Spain and France 22 days suggestions

How are you intending to travel? Rental car, train, plane, combination?
It's looking as though you may be spending a lot of time in transit.

Also, in addition to the good questions already asked, what made you choose an itinerary into Madrid and flying out of Paris; what about those two cities drew your group to choose them? Similarly, what are your group's interests? Art, history, museums, culture, local cuisine? I'm focusing on those kinds of things because you mentioned cities specifically.

Do you want to split your time evenly between Spain and France, or not? Your tentative list includes only Spanish locations.

Do you intend to visit only cities, or do you want to spend time in the countryside?

Lexma has asked excellent and relevant questions about your interests.

Keep in mind that Andalusia will be extremely hot in July. I love, love Andalusia and have visited Seville, Granada, Cordoba, and Malaga, but I personally wouldn't go there during the summer months. Expect temps to be in the high 90's into the 100's. When I was planning our trip, I read trip reports from people who talked about being drenched in sweat after 10 minutes while visiting during the summer months. Make sure you stay in hotels that have pools, stay hydrated, and plan your sightseeing for the early morning and then late afternoons/evenings.

Regarding the France part, you could easily spend a week in Paris, with a daytrip to Versailles, if you want to slow down a bit. Or combine Paris with the Loire Valley to see the gorgeous chateaus.

Do you have any guidebooks? In addition to Rick's books, I recommend the Michelin Green Guide and Rough Guides. Lonely Planet was my favorite, but I don't like their new format.

Hi Maria and welcome to the forum.

to get a better answer it would be good to provide some more info, as pointed out in the other posts. I would say it is important to say if you plan on taking a train/bus or renting a car. Also, you've got two teenagers with you, what do they like and/or want to see. Is beach time something that might be liked?

As mentioned, Andalucia will be hot in July. Have you thought of going north? After Madrid, maybe Segovia. Stop in Burgos, it is really underrated. You could go to Zaragoza, with the end of you Spanish leg in Bilbao then San Sebastian. If you have a car, you can leave it there and take the train from Hendaye to Paris. It can be done as a direct trip, or you could spend some nights along the way, in Bayonne and Bordeaux, and other places as you have time and interest in.

Originally, when I thought about my trip, I just knew we wanted to go to Spain and France. What made me choose these cities for lending and flying out is the cheapest price for flights, so now I’m trying to build around it. When I was booking this, I didn’t think about the weather, but July is pretty much the only time we can go with the kids because there is no school. We like to be closer to the ocean for some beach days and also see some historical sites, food is also the big one. As far as France. I always wanted to see Paris, Nice. Would love to do some hikes in the mountains. We are big nature lovers and love to hike.

Forgot to mention we will be taking high speed trains are possible I guess some buses in the mountains most likely and flights to minimize on travel time and have more time to explore

I never looked into the north option of Spain only because when I was researching it on Instagram mostly, I only seen the south portion of it. Maybe I should reconsider it then, since it’s going to be so hot.