Spain/France Trip - 14 Days

Not sure where he wants to see soccer, but Barcelona and the region is amazing. If the soccer is not in Madrid, I'd drop Madrid. You could spend the 5 days in Barcelona and still yearn for more time. I took my girls to Girona which is 45-60 minutes by train from Barcelona and we all absolutely loved it, charming and so much history. We stayed for 3 nights and took a day trip to Besalu. There is so much to do just in Barcelona and there are a whole bunch of day trip possibilities.

In regards to France. I've been to Bordeaux and really liked it. But, its architecture is similar to Paris. There is so much you can do in Paris and many, many day trip possibilities.

I would recommend just splitting your time between Barcelona and Paris.

Take a look at football schedules in Spain, that can help with your planning, but still too early for next year. The Madrid area has the most first division teams.

Depending on who's playing, I'd suggest:
fly in to
Madrid (4 days) - catch a game with Real, Atlético, Getafe, or Rayo Vallecano
AVE high speed train to
Barcelona (4 days) - catch a game with Barça, or Espanyol
SNCF high speed train to
Paris (4 days) - catch a game with PSG

For me Bordeaux is the big outlier, out of the way and the city itself is just ok, the wine country is further away. Best to remove it an reinvest in other places

Hi Nicki

first off here is the first division schedule for next year.
Jules has mentioned Girona, and they are in the first division this year. They play at home the 15th and 26th of May. Remember the home team comes first.

Another possible route would be to go from Barcelona to San Sebastian. SS and Pamplona also have teams. Instead of the two night in Madrid, a night in SS and 2 night in San Juan de Lux or Bayonne, and then train to Paris. Unless you have something special to see in Bordeaux, like Jules said, it is similar to Paris.

I would also drop Madrid and add the Dordogne Valley. It’s known as the land of 1000 castles and has caves with ancient paintings dating back 17,000 years. Not to mention cliff dwellings and cute medieval towns. Fly to Bordeaux from Barcelona, spend one night there so the kids can see the Miroir D’eau and you can check out Cite du Vin (if you like wine). Then rent a car, base yourself in a small town like Sarlat and stay at least 3 nights and enjoy the area. You can even go canoeing in the river. After that, go take the train to Paris and enjoy being back in a big city.

We actually hired a private guide for the 3 days we were in the Dordogne- Taxi and Touring all Carte recommended in the RS book. We had the most amazing time in this faacinating region.

Unless at least one of the kids has expressed some interest in Bordeaux, I’d skip it.

Thanks for all the feedback!