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Travel Itinerary help please

Hi there!

My husband and our two daughters (ages 14 and 18) will be traveling to France and then onto Spain. We depart SFO on June 9th and return to SFO on June 20th. Here's what we have tentatively planned and would love feedback.

Arrive in Paris on June 10th spend three days 6/10-6/13
Travel by train to Barcelona on 6/13
spend three days in Barcelona 6/13-6/16
Travel by train to Seville on 6/16
spend four days in Seville
Depart from ??? (is there an international airport in Seville?) on 6/20

Thoughts? Totally open to suggestions as we are flexible! One thing we do want is one day and maybe a 1/2 to spend at the beach!
Also, my husband has family in the Basque region so we are thinking we really need to see them. It's been 22 years since we saw them there on our honeymoon!
Thanks!!!

Posted by
8166 posts

Skip Barcelona or Paris if you want to visit family.
If you go to Paris you can easily get to Basque by train.
Seville has an international airport but no direct transatlantic flights.
If you skip Paris fly into Barcelona or fly into Seville.

Both areas Basque and Catalonia have beaches.

Posted by
1742 posts

I'm not one to usually say this, because I completely understand the need to fit in as much as possible, but this sounds kind of rushed.

When you say "three days," that is really only 2 days and a part of a day, because of travel. So, you would actually have only 2 full days in Paris and 2 full days in Barcelona. Whether or not that works for you depends on what you'd like to see in those places, I guess.

With a total trip of only 10 days, not including travelling to and from Europe, but including travel time within Europe, trying to go to three cities in two countries is pretty optimistic, especially if you want to fit beach time in there.

Are the flights already booked? If not, maybe consider visiting Spain and leaving France for another time.

Posted by
4180 posts

I would drop Sevilla (too hot in the summer anyway), rent a car in Barcelona and drive to the Basque Country to visit your family there, I think it will make for a much more rewarding experience. Combining the Basque Country with Barcelona also makes more geographic sense than Sevilla (on the opposite side of the country). I would also add a night to Paris, first day will be useless with jet lag. You can then drive down to Madrid drop off your car, and fly out of Madrid. So with 11 nights you could do something like this:

Fly in to Paris
Paris (4 nights)
train? (better to fly) to
Barcelona (3 nights) - rent car
drive west, stopping at Zaragoza for a few hrs
continue northwest to País Vasco
Bilbao (3 nights)
drive south to
Madrid (1 night) - drop off car
Fly out of Madrid

Posted by
1586 posts

Trish - Carlos just gave you a great itinerary for 11 nights. I highly recommend to consider it.

Posted by
15788 posts

Maybe fly from Paris to Bilbao? Then rent a car and end in Barcelona.

Posted by
8248 posts

10 days, stick to one country.

3 days in Paris is way not enough time.
Stick to Spain, do Barcelona, Madrid (day trip to Toledo) and Seville.

I don't remember there being a major international airport at Seville.
https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Nearby-Airports/Seville

You will need to research flights. I doubt if there are flights direct from Seville to the USA.

You could go from Barcelona to Seville, then end your trip in Madrid.

Use kayak.com to check for lowest fares.