always rented from a major rental company like Avis or Enterprise. The past few Spain trips it was Enterprise reserved through Costco. Also, not all speed in cameras are marked, especially when entering or leaving smaller towns.

Hondarribia (Spanish Basque Country) and La Seu d'Urgell are both very attractive towns.

As Jaimeelsabio points out, there aren't many roads across the border in the Pyrenees. If you zoom in on Google Maps, you can see the limited access points. That will give you an idea of the constraints you'll be dealing with. As you begin to get some ideas of stopping points, I recommend looking at possible driving routes on ViaMichelin.com because if you zoom way in, you'll see some roads outlined in green. Those are the especially scenic ones.

I haven't had a rental car in Europe, so I can't really provide much useful guidance to someone who plans to have a car (for at least part of the trip), but I'll make these two comments:

• East of La Seu d'Urgell lies the Cerdanya Valley. There are some seldom-visited (by Americans) towns scattered around the area, but it was blistering hot in the summer of 2016, and I imagine it will still be baking in September. On the other hand, it would be a kick to tell your friends you spent a night or two in "Poo cher DAH", wouldn't it. (That's actually spelled Puigcerda.)

• The Yellow Train runs through the French Pyrenees from Latour-de-Carol (right on the border, station name "Latour-de-Carol-Enveitg") up to Villefranche-de-Conflent (station name "Villefranche-Vernet-les-Bains"). The scenery is great, and no one has to keep his eyes on the mountain road while driving, as would be required on a car trip. Villefranche is a very touristy little place, and the train is popular with foreign visitors, but it's a regular SNCF route, so the fare is very reasonable. It's possible to take a round trip in a single day.

Rick's guide to Spain has some coverage of the French Basque Country (which isn't in the guide to France). I remember that he mentions a few small mountain towns. You will need a more detailed guidebook or two, however, to learn about the many places Rick doesn't cover on both sides of the border.

We rented a car in Bilbao for ten nights last month. A few notes:

We always carry an IDP but have never been asked for it...until this trip. The rental agency told us that they absolutely require it and wouldn't have rented to us if we didn't have one at the ready.

Let them know if you plan to drive into France. There are complexities with insurance and towing, and additional fees will apply. We saw agencies that charged 20 euros a day (which adds up!) and finally settled on one that charged a flat 50 euros.

Driving was easy and gas stations are plentiful. Spain uses the same speed cameras as France but they are very clearly marked in advance and as you pass them.

Be sure to have a tap credit card - you'll use that to pay all tolls.